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Serverless By Theodo profile image Thomas Aribart
Thomas Aribart for Serverless By Theodo

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The DynamoDB-Toolbox v1 beta is here 🙌 All you need to know!

#typescript #dynamodb #aws #serverless

At Theodo, we are big fans of Jeremy Daly’s DynamoDB-Toolbox. We started using it as early as 2019 and grew fond of it... but were also well aware of its flaws 😅

One of them was that it had originally been coded in JavaScript. Although Jeremy rewrote the source code in TypeScript in 2020, it didn't handle type inference, a feature that I eventually came to implement myself in the v0.4.

However, there were still some features that we felt lacked: From declaring enums on primitives, to supporting recursive schemas and types (lists and maps sub-attributes) and polymorphism.

I was also wary of the object-oriented approach: I don’t have anything against classes, but they are not tree-shakable. Meaning that they should be kept relatively light in a serverless context. That’s what AWS went for with the v3 of their SDK, and for good reasons: Keep bundles tight!

That just wasn't the case for DynamoDB-Toolbox: I remember working on an .update method that was more than 1000 lines long... But why bundle it when you don't even need it?

So last year, I decided to throw myself into a complete overhaul of the code, with three main objectives:

Today, I am happy to announce the v1 beta of dynamodb-toolbox is out 🙌 It includes reworked Table and Entity classes, as well as complete support for PutItem, GetItem and DeleteItem commands (including conditions and projections), with UpdateItem, Query and Scan commands soon to follow.

This article details how the new API works and the main breaking changes from previous versions - which, by the way, only concern the API: No data migration needed 🥳

Let's dive in!

Table of content

Installation 



### npm
npm i dynamodb-toolbox@1.0.0-beta.0

## yarn
yarn add dynamodb-toolbox@1.0.0-beta.0

## ...and so on
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☝️ Stay up to date with the patches by following the project GitHub releases

The v1 is built on top the v3 of the AWS SDK. It has @aws-sdk/client-dynamodb and @aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb as peer dependencies so you’ll have to install them as well:



## npm
npm i @aws-sdk/client-dynamodb @aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb

## yarn
yarn add @aws-sdk/client-dynamodb @aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb

## ...and so on
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Tables

Tables are defined pretty much the same way as in previous versions, but the key attributes now have a type along with their name:



import { DynamoDBClient } from '@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb';
import { DynamoDBDocumentClient } from '@aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb';
// Will be renamed Table in the official release 😉
import { TableV2 } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const dynamoDBClient = new DynamoDBClient({});
const documentClient = DynamoDBDocumentClient.from(dynamoDBClient);

const myTable = new TableV2({
  name: 'MySuperTable',
  partitionKey: {
    name: 'PK',
    type: 'string', // 'string' | 'number' | 'binary'
  },
  sortKey: {
    name: 'SK',
    type: 'string',
  },
  documentClient,
});
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☝️ The v1 does not support indexes yet as queries are not yet available.

As in previous versions, the v1 classes tag your data with an entity identifier through an internal entity string attribute, saved as "_et" by default. This can be renamed at the Table level through the entityAttributeSavedAs argument:



const myTable = new TableV2({
  ...
  // 👇 defaults to "_et"
  entityAttributeSavedAs: '__entity__',
});
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Entities

For Entities, the main change is that the attributes argument becomes schema:



// Will be renamed Entity in the official release 😉
import { EntityV2, schema } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const myEntity = new EntityV2({
  name: 'MyEntity',
  table: myTable,
  // Attributes definition
  schema: schema({ ... }),
});
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Timestamps

The internal timestamp attributes are also there and behave similarly as in the previous versions. You can set the timestamps to false to disable them (default value is true), or fine-tune the created and modified attributes names:



const myEntity = new EntityV2({
  ...
  // 👇 de-activate timestamps altogether
  timestamps: false,
});

const myEntity = new EntityV2({
  ...
  timestamps: {
    // 👇 de-activate only `created` attribute
    created: false,
    modified: true,
  },
});

const myEntity = new EntityV2({
  ...
  timestamps: {
    created: {
      // 👇 defaults to "created"
      name: 'creationDate',
      // 👇 defaults to "_ct"
      savedAs: '__createdAt__',
    },
    modified: {
      // 👇 defaults to "modified"
      name: 'lastModificationDate',
      // 👇 defaults to "_md"
      savedAs: '__lastMod__',
    },
  },
});
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Matching the Table schema

