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Ingesting Into Data Lake

AWSOfficialPublished by AWS

  • Skill
  • Workflow
  • Data and AI
  • Apache-2.0
  • Low risk

From the author

Import data into the AWS data lake from S3 files, local uploads, JDBC databases (Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, RDS, Aurora), Amazon Redshift, Snowflake, BigQuery, DynamoDB, or existing Glue catalog tables (migration). Default target is S3 Tables; standard Iceberg on a general purpose bucket is supported where S3 Tables is not adopted. Handles one-time loads, recurring pipelines, migrations. Triggers on: import data, load data, ingest, sync database, migrate table, move data to AWS, set up pipeline, ETL, pull from Snowflake, query BigQuery into S3, export DynamoDB, CTAS, convert to Iceberg. Do NOT use for setting up or troubleshooting Glue connections (use connecting-to-data-source), creating empty tables (use creating-data-lake-table), running queries (use querying-data-lake), finding tables by fuzzy name (use finding-data-lake-assets), catalog audit (use exploring-data-catalog), or SaaS platforms like Salesforce, ServiceNow, SAP, MongoDB, Kafka.
— the description by AWS

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a structured workflow for importing data from various sources—including JDBC databases, cloud warehouses like Snowflake and BigQuery, DynamoDB, and S3 files—into an AWS data lake. It prioritizes modern S3 Tables or standard Iceberg formats, ensuring data is queryable and well-structured. The skill guides users through connection verification, target configuration, and validation, while delegating complex setup tasks to specialized sub-skills.

What it does

  • Imports data from JDBC databases, cloud warehouses, and S3 into a data lake
  • Supports one-time loads, recurring ETL pipelines, and catalog migrations
  • Configures target tables using S3 Tables or standard Iceberg formats
  • Validates data integrity via row counts, null checks, and sample verification
  • Automates scheduling for recurring ingestion tasks using Glue triggers
  • Provides clear delegation paths for connection setup and table creation

When to use it

  • When you need to move data from an external database or cloud service into your AWS data lake
  • When setting up a new recurring ETL pipeline for data synchronization
  • When migrating existing Hive-style tables to modern Iceberg formats
  • When you need to perform a one-time bulk load of files from S3 or local storage

Advantages

  • Standardizes ingestion patterns across multiple source types
  • Ensures data quality through built-in validation steps
  • Promotes modern data lake practices by defaulting to S3 Tables and Iceberg
  • Reduces configuration errors by enforcing connection verification before execution

Usage examples

“Import the customers table from our Oracle database into the data lake.”
The agent verifies the existing JDBC connection, confirms the target S3 Tables configuration, and initiates a Glue ETL job to migrate the data.
“Set up a recurring pipeline to pull data from BigQuery into S3.”
The agent configures a Glue job with the necessary BigQuery connection, sets up the target Iceberg table, and creates a Glue trigger for scheduled execution.
“Convert our existing Hive tables to Iceberg.”
The agent performs a catalog migration, updating the table metadata to Iceberg format while maintaining data accessibility.
“Load these local CSV files into the data lake.”
The agent guides the user through the local upload process and maps the data into a queryable S3 Tables format.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://mp-staging.autogineer.com/agent-skills/aws/ingesting-into-data-lake/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip ingesting-into-data-lake.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by AWS

Ingest into Data Lake

Move data from a source into a queryable table in the data lake. This skill assumes the source connection (if one is needed) already exists. For Glue connection setup or troubleshooting, delegate to connecting-to-data-source.

Philosophy

Default to S3 Tables unless the environment says otherwise. S3 Tables is the recommended target for new data lake work. If the user's catalog inventory shows they haven't adopted S3 Tables, recommend standard Iceberg on their existing general-purpose bucket instead of forcing them to change posture.

Common Tasks

You MUST execute commands using AWS MCP server tools when connected -- they provide validation, sandboxed execution, and audit logging. Fall back to AWS CLI only if MCP is unavailable. You MUST explain each step before executing.

