Visual DynamoDB Design and Documentation with DbSchema

Design • 20-Oct-2025

by Roxana Haidiner

Amazon DynamoDB is fast and scalable, but designing and managing its structure can be challenging - especially when you can’t see the schema visually. DbSchema brings a new perspective: you can design DynamoDB visually, edit data directly, and even generate HTML5 documentation or work in teams using Git.

Virtual Foreign Key

DynamoDB Diagram

Reverse Engineer or Design Your DynamoDB Structure

Connect DbSchema to your AWS DynamoDB account, and it automatically reads your existing tables, showing them as clear diagrams with key icons and attribute types. You can also start from scratch, creating new tables visually without writing any JSON.

Here’s an example database for a small online shop:

Table	Primary Key	Description
Users	`UserId` (String)	Stores user information
Products	`ProductId` (String)	Product catalog
Orders	`OrderId` (String)	Customer orders
OrderItems	`OrderId` + `ProductId` (Composite)	Items inside each order
Reviews	`ReviewId` (String)	Customer feedback for products

Tip: In DynamoDB, the primary key must always be defined first. Only after that can you add other attributes or nested JSON fields.

Creating Tables in DbSchema

In DbSchema’s diagram, you can right-click and create a new table visually - no JSON required. For example:

Attribute	Type	Key Type
UserId	VARCHAR	Partition Key
Name	JSON	-
Age	JSON	-

Define the Primary Key

Created after INSERT

Once the UserId key is defined, DbSchema lets you add the rest automatically. You can also adjust names, reorder columns, or edit data types from the GUI.

Insert Data

DbSchema lets you add data directly in the Data Explorer.

Insert Data Visually

You can also use SQL-like commands - even though DynamoDB itself uses JSON. For example:

INSERT INTO Users VALUE {'UserId': 'u123a', 'Name': 'Alice', 'Age': 30}
INSERT INTO Users VALUE {'UserId': 'u124b', 'Name': 'John', 'Age': 25}

INSERT INTO Products VALUE {'ProductId': 'p101', 'Product': 'Wireless Mouse', 'Price': 29.99}
INSERT INTO Products VALUE {'ProductId': 'p102', 'Product': 'Mechanical Keyboard', 'Price': 79.50}

Visual Relationships Using Virtual Foreign Keys

In DynamoDB, there are no real foreign keys, since the database is schema-less and doesn’t enforce relationships. However, in DbSchema, you can create virtual foreign keys to visualize logical connections between tables, just like you would in a relational model.

These virtual lines help you and your team understand how data is related, even if DynamoDB doesn’t enforce it.

Virtual Foreign Key

For example, in our e-commerce design:

Orders.UserId → Users.UserId Each order belongs to a specific user.
OrderItems.OrderId → Orders.OrderId Each order item links back to its order.

How to Create a Virtual Foreign Key in DbSchema

Open your diagram containing the DynamoDB tables.
Hover over the column name in one table (for example, Orders.UserId).
Click and drag the small key icon onto the matching column in another table (Users.UserId).
Release the mouse button - DbSchema will draw a relationship line between the two tables.
Optionally, right-click the line to set cardinality (one-to-many, etc.) or to rename the virtual key.

These virtual links do not affect your DynamoDB data, but they make your schema easier to read and document.

Generate Interactive HTML5 Documentation

Once your design is ready, DbSchema can export your entire DynamoDB structure as interactive HTML5 documentation.

Interactive docs with mouse-over details.

This documentation includes:

Table diagrams with attributes and key icons
Tooltips and descriptions for each field
Navigation between tables and attributes

You can publish the documentation on your internal wiki or share it with your team - no installation required. It’s a great way to keep your DynamoDB structure always up to date and easy to understand.