Parsing Amazon SNS message formats - Amazon Simple Notification Service
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Parsing Amazon SNS message formats

Amazon SNS uses the following formats.

HTTP/HTTPS headers

When Amazon SNS sends a subscription confirmation, notification, or unsubscribe confirmation message to HTTP/HTTPS endpoints, it sends a POST message with a number of Amazon SNS-specific header values. You can use header values for such tasks as identifying the message type without having to parse the JSON message body to read the Type value. By default, Amazon SNS sends all the notification to HTTP/S endpoints with Content-Type set to text/plain; charset=UTF-8. To choose a Content-Type other than text/plain (default), see headerContentType in Creating an HTTP/S delivery policy.

x-amz-sns-message-type

The type of message. The possible values are SubscriptionConfirmation, Notification, and UnsubscribeConfirmation.

x-amz-sns-message-id

A Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), unique for each message published. For a notification that Amazon SNS resends during a retry, the message ID of the original message is used.

x-amz-sns-topic-arn

The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) for the topic that this message was published to.

x-amz-sns-subscription-arn

The ARN for the subscription to this endpoint.

The following HTTP POST header is an example of a header for a Notification message to an HTTP endpoint.

POST / HTTP/1.1 x-amz-sns-message-type: Notification x-amz-sns-message-id: 165545c9-2a5c-472c-8df2-7ff2be2b3b1b x-amz-sns-topic-arn: arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic x-amz-sns-subscription-arn: arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic:2bcfbf39-05c3-41de-beaa-fcfcc21c8f55 Content-Length: 1336 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Host: myhost.example.com Connection: Keep-Alive User-Agent: Amazon Simple Notification Service Agent

HTTP/HTTPS subscription confirmation JSON format

After you subscribe an HTTP/HTTPS endpoint, Amazon SNS sends a subscription confirmation message to the HTTP/HTTPS endpoint. This message contains a SubscribeURL value that you must visit to confirm the subscription (alternatively, you can use the Token value with the ConfirmSubscription).

Note

Amazon SNS doesn't send notifications to this endpoint until the subscription is confirmed

The subscription confirmation message is a POST message with a message body that contains a JSON document with the following name-value pairs.

Type

The type of message. For a subscription confirmation, the type is SubscriptionConfirmation.

MessageId

A Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), unique for each message published. For a message that Amazon SNS resends during a retry, the message ID of the original message is used.

Token

A value you can use with the ConfirmSubscription action to confirm the subscription. Alternatively, you can simply visit the SubscribeURL.

TopicArn

The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) for the topic that this endpoint is subscribed to.

Message

A string that describes the message. For subscription confirmation, this string looks like this:

You have chosen to subscribe to the topic arn:aws-cn:sns:us-east-2:123456789012:MyTopic.\nTo confirm the subscription, visit the SubscribeURL included in this message.
SubscribeURL

The URL that you must visit in order to confirm the subscription. Alternatively, you can instead use the Token with the ConfirmSubscription action to confirm the subscription.

Timestamp

The time (GMT) when the subscription confirmation was sent.

SignatureVersion

Version of the Amazon SNS signature used.

  • If the SignatureVersion is 1, Signature is a Base64-encoded SHA1withRSA signature of the Message, MessageId, Type, Timestamp, and TopicArn values.

  • If the SignatureVersion is 2, Signature is a Base64-encoded SHA256withRSA signature of the Message, MessageId, Type, Timestamp, and TopicArn values.

Signature

Base64-encoded SHA1withRSA or SHA256withRSA signature of the Message, MessageId, Type, Timestamp, and TopicArn values.

SigningCertURL

The URL to the certificate that was used to sign the message.

The following HTTP POST message is an example of a SubscriptionConfirmation message to an HTTP endpoint.

POST / HTTP/1.1 x-amz-sns-message-type: SubscriptionConfirmation x-amz-sns-message-id: 165545c9-2a5c-472c-8df2-7ff2be2b3b1b x-amz-sns-topic-arn: arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic Content-Length: 1336 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Host: myhost.example.com Connection: Keep-Alive User-Agent: Amazon Simple Notification Service Agent { "Type" : "SubscriptionConfirmation", "MessageId" : "165545c9-2a5c-472c-8df2-7ff2be2b3b1b", "Token" : "2336412f37...", "TopicArn" : "arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic", "Message" : "You have chosen to subscribe to the topic arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic.\nTo confirm the subscription, visit the SubscribeURL included in this message.", "SubscribeURL" : "https://sns.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/?Action=ConfirmSubscription&TopicArn=arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic&Token=2336412f37...", "Timestamp" : "2012-04-26T20:45:04.751Z", "SignatureVersion" : "1", "Signature" : "EXAMPLEpH+DcEwjAPg8O9mY8dReBSwksfg2S7WKQcikcNKWLQjwu6A4VbeS0QHVCkhRS7fUQvi2egU3N858fiTDN6bkkOxYDVrY0Ad8L10Hs3zH81mtnPk5uvvolIC1CXGu43obcgFxeL3khZl8IKvO61GWB6jI9b5+gLPoBc1Q=", "SigningCertURL" : "https://sns.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/SimpleNotificationService-f3ecfb7224c7233fe7bb5f59f96de52f.pem" }