An important change from previous versions is that the EntityV2 key attributes are validated against the TableV2 schema, both through types and at runtime. There are two ways to match the table schema:

  • The simplest one is to have an entity schema that already matches the table schema (see "Designing Entity schemas"). The Entity is then considered valid and no other argument is required:


import { string } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonEntity = new EntityV2({
  name: 'Pokemon',
  table: myTable, // <= { PK: string, SK: string } primary key
  schema: schema({
    // Provide a schema that matches the primary key
    PK: string().key(),
    // 🙌 using "savedAs" will also work
    pokemonId: string().key().savedAs('SK'),
    ...
  }),
});
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  • If the entity key attributes don't match the table schema, the Entity class will require you to add a computeKey property which must derive the primary key from them:


const pokemonEntity = new EntityV2({
  ...
  table: myTable, // <= { PK: string, SK: string } primary key
  schema: schema({
    pokemonClass: string().key(),
    pokemonId: string().key(),
    ...
  }),
  // 🙌 `computeKey` is correctly typed
  computeKey: ({ pokemonClass, pokemonId }) => ({
    PK: pokemonClass,
    SK: pokemonId,
  }),
});
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SavedItem and FormattedItem

If you feel lost, you can always use the SavedItem and FormattedItem utility types to infer the type of your entity items:



import type { FormattedItem, SavedItem } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonEntity = new EntityV2({
  name: 'Pokemon',
  timestamps: true,
  table: myTable,
  schema: schema({
    pokemonClass: string().key().savedAs('PK'),
    pokemonId: string().key().savedAs('SK'),
    level: number().default(1),
    customName: string().optional(),
    internalField: string().hidden(),
  }),
});

// What Pokemons will look like in DynamoDB
type SavedPokemon = SavedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>;
// 🙌 Equivalent to:
// {
//   _et: "Pokemon",
//   _ct: string,
//   _md: string,
//   PK: string,
//   SK: string,
//   level: number,
//   customName?: string | undefined,
//   internalField: string | undefined,
// }

// What fetched Pokemons will look like in your code
type FormattedPokemon = FormattedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>;
// 🙌 Equivalent to:
// {
//   created: string,
//   modified: string,
//   pokemonClass: string,
//   pokemonId: string,
//   level: number,
//   customName?: string | undefined,
// }
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Designing Entity schemas

Now let’s dive into the part that received the most significant overhaul: Schema definition.

Schema definition

Similarly to zod or yup, attributes are now defined through function builders. For TS users, this removes the need for the as const statement previously needed for type inference (so don't forget to remove it when you migrate 🙈).

You can either import the attribute builders through their dedicated imports, or through the attribute or attr shorthands. For instance, those declarations will output the same attribute schema:



import { string, attribute, attr } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

// 👇 More tree-shakable
const pokemonName = string();
// 👇 Not tree-shakable, but single import
const pokemonName = attribute.string();
const pokemonName = attr.string();
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Prior to being wrapped in a schema declaration, attributes are called warm: They are not validated (at run-time) and can be used to build other schemas. By inspecting their types, you will see that they are prefixed with $. Once frozen, validation is applied and building methods are stripped:

Warm vs frozen schemas

The main takeaway is that warm schemas can be composed while frozen schemas cannot:



import { schema } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonName = string();

const pokemonSchema = schema({
  // 👍 No problem
  pokemonName,
  ...
});

const pokedexSchema = schema({
  // ❌ Not possible
  pokemon: pokemonSchema,
  ...
});
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You can create/update warm attributes by using dedicated methods or by providing option objects. The former provides a slick devX with autocomplete and shorthands, while the latter theoretically requires less compute time and memory usage, although it should be very minor (validation being only applied on freeze):



