Awsclaw DynamoDB

Manage DynamoDB tables and items through the awsclaw DynamoDBTool.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user:

• Asks about DynamoDB tables or items
• Wants to query or scan DynamoDB data
• Needs to create, update, or delete tables
• Wants to perform CRUD operations on items (get, put, update, delete)
• Asks about TTL, backups, global tables, or auto-scaling
• Needs to manage table tags

Tool: DynamoDBTool

Execute DynamoDB commands. ALWAYS provide params object.

Commands

ListTables

List DynamoDB tables.

{ "command": "ListTables", "params": { "Limit": 100 } }

Parameters:

DescribeTable

Get detailed information about a table.

{ "command": "DescribeTable", "params": { "TableName": "my-table" } }

Parameters:

DescribeTimeToLive

Get TTL settings for a table.

{ "command": "DescribeTimeToLive", "params": { "TableName": "my-table" } }

Parameters:

DescribeContinuousBackups

Get continuous backup and point-in-time recovery status.

{ "command": "DescribeContinuousBackups", "params": { "TableName": "my-table" } }

Parameters:

DescribeTableReplicaAutoScaling

Get auto-scaling settings for table replicas.

{ "command": "DescribeTableReplicaAutoScaling", "params": { "TableName": "my-table" } }

Parameters:

Query

Query items by primary key with optional filter expressions.

{
  "command": "Query",
  "params": {
    "TableName": "my-table",
    "KeyConditionExpression": "pk = :pk AND begins_with(sk, :prefix)",
    "ExpressionAttributeValues": { ":pk": { "S": "user-123" }, ":prefix": { "S": "order#" } },
    "Limit": 25
  }
}

Parameters:

Scan

Scan all items in a table with optional filter.

{
  "command": "Scan",
  "params": {
    "TableName": "my-table",
    "FilterExpression": "age > :minAge",
    "ExpressionAttributeValues": { ":minAge": { "N": "30" } },
    "Limit": 100
  }
}

Parameters:

GetItem

Get a single item by primary key.

{
  "command": "GetItem",
  "params": {
    "TableName": "my-table",
    "Key": { "pk": { "S": "user-123" }, "sk": { "S": "profile" } }
  }
}

Parameters:

PutItem

Create or replace an item.

{
  "command": "PutItem",
  "params": {
    "TableName": "my-table",
    "Item": { "pk": { "S": "user-123" }, "sk": { "S": "profile" }, "name": { "S": "John" } }
  }
}

Parameters:

UpdateItem

Update attributes of an existing item.

{
  "command": "UpdateItem",
  "params": {
    "TableName": "my-table",
    "Key": { "pk": { "S": "user-123" }, "sk": { "S": "profile" } },
    "UpdateExpression": "SET #n = :name, age = :age",
    "ExpressionAttributeNames": { "#n": "name" },
    "ExpressionAttributeValues": { ":name": { "S": "Jane" }, ":age": { "N": "25" } }
  }
}

Parameters:

DeleteItem

Delete an item by primary key.

{
  "command": "DeleteItem",
  "params": {
    "TableName": "my-table",
    "Key": { "pk": { "S": "user-123" }, "sk": { "S": "profile" } }
  }
}

Parameters:

CreateTable

Create a new DynamoDB table.

{
  "command": "CreateTable",
  "params": {
    "TableName": "new-table",
    "KeySchema": [{ "AttributeName": "pk", "KeyType": "HASH" }, { "AttributeName": "sk", "KeyType": "RANGE" }],
    "AttributeDefinitions": [{ "AttributeName": "pk", "AttributeType": "S" }, { "AttributeName": "sk", "AttributeType": "S" }],
    "BillingMode": "PAY_PER_REQUEST"
  }
}

Parameters:

DeleteTable

Delete a DynamoDB table.

{ "command": "DeleteTable", "params": { "TableName": "old-table" } }

Parameters:

UpdateTable

Update table settings (billing, GSIs, etc.).

{ "command": "UpdateTable", "params": { "TableName": "my-table", "BillingMode": "PAY_PER_REQUEST" } }

Parameters:

UpdateTimeToLive

Enable or disable TTL on a table.

{
  "command": "UpdateTimeToLive",
  "params": {
    "TableName": "my-table",
    "TimeToLiveSpecification": { "AttributeName": "ttl", "Enabled": true }
  }
}

Parameters:

ListBackups

List DynamoDB table backups.

{ "command": "ListBackups", "params": {} }

Parameters: None required.

ListGlobalTables

List global tables.

{ "command": "ListGlobalTables", "params": {} }

Parameters: None required.

ListTagsOfResource

List tags for a DynamoDB resource.

{ "command": "ListTagsOfResource", "params": { "ResourceArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:..." } }

Parameters:

CreateBackup

Create an on-demand backup.

{ "command": "CreateBackup", "params": { "TableName": "my-table", "BackupName": "daily-2026-02-15" } }

DescribeBackup

Get details of a backup.

{ "command": "DescribeBackup", "params": { "BackupArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:...:backup/backup-id" } }

DeleteBackup

Delete a backup.

{ "command": "DeleteBackup", "params": { "BackupArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:...:backup/backup-id" } }

RestoreTableFromBackup

Restore a table from a backup.

{ "command": "RestoreTableFromBackup", "params": { "TargetTableName": "restored-table", "BackupArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:...:backup/backup-id" } }

CreateGlobalTable

Create a global table.

{ "command": "CreateGlobalTable", "params": { "GlobalTableName": "global-table", "ReplicationGroup": [{ "RegionName": "us-east-1" }, { "RegionName": "us-west-2" }] } }

UpdateGlobalTable

Update a global table replication group.

{ "command": "UpdateGlobalTable", "params": { "GlobalTableName": "global-table", "ReplicaUpdates": [{ "Create": { "RegionName": "eu-west-1" } }] } }

TagResource

Tag a DynamoDB resource.

{ "command": "TagResource", "params": { "ResourceArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:...", "Tags": [{ "Key": "env", "Value": "prod" }] } }

UntagResource

Remove tags from a DynamoDB resource.

{ "command": "UntagResource", "params": { "ResourceArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:...", "TagKeys": ["env"] } }

Related Services

• DynamoDB → Lambda: DynamoDB Streams trigger Lambda functions. Use LambdaTool ListEventSourceMappings to find stream-triggered functions
• DynamoDB → CloudWatch: DynamoDB metrics (read/write capacity, throttling) are in CloudWatch Metrics
• DynamoDB → IAM: Table access controlled by IAM policies. Use IAMTool SimulatePrincipalPolicy to test access
• DynamoDB → CloudFormation: Tables managed by CloudFormation — use CloudFormationTool DescribeStackResources
• DynamoDB → S3: DynamoDB backups can be exported to S3