How to automate DynamoDB item expiration and archival with minimal code?

DVA-C02 By islever Editorial Last updated Aug 7, 2026

Short answer

A Enable TTL on the expirationDate attribute in the table. Create a DynamoDB stream. Create an AWS Lambda function to process the deleted items. Create a DynamoDB trigger for the Lambda function.

Question

A developer supports an application that accesses data in an Amazon DynamoDB table. One of the item attributes is expirationDate in the timestamp format. The application uses this attribute to find items, archive them, and remove them from the table based on the timestamp value. The application will be decommissioned soon, and the developer must find another way to implement this functionality. The developer needs a solution that will require the least amount of code to write. Which solution will meet these requirements?

Enable TTL on the expirationDate attribute in the table. Create a DynamoDB stream. Create an AWS Lambda function to process the deleted items. Create a DynamoDB trigger for the Lambda function. Correct Answer
Create two AWS Lambda functions: one to delete the items and one to process the items. Create a DynamoDB stream. Use the DeleteItem API operation to delete the items based on the expirationDate attribute. Use the GetRecords API operation to get the items from the DynamoDB stream and process them.
Create two AWS Lambda functions: one to delete the items and one to process the items. Create an Amazon EventBridge scheduled rule to invoke the Lambda functions. Use the DeleteItem API operation to delete the items based on the expirationDate attribute. Use the GetRecords API operation to get the items from the DynamoDB table and process them.
Enable TTL on the expirationDate attribute in the table. Specify an Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) dead-letter queue as the target to delete the items. Create an AWS Lambda function to process the items.

Key Takeaways

This question tests the combination of DynamoDB TTL for automatic expiration and DynamoDB Streams to capture the deletion event, eliminating the need for custom scanning and deletion code.

DynamoDB TTL automatically deletes expired items, and when combined with DynamoDB Streams and a Lambda trigger, it provides a code-free expiration mechanism that also captures deleted items for archival processing.

Common mistake: Candidates often choose option C, assuming they must manually scan the table and delete items via Lambda and EventBridge, because they overlook that DynamoDB TTL natively handles expiration without any custom deletion logic.

Expert Analysis

Understanding the Requirement

The application currently uses an expirationDate attribute to find, archive, and delete items from a DynamoDB table. The developer needs a replacement that requires the least amount of code. The key operations are: 1. Automatic deletion of items past their expiration date. 2. Archival/processing of those deleted items.

Why Option A is Correct

Option A leverages three native AWS features working together:

DynamoDB TTL (Time to Live): You enable TTL on the expirationDate attribute. DynamoDB automatically identifies and deletes items whose timestamp is older than the current time. This requires zero code for the deletion process.
DynamoDB Streams: When TTL deletes an item, the deletion is recorded in the DynamoDB Stream as a REMOVE event.
AWS Lambda Trigger: By creating a DynamoDB trigger on the stream, the Lambda function is automatically invoked with the deleted item data, allowing the developer to archive or process the item.

This combination fully replaces the old application logic with managed services and minimal code (only the archival Lambda function needs to be written).

Why the Other Options are Incorrect

Option B: Requires writing custom Lambda functions to scan the table, evaluate expiration dates, and call DeleteItem. This is significantly more code and operational overhead than using TTL.
Option C: Similar to B, it relies on an EventBridge rule to invoke Lambda for scanning and deleting. It also incorrectly suggests using GetRecords directly on the DynamoDB table (Streams are required for GetRecords). This is the most code-heavy approach.
Option D: DynamoDB TTL does not support sending deleted items directly to an SQS dead-letter queue. TTL deletions can only be captured via DynamoDB Streams. This option describes a non-existent feature.

Community Consensus

The community unanimously agrees on Option A (100% vote). Commenters highlight that TTL + Streams + Lambda is the standard, most efficient pattern for this use case, completely eliminating the need for custom deletion logic.

Community Votes

100%

100% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.

Discussion 5 contributions

Compiled from public community threads and reader submissions, lightly edited for clarity. Handles and vote tallies are shown as recorded, and comments reflect the views of individual contributors.

From public community threads 5

SerialiDr 👍 3 Answered A

A. Enable TTL (Time to Live) on the expirationDate attribute in the table. Create a DynamoDB stream. Create an AWS Lambda function to process the deleted items. Create a DynamoDB trigger for the Lambda function. This approach leverages DynamoDB's TTL feature to automatically delete items past their expiration date, minimizing the need for custom code to manage this process. The use of a DynamoDB stream and a Lambda function triggered by this stream allows for processing or archiving the items just before they are deleted, without the need to manually scan and delete expired items, thereby significantly reducing operational complexity and code maintenance.
CrescentShared 👍 3 Answered A

Not sure why C. A can totally handle this.
KarBiswa 👍 1 Answered A

It is TTL and stream combination. It will be utilized by the Lambda
65703c1 👍 2 Answered A

A is the correct answer.
Abdullah22 👍 1 Answered A

going with A

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