// Using methods
const pokemonName = string().required('always');
// Using options
const pokemonName = string({ required: 'always' });
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All attributes share the following options:

  • required (string?="atLeastOnce") Tag a root attribute or Map sub-attribute as required. Possible values are:
    • "atLeastOnce" Required in PutItem commands
    • "never": Optional in all commands
    • "always": Required in PutItem, GetItem and DeleteItem commands


// Equivalent
const pokemonName = string().required();
const pokemonName = string({ required: 'atLeastOnce' });

// `.optional()` is a shorthand for `.required(”never”)`
const pokemonName = string().optional();
const pokemonName = string({ required: 'never' });
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A very important breaking change from previous versions is that root attributes and Map sub-attributes are now required by default. This was made so composition and validation work better together.

💡 Outside of root attributes and Map sub-attributes, such as in a list of strings, it doesn’t make sense for sub-schemas to be optional. So, should I force users to write list(string().required()) every time OR make string validation and type inference aware of their context (ignore required in lists but not in maps)? It felt more elegant to enforce string() as required by default and prevent schemas such as list(string().optional()).

  • hidden (boolean?=true) Skip attribute when formatting the returned item of a command:


const pokemonName = string().hidden();
const pokemonName = string({ hidden: true });
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  • key (boolean?=true) Tag attribute as needed to compute the primary key:


// Note: The method will also modify the `required` property to "always"
// (it is often the case in practice, you can still use `.optional()` if needed)
const pokemonName = string().key();
const pokemonName = string({ key: true });
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  • savedAs (string) Previously known as map. Rename a root or Map sub-attribute before sending commands:


const pokemonName = string().savedAs('_n');
const pokemonName = string({ savedAs: '_n' });
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Attributes types

Here’s the exhaustive list of available attribute types:

Any

Define an attribute of any value. No validation will be applied at runtime, and its type will be resolved as unknown:



import { any } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  metadata: any(),
});

type FormattedPokemon = FormattedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>;
// => {
//   ...
//   metadata: unknown
// }
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You can provide default values through the default option or method:



const metadata = any().default({ any: 'value' });
const metadata = any({
  default: () => 'Getters also work!',
});
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Primitives

Defines a string, number, boolean or binary attribute:



import { string, number, boolean, binary } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  pokemonType: string(),
  level: number(),
  isLegendary: boolean(),
  binEncoded: binary(),
});

type FormattedPokemon = FormattedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>;
// => {
//   ...
//   pokemonType: string
//   level: number
//   isLegendary: boolean
//   binEncoded: Buffer
// }
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You can provide default values through the default option or method:



// 🙌 Correctly typed!
const level = number().default(42);
const date = string().default(() => new Date().toISOString());

const level = number({ default: 42 });
const date = string({
  default: () => new Date().toISOString(),
});
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Primitive types have an additional enum option. For instance, you could provide a finite list of pokemon types:



const pokemonTypeAttribute = string().enum('fire', 'grass', 'water');

// Shorthand for `.enum("POKEMON").default("POKEMON")`
const pokemonPartitionKey = string().const('POKEMON');
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💡 For type inference reasons, the enum option is only available as a method, not as an object option

Set

Defines a set of strings, numbers or binaries. Unlike in previous versions, sets are kept as Set classes. Let me know if you would prefer using arrays (or being able to choose from both):



import { set } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  skills: set(string()),
});

type FormattedPokemon = FormattedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>;
// => {
//   ...
//   skills: Set<string>
// }
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Options can be provided as a 2nd argument:



const setAttr = set(string()).hidden();
const setAttr = set(string(), { hidden: true });
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List

Defines a list of sub-schemas of any type:



import { list } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  skills: list(string()),
});

type FormattedPokemon = FormattedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>;
// => {
//   ...
//   skills: string[]
// }
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As in sets, options can be povided as a 2nd argument.

