Tutorial: DynamoDB Transaction resolvers - Amazon AppSync
PermissionsData sourceTransactions
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Tutorial: DynamoDB Transaction resolvers

Amazon AppSync supports using Amazon DynamoDB transaction operations across one or more tables in a single Region. Supported operations are TransactGetItems and TransactWriteItems. By using these features in Amazon AppSync, you can perform tasks such as:

  • Passing a list of keys in a single query and returning the results from a table

  • Reading records from one or more tables in a single query

  • Writing records in transactions to one or more tables in an all-or-nothing way

  • Running transactions when some conditions are satisfied

Permissions

Like other resolvers, you need to create a data source in Amazon AppSync and either create a role or use an existing one. Because transaction operations require different permissions on DynamoDB tables, you need to grant the configured role permissions for read or write actions:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Action": [
                "dynamodb:DeleteItem",
                "dynamodb:GetItem",
                "dynamodb:PutItem",
                "dynamodb:Query",
                "dynamodb:Scan",
                "dynamodb:UpdateItem"
            ],
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Resource": [
                "arn:aws:dynamodb:region:accountId:table/TABLENAME",
                "arn:aws:dynamodb:region:accountId:table/TABLENAME/*"
            ]
        }
    ]
}
Note

Roles are tied to data sources in Amazon AppSync, and resolvers on fields are invoked against a data source. Data sources configured to fetch against DynamoDB only have one table specified to keep configurations simple. Therefore, when performing a transaction operation against multiple tables in a single resolver, which is a more advanced task, you must grant the role on that data source access to any tables the resolver will interact with. This would be done in the Resource field in the IAM policy above. Configuration of the transaction calls against the tables is done in the resolver code, which we describe below.

Data source

For the sake of simplicity, we’ll use the same data source for all the resolvers used in this tutorial.

We’ll have two tables called savingAccounts and checkingAccounts, both with the accountNumber as a partition key, and a transactionHistory table with transactionId as partition key. You can use the CLI commands below to create your tables. Make sure to replace region with your Region.

With the CLI

aws dynamodb create-table --table-name savingAccounts \
  --attribute-definitions AttributeName=accountNumber,AttributeType=S \
  --key-schema AttributeName=accountNumber,KeyType=HASH \
  --provisioned-throughput ReadCapacityUnits=5,WriteCapacityUnits=5 \
  --table-class STANDARD --region region

aws dynamodb create-table --table-name checkingAccounts \
  --attribute-definitions AttributeName=accountNumber,AttributeType=S \
  --key-schema AttributeName=accountNumber,KeyType=HASH \
  --provisioned-throughput ReadCapacityUnits=5,WriteCapacityUnits=5 \
  --table-class STANDARD --region region

aws dynamodb create-table --table-name transactionHistory \
  --attribute-definitions AttributeName=transactionId,AttributeType=S \
  --key-schema AttributeName=transactionId,KeyType=HASH \
  --provisioned-throughput ReadCapacityUnits=5,WriteCapacityUnits=5 \
  --table-class STANDARD --region region

In the Amazon AppSync console, in Data sources, create a new DynamoDB data source and name it TransactTutorial. Select savingAccounts as the table (though the specific table does not matter when using transactions). Choose to create a new role and the data source. You can review the data source configuration to see the name of the generated role. In the IAM console, you can add an in-line policy that allows the data source to interact with all the tables.

Replace region and accountID with your Region and account ID:

{
    "Version": "2012-10-17",
    "Statement": [
        {
            "Action": [
                "dynamodb:DeleteItem",
                "dynamodb:GetItem",
                "dynamodb:PutItem",
                "dynamodb:Query",
                "dynamodb:Scan",
                "dynamodb:UpdateItem"
            ],
            "Effect": "Allow",
            "Resource": [
                "arn:aws:dynamodb:region:accountId:table/savingAccounts",
                "arn:aws:dynamodb:region:accountId:table/savingAccounts/*",
                "arn:aws:dynamodb:region:accountId:table/checkingAccounts",
                "arn:aws:dynamodb:region:accountId:table/checkingAccounts/*",
                "arn:aws:dynamodb:region:accountId:table/transactionHistory",
                "arn:aws:dynamodb:region:accountId:table/transactionHistory/*"
            ]
        }
    ]
}

Transactions

For this example, the context is a classic banking transaction, where we’ll use TransactWriteItems to:

  • Transfer money from saving accounts to checking accounts

  • Generate new transaction records for each transaction

And then we’ll use TransactGetItems to retrieve details from saving accounts and checking accounts.

