Create a new DynamoDB table with higher warm throughput

You can adjust the warm throughput values when you create your DynamoDB table by following the steps below. These steps also apply when creating a global table or secondary index.

AWS Management Console

To create a DynamoDB table and adjust the warm throughput values through the console:

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the DynamoDB console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/dynamodb/.

2. Select Create table.

3. Choose a Table name, Partition key, and Sort key (optional).

4. For Table settings, choose Customize settings.

5. In the Warm throughput field, choose Increase warm throughput.

6. Adjust the read units per second and write units pers second. These two settings define the maximum throughput your table can instantly handle.

7. Continue adding any remaining table details and then select Create table.

AWS CLI

The following AWS CLI example shows you how to create a DynamoDB table with customized warm throughput values.

1. Run the create-table operation to create the following DynamoDB table.

   aws dynamodb create-table \
       --table-name GameScores \
       --attribute-definitions AttributeName=UserId,AttributeType=S \
                               AttributeName=GameTitle,AttributeType=S \
                               AttributeName=TopScore,AttributeType=N  \
       --key-schema AttributeName=UserId,KeyType=HASH \
                    AttributeName=GameTitle,KeyType=RANGE \
       --provisioned-throughput ReadCapacityUnits=20,WriteCapacityUnits=10 \
       --global-secondary-indexes \
           "[
               {
                   \"IndexName\": \"GameTitleIndex\",
                   \"KeySchema\": [{\"AttributeName\":\"GameTitle\",\"KeyType\":\"HASH\"},
                                   {\"AttributeName\":\"TopScore\",\"KeyType\":\"RANGE\"}],
                   \"Projection\":{
                       \"ProjectionType\":\"INCLUDE\",
                       \"NonKeyAttributes\":[\"UserId\"]
                   },
                   \"ProvisionedThroughput\": {
                       \"ReadCapacityUnits\": 50,
                       \"WriteCapacityUnits\": 25
                   },\"WarmThroughput\": {
                       \"ReadUnitsPerSecond\": 1987,
                       \"WriteUnitsPerSecond\": 543
                   }
               }
           ]" \
       --warm-throughput ReadUnitsPerSecond=12345,WriteUnitsPerSecond=4567 \
       --region us-east-1

2. You’ll receive a response similar to the one below. Your WarmThroughput settings will be displayed as ReadUnitsPerSecond and WriteUnitsPerSecond. The Status will be UPDATING when the warm throughput value is being updated, and ACTIVE when the new warm throughput value is set.

   {
       "TableDescription": {
           "AttributeDefinitions": [
               {
                   "AttributeName": "GameTitle",
                   "AttributeType": "S"
               },
               {
                   "AttributeName": "TopScore",
                   "AttributeType": "N"
               },
               {
                   "AttributeName": "UserId",
                   "AttributeType": "S"
               }
           ],
           "TableName": "GameScores",
           "KeySchema": [
               {
                   "AttributeName": "UserId",
                   "KeyType": "HASH"
               },
               {
                   "AttributeName": "GameTitle",
                   "KeyType": "RANGE"
               }
           ],
           "TableStatus": "CREATING",
           "CreationDateTime": 1730241788.779,
           "ProvisionedThroughput": {
               "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
               "ReadCapacityUnits": 20,
               "WriteCapacityUnits": 10
           },
           "TableSizeBytes": 0,
           "ItemCount": 0,
           "TableArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:XXXXXXXXXXXX:table/GameScores",
           "TableId": "XXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX",
           "GlobalSecondaryIndexes": [
               {
                   "IndexName": "GameTitleIndex",
                   "KeySchema": [
                       {
                           "AttributeName": "GameTitle",
                           "KeyType": "HASH"
                       },
                       {
                           "AttributeName": "TopScore",
                           "KeyType": "RANGE"
                       }
                   ],
                   "Projection": {
                       "ProjectionType": "INCLUDE",
                       "NonKeyAttributes": [
                           "UserId"
                       ]
                   },
                   "IndexStatus": "CREATING",
                   "ProvisionedThroughput": {
                       "NumberOfDecreasesToday": 0,
                       "ReadCapacityUnits": 50,
                       "WriteCapacityUnits": 25
                   },
                   "IndexSizeBytes": 0,
                   "ItemCount": 0,
                   "IndexArn": "arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:XXXXXXXXXXXX:table/GameScores/index/GameTitleIndex",
                   "WarmThroughput": {
                       "ReadUnitsPerSecond": 1987,
                       "WriteUnitsPerSecond": 543,
                       "Status": "UPDATING"
                   }
               }
           ],
           "DeletionProtectionEnabled": false,
           "WarmThroughput": {
               "ReadUnitsPerSecond": 12345,
               "WriteUnitsPerSecond": 4567,
               "Status": "UPDATING"
           }
       }
   }