Map

Defines a finite list of key-value pairs. Keys must follow a string schema, while values can be sub-schema of any type:



import { map } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  nestedMagic: map({
    will: map({
      work: string().const('!'),
    }),
  }),
});

type FormattedPokemon = FormattedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>;
// => {
//   ...
//   nestedMagic: {
//     will: {
//       work: "!"
//     }
//   }
// }
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As in sets and lists, options can be povided as a 2nd argument.

Record

A new attribute type that translates to Partial<Record<KeyType, ValueType>> in TypeScript. Records differ from maps as they can accept an infinite range of keys:



import { record } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonType = string().enum(...);

const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  weaknessesByPokemonType: record(pokemonType, number()),
});

type FormattedPokemon = FormattedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>;
// => {
//   ...
//   weaknessesByPokemonType: {
//     [key in PokemonType]?: number
//   }
// }
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Options can be provided as a 3rd argument:



const recordAttr = record(string(), number()).hidden();
const recordAttr = record(string(), number(), { hidden: true });
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AnyOf

A new meta-attribute type that represents a union of types, i.e. a range of possible types:



import { anyOf } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  pokemonType: anyOf([
    string().const('fire'),
    string().const('grass'),
    string().const('water'),
  ]),
});
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In this particular case, an enum would have done the trick. However, anyOf becomes particularly powerful when used in conjunction with a map and the enum or const directives of a primitive attribute, to implement polymorphism:



const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  captureState: anyOf([
    map({
      status: string().const('caught'),
      // 👇 captureState.trainerId exists if status is "caught"...
      trainerId: string(),
    }),
    // ...but not otherwise! 🙌
    map({ status: string().const('wild') }),
  ]),
});

type CaptureState = FormattedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>['captureState'];
// 🙌 Equivalent to:
// | { status: "wild" }
// | { status: "caught", trainerId: string }
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As in sets, lists and maps, options can be povided as a 2nd argument.

Looking forward

That’s all for now! I’m planning on including new tuple and allOf attributes at some point.

If there are other types you’d like to see, feel free to leave a comment on this article and/or open a discussion on the official repo with the v1 label 👍

Computed defaults

In previous versions, default was used to compute attribute from other attributes values. This feature was very handy for "technical" attributes such as composite indexes.

However, it was just impossible to type correctly in TypeScript:



const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  level: number(),
  levelPlusOne: number().default(
    // ❌ No way to retrieve the caller context
    input => input.level + 1,
  ),
});
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It means the input was typed as any and it fell to the developper to type it correctly, which just didn’t cut it for me.

The solution I committed to was to split computed defaults declaration into 2 steps:

  • First, declare that an attribute default should be derived from other attributes:


import { ComputedDefault } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  level: number(),
  levelPlusOne: number().default(ComputedDefault),
});
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💡 ComputedDefault is a JavaScript Symbol (TLDR: A sort of unique and custom null), so it cannot possibly conflict with an actual desired default value.

  • Then, declare a way to compute this attribute at the entity level, through the computeDefaults property:


const pokemonEntity = new EntityV2({
  ...
  schema: pokemonSchema,
  computeDefaults: {
    // 🙌 Correctly typed!
    levelPlusOne: ({ level }) => level + 1,
  },
});
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In the tricky case of nested attributes, computeDefaults becomes an object with an _attributes or _elements property to emphasize that the computing is local:



const pokemonSchema = schema({
  ...
  defaultLevel: number(),
  // 👇 Defaulted Map attribute
  levelHistory: map({
    currentLevel: number(),
    // 👇 Defaulted sub-attribute
    nextLevel: number().default(ComputedDefault),
  }).default(ComputedDefault),
});

const pokemonEntity = new EntityV2({
  ...
  schema: pokemonSchema,
  computeDefaults: {
    levelHistory: {
      // Defaulted value of Map attribute
      _map: item => ({
        currentLevel: item.defaultLevel,
        nextLevel: item.defaultLevel,
      }),
      _attributes: {
        // Defaulted value of sub-attribute
        nextLevel: (levelHistory, item) => levelHistory.currentLevel + 1,
      },
    },
  },
});
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Note that there is (and has always been) an ambiguity as to when default values are actually used, that I hope to solve soon by splitting it into getDefault, putDefault, updateDefault and so on (default being the one to rule them all). For the moment, defaults are only used in putItem commands.