Workflow

1. Verify Dependencies and Context
  • You MUST check whether AWS MCP tools or AWS CLI are available and inform the user if missing

  • You MUST confirm target AWS region and verify credentials with aws sts get-caller-identity

  • For SageMaker Unified Studio project roles, note that target tables and connections may be scoped to the project. See the caller ARN detection pattern in querying-data-lake.

2. Classify the Source
User says...Source typeReference
"upload my file", "local CSV", "move to S3"Local filelocal-upload.md
"load from S3", "import CSV/JSON/Parquet from s3://"S3 filess3-files.md
"import from Oracle/Postgres/MySQL/SQL Server/Redshift/RDS/Aurora"JDBCjdbc-ingest.md
"pull from Snowflake", "Snowflake table to S3"Snowflakesnowflake-ingest.md
"import from BigQuery", "GCP analytics to S3"BigQuerybigquery-ingest.md
"export DynamoDB", "DynamoDB to data lake"DynamoDBdynamodb-ingest.md
"migrate Glue table", "convert Hive to Iceberg"Catalog migrationcatalog-migration.md

If the user names Salesforce, ServiceNow, SAP, MongoDB, Kafka, or another SaaS/streaming source, decline -- these are not supported in this release.

If the source table is referenced by a fuzzy or business name ("migrate our orders table", "pull from the sales warehouse"), delegate to finding-data-lake-assets to resolve before proceeding.

3. Confirm Connection Exists (if applicable)

For JDBC, Snowflake, and BigQuery sources, a Glue connection is required. Check:

aws glue get-connection --name <CONNECTION_NAME> --region <REGION>

If the connection does not exist, stop and delegate to connecting-to-data-source to create and test it. Do not proceed with ingest until the connection is verified.

Local files, S3 files, DynamoDB, and catalog migration do not need a Glue connection.

4. Clarify the Target

You MUST ask the user (or suggest based on catalog inventory) before creating or writing to any table:

  • Database/namespace: Does a specific target database exist? Or should one be created?

  • Table: Existing table (append/merge) or new table (delegate to creating-data-lake-table)?

  • Format: S3 Tables (default), standard Iceberg, or raw Parquet?

Inventory-aware defaults:

If you have already run exploring-data-catalog or can quickly check, use what exists:

  • Account has an s3tablescatalog federated catalog and active table buckets: recommend S3 Tables

  • Account has general-purpose buckets with Iceberg tables and no S3 Tables usage: recommend standard Iceberg on their existing bucket

  • Account uses Parquet/ORC on S3 without Iceberg metadata: ask whether to adopt Iceberg now (recommend yes) or continue with raw files

Do not force S3 Tables on customers who haven't adopted it. See iceberg-catalog-config-and-usage.md.

Delegations from this step:

  • Target table doesn't exist -> creating-data-lake-table

  • Target database named by fuzzy term -> finding-data-lake-assets

  • User doesn't know what exists -> exploring-data-catalog

5. Execute Source Workflow

Read the source-specific reference and follow its phases. Each is self-contained with job templates, gotchas, and troubleshooting:

  • Local / S3 / JDBC / Snowflake / BigQuery / DynamoDB / catalog migration -- one reference per source

Common Glue 5.1 or higher job configuration and PySpark templates are shared in glue-job-config.md and glue-job-scripts.md.

6. Validate

Run all three, do not skip:

  1. Row count matches expected (source vs target)

  2. Null check on critical columns

  3. Spot-check 3-5 sample rows

See data-quality-validation.md.

7. Schedule (if recurring)

For recurring pipelines, create a Glue Trigger with a cron schedule. See testing-and-scheduling.md. Simple single-step pipelines use Glue Triggers; multi-step with branching uses MWAA.

