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You can build an HTTP API on AWS without provisioning or maintaining application servers: API Gateway receives requests, AWS Lambda runs your code, and Amazon DynamoDB stores the data. For a first CRUD project, AWS’s HTTP API tutorial with Lambda and DynamoDB walks through creating the table, function, API routes, and integration, then testing the endpoint.
How the serverless API works
The request path is client → API Gateway → Lambda → DynamoDB. API Gateway is the HTTP-facing entry point. It routes a request to Lambda, which applies your application logic and reads or writes records in DynamoDB. The response returns through API Gateway to the client. AWS describes this as a standard serverless architecture in its Serverless Applications Lens.
“Serverless” does not mean there are no servers behind the service. It means AWS manages the underlying infrastructure instead of requiring you to provision and administer application servers for this API.
Choose HTTP API or REST API first
API Gateway offers both HTTP APIs and REST APIs. They are distinct API types, not interchangeable names for the same setup. AWS’s getting-started guide uses an HTTP API and says REST APIs include more features. Choose based on the features and configuration your application needs, and follow a tutorial for that same type.
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| Choice | What the AWS tutorial covers | Useful distinction |
|---|---|---|
| HTTP API | Create a DynamoDB table, Lambda function, HTTP API, routes, and Lambda integration; then test the API. | AWS’s beginner CRUD walkthrough uses this API type. See the HTTP API tutorial. |
| REST API | Configure Lambda and its role, create API resources and methods, connect DynamoDB, test, deploy to a stage, and call the stage URL. | AWS describes REST APIs as having more features. A REST API deployment and associated stage are needed for clients to invoke it. See the REST API Lambda integration tutorial. |
The tutorials do not establish a complete current pricing comparison between the two API types. Check AWS pricing for your region and expected usage before choosing on cost alone.
Build the first CRUD API with an HTTP API
The quickest supported path for this example is AWS’s HTTP API CRUD tutorial. It requires an AWS account and an IAM user with console access. AWS estimates the exercise takes approximately 30 minutes and says it can be completed within the AWS Free Tier; that is a tutorial-specific statement, not a promise that every account or later workload will incur no charges.
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- Create the DynamoDB table. Follow the tutorial to make a table with an
idpartition key. This key identifies the records the example will store. - Create the Lambda function. The function contains the request-handling logic and uses permissions to access the table.
- Create an HTTP API in API Gateway. Keep the API type set to HTTP API for this walkthrough.
- Define routes and connect the integration. Configure the routes in the tutorial and connect them to the Lambda function so requests reach the handler.
- Test the endpoint. Send requests using the tutorial’s test instructions and verify that the API returns the expected result from the function and table.
Use the full AWS HTTP API CRUD walkthrough for the current console sequence and example implementation. AWS also points to AWS SAM and CloudFormation as options for automating resource creation once you want repeatable deployments.
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With a Lambda proxy integration, API Gateway passes request information to the function, and the function parses it. With a non-proxy integration, API Gateway configuration maps request data into the integration payload before it reaches Lambda. That mapping can require additional setup. AWS explains the distinction in its Lambda integration documentation.
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For a first API, follow the integration model in the chosen tutorial rather than mixing instructions from different API types or integration modes. Changing the model changes where request parsing and transformation are configured.
Set permissions and access controls deliberately
Lambda needs an execution role to call the AWS services required by the function, such as the specific DynamoDB table and logging services. AWS’s REST tutorial includes a demonstration policy with broad resource values; do not carry those broad values into production. Grant only the actions the function needs and scope resources to the table and other resources it actually uses.
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API Gateway can provide controls such as authorization and throttling. AWS’s Lambda documentation says: “Using API Gateway provides users with a secure HTTP endpoint to invoke your Lambda function and can help manage large volumes of calls to your function by throttling traffic and automatically validating and authorizing API calls.” Those capabilities depend on configuring suitable controls; simply creating an endpoint does not establish that it is protected.
- Choose an access-control mechanism. AWS lists IAM roles, Lambda authorizers, and Amazon Cognito among the options. Select one appropriate to your clients and access model.
- Do not use API keys as authentication. AWS explicitly warns, “Don’t use API keys for authentication or authorization to control access to your APIs.”
- Treat usage-plan limits as best-effort. AWS says usage-plan throttles and quotas are not hard limits; clients may sometimes exceed them. Do not rely on them to block access or control costs. AWS suggests AWS Budgets for cost monitoring and AWS WAF to manage API requests. See the API Gateway usage-plan guidance.
Test, deploy, and clean up
Follow the HTTP API tutorial’s testing steps before treating the endpoint as ready for clients. If you choose the REST API route instead, the deployment sequence is different: AWS’s REST walkthrough requires deploying the API to a stage, then invoking the stage URL with HTTP requests. A REST API that has not been deployed to a stage is not yet callable through that deployment URL.
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When you finish experimenting, use the cleanup instructions in the tutorial to remove resources you no longer need. Check your AWS account’s current service terms and charges before deploying; the tutorial’s Free Tier statement is limited to that exercise and does not guarantee that all accounts or ongoing usage are free.
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