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SQS

SQS CLI Reference

AWS CLI commands for SQS

Complete reference for AWS SQS CLI commands with examples.

Queue Management

Create Queue

# Standard queue
aws sqs create-queue --queue-name my-queue

# With attributes
aws sqs create-queue \
  --queue-name my-queue \
  --attributes '{
    "VisibilityTimeout": "60",
    "MessageRetentionPeriod": "1209600",
    "ReceiveMessageWaitTimeSeconds": "20"
  }'

# FIFO queue
aws sqs create-queue \
  --queue-name my-queue.fifo \
  --attributes '{
    "FifoQueue": "true",
    "ContentBasedDeduplication": "true"
  }'

# With encryption
aws sqs create-queue \
  --queue-name my-queue \
  --attributes SqsManagedSseEnabled=true

# With tags
aws sqs create-queue \
  --queue-name my-queue \
  --tags Environment=prod,Team=backend

List Queues

# All queues
aws sqs list-queues

# Filter by prefix
aws sqs list-queues --queue-name-prefix my-

# Get ARN for all queues
aws sqs list-queues --query 'QueueUrls[]' --output text | xargs -I {} aws sqs get-queue-attributes --queue-url {} --attribute-names QueueArn

Get Queue URL

aws sqs get-queue-url --queue-name my-queue

# With account ID (for cross-account)
aws sqs get-queue-url \
  --queue-name my-queue \
  --queue-owner-aws-account-id 123456789012

Get Queue Attributes

# All attributes
aws sqs get-queue-attributes \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --attribute-names All

# Specific attributes
aws sqs get-queue-attributes \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --attribute-names ApproximateNumberOfMessages ApproximateNumberOfMessagesNotVisible

Set Queue Attributes

# Visibility timeout
aws sqs set-queue-attributes \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --attributes VisibilityTimeout=120

# Long polling
aws sqs set-queue-attributes \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --attributes ReceiveMessageWaitTimeSeconds=20

# Dead-letter queue
aws sqs set-queue-attributes \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --attributes '{
    "RedrivePolicy": "{\"deadLetterTargetArn\":\"arn:aws:sqs:us-east-1:123456789012:my-dlq\",\"maxReceiveCount\":3}"
  }'

# Access policy
aws sqs set-queue-attributes \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --attributes Policy=file://policy.json

# Enable encryption
aws sqs set-queue-attributes \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --attributes SqsManagedSseEnabled=true

Delete Queue

aws sqs delete-queue \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue

Purge Queue

aws sqs purge-queue \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue

Sending Messages

Send Single Message

# Simple message
aws sqs send-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --message-body "Hello, SQS!"

# With delay
aws sqs send-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --message-body "Delayed message" \
  --delay-seconds 60

# With attributes
aws sqs send-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --message-body '{"orderId": "123"}' \
  --message-attributes '{
    "eventType": {
      "DataType": "String",
      "StringValue": "order_created"
    },
    "priority": {
      "DataType": "Number",
      "StringValue": "1"
    }
  }'

# To FIFO queue
aws sqs send-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue.fifo \
  --message-body '{"orderId": "123"}' \
  --message-group-id "customer-456" \
  --message-deduplication-id "order-123-created"

Send Batch Messages

aws sqs send-message-batch \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --entries '[
    {"Id": "msg1", "MessageBody": "Message 1"},
    {"Id": "msg2", "MessageBody": "Message 2"},
    {"Id": "msg3", "MessageBody": "Message 3", "DelaySeconds": 30}
  ]'

# FIFO batch
aws sqs send-message-batch \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue.fifo \
  --entries '[
    {
      "Id": "msg1",
      "MessageBody": "Message 1",
      "MessageGroupId": "group1",
      "MessageDeduplicationId": "dedup1"
    },
    {
      "Id": "msg2",
      "MessageBody": "Message 2",
      "MessageGroupId": "group1",
      "MessageDeduplicationId": "dedup2"
    }
  ]'

Receiving Messages

Receive Messages

# Single message
aws sqs receive-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue

# Multiple messages with long polling
aws sqs receive-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --max-number-of-messages 10 \
  --wait-time-seconds 20

# With all attributes
aws sqs receive-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --max-number-of-messages 10 \
  --message-attribute-names All \
  --attribute-names All

# With visibility timeout override
aws sqs receive-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --visibility-timeout 120

Change Message Visibility

aws sqs change-message-visibility \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --receipt-handle "RECEIPT_HANDLE" \
  --visibility-timeout 300