Argument Routing

  • S3 path only: Infer one-time load, start Step 2 with S3 files

  • Connection name: Start Step 3 with the named connection

  • Table name: Start Step 4, ask whether this is source or target

  • --target flag: Pre-fill the target format in Step 4

  • No args: Walk through interactively

Gotchas

  • S3 Tables requires Glue 5.1 or higher and --datalake-formats iceberg job argument

  • All spark.sql.catalog.* config MUST go in --conf job arguments, never in spark.conf.set(). Glue 5.x throws AnalysisException: Cannot modify the value of a static config otherwise. See iceberg-catalog-config-and-usage.md for correct catalog configs.

  • The warehouse parameter is required in S3 Tables catalog config. Without it Spark fails with "Cannot derive default warehouse location".

  • Table and column names in S3 Tables MUST be all lowercase

  • overwritePartitions() only replaces partitions present in the DataFrame -- for full refresh with deletes, use createOrReplace()

  • Standard Iceberg targets MUST include a LOCATION clause; S3 Tables MUST NOT

  • DynamoDB does not need a Glue connection -- do not attempt to create one

  • Connection failures during ingest delegate back to connecting-to-data-source; do not debug network/credentials in this skill

  • For target tables in SageMaker Unified Studio projects, ensure the project role has write access to the target namespace before the Glue job runs

Troubleshooting

ErrorLikely causeAction
Access Denied on S3Missing IAM permissionsCheck Glue role has s3:GetObject, s3:PutObject
Access Denied on S3 TablesMissing s3tables:* permissionsAdd S3 Tables inline policy to Glue role
CTAS timeoutDataset too large for AthenaSwitch to Glue ETL or batch with WHERE filters
JDBC connection timeout/auth failureConnection-level issueDelegate to connecting-to-data-source
Throughput exceeded (DynamoDB)Read percent too highLower read.percent or use native export

See error-handling.md for the full catalog.

References

Source-specific
Cross-cutting
Migration-specific
JDBC-specific

Files

references/jdbc-schema-discovery.md

Schema Discovery for External Databases

Complete guide for discovering schemas in external database systems and inferring target S3 Table schemas.

Overview

Schema discovery identifies what data is available in the source system and maps it to Iceberg-compatible types for the target S3 Table.

Identifying Source Data

Ask the User

Gather information about what to import:

Which table(s) or view(s) to import:

  • Single table: CUSTOMERS, SALES_ORDERS, INVENTORY

  • Multiple tables: List of tables to import

  • Views: Database views are treated like tables

Schema/database name (if system supports multiple databases):

  • Oracle: Schema name (e.g., SALES_SCHEMA)

  • SQL Server: Database and schema (e.g., SalesDB.dbo)

  • PostgreSQL: Schema within database (e.g., public, analytics)

  • MySQL: Database name (e.g., sales_db)

Custom SQL query (optional):

  • If user wants to filter or transform at source

  • Useful for reducing data volume before transfer

  • Example: SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS WHERE status = 'ACTIVE' AND created_date >= CURRENT_DATE - 90

Auto-Discovering Available Tables

Use Glue crawlers to discover available tables in the source database.

Create Temporary Crawler
# Create crawler
aws glue create-crawler \
  --name "temp-discovery-crawler" \
  --role "<glue-service-role-arn>" \
  --database-name "temp_discovery_db" \
  --targets '{
    "JdbcTargets": [{
      "ConnectionName": "<connection-name>",
      "Path": "<database>/%"
    }]
  }' \
  --region <region>
Path Patterns for Different Databases
DatabasePath PatternExample
Oracle<schema>/%SALES_SCHEMA/%
SQL Server<database>/<schema>/%SalesDB/dbo/%
PostgreSQL<database>/<schema>/%analytics/public/%
MySQL<database>/%sales_db/%
Run the Crawler
# Start crawler
aws glue start-crawler --name "temp-discovery-crawler" --region <region>

# Check status (wait until State is READY)
aws glue get-crawler --name "temp-discovery-crawler" --region <region> \
  --query 'Crawler.State' --output text

Crawler states: READY (not running), RUNNING, STOPPING

List Discovered Tables

After the crawler completes:

aws glue get-tables --database-name "temp_discovery_db" --region <region>

Present the list to the user:

