AWS JSON

aws.protocols#awsJson1_0 and aws.protocols#awsJson1_1 are JSON RPC protocols used by AWS services such as DynamoDB. NSmithy generates typed clients for both. Server generation and event streaming are not available.

Use AWS JSON to call an existing AWS JSON RPC service or a compatible emulator. For a new service, prefer restJson1, rpcv2Cbor, or gRPC.

See Protocol status for coverage and AWS protocols for authentication, endpoints, and runtime limitations.

Protocol behavior

Area	AWS JSON
Route	`POST /`
Operation	`X-Amz-Target: {Service}.{Operation}`
Body	JSON
JSON 1.0 content type	`application/x-amz-json-1.0`
JSON 1.1 content type	`application/x-amz-json-1.1`
Errors	`X-Amzn-Errortype`, `__type`, `code`, or HTTP status fallback
HTTP bindings	Not used
NSmithy streaming	Not implemented

Modeling

Apply one AWS JSON protocol trait to the service. Operations do not use @http because the protocol always posts to the root path.

$version: "2"

namespace example.weather

use aws.protocols#awsJson1_1

@awsJson1_1
service Weather {
    version: "2026-01-01"
    operations: [GetCity]
}

operation GetCity {
    input := {
        @required
        cityId: String
    }
    output := {
        @required
        name: String
    }
    errors: [NoSuchResource]
}

@error("client")
structure NoSuchResource {
    message: String
}

Use aws.protocols#awsJson1_0 and @awsJson1_0 for a JSON 1.0 service.

On the wire

POST / HTTP/1.1
Host: api.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1
Accept: application/x-amz-json-1.1
X-Amz-Target: Weather.GetCity

{"cityId":"123"}

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/x-amz-json-1.1

{"name":"Seattle"}

The service and operation names select the target. Empty inputs serialize as an empty JSON object. Clients accept empty output bodies when the modeled output can be constructed without response members.

For errors, NSmithy accepts the modeled type from X-Amzn-Errortype, __type, or code. It removes common namespace and qualifier forms before matching a generated error. If a response has no discriminator, the client can fall back to the modeled HTTP status code.

Dependencies

Add the AWS trait package to smithy-build.json:

"software.amazon.smithy:smithy-aws-traits:1.73.0"

The client uses NSmithy.Client, NSmithy.Codecs.Json, and NSmithy.Protocols.AwsJson.

Example

The AWS LocalStack example uses an AWS JSON 1.0 client to call DynamoDB ListTables.