DynamoDB: Get All Items (Guide w/ Code Examples)

Scan reads one page at a time. Continue with LastEvaluatedKey until it is absent, processing each page as it arrives instead of loading the whole table into memory.

Install @aws-sdk/client-dynamodb and @aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb, use an ES module on a supported Node.js runtime, and configure an AWS Region and credentials. The examples use an existing Orders table with String keys pk and sk unless an index or timestamp key is described.

import { DynamoDBClient } from "@aws-sdk/client-dynamodb";
import { DynamoDBDocumentClient, ScanCommand } from "@aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb";

const ddb = DynamoDBDocumentClient.from(new DynamoDBClient({}));

let lastKey;
do {
  const page = await ddb.send(new ScanCommand({
    TableName: "Orders",
    ExclusiveStartKey: lastKey,
  }));
  for (const item of page.Items ?? []) console.log(item);
  lastKey = page.LastEvaluatedKey;
} while (lastKey && Object.keys(lastKey).length > 0);

Scans consume read capacity and do not provide a snapshot. Prefer Query for application lookups or export to S3 for large analytical jobs.

Reference: AWS Scan API. For related access patterns, see DynamoDB query examples.