I found these tables in your database:
1. CUSTOMERS (45 columns, ~1.2M rows)
2. ORDERS (32 columns, ~5.8M rows)
3. PRODUCTS (18 columns, ~15K rows)
4. INVENTORY (12 columns, ~250K rows)

Which one(s) should I import?
Clean Up

After user selects table(s), clean up the temporary crawler and database:

# Delete crawler
aws glue delete-crawler --name "temp-discovery-crawler" --region <region>

# Delete temp database (optional - tables still useful for reference)
aws glue delete-database --name "temp_discovery_db" --region <region>

Inspecting Table Schema

Once the user identifies the source table, retrieve its detailed schema.

Using Glue Data Catalog (after crawling)
aws glue get-table \
  --database-name "temp_discovery_db" \
  --name "<table-name>" \
  --region <region>

This returns:

  • Column names and data types

  • Table statistics (row count estimate, data size)

  • Partition information (if partitioned)

Directly Querying the Database

Alternative: Query the source database directly to get schema.

For SQL databases (via test Glue job):

# test-schema.py
from pyspark.sql import SparkSession

spark = SparkSession.builder.getOrCreate()

# Read just the schema (LIMIT 0)
df = spark.read.format("jdbc").options(
    url="<jdbc-url>",
    dbtable="(SELECT * FROM <table> WHERE 1=0) AS schema_query",
    user="<username>",
    password="<password>"
).load()

# Print schema
df.printSchema()

Using Athena Federated Query (if connector installed):

-- Query external database via Athena connector
SELECT * FROM "<athena-connector>"."<schema>"."<table>" LIMIT 0

Shows schema without transferring data.

Custom SQL Queries

If the user wants to filter or transform at source, support custom SQL:

Benefits of Source-Side Filtering
  1. Reduces data transfer: Only move needed data

  2. Improves performance: Database does the filtering

  3. Enables complex transformations: Use database-specific functions

Example Queries

Filter by date:

SELECT *
FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE created_date >= CURRENT_DATE - 90

Filter by status:

SELECT *
FROM ORDERS
WHERE status IN ('COMPLETED', 'SHIPPED')

Join multiple tables:

SELECT
  o.order_id,
  o.order_date,
  c.customer_name,
  c.email,
  SUM(oi.quantity * oi.price) as total_amount
FROM ORDERS o
JOIN CUSTOMERS c ON o.customer_id = c.customer_id
JOIN ORDER_ITEMS oi ON o.order_id = oi.order_id
WHERE o.order_date >= CURRENT_DATE - 30
GROUP BY o.order_id, o.order_date, c.customer_name, c.email

Select specific columns:

SELECT
  customer_id,
  customer_name,
  email,
  phone,
  created_date,
  last_purchase_date
FROM CUSTOMERS
WHERE status = 'ACTIVE'
Storing Custom Queries

Store the query for use in the Glue ETL script:

Option 1: As job parameter:

'--source_query': 'SELECT * FROM CUSTOMERS WHERE status = \'ACTIVE\''

Option 2: In S3 file:

# Read query from S3
import boto3
s3 = boto3.client('s3')
obj = s3.get_object(Bucket='<bucket>', Key='queries/customer-import.sql')
source_query = obj['Body'].read().decode('utf-8')

Type Mapping: Source Database → Iceberg

Map source database types to Iceberg types for the target S3 Table.