AWS SDK

The following SDK examples shows you how to create a DynamoDB table with customized warm throughput values.

Java

SDK for Java 2.x

Create DynamoDB table with warm throughput setting using AWS SDK for Java 2.x.

import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.DynamoDbClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.AttributeDefinition;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.CreateTableRequest;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.CreateTableResponse;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.GlobalSecondaryIndex;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.KeySchemaElement;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.KeyType;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.Projection;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.ProvisionedThroughput;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.ScalarAttributeType;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.WarmThroughput;

    public static WarmThroughput buildWarmThroughput(final Long readUnitsPerSecond, final Long writeUnitsPerSecond) {
        return WarmThroughput.builder()
            .readUnitsPerSecond(readUnitsPerSecond)
            .writeUnitsPerSecond(writeUnitsPerSecond)
            .build();
    }

    /**
     * Builds a ProvisionedThroughput object with the specified read and write capacity units.
     *
     * @param readCapacityUnits The read capacity units
     * @param writeCapacityUnits The write capacity units
     * @return A configured ProvisionedThroughput object
     */
    public static ProvisionedThroughput buildProvisionedThroughput(
        final Long readCapacityUnits, final Long writeCapacityUnits) {
        return ProvisionedThroughput.builder()
            .readCapacityUnits(readCapacityUnits)
            .writeCapacityUnits(writeCapacityUnits)
            .build();
    }

    /**
     * Builds an AttributeDefinition with the specified name and type.
     *
     * @param attributeName The attribute name
     * @param scalarAttributeType The attribute type
     * @return A configured AttributeDefinition
     */
    private static AttributeDefinition buildAttributeDefinition(
        final String attributeName, final ScalarAttributeType scalarAttributeType) {
        return AttributeDefinition.builder()
            .attributeName(attributeName)
            .attributeType(scalarAttributeType)
            .build();
    }

    /**
     * Builds a KeySchemaElement with the specified name and key type.
     *
     * @param attributeName The attribute name
     * @param keyType The key type (HASH or RANGE)
     * @return A configured KeySchemaElement
     */
    private static KeySchemaElement buildKeySchemaElement(final String attributeName, final KeyType keyType) {
        return KeySchemaElement.builder()
            .attributeName(attributeName)
            .keyType(keyType)
            .build();
    }