Commands

Now that we know how to design entities, let’s take a look at how we can leverage them to craft commands 👍

💡 The beta only supports the PutItem, GetItem, and DeleteItem commands. If you need to run UpdateItem, Query or Scan commands, our advice is to run native SDK commands and format their output with the formatSavedItem util.

As mentioned in the intro, I searched for a syntax that favored tree-shaking. Here's an example of it, with the PutItem command:



// v0.x Not tree-shakable
const response = await pokemonEntity.putItem(pokemonItem, options);

// v1 Tree-shakable 🙌
import { PutItemCommand } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const command = new PutItemCommand(
  pokemonEntity,
  // 🙌 Correctly typed!
  pokemonItem,
  // 👇 Optional
  putItemOptions,
);

// Get command params
const params = command.params();
// Send command
const response = await command.send();
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pokemonItem can be provided later or edited, which can be useful if the command is built in several steps (at execution, an error will be thrown if no item has been provided):



import { PutItemCommand } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const incompleteCommand = new PutItemCommand(pokemonEntity);

// (will return a new command and not mutate the original one)
const completeCommand = incompleteCommand.item(pokemonItem);

// (can be chained by design)
const response = await incompleteCommand
  .item(pokemonItem)
  .options(options)
  .send();
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You can also use the .build method of the entity to craft a command directly hydrated with your entity:



// 🙌 We get a syntax closer to v0.x... but tree-shakable!
const response = await pokemonEntity
  .build(PutItemCommand)
  .item(pokemonItem)
  .options(options)
  .send();
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💡 As much as I appreciate this syntax, it makes mocking hard in unit tests. I'm already working on a mockEntity helper, inspired by the awesome aws-sdk-client-mock. This will probably make another article soon.

PutItemCommand

The capacity, metrics and returnValues options behave exactly the same as in previous versions. The condition option benefits from improved typing, and clearer logical combinations:



import { PutItemCommand } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const { Attributes } = await pokemonEntity
  .build(PutItemCommand)
  .item(pokemonItem)
  .options({
    capacity: 'TOTAL',
    metrics: 'SIZE',
    // 👇 Will type the response `Attributes`
    returnValues: 'ALL_OLD',
    condition: {
      or: [
        { attr: 'pokemonId', exists: false },
        // 🙌 "lte" is correcly typed
        { attr: 'level', lte: 99 },
        // 🙌 You can nest logical combinations
        { and: [{ not: { ... } }, ...] },
      ],
    },
  })
  .send();
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❗️The "UPDATED_OLD" and "UPDATED_NEW" return values options are not fully supported yet so I do not recommend using them for now

GetItemCommand

The attributes option behaves the same as in previous versions, but benefits from improved typing as well:



import { GetItemCommand } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const { Item } = await pokemonEntity
  .build(GetItemCommand)
  .key(pokemonKey)
  .options({
    capacity: 'TOTAL',
    consistent: true,
    // 👇 Will type the response `Item`
    attributes: ['pokemonId', 'pokemonType', 'level'],
  })
  .send();
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DeleteItemCommand

The DeleteItem command is pretty much a mix between the two previous ones, options wise:



import { DeleteItemCommand } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const { Attributes } = await pokemonEntity
  .build(DeleteItemCommand)
  .key(pokemonKey)
  .options({
    capacity: 'TOTAL',
    metrics: 'SIZE',
    // 👇 Will type the response `Attributes`
    returnValues: 'ALL_OLD',
    condition: {
      or: [
        { attr: 'level', lte: 99 },
        ...
      ],
    },
  })
  .send();
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Utility helpers and types