Common Type Mappings
Source TypeIceberg TypeNotes
VARCHAR, CHAR, TEXT, STRINGSTRINGVariable-length text
INTEGER, INT, SMALLINTINTEGER32-bit signed integer
BIGINT, NUMBER(19)BIGINT64-bit signed integer
DECIMAL, NUMERICDECIMAL(p,s)Preserve precision/scale
FLOAT, REALFLOAT32-bit floating point
DOUBLE PRECISION, BINARY_DOUBLEDOUBLE64-bit floating point
BOOLEAN, BITBOOLEANTrue/false
DATEDATEDate without time
TIMESTAMP, DATETIME, DATETIME2TIMESTAMPDate and time
TIMESTRINGConvert to string (Iceberg has no TIME type)
BLOB, BYTEA, VARBINARY, BINARYBINARYBinary data
CLOB, TEXTSTRINGLarge text
UUIDSTRINGStore as string
JSON, JSONBSTRINGStore as JSON string
ARRAYARRAY<T>If database supports arrays
MAP, HSTOREMAP<K,V>If database supports maps
Oracle-Specific Types
Oracle TypeIceberg TypeNotes
NUMBERDECIMAL or BIGINTUse DECIMAL for precision, BIGINT if no scale
NUMBER(p,s)DECIMAL(p,s)Preserve precision and scale
VARCHAR2, NVARCHAR2STRINGVariable-length string
CHAR, NCHARSTRINGFixed-length string
DATETIMESTAMPOracle DATE includes time
TIMESTAMPTIMESTAMPDirect mapping
CLOB, NCLOBSTRINGLarge text
BLOBBINARYBinary data
RAWBINARYRaw binary
SQL Server-Specific Types
SQL Server TypeIceberg TypeNotes
NVARCHAR, VARCHARSTRINGUnicode or ASCII string
INTINTEGER32-bit integer
BIGINTBIGINT64-bit integer
SMALLINTINTEGER16-bit → 32-bit
TINYINTINTEGER8-bit → 32-bit
DECIMAL, NUMERICDECIMAL(p,s)Preserve precision
MONEY, SMALLMONEYDECIMAL(19,4)Currency
DATETIME, DATETIME2TIMESTAMPDate and time
DATEDATEDate only
TIMESTRINGConvert to string
BITBOOLEANTrue/false
UNIQUEIDENTIFIERSTRINGGUID as string
PostgreSQL-Specific Types
PostgreSQL TypeIceberg TypeNotes
INTEGERINTEGER32-bit integer
BIGINTBIGINT64-bit integer
SMALLINTINTEGER16-bit → 32-bit
NUMERICDECIMAL(p,s)Arbitrary precision
REALFLOAT32-bit floating
DOUBLE PRECISIONDOUBLE64-bit floating
TEXT, VARCHARSTRINGVariable-length text
BOOLEANBOOLEANTrue/false
DATEDATEDate only
TIMESTAMPTIMESTAMPDate and time
TIMESTAMPTZTIMESTAMPTimestamp with timezone
JSON, JSONBSTRINGStore as JSON string
UUIDSTRINGUUID as string
BYTEABINARYBinary data
ARRAYARRAY<T>PostgreSQL arrays supported
MySQL-Specific Types
MySQL TypeIceberg TypeNotes
INT, INTEGERINTEGER32-bit integer
BIGINTBIGINT64-bit integer
SMALLINTINTEGER16-bit → 32-bit
TINYINTINTEGER8-bit → 32-bit (or BOOLEAN if TINYINT(1))
DECIMAL, NUMERICDECIMAL(p,s)Preserve precision
FLOATFLOAT32-bit floating
DOUBLEDOUBLE64-bit floating
VARCHAR, CHAR, TEXTSTRINGVariable/fixed-length text
DATEDATEDate only
DATETIME, TIMESTAMPTIMESTAMPDate and time
TIMESTRINGConvert to string
BOOLEANBOOLEANTrue/false
BLOB, BINARY, VARBINARYBINARYBinary data
JSONSTRINGStore as JSON string

Proposing Target Schema

Based on the source schema, propose the target S3 Table schema to the user.