Change Visibility Batch

aws sqs change-message-visibility-batch \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --entries '[
    {"Id": "msg1", "ReceiptHandle": "HANDLE1", "VisibilityTimeout": 300},
    {"Id": "msg2", "ReceiptHandle": "HANDLE2", "VisibilityTimeout": 300}
  ]'

Deleting Messages

Delete Single Message

aws sqs delete-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --receipt-handle "RECEIPT_HANDLE"

Delete Batch Messages

aws sqs delete-message-batch \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --entries '[
    {"Id": "msg1", "ReceiptHandle": "HANDLE1"},
    {"Id": "msg2", "ReceiptHandle": "HANDLE2"},
    {"Id": "msg3", "ReceiptHandle": "HANDLE3"}
  ]'

Dead-Letter Queue Operations

Configure DLQ

aws sqs set-queue-attributes \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --attributes '{
    "RedrivePolicy": "{\"deadLetterTargetArn\":\"arn:aws:sqs:us-east-1:123456789012:my-dlq\",\"maxReceiveCount\":3}"
  }'

List DLQ Source Queues

aws sqs list-dead-letter-source-queues \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-dlq

Start Message Move Task (Redrive)

aws sqs start-message-move-task \
  --source-arn arn:aws:sqs:us-east-1:123456789012:my-dlq \
  --destination-arn arn:aws:sqs:us-east-1:123456789012:my-queue \
  --max-number-of-messages-per-second 50

List Message Move Tasks

aws sqs list-message-move-tasks \
  --source-arn arn:aws:sqs:us-east-1:123456789012:my-dlq

Cancel Message Move Task

aws sqs cancel-message-move-task \
  --task-handle "TASK_HANDLE"

Tags

# Add tags
aws sqs tag-queue \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --tags Environment=prod,Team=backend

# List tags
aws sqs list-queue-tags \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue

# Remove tags
aws sqs untag-queue \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --tag-keys Environment Team

Common Workflows

Process All Messages

QUEUE_URL="https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue"

while true; do
  MESSAGES=$(aws sqs receive-message \
    --queue-url $QUEUE_URL \
    --max-number-of-messages 10 \
    --wait-time-seconds 20 \
    --query 'Messages')
  
  if [ "$MESSAGES" == "null" ] || [ "$MESSAGES" == "[]" ]; then
    echo "No more messages"
    break
  fi
  
  echo "$MESSAGES" | jq -c '.[]' | while read message; do
    BODY=$(echo $message | jq -r '.Body')
    HANDLE=$(echo $message | jq -r '.ReceiptHandle')
    
    echo "Processing: $BODY"
    
    # Delete after processing
    aws sqs delete-message \
      --queue-url $QUEUE_URL \
      --receipt-handle "$HANDLE"
  done
done

Get Queue Depth

aws sqs get-queue-attributes \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue \
  --attribute-names ApproximateNumberOfMessages \
  --query 'Attributes.ApproximateNumberOfMessages' \
  --output text

Monitor Queue Age

aws cloudwatch get-metric-statistics \
  --namespace AWS/SQS \
  --metric-name ApproximateAgeOfOldestMessage \
  --dimensions Name=QueueName,Value=my-queue \
  --start-time $(date -u -v-1H +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ) \
  --end-time $(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ) \
  --period 300 \
  --statistics Maximum

Create Queue with DLQ

# Create DLQ first
DLQ_ARN=$(aws sqs create-queue \
  --queue-name my-queue-dlq \
  --query 'QueueUrl' --output text | \
  xargs -I {} aws sqs get-queue-attributes \
    --queue-url {} \
    --attribute-names QueueArn \
    --query 'Attributes.QueueArn' --output text)

# Create main queue with DLQ
aws sqs create-queue \
  --queue-name my-queue \
  --attributes '{
    "VisibilityTimeout": "60",
    "RedrivePolicy": "{\"deadLetterTargetArn\":\"'$DLQ_ARN'\",\"maxReceiveCount\":3}"
  }'

AWS SQS

Fully managed message queuing service for decoupling and scaling applications

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On this page

Queue Management
Create Queue
List Queues
Get Queue URL
Get Queue Attributes
Set Queue Attributes
Delete Queue
Purge Queue
Sending Messages
Send Single Message
Send Batch Messages
Receiving Messages
Receive Messages
Change Message Visibility
Change Visibility Batch
Deleting Messages
Delete Single Message
Delete Batch Messages
Dead-Letter Queue Operations
Configure DLQ
List DLQ Source Queues
Start Message Move Task (Redrive)
List Message Move Tasks
Cancel Message Move Task
Tags
Common Workflows
Process All Messages
Get Queue Depth
Monitor Queue Age
Create Queue with DLQ