DynamoDB: Not Begins With (Guide w/ Code Examples)

NOT begins_with is valid in a filter or condition, but not as a sort-key condition in KeyConditionExpression. This example excludes non-key category values beginning with archived.

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, QueryCommand } from "@aws-sdk/lib-dynamodb";

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

let lastKey;
do {
  const page = await ddb.send(new QueryCommand({
    TableName: "Orders",
    KeyConditionExpression: "#pk = :pk",
    FilterExpression: "NOT begins_with(#category, :prefix)",
    ExpressionAttributeNames: { "#pk": "pk", "#category": "category" },
    ExpressionAttributeValues: { ":pk": "CUSTOMER#123", ":prefix": "archived" },
    ExclusiveStartKey: lastKey,
  }));
  for (const item of page.Items ?? []) console.log(item);
  lastKey = page.LastEvaluatedKey;
} while (lastKey && Object.keys(lastKey).length > 0);

A Query filter cannot reference that query target's partition key or sort key. To exclude sort-key prefixes, use supported key ranges or filter returned items in your application.

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