Create a DynamoDB item with a TTL using an AWS SDK

The following code examples show how to create an item with TTL.

Java

SDK for Java 2.x

// Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0

package com.amazon.samplelib.ttl;

import software.amazon.awssdk.regions.Region;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.DynamoDbClient;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.AttributeValue;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.DynamoDbException;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.PutItemRequest;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.PutItemResponse;
import software.amazon.awssdk.services.dynamodb.model.ResourceNotFoundException;
import software.amazon.awssdk.utils.ImmutableMap;

import java.io.Serializable;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Optional;

public class CreateTTL {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        final String usage = """
                Usage:
                    <tableName> <primaryKey> <sortKey> <region>
                Where:
                    tableName - The Amazon DynamoDB table being queried.
                    primaryKey - The name of the primary key. Also known as the hash or partition key.
                    sortKey - The name of the sort key. Also known as the range attribute.
                    region (optional) - The AWS region that the Amazon DynamoDB table is located in. (Default: us-east-1)
                """;
        // Optional "region" parameter - if args list length is NOT 3 or 4, short-circuit exit.
        if (!(args.length == 3 || args.length == 4)) {
            System.out.println(usage);
            System.exit(1);
        }

        String tableName = args[0];
        String primaryKey = args[1];
        String sortKey = args[2];
        Region region = Optional.ofNullable(args[3]).isEmpty() ? Region.US_EAST_1 : Region.of(args[3]);

        // Get current time in epoch second format
        final long createDate = System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000;

        // Calculate expiration time 90 days from now in epoch second format
        final long expireDate = createDate + (90 * 24 * 60 * 60);

        final ImmutableMap<String, ? extends Serializable> itemMap =
                ImmutableMap.of("primaryKey", primaryKey,
                "sortKey", sortKey,
                "creationDate", createDate,
                "expireAt", expireDate);
        final PutItemRequest request = PutItemRequest.builder()
                .tableName(tableName)
                .item((Map<String, AttributeValue>) itemMap)
                .build();
        try (DynamoDbClient ddb = DynamoDbClient.builder()
                .region(region)
                .build()) {
            final PutItemResponse response = ddb.putItem(request);
            System.out.println(tableName + " PutItem operation with TTL successful. Request id is "
                    + response.responseMetadata().requestId());
        } catch (ResourceNotFoundException e) {
            System.err.format("Error: The Amazon DynamoDB table \"%s\" can't be found.\n", tableName);
            System.exit(1);
        } catch (DynamoDbException e) {
            System.err.println(e.getMessage());
            System.exit(1);
        }
        System.exit(0);
    }
}

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

JavaScript

SDK for JavaScript (v3)

// Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
import { DynamoDBClient, PutItemCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb";

function createDynamoDBItem(table_name, region, partition_key, sort_key) {
    const client = new DynamoDBClient({
        region: region,
        endpoint: `https://dynamodb.${region}.amazonaws.com`
    });

    // Get the current time in epoch second format
    const current_time = Math.floor(new Date().getTime() / 1000);

    // Calculate the expireAt time (90 days from now) in epoch second format
    const expire_at = Math.floor((new Date().getTime() + 90 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000) / 1000);

    // Create DynamoDB item
    const item = {
        'partitionKey': {'S': partition_key},
        'sortKey': {'S': sort_key},
        'createdAt': {'N': current_time.toString()},
        'expireAt': {'N': expire_at.toString()}
    };

    const putItemCommand = new PutItemCommand({
        TableName: table_name,
        Item: item,
        ProvisionedThroughput: {
            ReadCapacityUnits: 1,
            WriteCapacityUnits: 1,
        },
    });

    client.send(putItemCommand, function(err, data) {
        if (err) {
            console.log("Exception encountered when creating item %s, here's what happened: ", data, ex);
            throw err;
        } else {
            console.log("Item created successfully: %s.", data);
            return data;
        }
    });
}

// use your own values
createDynamoDBItem('your-table-name', 'us-east-1', 'your-partition-key-value', 'your-sort-key-value');

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

Python

SDK for Python (Boto3)

# Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
import boto3
from datetime import datetime, timedelta

def create_dynamodb_item(table_name, region, primary_key, sort_key):
    """
    Creates a DynamoDB item with an attached expiry attribute.

    :param table_name: Table name for the boto3 resource to target when creating an item
    :param region: string representing the AWS region. Example: `us-east-1`
    :param primary_key: one attribute known as the partition key.
    :param sort_key: Also known as a range attribute.
    :return: Void (nothing)
    """
    try:
        dynamodb = boto3.resource('dynamodb', region_name=region)
        table = dynamodb.Table(table_name)

        # Get the current time in epoch second format
        current_time = int(datetime.now().timestamp())

        # Calculate the expiration time (90 days from now) in epoch second format
        expiration_time = int((datetime.now() + timedelta(days=90)).timestamp())

        item = {
            'primaryKey': primary_key,
            'sortKey': sort_key,
            'creationDate': current_time,
            'expireAt': expiration_time
        }

        table.put_item(Item=item)

        print("Item created successfully.")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error creating item: {e}")
        raise


# Use your own values
create_dynamodb_item('your-table-name', 'us-west-2', 'your-partition-key-value', 'your-sort-key-value')

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

For a complete list of AWS SDK developer guides and code examples, see Using DynamoDB with an AWS SDK. This topic also includes information about getting started and details about previous SDK versions.