We define our GraphQL schema as follows:

type SavingAccount {
    accountNumber: String!
    username: String
    balance: Float
}

type CheckingAccount {
    accountNumber: String!
    username: String
    balance: Float
}

type TransactionHistory {
    transactionId: ID!
    from: String
    to: String
    amount: Float
}

type TransactionResult {
    savingAccounts: [SavingAccount]
    checkingAccounts: [CheckingAccount]
    transactionHistory: [TransactionHistory]
}

input SavingAccountInput {
    accountNumber: String!
    username: String
    balance: Float
}

input CheckingAccountInput {
    accountNumber: String!
    username: String
    balance: Float
}

input TransactionInput {
    savingAccountNumber: String!
    checkingAccountNumber: String!
    amount: Float!
}

type Query {
    getAccounts(savingAccountNumbers: [String], checkingAccountNumbers: [String]): TransactionResult
}

type Mutation {
    populateAccounts(savingAccounts: [SavingAccountInput], checkingAccounts: [CheckingAccountInput]): TransactionResult
    transferMoney(transactions: [TransactionInput]): TransactionResult
}

TransactWriteItems - Populate accounts

In order to transfer money between accounts, we need to populate the table with the details. We’ll use the GraphQL operation Mutation.populateAccounts to do so.

In the Schema section, click on Attach next to the Mutation.populateAccounts operation. Choose the TransactTutorial data source and choose Create.

Now use the following code:

import { util } from '@aws-appsync/utils'

export function request(ctx) {
	const { savingAccounts, checkingAccounts } = ctx.args

	const savings = savingAccounts.map(({ accountNumber, ...rest }) => {
		return {
			table: 'savingAccounts',
			operation: 'PutItem',
			key: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({ accountNumber }),
			attributeValues: util.dynamodb.toMapValues(rest),
		}
	})

	const checkings = checkingAccounts.map(({ accountNumber, ...rest }) => {
		return {
			table: 'checkingAccounts',
			operation: 'PutItem',
			key: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({ accountNumber }),
			attributeValues: util.dynamodb.toMapValues(rest),
		}
	})
	return {
		version: '2018-05-29',
		operation: 'TransactWriteItems',
		transactItems: [...savings, ...checkings],
	}
}

export function response(ctx) {
	if (ctx.error) {
		util.error(ctx.error.message, ctx.error.type, null, ctx.result.cancellationReasons)
	}
	const { savingAccounts: sInput, checkingAccounts: cInput } = ctx.args
	const keys = ctx.result.keys
	const savingAccounts = sInput.map((_, i) => keys[i])
	const sLength = sInput.length
	const checkingAccounts = cInput.map((_, i) => keys[sLength + i])
	return { savingAccounts, checkingAccounts }
}

Save the resolver and navigate to the Queries section of the Amazon AppSync console to populate the accounts.

Execute the following mutation:

mutation populateAccounts {
  populateAccounts (
    savingAccounts: [
      {accountNumber: "1", username: "Tom", balance: 100},
      {accountNumber: "2", username: "Amy", balance: 90},
      {accountNumber: "3", username: "Lily", balance: 80},
    ]
    checkingAccounts: [
      {accountNumber: "1", username: "Tom", balance: 70},
      {accountNumber: "2", username: "Amy", balance: 60},
      {accountNumber: "3", username: "Lily", balance: 50},
    ]) {
    savingAccounts {
      accountNumber
    }
    checkingAccounts {
      accountNumber
    }
  }
}

We populated three saving accounts and three checking accounts in one mutation.

Use the DynamoDB console to validate that data shows up in both the savingAccounts and checkingAccounts tables.

