# `aws:executeAwsApi` – Call and run Amazon API operations
<a name="automation-action-executeAwsApi"></a>

Calls and runs Amazon API operations. Most API operations are supported, although not all API operations have been tested. Streaming API operations, such as the [GetObject](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/AmazonS3/latest/API/RESTObjectGET.html) operation, aren't supported. If you're not sure if an API operation you want to use is a streaming operation, review the [Boto3](https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/reference/services/index.html) documentation for the service to determine if an API requires streaming inputs or outputs. We regularly update the Boto3 version used by this action. However, following the release of a new Boto3 version it can take up to a few weeks for changes to be reflected in this action. Each `aws:executeAwsApi` action can run up to a maximum duration of 25 seconds. For more examples of how to use this action, see [Additional runbook examples](automation-document-examples.md).

**Note**  
The `aws:executeAwsApi` action supports automatic throttling retry. For more information, see [Configuring automatic retry for throttled operations](automation-throttling-retry.md).

**Inputs**  
Inputs are defined by the API operation that you choose. 

------
#### [ YAML ]

```
action: aws:executeAwsApi
inputs:
  Service: {{The official namespace of the service}}
  Api: {{The API operation or method name}}
  {{API operation inputs or parameters}}: {{A value}}
outputs: # {{These are user-specified outputs}}
- Name: {{The name for a user-specified output key}}
  Selector: {{A response object specified by using jsonpath format}}
  Type: {{The data type}}
```

------
#### [ JSON ]

```
{
   "action":"aws:executeAwsApi",
   "inputs":{
      "Service":"{{The official namespace of the service}}",
      "Api":"{{The API operation or method name}}",
      "{{API operation inputs or parameters}}":"{{A value}}"
   },
   "outputs":[ {{These are user-specified outputs}}
      {
         "Name":"{{The name for a user-specified output key}}",
         "Selector":"{{A response object specified by using JSONPath format}}",
         "Type":"{{The data type}}"
      }
   ]
}
```

------

Service  
The Amazon Web Services service namespace that contains the API operation that you want to run. You can view a list of supported Amazon Web Services service namespaces in [Available services](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/boto3/latest/reference/services/index.html) of the Amazon SDK for Python (Boto3). The namespace can be found in the **Client** section. For example, the namespace for Systems Manager is `ssm`. The namespace for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is `ec2`.  
Type: String  
Required: Yes

Api  
The name of the API operation that you want to run. You can view the API operations (also called methods) by choosing a service in the left navigation on the following [Services Reference](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/boto3/latest/reference/services/index.html) page. Choose a method in the **Client** section for the service that you want to invoke. For example, all API operations (methods) for Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) are listed on the following page: [Amazon RDS methods](https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/reference/services/rds.html).  
Type: String  
Required: Yes

API operation inputs  
One or more API operation inputs. You can view the available inputs (also called parameters) by choosing a service in the left navigation on the following [Services Reference](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/boto3/latest/reference/services/index.html) page. Choose a method in the **Client** section for the service that you want to invoke. For example, all methods for Amazon RDS are listed on the following page: [Amazon RDS methods](https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/reference/services/rds.html). Choose the [describe\_db\_instances](https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/reference/services/rds.html#RDS.Client.describe_db_instances) method and scroll down to see the available parameters, such as **DBInstanceIdentifier**, **Name**, and **Values**.  

```
inputs:
  Service: {{The official namespace of the service}}
  Api: {{The API operation name}}
  {{API input 1}}: {{A value}}
  {{API Input 2}}: {{A value}}
 {{ API Input 3}}: {{A value}}
```

```
"inputs":{
      "Service":"{{The official namespace of the service}}",
      "Api":"{{The API operation name}}",
      "{{API input 1}}":"{{A value}}",
      "{{API Input 2}}":"{{A value}}",
      "{{API Input 3}}":"{{A value}}"
}
```
Type: Determined by chosen API operation  
Required: Yes

**Outputs**  
Outputs are specified by the user based on the response from the chosen API operation.

Name  
A name for the output.  
Type: String  
Required: Yes

Selector  
The JSONPath to a specific attribute in the response object. You can view the response objects by choosing a service in the left navigation on the following [Services Reference](https://docs.amazonaws.cn/boto3/latest/reference/services/index.html) page. Choose a method in the **Client** section for the service that you want to invoke. For example, all methods for Amazon RDS are listed on the following page: [Amazon RDS methods](https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/reference/services/rds.html). Choose the [describe\_db\_instances](https://boto3.amazonaws.com/v1/documentation/api/latest/reference/services/rds.html#RDS.Client.describe_db_instances) method and scroll down to the **Response Structure** section. **DBInstances** is listed as a response object.  
Type: Integer, Boolean, String, StringList, StringMap, or MapList  
Required: Yes

Type  
The data type for the response element.  
Type: Varies  
Required: Yes