In addition to the SavedItem and FormattedItem types, the v1 exposes a bunch of useful helpers and utility types:

formatSavedItem

formatSavedItem transforms a saved item returned by the DynamoDB client to it’s formatted counterpart:



import { formatSavedItem } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

// 🙌 Typed as FormattedItem<typeof pokemonEntity>
const formattedPokemon = formatSavedItem(
  pokemonEntity,
  savedPokemon,
  // As in GetItem commands, attributes will filter the formatted item
  { attributes: [...] },
);
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Note that it is a parsing operation, i.e. it does not require the item to be typed as SavedItem<typeof myEntity>, but will throw an error if the saved item is invalid:



const formattedPokemon = formatSavedItem(pokemonEntity, {
  ...
  level: 'not a number',
});
// ❌ Will raise error:
// => "Invalid attribute in saved item: level. Should be a number"
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Condition and parseCondition

The Condition type and parseCondition util are useful to type conditions and build condition expressions:



import { Condition, parseCondition } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const condition: Condition<typeof pokemonEntity> = {
  attr: 'level',
  lte: 42,
};

const parsedCondition = parseCondition(pokemonEntity, condition);
// => {
//   ConditionExpression: "#1 <= :1",
//   ExpressionAttributeNames: { "#1": "level" },
//   ExpressionAttributeValues: { ":1": 42 },
// }
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Projection and parseProjection

The AnyAttributePath type and parseProjection util are useful to type attribute paths and build projection expressions:



import { AnyAttributePath, parseProjection } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

const attributes: AnyAttributePath<typeof pokemonEntity>[] = [
  'pokemonType',
  'levelHistory.currentLevel',
];

const parsedProjection = parseProjection(pokemonEntity, attributes);
// => {
//   ProjectionExpression: '#1, #2.#3',
//   ExpressionAttributeNames: {
//     '#1': 'pokemonType',
//     '#2': 'levelHistory',
//     '#3': 'currentLevel',
//   },
// }
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KeyInput and PrimaryKey

Both types are useful to type item primary keys:



import type { KeyInput, PrimaryKey } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';

type PokemonKeyInput = KeyInput<typeof pokemonEntity>;
// => { pokemonClass: string, pokemonId: string }

type MyTablePrimaryKey = PrimaryKey<typeof myTable>;
// => { PK: string, SK: string }
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Errors

Finally, let’s take a quick look at error management. When DynamoDB-Toolbox encounters an unexpected input, it will throw an instance of DynamoDBToolboxError, which itself extends the native Error class with a code property:



await pokemonEntity
  .build(PutItemCommand)
  .item({ ..., level: 'not a number' })
  .send();
// ❌ [parsing.invalidAttributeInput] Attribute level should be a number
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Some DynamoDBToolboxErrors also expose a path property (mostly in validations) and/or a payload property for additional context. If you need to handle them, TypeScript is your best friend, as the code property will correctly discriminate the DynamoDBToolboxError type:




import { DynamoDBToolboxError } from 'dynamodb-toolbox';



const handleError = (error: Error) => {

  if (!error instanceof DynamoDBToolboxError) throw error;



switch (error.code) {

    case 'parsing.invalidAttributeInput':

      const path = error.path;

      // => "level"

      const payload = error.payload;

      // => { received: "not a number", expected: "number" }

      break;

      ...

    case 'entity.invalidItemSchema':

      const path = error.path; // ❌ error does not have path property

      const payload = error.payload; // ❌ same goes with payload

      ...

  }

};
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Conclusion

And that’s it for now! I hope you’re as excited as I am about this new release 🙌

If you have features that I've missed in mind, or would like to see some of the ones I mentioned prioritized, please leave a comment on this article and/or create an issue or open a discussion on the official repo with the v1 label 👍

See you soon!

Top comments (2)

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sakar_dhana profile image
Sakar •

Thank you for this article. I am real fan of DynamoDB-Toolbox this article will help me to immigrate to the latest version.

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mxro profile image
Max Rohde •

Thanks for putting together the information here and updating the framework. Love DynamoDB toolbox!

I have updated this boilerplate which creates the DynamoDB tables using Terraform and handles migrations using Umzug:

github.com/goldstack/dynamodb-boil...

If there is anything that could be worthwhile to add or improve in the builderplate or documentation, would be very happy to know.

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