TransactWriteItems - Transfer money

Attach a resolver to the transferMoney mutation with the following code. For each transfer, we need a success modifier to both the checking and savings accounts, and we need to track the transfer in transactions.

import { util } from '@aws-appsync/utils'

export function request(ctx) {
	const transactions = ctx.args.transactions

	const savings = []
	const checkings = []
	const history = []
	transactions.forEach((t) => {
		const { savingAccountNumber, checkingAccountNumber, amount } = t
		savings.push({
			table: 'savingAccounts',
			operation: 'UpdateItem',
			key: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({ accountNumber: savingAccountNumber }),
			update: {
				expression: 'SET balance = balance - :amount',
				expressionValues: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({ ':amount': amount }),
			},
		})
		checkings.push({
			table: 'checkingAccounts',
			operation: 'UpdateItem',
			key: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({ accountNumber: checkingAccountNumber }),
			update: {
				expression: 'SET balance = balance + :amount',
				expressionValues: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({ ':amount': amount }),
			},
		})
		history.push({
			table: 'transactionHistory',
			operation: 'PutItem',
			key: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({ transactionId: util.autoId() }),
			attributeValues: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({
				from: savingAccountNumber,
				to: checkingAccountNumber,
				amount,
			}),
		})
	})

	return {
		version: '2018-05-29',
		operation: 'TransactWriteItems',
		transactItems: [...savings, ...checkings, ...history],
	}
}

export function response(ctx) {
	if (ctx.error) {
		util.error(ctx.error.message, ctx.error.type, null, ctx.result.cancellationReasons)
	}
	const tInput = ctx.args.transactions
	const tLength = tInput.length
	const keys = ctx.result.keys
	const savingAccounts = tInput.map((_, i) => keys[tLength * 0 + i])
	const checkingAccounts = tInput.map((_, i) => keys[tLength * 1 + i])
	const transactionHistory = tInput.map((_, i) => keys[tLength * 2 + i])
	return { savingAccounts, checkingAccounts, transactionHistory }
}

Now, navigate to the Queries section of the Amazon AppSync console and execute the transferMoney mutation as follows:

mutation write {
  transferMoney(
    transactions: [
      {savingAccountNumber: "1", checkingAccountNumber: "1", amount: 7.5},
      {savingAccountNumber: "2", checkingAccountNumber: "2", amount: 6.0},
      {savingAccountNumber: "3", checkingAccountNumber: "3", amount: 3.3}
    ]) {
    savingAccounts {
      accountNumber
    }
    checkingAccounts {
      accountNumber
    }
    transactionHistory {
      transactionId
    }
  }
}

We sent three banking transactions in one mutation. Use the DynamoDB console to validate that data shows up in the savingAccounts, checkingAccounts, and transactionHistory tables.

TransactGetItems - Retrieve accounts

In order to retrieve the details from savings and checking accounts in a single transactional request, we’ll attach a resolver to the Query.getAccounts GraphQL operation on our schema. Select Attach, pick the same TransactTutorial data source created at the beginning of the tutorial. Use the following code: 

import { util } from '@aws-appsync/utils'

export function request(ctx) {
	const { savingAccountNumbers, checkingAccountNumbers } = ctx.args

	const savings = savingAccountNumbers.map((accountNumber) => {
		return { table: 'savingAccounts', key: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({ accountNumber }) }
	})
	const checkings = checkingAccountNumbers.map((accountNumber) => {
		return { table: 'checkingAccounts', key: util.dynamodb.toMapValues({ accountNumber }) }
	})
	return {
		version: '2018-05-29',
		operation: 'TransactGetItems',
		transactItems: [...savings, ...checkings],
	}
}

export function response(ctx) {
	if (ctx.error) {
		util.error(ctx.error.message, ctx.error.type, null, ctx.result.cancellationReasons)
	}

	const { savingAccountNumbers: sInput, checkingAccountNumbers: cInput } = ctx.args
	const items = ctx.result.items
	const savingAccounts = sInput.map((_, i) => items[i])
	const sLength = sInput.length
	const checkingAccounts = cInput.map((_, i) => items[sLength + i])
	return { savingAccounts, checkingAccounts }
}

Save the resolver and navigate to the Queries sections of the Amazon AppSync console. In order to retrieve the savings and checking accounts, execute the following query:

query getAccounts {
  getAccounts(
    savingAccountNumbers: ["1", "2", "3"],
    checkingAccountNumbers: ["1", "2"]
  ) {
    savingAccounts {
      accountNumber
      username
      balance
    }
    checkingAccounts {
      accountNumber
      username
      balance
    }
  }
}

We have successfully demonstrated the use of DynamoDB transactions using Amazon AppSync.