Getting Your Credentials - Amazon SDK for JavaScript
Grant programmatic access
Services or capabilities described in Amazon Web Services documentation might vary by Region. To see the differences applicable to the China Regions, see Getting Started with Amazon Web Services in China (PDF).

The Amazon SDK for JavaScript version 3 (v3) is a rewrite of v2 with some great new features, including modular architecture. For more information, see the Amazon SDK for JavaScript v3 Developer Guide.

Getting Your Credentials

When you create an Amazon account, your account is provided with root credentials. Those credentials consist of two access keys:

  • An access key ID

  • A secret access key

For more information about your access keys, see Understanding and Getting Your Security Credentials in the Amazon General Reference.

Grant programmatic access

Users need programmatic access if they want to interact with Amazon outside of the Amazon Web Services Management Console. The Amazon APIs and the Amazon Command Line Interface require access keys. Whenever possible, create temporary credentials that consist of an access key ID, a secret access key, and a security token that indicates when the credentials expire.

To grant users programmatic access, choose one of the following options.

Which user needs programmatic access? To By
IAM Use short-term credentials to sign programmatic requests to the Amazon CLI or Amazon APIs (directly or by using the Amazon SDKs). Following the instructions in Using temporary credentials with Amazon resources in the IAM User Guide.
IAM Use long-term credentials to sign programmatic requests to the Amazon CLI or Amazon APIs (directly or by using the Amazon SDKs).

(Not recommended)

 Following the instructions in Managing access keys for IAM users in the IAM User Guide.