    /**
     * Creates a DynamoDB table with the specified configuration including warm throughput settings.
     *
     * @param ddb The DynamoDB client
     * @param tableName The name of the table to create
     * @param partitionKey The partition key attribute name
     * @param sortKey The sort key attribute name
     * @param miscellaneousKeyAttribute Additional key attribute name for GSI
     * @param nonKeyAttribute Non-key attribute to include in GSI projection
     * @param tableReadCapacityUnits Read capacity units for the table
     * @param tableWriteCapacityUnits Write capacity units for the table
     * @param tableWarmReadUnitsPerSecond Warm read units per second for the table
     * @param tableWarmWriteUnitsPerSecond Warm write units per second for the table
     * @param globalSecondaryIndexName The name of the GSI to create
     * @param globalSecondaryIndexReadCapacityUnits Read capacity units for the GSI
     * @param globalSecondaryIndexWriteCapacityUnits Write capacity units for the GSI
     * @param globalSecondaryIndexWarmReadUnitsPerSecond Warm read units per second for the GSI
     * @param globalSecondaryIndexWarmWriteUnitsPerSecond Warm write units per second for the GSI
     */
    public static void createDynamoDBTable(
        final DynamoDbClient ddb,
        final String tableName,
        final String partitionKey,
        final String sortKey,
        final String miscellaneousKeyAttribute,
        final String nonKeyAttribute,
        final Long tableReadCapacityUnits,
        final Long tableWriteCapacityUnits,
        final Long tableWarmReadUnitsPerSecond,
        final Long tableWarmWriteUnitsPerSecond,
        final String globalSecondaryIndexName,
        final Long globalSecondaryIndexReadCapacityUnits,
        final Long globalSecondaryIndexWriteCapacityUnits,
        final Long globalSecondaryIndexWarmReadUnitsPerSecond,
        final Long globalSecondaryIndexWarmWriteUnitsPerSecond) {

        // Define the table attributes
        final AttributeDefinition partitionKeyAttribute = buildAttributeDefinition(partitionKey, ScalarAttributeType.S);
        final AttributeDefinition sortKeyAttribute = buildAttributeDefinition(sortKey, ScalarAttributeType.S);
        final AttributeDefinition miscellaneousKeyAttributeDefinition =
            buildAttributeDefinition(miscellaneousKeyAttribute, ScalarAttributeType.N);
        final AttributeDefinition[] attributeDefinitions = {
            partitionKeyAttribute, sortKeyAttribute, miscellaneousKeyAttributeDefinition
        };

        // Define the table key schema
        final KeySchemaElement partitionKeyElement = buildKeySchemaElement(partitionKey, KeyType.HASH);
        final KeySchemaElement sortKeyElement = buildKeySchemaElement(sortKey, KeyType.RANGE);
        final KeySchemaElement[] keySchema = {partitionKeyElement, sortKeyElement};

        // Define the provisioned throughput for the table
        final ProvisionedThroughput provisionedThroughput =
            buildProvisionedThroughput(tableReadCapacityUnits, tableWriteCapacityUnits);

        // Define the Global Secondary Index (GSI)
        final KeySchemaElement globalSecondaryIndexPartitionKeyElement = buildKeySchemaElement(sortKey, KeyType.HASH);
        final KeySchemaElement globalSecondaryIndexSortKeyElement =
            buildKeySchemaElement(miscellaneousKeyAttribute, KeyType.RANGE);
        final KeySchemaElement[] gsiKeySchema = {
            globalSecondaryIndexPartitionKeyElement, globalSecondaryIndexSortKeyElement
        };

        final Projection gsiProjection = Projection.builder()
            .projectionType(PROJECTION_TYPE_INCLUDE)
            .nonKeyAttributes(nonKeyAttribute)
            .build();

        final ProvisionedThroughput gsiProvisionedThroughput =
            buildProvisionedThroughput(globalSecondaryIndexReadCapacityUnits, globalSecondaryIndexWriteCapacityUnits);

        // Define the warm throughput for the Global Secondary Index (GSI)
        final WarmThroughput gsiWarmThroughput = buildWarmThroughput(
            globalSecondaryIndexWarmReadUnitsPerSecond, globalSecondaryIndexWarmWriteUnitsPerSecond);

        final GlobalSecondaryIndex globalSecondaryIndex = GlobalSecondaryIndex.builder()
            .indexName(globalSecondaryIndexName)
            .keySchema(gsiKeySchema)
            .projection(gsiProjection)
            .provisionedThroughput(gsiProvisionedThroughput)
            .warmThroughput(gsiWarmThroughput)
            .build();

