DynamoDB Cheat Sheet

AWS CLI and boto3 commands plus core DynamoDB concepts like partition keys, indexes, and expressions for NoSQL data modeling.

2 PagesAdvancedMar 20, 2026

AWS CLI Basics

Creating a table and reading/writing items.

bash

aws dynamodb create-table \  --table-name Users \  --attribute-definitions AttributeName=UserId,AttributeType=S \  --key-schema AttributeName=UserId,KeyType=HASH \  --billing-mode PAY_PER_REQUESTaws dynamodb put-item --table-name Users \  --item '{"UserId": {"S": "u1"}, "Email": {"S": "a@b.com"}}'aws dynamodb get-item --table-name Users \  --key '{"UserId": {"S": "u1"}}'

boto3 (Python SDK)

Using the high-level Table resource.

python

import boto3dynamodb = boto3.resource('dynamodb')table = dynamodb.Table('Users')table.put_item(Item={'UserId': 'u1', 'Email': 'a@b.com'})resp = table.get_item(Key={'UserId': 'u1'})item = resp.get('Item')table.update_item(    Key={'UserId': 'u1'},    UpdateExpression='SET Email = :e',    ExpressionAttributeValues={':e': 'x@y.com'})

Core Concepts

Key building blocks of the DynamoDB model.

Partition key- hash key that determines how items are distributed across partitions
Sort key- optional range key that orders items sharing a partition key
GSI- Global Secondary Index; an alternate partition/sort key for new query patterns
LSI- Local Secondary Index; alternate sort key, same partition key, set at table creation
On-demand vs provisioned- pay-per-request billing versus fixed RCU/WCU capacity
DynamoDB Streams- an ordered, time-limited feed of item-level table changes

Key Operations

The main ways to read and write data.

GetItem- retrieves a single item by its exact primary key
Query- retrieves items sharing a partition key, optionally filtered by sort key
Scan- reads every item in a table; expensive, avoid for large tables
ConditionExpression- writes only if a condition holds, enabling optimistic locking
BatchWriteItem- writes or deletes up to 25 items in a single call
TransactWriteItems- performs an atomic write across multiple items/tables

Pro Tip

Design your table around access patterns first — DynamoDB has no JOINs, so single-table design up front is far cheaper than retrofitting new query patterns onto an existing key schema later.

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