Example Schema Proposal

Source table: CUSTOMERS in Oracle database

  • CUSTOMER_ID: NUMBER(10) → BIGINT

  • CUSTOMER_NAME: VARCHAR2(200) → STRING

  • EMAIL: VARCHAR2(255) → STRING

  • PHONE: VARCHAR2(20) → STRING

  • STATUS: VARCHAR2(20) → STRING

  • CREDIT_LIMIT: NUMBER(10,2) → DECIMAL(10,2)

  • CREATED_DATE: DATE → TIMESTAMP

  • LAST_PURCHASE_DATE: DATE → TIMESTAMP

Proposed S3 Table schema:

CREATE TABLE "glue_catalog"."sales"."customers" (
  customer_id BIGINT,
  customer_name STRING,
  email STRING,
  phone STRING,
  status STRING,
  credit_limit DECIMAL(10,2),
  created_date TIMESTAMP,
  last_purchase_date TIMESTAMP,
  load_timestamp TIMESTAMP,  -- Added: track when record was loaded
  load_date DATE             -- Partition column for efficient queries
)
PARTITIONED BY (load_date)
TBLPROPERTIES ('table_type' = 'ICEBERG')

Present to user:

I've mapped the Oracle CUSTOMERS table to this Iceberg schema:

Source (Oracle)                  → Target (Iceberg)
CUSTOMER_ID (NUMBER(10))         → customer_id (BIGINT)
CUSTOMER_NAME (VARCHAR2(200))    → customer_name (STRING)
EMAIL (VARCHAR2(255))            → email (STRING)
PHONE (VARCHAR2(20))             → phone (STRING)
STATUS (VARCHAR2(20))            → status (STRING)
CREDIT_LIMIT (NUMBER(10,2))      → credit_limit (DECIMAL(10,2))
CREATED_DATE (DATE)              → created_date (TIMESTAMP)
LAST_PURCHASE_DATE (DATE)        → last_purchase_date (TIMESTAMP)

Added columns:
- load_timestamp (TIMESTAMP): Tracks when record was loaded
- load_date (DATE): Partition column for efficient queries

Does this look correct? Any adjustments needed?

Handling Complex Types

JSON Columns

Option 1: Store as STRING (simplest)

json_data STRING

Option 2: Parse and flatten to STRUCT

metadata STRUCT<
  key1: STRING,
  key2: INT,
  key3: ARRAY<STRING>
>

Recommend Option 1 unless user specifically wants to query nested fields.

Array/List Columns

If source database supports arrays (PostgreSQL, Oracle VARRAY):

Option 1: Keep as ARRAY

tags ARRAY<STRING>

Option 2: Convert to STRING (comma-separated)

tags STRING  -- "tag1,tag2,tag3"

Option 3: Explode to separate table (normalized)

Binary/BLOB Columns

Recommendation: Only import if truly needed (increases storage costs)

If importing:

document BINARY

Consider storing large binaries in S3 and storing S3 key in table instead:

document_s3_key STRING  -- "s3://docs-bucket/doc123.pdf"

Best Practices

  1. Ask user to confirm schema: Don't assume type mappings are correct

  2. Add metadata columns: load_timestamp, load_date, source_system

  3. Consider partitioning: Partition by load date for incremental loads

  4. Handle nullability: Make most columns nullable unless user specifies otherwise

  5. Document type conversions: Note any lossy conversions (e.g., TIME → STRING)

  6. Test with sample data: Load a small batch to verify types work correctly

Summary

Schema discovery workflow:

  1. Identify source data - Ask user for table/query

  2. Auto-discover tables - Use Glue crawler if user unsure

  3. Inspect schema - Get column names and types

  4. Support custom SQL - Allow source-side filtering

  5. Map types - Convert source types to Iceberg types

  6. Propose target schema - Present to user for confirmation

  7. Add metadata columns - load_timestamp, load_date, etc.

With proper schema discovery, data from external databases maps cleanly to S3 Tables with Iceberg types.

Requirements and compatibility

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Needs: Needs an MCP server, Needs a command-line tool

Security

What our scanner noticed· Low risk

  • Instructions that use the network

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Published by
AWS
Publisher
AWS (Official)
Source
aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws · plugins/aws-data-analytics/skills/ingesting-into-data-lake · commit 0a218f8
Licence
Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • NOTICE (added by AutoGineer from NOTICE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced
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