Redshift API

In the Amazon Redshift Data API, every call is a POST to https://redshift-data.<region>.amazonaws.com/ with Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1 and X-Amz-Target: RedshiftData.<Action> — there are no REST-style paths. The API is fully asynchronous: submit a statement, get back an Id, poll DescribeStatement until done, then page results with GetStatementResult — scripts/rs_query.sh (operation 1) drives that loop for you. The same calls work against provisioned clusters and Serverless; only the connection-target field differs.

Request setup

Authentication is handled by the runtime — requests to this API are signed with credentials configured for the workspace, so there is nothing to set up. Do not try to obtain AWS keys or sign requests yourself. A persistent AccessDeniedException means the credential isn't configured for this workspace — report that instead of debugging auth.

Two pieces of configuration are real and required:

1. Region — it's part of the endpoint hostname:

export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="us-east-1"        # the region your cluster / workgroup is in

2. Connection target — which cluster/workgroup and database the Data API connects to. Pick one and put the matching JSON fields in RS_TARGET; the recipes below merge it into each request body:

• Serverless — pass WorkgroupName. The configured identity is mapped to a database user. Simplest.
• Provisioned, temporary credentials — pass ClusterIdentifier and DbUser. The Data API resolves database credentials under the hood.
• Provisioned or Serverless, Secrets Manager — pass SecretArn pointing to a secret that holds the database login.

Set whichever applies once:

export RS_DATABASE="dev"
# Serverless:
export RS_TARGET='{"WorkgroupName": "my-workgroup"}'
# — or provisioned + temp creds:
# export RS_TARGET='{"ClusterIdentifier": "my-cluster", "DbUser": "my_user"}'
# — or either + Secrets Manager:
# export RS_TARGET='{"ClusterIdentifier": "my-cluster", "SecretArn": "arn:aws:secretsmanager:us-east-1:123456789012:secret:rs-creds-AbCdEf"}'

The helper used below. One function wraps the endpoint, the headers, and the action name. The Authorization header is a placeholder — the runtime replaces it with a real signature.

rsapi() {
  local action="$1"
  curl -sS "https://redshift-data.${AWS_DEFAULT_REGION}.amazonaws.com/" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1" \
    -H "X-Amz-Target: RedshiftData.${action}" \
    -H "Authorization: placeholder" \
    -d "${2:?rsapi needs a JSON body as the second argument}"
}

Sanity check — list databases. A 200 with a Databases array confirms the workspace is wired up and the connection target is right. An error names which layer failed.

rsapi ListDatabases "$(jq -n --argjson t "$RS_TARGET" --arg db "$RS_DATABASE" \
  '$t + {Database: $db}')" | jq .

Core operations

Every action that connects to the database takes the same merged target body — $t + {Database: $db, ...}. Errors come back as {"__type": "<Exception>", "message": "..."} instead of the expected shape; on any call, an absent top-level field (Id, Status, Records, …) means you got the error envelope — print it and stop.

1. Run a query (scripts/rs_query.sh)

Run SQL through the bundled script (path is relative to this skill's directory): it submits with ExecuteStatement, polls DescribeStatement to a terminal state, pages GetStatementResult on NextToken, and decodes the typed one-key cell objects.

scripts/rs_query.sh \
  'SELECT event_name, COUNT(*) AS n FROM public.events
   WHERE event_date >= :start GROUP BY 1 ORDER BY 2 DESC LIMIT 20' \
  --param start=2024-01-01 --name top-events

• SQL is one argument (or stdin). Instance specifics come from AWS_DEFAULT_REGION / RS_TARGET / RS_DATABASE above; --database overrides the database.
• --param NAME=VALUE (repeatable) binds :NAME placeholders — values are always strings; the database casts them. --name sets StatementName so the query shows up in ListStatements.
• --max-rows N caps fetched rows (default 10000, 0 = everything); --json emits one JSON object per row instead of TSV with a header. Statement id, status, duration, and row counts go to stderr.
• Exit codes: 0 success, 1 submit failed or SQL FAILED/ABORTED (the API's own message on stderr), 2 gave up waiting after --max-wait seconds (default 600) — the statement id is on stderr; resume it with operation 2.

If the script errors, read it — it's plain curl + jq — and debug against references/api.md. For BatchExecuteStatement and sub-statement results, session reuse (SessionKeepAliveSeconds / SessionId), ResultFormat: CSV, cancelling, or catalog browsing, use the actions below.

2. Resume a statement by id (DescribeStatement → GetStatementResult)

When the script exits 2 (timeout) or you have a statement id from elsewhere, poll and fetch directly:

rsapi DescribeStatement "$(jq -n --arg id "$ID" '{Id: $id}')" \
  | jq '{Status, Duration, ResultRows, HasResultSet, Error}'
rsapi GetStatementResult "$(jq -n --arg id "$ID" '{Id: $id}')" \
  | jq -r '.Records[]? | [.[] | if .isNull then null else to_entries[0].value end] | @tsv'

• Status ∈ SUBMITTED, PICKED, STARTED, FINISHED, FAILED, ABORTED. Only FINISHED with HasResultSet: true has rows; FAILED carries the SQL error in .Error. Duration is nanoseconds.
• Result cells are typed one-key objects (see the gotcha under Error handling); column names/types are in .ColumnMetadata on the first page. Further pages follow NextToken — no page-size knob; DescribeStatement.ResultRows is the total up front.

3. Cancel a running statement (CancelStatement)

rsapi CancelStatement "$(jq -n --arg id "$ID" '{Id: $id}')" | jq .
# {"Status": true} on success — best-effort, check DescribeStatement to confirm.