HTTP/HTTPS notification JSON format

When Amazon SNS sends a notification to a subscribed HTTP or HTTPS endpoint, the POST message sent to the endpoint has a message body that contains a JSON document with the following name-value pairs.

Type

The type of message. For a notification, the type is Notification.

MessageId

A Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), unique for each message published. For a notification that Amazon SNS resends during a retry, the message ID of the original message is used.

TopicArn

The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) for the topic that this message was published to.

Subject

The Subject parameter specified when the notification was published to the topic.

Note

This is an optional parameter. If no Subject was specified, then this name-value pair does not appear in this JSON document.

Message

The Message value specified when the notification was published to the topic.

Timestamp

The time (GMT) when the notification was published.

SignatureVersion

Version of the Amazon SNS signature used.

  • If the SignatureVersion is 1, Signature is a Base64-encoded SHA1withRSA signature of the Message, MessageId, Subject (if present), Type, Timestamp, and TopicArn values.

  • If the SignatureVersion is 2, Signature is a Base64-encoded SHA256withRSA signature of the Message, MessageId, Subject (if present), Type, Timestamp, and TopicArn values.

Signature

Base64-encoded SHA1withRSA or SHA256withRSA signature of the Message, MessageId, Subject (if present), Type, Timestamp, and TopicArn values.

SigningCertURL

The URL to the certificate that was used to sign the message.

UnsubscribeURL

A URL that you can use to unsubscribe the endpoint from this topic. If you visit this URL, Amazon SNS unsubscribes the endpoint and stops sending notifications to this endpoint.

The following HTTP POST message is an example of a Notification message to an HTTP endpoint.

POST / HTTP/1.1 x-amz-sns-message-type: Notification x-amz-sns-message-id: 22b80b92-fdea-4c2c-8f9d-bdfb0c7bf324 x-amz-sns-topic-arn: arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic x-amz-sns-subscription-arn: arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic:c9135db0-26c4-47ec-8998-413945fb5a96 Content-Length: 773 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Host: myhost.example.com Connection: Keep-Alive User-Agent: Amazon Simple Notification Service Agent { "Type" : "Notification", "MessageId" : "22b80b92-fdea-4c2c-8f9d-bdfb0c7bf324", "TopicArn" : "arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic", "Subject" : "My First Message", "Message" : "Hello world!", "Timestamp" : "2012-05-02T00:54:06.655Z", "SignatureVersion" : "1", "Signature" : "EXAMPLEw6JRN...", "SigningCertURL" : "https://sns.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/SimpleNotificationService-f3ecfb7224c7233fe7bb5f59f96de52f.pem", "UnsubscribeURL" : "https://sns.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/?Action=Unsubscribe&SubscriptionArn=arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic:c9135db0-26c4-47ec-8998-413945fb5a96" } }

HTTP/HTTPS unsubscribe confirmation JSON format

After an HTTP/HTTPS endpoint is unsubscribed from a topic, Amazon SNS sends an unsubscribe confirmation message to the endpoint.

The unsubscribe confirmation message is a POST message with a message body that contains a JSON document with the following name-value pairs.

Type

The type of message. For a unsubscribe confirmation, the type is UnsubscribeConfirmation.

MessageId

A Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), unique for each message published. For a message that Amazon SNS resends during a retry, the message ID of the original message is used.

Token

A value you can use with the ConfirmSubscription action to re-confirm the subscription. Alternatively, you can simply visit the SubscribeURL.

TopicArn

The Amazon Resource Name (ARN) for the topic that this endpoint has been unsubscribed from.

Message

A string that describes the message. For unsubscribe confirmation, this string looks like this:

You have chosen to deactivate subscription arn:aws-cn:sns:us-east-2:123456789012:MyTopic:2bcfbf39-05c3-41de-beaa-fcfcc21c8f55.\nTo cancel this operation and restore the subscription, visit the SubscribeURL included in this message.
SubscribeURL

The URL that you must visit in order to re-confirm the subscription. Alternatively, you can instead use the Token with the ConfirmSubscription action to re-confirm the subscription.

Timestamp

The time (GMT) when the unsubscribe confirmation was sent.

SignatureVersion

Version of the Amazon SNS signature used.

