aws-sdk-js-v3-usage

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AWS SDK for JavaScript v3

Package Structure

• @aws-sdk/client-* — one per service, generated by smithy-typescript; one-to-one with AWS services and operations
• @aws-sdk/lib-* — higher-level helpers (e.g. lib-dynamodb, lib-storage)
• @aws-sdk/* (no prefix) — utility packages (mostly internal; don't import deep paths)

Always import from the package root:

import { S3Client } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3"; // correct
// NOT: import { S3Client } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3/dist-cjs/S3Client"

Two Client Styles

Bare-bones (preferred — smaller bundle):

import { S3Client, GetObjectCommand } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";
const client = new S3Client({ region: "us-east-1" });
const output = await client.send(new GetObjectCommand({ Bucket: "b", Key: "k" }));

Aggregated (v2-style but NOT v2, larger bundle):

import { S3 } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";
const client = new S3({ region: "us-east-1" });
const output = await client.getObject({ Bucket: "b", Key: "k" });

Client Configuration

No global config in v3 — pass config to each client. region is always required; set it explicitly or via AWS_REGION env var.

const config = { region: "us-east-1", maxAttempts: 5 };
const s3 = new S3Client(config);
const dynamo = new DynamoDBClient(config);

Do not read or mutate client.config after instantiation — it is a resolved form (e.g. region becomes an async function). See references/effective-practices.md.

For HTTP handler (NodeHttpHandler from @smithy/node-http-handler), retry strategy, endpoint details, logging, FIPS, dual-stack, protocol selection, and S3-specific options → see references/clients.md.

Credentials

All providers from @aws-sdk/credential-providers. Credentials are lazy and cached per client until ~5 min before expiry.

// Default chain (env → ini → IMDS/ECS) — use in most Node.js apps
const client = new S3Client({ credentials: fromNodeProviderChain() });

// Assume role (NOTE: fromTemporaryCredentials is correct for STS AssumeRole)
const client = new S3Client({
  credentials: fromTemporaryCredentials({ params: { RoleArn: "arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/MyRole" } }),
});

// Named profile
const client = new S3Client({ profile: "my-profile" });

Share credentials and socket pool across multi-region clients:

const east = new S3Client({ region: "us-east-1" });
const { credentials, requestHandler } = east.config;
const west = new S3Client({ region: "us-west-2", credentials, requestHandler });

For all providers (Cognito, SSO, web identity, custom chains, STS region priority) → see references/credentials.md.

Streams (e.g. S3 GetObject Body)

Always read or discard streaming responses — unread streams leave sockets open (socket exhaustion):

const { Body } = await client.send(new GetObjectCommand({ Bucket: "b", Key: "k" }));
const str = await Body.transformToString();       // read as string
const bytes = await Body.transformToByteArray();  // read as Uint8Array
// or discard:
await (Body.destroy?.() ?? Body.cancel?.());

Streams can only be read once.

Paginators

Use paginate* functions instead of manual token handling:

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

const client = new DynamoDBClient({});

const tableNames = [];
for await (const page of paginateListTables({ client }, {})) {
  // page contains a single paginated output.
  tableNames.push(...page.TableNames);
}

DynamoDB DocumentClient

Use @aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb to work with native JS types instead of AttributeValues:

import { DynamoDBClient } from "@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb";
import { DynamoDBDocumentClient, GetCommand, PutCommand } from "@aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb";

const client = DynamoDBDocumentClient.from(new DynamoDBClient({}));
await client.send(new PutCommand({ TableName: "T", Item: { id: "1", name: "Alice" } }));
const { Item } = await client.send(new GetCommand({ TableName: "T", Key: { id: "1" } }));

For marshall options, large numbers (NumberValue), pagination, and aggregated client → see references/dynamodb.md.

S3: Presigned URLs, Multipart Upload, Waiters

// Presigned GET URL
import { getSignedUrl } from "@aws-sdk/s3-request-presigner";
const url = await getSignedUrl(client, new GetObjectCommand({ Bucket: "b", Key: "k" }), { expiresIn: 3600 });

// Multipart upload (large files / streams)
import { Upload } from "@aws-sdk/lib-storage";
const upload = new Upload({ client, params: { Bucket: "b", Key: "k", Body: stream } });
await upload.done();

// Waiters
import { waitUntilObjectExists } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";
await waitUntilObjectExists({ client, maxWaitTime: 120 }, { Bucket: "b", Key: "k" });

For presigned POST, signed headers, waiter options → see references/s3.md.

Error Handling

import { S3ServiceException } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";

try {
  await client.send(new GetObjectCommand({ Bucket: "b", Key: "k" }));
} catch (e) {
  if (e?.$metadata) {
    // SDK service error — has $metadata.httpStatusCode, e.name, e.$response
    console.error(e.name, e.$metadata.httpStatusCode);
  }
}

Check e.name or instanceof for specific error types. See references/error-handling.md for full patterns.

For runtime validation, serialization to non-default formats, or questions about what schemas are in jsv3 → see references/schemas.md.

Performance: Parallel Workloads

// Configure maxSockets to match your parallel batch size
const client = new S3Client({
  requestHandler: { httpsAgent: { maxSockets: 50 } },
  cacheMiddleware: true, // skip if using custom middleware
});

Streaming deadlock warning: with limited sockets, don't await the request and stream body separately — chain them. See references/performance.md.

Middleware

Add custom logic to all commands on a client:

client.middlewareStack.add(
  (next, context) => async (args) => {
    console.log(context.commandName, args.input);
    const result = await next(args);
    return result;
  },
  { name: "MyMiddleware", step: "build", override: true }
);

Steps (in order): initialize → serialize → build → finalizeRequest → deserialize

Abort Controller

const { AbortController } = require("@aws-sdk/abort-controller");
const { S3Client, CreateBucketCommand } = require("@aws-sdk/client-s3");

const abortController = new AbortController();
const client = new S3Client(clientParams);

const requestPromise = client.send(new CreateBucketCommand(commandParams), {
  abortSignal: abortController.signal,
});

// The request will not be created if abortSignal is already aborted.
// The request will be destroyed if abortSignal is aborted before response is returned.
abortController.abort();

// This will fail with "AbortError" as abortSignal is aborted.
await requestPromise;

Lambda Best Practices

Initialize clients outside the handler (container reuse), make API calls inside. For one-time async setup, use a lazy init flag inside the handler:

import { S3Client } from "@aws-sdk/client-s3";

const client = new S3Client({}); // outside — reused across invocations

let ready = false;
export const handler = async (event) => {
  if (!ready) { await prepare(); ready = true; } // lazy one-time setup inside handler
  // ... API calls here
};

See references/lambda.md for Lambda layers and versioning.

Node.js Version Requirements

• v3.968.0+ requires Node.js >= 20
• v3.723.0+ requires Node.js >= 18

TypeScript

Response fields are typed as T | undefined by default. Use AssertiveClient from @smithy/types to remove | undefined, or NodeJsClient / BrowserClient to narrow streaming blob types. See references/typescript.md.

SigV4a (S3 Multi-Region Access Points)

S3 MRAP and certain other features require SigV4a. You must install and side-effect-import exactly one of:

• @aws-sdk/signature-v4-crt — Node.js only, better performance
• @aws-sdk/signature-v4a — Node.js + browsers, pure JS

import "@aws-sdk/signature-v4a"; // side-effect only — no exported values needed

See references/sigv4a.md for full details and MRAP ARN format.