        // Define the warm throughput for the table
        final WarmThroughput tableWarmThroughput =
            buildWarmThroughput(tableWarmReadUnitsPerSecond, tableWarmWriteUnitsPerSecond);

        final CreateTableRequest request = CreateTableRequest.builder()
            .tableName(tableName)
            .attributeDefinitions(attributeDefinitions)
            .keySchema(keySchema)
            .provisionedThroughput(provisionedThroughput)
            .globalSecondaryIndexes(globalSecondaryIndex)
            .warmThroughput(tableWarmThroughput)
            .build();

        final CreateTableResponse response = ddb.createTable(request);
        System.out.println(response);
    }

• For API details, see CreateTable in AWS SDK for Java 2.x API Reference.

JavaScript

SDK for JavaScript (v3)

Create DynamoDB table with warm throughput setting using AWS SDK for JavaScript.

import { DynamoDBClient, CreateTableCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb";

export async function createDynamoDBTableWithWarmThroughput(
  tableName,
  partitionKey,
  sortKey,
  miscKeyAttr,
  nonKeyAttr,
  tableProvisionedReadUnits,
  tableProvisionedWriteUnits,
  tableWarmReads,
  tableWarmWrites,
  indexName,
  indexProvisionedReadUnits,
  indexProvisionedWriteUnits,
  indexWarmReads,
  indexWarmWrites,
  region = "us-east-1"
) {
  try {
    const ddbClient = new DynamoDBClient({ region: region });
    const command = new CreateTableCommand({
      TableName: tableName,
      AttributeDefinitions: [
          { AttributeName: partitionKey, AttributeType: "S" },
          { AttributeName: sortKey, AttributeType: "S" },
          { AttributeName: miscKeyAttr, AttributeType: "N" },
      ],
      KeySchema: [
          { AttributeName: partitionKey, KeyType: "HASH" },
          { AttributeName: sortKey, KeyType: "RANGE" },
      ],
      ProvisionedThroughput: {
          ReadCapacityUnits: tableProvisionedReadUnits,
          WriteCapacityUnits: tableProvisionedWriteUnits,
      },
      WarmThroughput: {
          ReadUnitsPerSecond: tableWarmReads,
          WriteUnitsPerSecond: tableWarmWrites,
      },
      GlobalSecondaryIndexes: [
          {
            IndexName: indexName,
            KeySchema: [
                { AttributeName: sortKey, KeyType: "HASH" },
                { AttributeName: miscKeyAttr, KeyType: "RANGE" },
            ],
            Projection: {
                ProjectionType: "INCLUDE",
                NonKeyAttributes: [nonKeyAttr],
            },
            ProvisionedThroughput: {
                ReadCapacityUnits: indexProvisionedReadUnits,
                WriteCapacityUnits: indexProvisionedWriteUnits,
            },
            WarmThroughput: {
                ReadUnitsPerSecond: indexWarmReads,
                WriteUnitsPerSecond: indexWarmWrites,
            },
          },
      ],
    });
    const response = await ddbClient.send(command);
    console.log(response);
    return response;
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(`Error creating table: ${error}`);
    throw error;
  }
}

// Example usage (commented out for testing)
/*
createDynamoDBTableWithWarmThroughput(
  'example-table',
  'pk',
  'sk',
  'gsiKey',
  'data',
  10, 10, 5, 5,
  'example-index',
  5, 5, 2, 2
);
*/

• For API details, see CreateTable in AWS SDK for JavaScript API Reference.

Python

SDK for Python (Boto3)

Create DynamoDB table with warm throughput setting using AWS SDK for Python (Boto3).

from boto3 import client
from botocore.exceptions import ClientError


def create_dynamodb_table_warm_throughput(
    table_name,
    partition_key,
    sort_key,
    misc_key_attr,
    non_key_attr,
    table_provisioned_read_units,
    table_provisioned_write_units,
    table_warm_reads,
    table_warm_writes,
    gsi_name,
    gsi_provisioned_read_units,
    gsi_provisioned_write_units,
    gsi_warm_reads,
    gsi_warm_writes,
    region_name="us-east-1",
):
    """
    Creates a DynamoDB table with a warm throughput setting configured.