4. Run multiple statements in one call (BatchExecuteStatement)

All statements run in one transaction — all commit or all roll back.

rsapi BatchExecuteStatement "$(jq -n --argjson t "$RS_TARGET" --arg db "$RS_DATABASE" '$t + {
    Database: $db,
    Sqls: ["CREATE TEMP TABLE tmp AS SELECT 1 AS x", "SELECT * FROM tmp"]
  }')" | jq '{Id}'

DescribeStatement on the parent Id returns a SubStatements[] array. Each sub-statement has its own Id (the parent ID with a :1, :2, … suffix), Status, and HasResultSet — fetch each sub-statement's results with its own GetStatementResult call.

5. List recent statements (ListStatements)

rsapi ListStatements '{"MaxResults": 20, "Status": "ALL"}' \
  | jq '.Statements[] | {Id, StatementName, Status, QueryString: (.QueryString[0:80]), CreatedAt}'

Status filter: SUBMITTED, PICKED, STARTED, FINISHED, FAILED, ABORTED, ALL — only finished statements are listed if you omit it. MaxResults 0–100. RoleLevel defaults to true (includes statements from anyone assuming the same IAM role); set false to see only this session's.

6. Browse the catalog (ListDatabases / ListSchemas / ListTables / DescribeTable)

All four take the merged target body. Patterns use SQL LIKE wildcards (%, _).

• ListDatabases — Databases[] (strings)
• ListSchemas — SchemaPattern (optional) — Schemas[] (strings)
• ListTables — SchemaPattern, TablePattern — Tables[] {schema, name, type} — type ∈ TABLE/VIEW/SYSTEM TABLE/GLOBAL TEMPORARY/LOCAL TEMPORARY/ALIAS/SYNONYM
• DescribeTable — Schema, Table — ColumnList[] {name, typeName, nullable, length, precision}

rsapi ListTables "$(jq -n --argjson t "$RS_TARGET" --arg db "$RS_DATABASE" \
  '$t + {Database: $db, SchemaPattern: "public", TablePattern: "ev%"}')" | jq '.Tables'

JSON field names are PascalCase (WorkgroupName, not workgroup-name). All four are paginated (NextToken). See references/api.md for every action's body shape.

Pagination

GetStatementResult, ListStatements, ListDatabases, ListSchemas, ListTables, and DescribeTable all use the same scheme: the response carries NextToken when there's more; pass it back as NextToken in the next request body. Stop when it's absent.

Rate limits

• Active statements — up to 500 active (SUBMITTED/STARTED) per cluster or workgroup. Excess submits fail with ActiveStatementsExceededException.
• Result size — 500 MB per statement (after gzip) and 64 KB per row. Larger results fail; add a LIMIT or use UNLOAD ... TO 's3://...'.
• Result retention — 24 hours; after that GetStatementResult returns ResourceNotFoundException.
• Statement duration — 24 hours max. Query string — 100 KB max.
• API rate — fixed, non-adjustable TPS quotas per account/region: DescribeStatement 100, ExecuteStatement 30, GetStatementResult 20, BatchExecuteStatement 20, and only 3 TPS for CancelStatement, ListStatements, ListDatabases, ListSchemas, ListTables, DescribeTable. Exceeding one returns ThrottlingException (HTTP 400) — back off and don't poll in a hot loop.

Error handling

Errors return as {"__type": "<Exception>", "message": "..."} (HTTP 400/403/500). The __type field is the discriminator.

• ValidationException (400) — Bad parameters. Common: passing both ClusterIdentifier and WorkgroupName, or neither; missing Database; wrong field casing.
• ActiveStatementsExceededException (400) — Too many in flight. ListStatements {"Status":"STARTED"} shows what's running.
• ActiveSessionsExceededException (400) — >500 open sessions. Stop passing SessionKeepAliveSeconds or wait for idle ones to expire.
• ExecuteStatementException (500) — Submission failed before the DB saw it — wrong cluster/workgroup name, unreachable cluster, bad DbUser. Check RS_TARGET.
• ResourceNotFoundException (400) — Statement ID unknown or > 24 h old.
• BatchExecuteStatementException (500) — One statement in the batch failed; whole transaction rolled back. Check SubStatements[].Error.
• DatabaseConnectionException / QueryTimeoutException — A catalog call couldn't reach the database or timed out. Check the target is up; retry.
• AccessDeniedException (403) — Credential needs redshift-data:* on the cluster/workgroup ARN plus, depending on connection mode, redshift:GetClusterCredentials / redshift-serverless:GetCredentials / secretsmanager:GetSecretValue. Report which is missing.
• InternalServerException (500) — ExecuteStatement is not idempotent unless you pass a ClientToken — check ListStatements before retrying a write.
• Status: FAILED on DescribeStatement — SQL failed after submission. Read .Error for the SQL message.

Two gotchas:

• ExecuteStatement returning 200 ≠ the query succeeded. SQL errors only surface later as Status: FAILED on DescribeStatement. Always poll before fetching results.
• Cell values are typed one-key objects, not bare values. longValue is a JSON number, isNull: true is a distinct shape. A naive .value read returns nothing, and chaining jq // across the typed keys breaks on false/0. Use to_entries[0].value.

Going deeper

references/api.md has the complete catalog — every action's request/response shape in PascalCase for raw HTTP, the SqlParameter binding format, the ColumnMetadata fields, SubStatementData for batches, session reuse (SessionKeepAliveSeconds / SessionId), and the quota table. Read it when you need an action not covered above or the exact raw-HTTP body shape.