PartiQL

PartiQL is DynamoDB's SQL-compatible query language. Switch any table tab to PartiQL mode (⌘⇧M) to write SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE statements directly instead of clicking filter pills.

Completion stays within the current table: the editor suggests its indexed fields and values, plus a $table placeholder. It does not offer a table picker. See Table overview and indexing for how the local index is built.

Switching a tab into PartiQL mode auto-runs the default SELECT * FROM "table" scan, the direct equivalent of opening the table in the visual view. Once you edit the statement, running it is up to you: press ⌘↩ to execute. Results stream in, and Load more fetches the next pages. For a write statement the same chord runs the button's write mode, by default Commit changes, which stages and commits in one step (see Write templates).

PartiQL uses the same query plan and cost preview as the Workbench.

SELECT * FROM "my-table" WHERE pk = 'USER#42' AND begins_with(sk, 'ORDER#')

PartiQL is not SQL

DynamoDB's PartiQL is a deliberate subset. The editor lints your query as you type and flags constructs DynamoDB won't run. Some diagnostics include a one-click quick fix. The common gotchas:

• IN uses brackets, not parentheses: WHERE id IN ['a', 'b'], not ('a', 'b'). Quick-fix rewrites it. The linter also warns when the list runs past DynamoDB's caps (50 values on a partition-key column, 100 on a non-key column) before the server would reject it.
• No LIMIT clause: page size is a tab control, not SQL. Use Load more.
• No JOIN, GROUP BY, HAVING, aggregates, subqueries, UNION, or CTEs. For joins and aggregates, open a Workbench tab (the linter points you there). Subqueries, UNION, and CTEs aren't available there either.
• LIKE → function: LIKE '%foo%' becomes contains(col, 'foo'), 'foo%' becomes begins_with(col, 'foo'). Quick-fix offered.
• IS NULL / IS NOT NULL warn, with no quick fix. Both are valid PartiQL, but an attribute an item doesn't have is MISSING, not NULL: IS NULL skips that item and IS NOT NULL includes it. Write IS MISSING for items without the attribute and IS NOT MISSING for items that have it.
• Single-quote string literals: 'value', not "value". Double quotes mean an identifier.

The format-help popover next to the Execute button lists these inline whenever you need a reminder. Attribute names that clash with DynamoDB reserved words need aliases. The reserved words checker flags them and generates an ExpressionAttributeNames map you can paste into PartiQL or SDK calls.

Templates & saved queries

The Queries menu drops ready-made statements into the editor, resolved against the active table's real keys and a sampled value, so a SELECT template arrives already referencing your partition key, not a placeholder. Tab through the highlighted holes to fill in the rest.

Keep a statement you'll reuse with the Save button. Your saved queries live in the same menu alongside the templates. A PartiQL save is bound to the table and region it was written for; Workbench saves are the ones that travel between tables. Workbench and PartiQL keep separate libraries, since they speak different query languages.

Write templates

INSERT / UPDATE / DELETE templates use synthetic DEMO-* keys on purpose, so running one straight away can't accidentally mutate a real row. They're designed to run in order (insert, then update, then delete the same demo item), and you edit the keys to target real data.

History

Every executed query is saved to per-mode history (separate from the Workbench's). Reopen the history menu to restore a previous statement into the editor — including failed runs, so you can fix and retry.