DynoTable
Beginner2 min read

Running DynamoDB Local with Docker

DynamoDB Local is the real DynamoDB engine in a single process — no AWS account, no network, no per-request bill. Use it for local development and integration tests, then point the same code at the cloud in production.

Start the container

docker run -p 8000:8000 amazon/dynamodb-local

That exposes the engine on http://localhost:8000.

docker-compose

Most projects pin it in docker-compose.yml so the whole team gets the same endpoint:

services:
  dynamodb:
    image: amazon/dynamodb-local
    command: '-jar DynamoDBLocal.jar -sharedDb -dbPath /data'
    ports:
      - '8000:8000'
    volumes:
      - dynamodb-data:/data
volumes:
  dynamodb-data:

Persistence

By default DynamoDB Local is in-memory — every table vanishes when the container stops. Two flags make it durable:

  • -sharedDb keeps all clients on one shared database file (without it, each set of credentials/region gets its own isolated DB — a common "where did my table go?" surprise).
  • -dbPath /data + a mounted volume writes that file to disk, so data survives docker compose down.

Point the SDK at it

Only the endpoint changes — credentials can be any dummy values:

import {DynamoDBClient} from '@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb';

const client = new DynamoDBClient({
  endpoint: 'http://localhost:8000',
  region: 'local',
  credentials: {accessKeyId: 'x', secretAccessKey: 'x'}
});

Create a table

aws dynamodb create-table \
  --endpoint-url http://localhost:8000 \
  --table-name AppData \
  --attribute-definitions AttributeName=PK,AttributeType=S AttributeName=SK,AttributeType=S \
  --key-schema AttributeName=PK,KeyType=HASH AttributeName=SK,KeyType=RANGE \
  --billing-mode PAY_PER_REQUEST

A single-table PK/SK schema like this is a good default. When you load fixtures, convert plain JSON to the wire format with the DynamoDB-JSON converter.

Verify the container is up and the table landed:

aws dynamodb list-tables --endpoint-url http://localhost:8000

Browse it with a GUI

CLI calls get tedious fast. The usual options are the open-source dynamodb-admin web UI or a desktop client. DynoTable connects straight to localhost:8000 (or any LocalStack endpoint — see connecting to DynamoDB Local & LocalStack) and lets you browse, query with the , and edit local tables with the same UI you use for cloud tables — no aws CLI round-trips.

Updated