Request Syntax Request Parameters Response Syntax Response Elements Errors Examples See Also

DescribeKey

Provides detailed information about a KMS key. You can run DescribeKey on a customer managed key or an Amazon managed key.

This detailed information includes the key ARN, creation date (and deletion date, if applicable), the key state, and the origin and expiration date (if any) of the key material. It includes fields, like KeySpec, that help you distinguish different types of KMS keys. It also displays the key usage (encryption, signing, or generating and verifying MACs) and the algorithms that the KMS key supports.

For multi-Region keys, DescribeKey displays the primary key and all related replica keys. For KMS keys in Amazon CloudHSM key stores, it includes information about the key store, such as the key store ID and the Amazon CloudHSM cluster ID. For KMS keys in external key stores, it includes the custom key store ID and the ID of the external key.

DescribeKey does not return the following information:

Aliases associated with the KMS key. To get this information, use ListAliases.
Whether automatic key rotation is enabled on the KMS key. To get this information, use GetKeyRotationStatus. Also, some key states prevent a KMS key from being automatically rotated. For details, see How key rotation works in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.
Tags on the KMS key. To get this information, use ListResourceTags.
Key policies and grants on the KMS key. To get this information, use GetKeyPolicy and ListGrants.

In general, DescribeKey is a non-mutating operation. It returns data about KMS keys, but doesn't change them. However, Amazon services use DescribeKey to create Amazon managed keys from a predefined Amazon alias with no key ID.

Cross-account use: Yes. To perform this operation with a KMS key in a different Amazon Web Services account, specify the key ARN or alias ARN in the value of the KeyId parameter.

Required permissions: kms:DescribeKey (key policy)

Related operations:

Eventual consistency: The Amazon KMS API follows an eventual consistency model. For more information, see Amazon KMS eventual consistency.

Request Syntax


{
   "GrantTokens": [ "string" ],
   "KeyId": "string"
}

Request Parameters

For information about the parameters that are common to all actions, see Common Parameters.

The request accepts the following data in JSON format.

Note

In the following list, the required parameters are described first.

KeyId

Describes the specified KMS key.

If you specify a predefined Amazon alias (an Amazon alias with no key ID), Amazon KMS associates the alias with an Amazon managed key and returns its KeyId and Arn in the response.

To specify a KMS key, use its key ID, key ARN, alias name, or alias ARN. When using an alias name, prefix it with "alias/". To specify a KMS key in a different Amazon Web Services account, you must use the key ARN or alias ARN.

For example:

Key ID: 1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab
Key ARN: arn:aws:kms:us-east-2:111122223333:key/1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab
Alias name: alias/ExampleAlias
Alias ARN: arn:aws:kms:us-east-2:111122223333:alias/ExampleAlias

To get the key ID and key ARN for a KMS key, use ListKeys or DescribeKey. To get the alias name and alias ARN, use ListAliases.

Type: String

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 2048.

Required: Yes

GrantTokens

A list of grant tokens.

Use a grant token when your permission to call this operation comes from a new grant that has not yet achieved eventual consistency. For more information, see Grant token and Using a grant token in the Amazon Key Management Service Developer Guide.

Type: Array of strings

Array Members: Minimum number of 0 items. Maximum number of 10 items.

Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 8192.

Required: No

Response Syntax


{
   "KeyMetadata": { 
      "Arn": "string",
      "AWSAccountId": "string",
      "CloudHsmClusterId": "string",
      "CreationDate": number,
      "CurrentKeyMaterialId": "string",
      "CustomerMasterKeySpec": "string",
      "CustomKeyStoreId": "string",
      "DeletionDate": number,
      "Description": "string",
      "Enabled": boolean,
      "EncryptionAlgorithms": [ "string" ],
      "ExpirationModel": "string",
      "KeyAgreementAlgorithms": [ "string" ],
      "KeyId": "string",
      "KeyManager": "string",
      "KeySpec": "string",
      "KeyState": "string",
      "KeyUsage": "string",
      "MacAlgorithms": [ "string" ],
      "MultiRegion": boolean,
      "MultiRegionConfiguration": { 
         "MultiRegionKeyType": "string",
         "PrimaryKey": { 
            "Arn": "string",
            "Region": "string"
         },
         "ReplicaKeys": [ 
            { 
               "Arn": "string",
               "Region": "string"
            }
         ]
      },
      "Origin": "string",
      "PendingDeletionWindowInDays": number,
      "SigningAlgorithms": [ "string" ],
      "ValidTo": number,
      "XksKeyConfiguration": { 
         "Id": "string"
      }
   }
}

Response Elements

If the action is successful, the service sends back an HTTP 200 response.

The following data is returned in JSON format by the service.

KeyMetadata

Metadata associated with the key.

Type: KeyMetadata object

Errors

For information about the errors that are common to all actions, see Common Errors.

DependencyTimeoutException

The system timed out while trying to fulfill the request. You can retry the request.

HTTP Status Code: 500

InvalidArnException

The request was rejected because a specified ARN, or an ARN in a key policy, is not valid.

HTTP Status Code: 400

KMSInternalException

The request was rejected because an internal exception occurred. The request can be retried.

HTTP Status Code: 500

NotFoundException

The request was rejected because the specified entity or resource could not be found.

HTTP Status Code: 400

Examples

The following examples are formatted for legibility.

Example Request

This example illustrates one usage of DescribeKey.


POST / HTTP/1.1
Host: kms.us-east-2.amazonaws.com
Content-Length: 49
X-Amz-Target: TrentService.DescribeKey
X-Amz-Date: 20170705T211529Z
Authorization: AWS4-HMAC-SHA256\
 Credential=AKIAI44QH8DHBEXAMPLE/20170705/us-east-2/kms/aws4_request,\
 SignedHeaders=content-type;host;x-amz-date;x-amz-target,\
 Signature=6bcb6a5ef9ee7585d83955e8a5c3f6d47cf581596208fc0e436fa1de26ef3f6a
Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1

{"KeyId": "1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab"}

Example Response

This example illustrates one usage of DescribeKey.


HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Server: Server
Date: Wed, 05 Jul 2017 21:15:30 GMT
Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1
Content-Length: 335
Connection: keep-alive
x-amzn-RequestId: 13230ddb-61c7-11e7-af6f-c5b105d7a982

{
  "KeyMetadata": {
    "AWSAccountId": "111122223333",
    "Arn": "arn:aws:kms:us-east-2:111122223333:key/1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab",
    "CreationDate": "2025-04-16T16:03:04.060000-07:00",
    "CustomerMasterKeySpec": "SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT",
    "Description": "",
    "Enabled": true,
    "KeyId": "1234abcd-12ab-34cd-56ef-1234567890ab",
    "KeyManager": "CUSTOMER",
    "KeySpec": "SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT",
    "KeyState": "Enabled",
    "KeyUsage": "ENCRYPT_DECRYPT",
    "MultiRegion": false,
    "Origin": "AWS_KMS",
    "EncryptionAlgorithms": [
        "SYMMETRIC_DEFAULT"
    ],
    "CurrentKeyMaterialId": "0b7fd7ddbac6eef27907413567cad8c810e2883dc8a7534067a82ee1142fc1e6"
  }
}