  • If the SignatureVersion is 1, Signature is a Base64-encoded SHA1withRSA signature of the Message, MessageId, Type, Timestamp, and TopicArn values.

  • If the SignatureVersion is 2, Signature is a Base64-encoded SHA256withRSA signature of the Message, MessageId, Type, Timestamp, and TopicArn values.

Signature

Base64-encoded SHA1withRSA or SHA256withRSA signature of the Message, MessageId, Type, Timestamp, and TopicArn values.

SigningCertURL

The URL to the certificate that was used to sign the message.

The following HTTP POST message is an example of a UnsubscribeConfirmation message to an HTTP endpoint.

POST / HTTP/1.1 x-amz-sns-message-type: UnsubscribeConfirmation x-amz-sns-message-id: 47138184-6831-46b8-8f7c-afc488602d7d x-amz-sns-topic-arn: arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic x-amz-sns-subscription-arn: arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic:2bcfbf39-05c3-41de-beaa-fcfcc21c8f55 Content-Length: 1399 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Host: myhost.example.com Connection: Keep-Alive User-Agent: Amazon Simple Notification Service Agent { "Type" : "UnsubscribeConfirmation", "MessageId" : "47138184-6831-46b8-8f7c-afc488602d7d", "Token" : "2336412f37...", "TopicArn" : "arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic", "Message" : "You have chosen to deactivate subscription arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic:2bcfbf39-05c3-41de-beaa-fcfcc21c8f55.\nTo cancel this operation and restore the subscription, visit the SubscribeURL included in this message.", "SubscribeURL" : "https://sns.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/?Action=ConfirmSubscription&TopicArn=arn:aws-cn:sns:us-west-2:123456789012:MyTopic&Token=2336412f37fb6...", "Timestamp" : "2012-04-26T20:06:41.581Z", "SignatureVersion" : "1", "Signature" : "EXAMPLEHXgJm...", "SigningCertURL" : "https://sns.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/SimpleNotificationService-f3ecfb7224c7233fe7bb5f59f96de52f.pem" }

SetSubscriptionAttributes delivery policy JSON format

If you send a request to the SetSubscriptionAttributes action and set the AttributeName parameter to a value of DeliveryPolicy, the value of the AttributeValue parameter must be a valid JSON object. For example, the following example sets the delivery policy to 5 total retries.

http://sns.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ ?Action=SetSubscriptionAttributes &SubscriptionArn=arn%3Aaws%3Asns%3Aus-east-2%3A123456789012%3AMy-Topic%3A80289ba6-0fd4-4079-afb4-ce8c8260f0ca &AttributeName=DeliveryPolicy &AttributeValue={"healthyRetryPolicy":{"numRetries":5}} ...

Use the following JSON format for the value of the AttributeValue parameter.

{ "healthyRetryPolicy" : { "minDelayTarget" : int, "maxDelayTarget" : int, "numRetries" : int, "numMaxDelayRetries" : int, "backoffFunction" : "linear|arithmetic|geometric|exponential" }, "throttlePolicy" : { "maxReceivesPerSecond" : int }, "requestPolicy" : { "headerContentType" : "text/plain | application/json | application/xml" } }

For more information about the SetSubscriptionAttribute action, go to SetSubscriptionAttributes in the Amazon Simple Notification Service API Reference. For more information on the supported HTTP content-type headers, see Creating an HTTP/S delivery policy.

SetTopicAttributes delivery policy JSON format

If you send a request to the SetTopicAttributes action and set the AttributeName parameter to a value of DeliveryPolicy, the value of the AttributeValue parameter must be a valid JSON object. For example, the following example sets the delivery policy to 5 total retries.

http://sns.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ ?Action=SetTopicAttributes &TopicArn=arn%3Aaws%3Asns%3Aus-east-2%3A123456789012%3AMy-Topic &AttributeName=DeliveryPolicy &AttributeValue={"http":{"defaultHealthyRetryPolicy":{"numRetries":5}}} ...

Use the following JSON format for the value of the AttributeValue parameter.

{ "http" : { "defaultHealthyRetryPolicy" : { "minDelayTarget": int, "maxDelayTarget": int, "numRetries": int, "numMaxDelayRetries": int, "backoffFunction": "linear|arithmetic|geometric|exponential" }, "disableSubscriptionOverrides" : Boolean, "defaultThrottlePolicy" : { "maxReceivesPerSecond" : int }, "defaultRequestPolicy" : { "headerContentType" : "text/plain | application/json | application/xml" } } }

For more information about the SetTopicAttribute action, go to SetTopicAttributes in the Amazon Simple Notification Service API Reference. For more information on the supported HTTP content-type headers, see Creating an HTTP/S delivery policy.