    :param table_name: The name of the table to be created.
    :param partition_key: The partition key for the table being created.
    :param sort_key: The sort key for the table being created.
    :param misc_key_attr: A miscellaneous key attribute for the table being created.
    :param non_key_attr: A non-key attribute for the table being created.
    :param table_provisioned_read_units: The newly created table's provisioned read capacity units.
    :param table_provisioned_write_units: The newly created table's provisioned write capacity units.
    :param table_warm_reads: The read units per second setting for the table's warm throughput.
    :param table_warm_writes: The write units per second setting for the table's warm throughput.
    :param gsi_name: The name of the Global Secondary Index (GSI) to be created on the table.
    :param gsi_provisioned_read_units: The configured Global Secondary Index (GSI) provisioned read capacity units.
    :param gsi_provisioned_write_units: The configured Global Secondary Index (GSI) provisioned write capacity units.
    :param gsi_warm_reads: The read units per second setting for the Global Secondary Index (GSI)'s warm throughput.
    :param gsi_warm_writes: The write units per second setting for the Global Secondary Index (GSI)'s warm throughput.
    :param region_name: The AWS Region name to target. defaults to us-east-1
    """
    try:
        ddb = client("dynamodb", region_name=region_name)

        # Define the table attributes
        attribute_definitions = [
            {"AttributeName": partition_key, "AttributeType": "S"},
            {"AttributeName": sort_key, "AttributeType": "S"},
            {"AttributeName": misc_key_attr, "AttributeType": "N"},
        ]

        # Define the table key schema
        key_schema = [
            {"AttributeName": partition_key, "KeyType": "HASH"},
            {"AttributeName": sort_key, "KeyType": "RANGE"},
        ]

        # Define the provisioned throughput for the table
        provisioned_throughput = {
            "ReadCapacityUnits": table_provisioned_read_units,
            "WriteCapacityUnits": table_provisioned_write_units,
        }

        # Define the global secondary index
        gsi_key_schema = [
            {"AttributeName": sort_key, "KeyType": "HASH"},
            {"AttributeName": misc_key_attr, "KeyType": "RANGE"},
        ]
        gsi_projection = {"ProjectionType": "INCLUDE", "NonKeyAttributes": [non_key_attr]}
        gsi_provisioned_throughput = {
            "ReadCapacityUnits": gsi_provisioned_read_units,
            "WriteCapacityUnits": gsi_provisioned_write_units,
        }
        gsi_warm_throughput = {
            "ReadUnitsPerSecond": gsi_warm_reads,
            "WriteUnitsPerSecond": gsi_warm_writes,
        }
        global_secondary_indexes = [
            {
                "IndexName": gsi_name,
                "KeySchema": gsi_key_schema,
                "Projection": gsi_projection,
                "ProvisionedThroughput": gsi_provisioned_throughput,
                "WarmThroughput": gsi_warm_throughput,
            }
        ]

        # Define the warm throughput for the table
        warm_throughput = {
            "ReadUnitsPerSecond": table_warm_reads,
            "WriteUnitsPerSecond": table_warm_writes,
        }

        # Create the DynamoDB client and create the table
        response = ddb.create_table(
            TableName=table_name,
            AttributeDefinitions=attribute_definitions,
            KeySchema=key_schema,
            ProvisionedThroughput=provisioned_throughput,
            GlobalSecondaryIndexes=global_secondary_indexes,
            WarmThroughput=warm_throughput,
        )

        print(response)
        return response
    except ClientError as e:
        print(f"Error creating table: {e}")
        raise e

• For API details, see CreateTable in AWS SDK for Python (Boto3) API Reference.