Boto3, an AWS SDK for Python
=============================== Boto3 - The AWS SDK for Python ===============================
|Version| |Python| |License|
Boto3 is the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Software Development Kit (SDK) for Python, which allows Python developers to write software that makes use of services like Amazon S3 and Amazon EC2. You can find the latest, most up to date, documentation at our doc site_, including a list of services that are supported.
Boto3 is maintained and published by Amazon Web Services_.
Boto (pronounced boh-toh) was named after the fresh water dolphin native to the Amazon river. The name was chosen by the author of the original Boto library, Mitch Garnaat, as a reference to the company.
Notices
On 2026-04-29, support for Python 3.9 ended for Boto3. This follows the Python Software Foundation end of support <https://peps.python.org/pep-0596/#lifespan>__ for the runtime which occurred on 2025-10-31.
For more information on deprecations, see this blog post <https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/developer/python-support-policy-updates-for-aws-sdks-and-tools/>__.
.. _boto: https://docs.pythonboto.org/ .. _doc site: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/boto3/latest/ .. _Amazon Web Services: https://aws.amazon.com/what-is-aws/ .. |Python| image:: https://img.shields.io/pypi/pyversions/boto3.svg?style=flat :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/boto3/ :alt: Python Versions .. |Version| image:: http://img.shields.io/pypi/v/boto3.svg?style=flat :target: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/boto3/ :alt: Package Version .. |License| image:: http://img.shields.io/pypi/l/boto3.svg?style=flat :target: https://github.com/boto/boto3/blob/develop/LICENSE :alt: License
Getting Started
Assuming that you have a supported version of Python installed, you can first set up your environment with:
.. code-block:: sh
$ python -m venv .venv ... $ . .venv/bin/activate
Then, you can install boto3 from PyPI with:
.. code-block:: sh
$ python -m pip install boto3
or install from source with:
.. code-block:: sh
$ git clone https://github.com/boto/boto3.git $ cd boto3 $ python -m pip install -r requirements.txt $ python -m pip install -e .
Using Boto3 ~~~~~~ After installing boto3
Next, set up credentials (in e.g. `~/.aws/credentials):
.. code-block:: ini
[default] awsaccesskeyid = YOURKEY awssecretaccesskey = YOURSECRET
Then, set up a default region (in e.g. ~/.aws/config):
.. code-block:: ini
[default] region = us-east-1
Other credential configuration methods can be found here __
Then, from a Python interpreter:
.. code-block:: python
>>> import boto3 >>> s3 = boto3.resource('s3') >>> for bucket in s3.buckets.all(): print(bucket.name)
Running Tests ~~~~~ You can run tests in all supported Python versions using tox. By default, it will run all of the unit and functional tests, but you can also specify your own pytest options. Note that this requires that you have all supported versions of Python installed, otherwise you must pass -e or run the pytest command directly:
.. code-block:: sh
$ tox $ tox -- unit/test_session.py $ tox -e py26,py33 -- integration/
You can also run individual tests with your default Python version:
.. code-block:: sh
$ pytest tests/unit
Getting Help
We use GitHub issues for tracking bugs and feature requests and have limited bandwidth to address them. Please use these community resources for getting help:
- Ask a question on Stack Overflow
and tag it withboto3 - Open a support ticket with AWS Support
__ - If it turns out that you may have found a bug, please open an issue
__
Contributing
We value feedback and contributions from our community. Whether it's a bug report, new feature, correction, or additional documentation, we welcome your issues and pull requests. Please read through this CONTRIBUTING __ document before submitting any issues or pull requests to ensure we have all the necessary information to effectively respond to your contribution.
Maintenance and Support for SDK Major Versions
Boto3 was made generally available on 06/22/2015 and is currently in the full support phase of the availability life cycle.
For information about maintenance and support for SDK major versions and their underlying dependencies, see the following in the AWS SDKs and Tools Shared Configuration and Credentials Reference Guide:
- AWS SDKs and Tools Maintenance Policy
__ - AWS SDKs and Tools Version Support Matrix
__
More Resources
- NOTICE
__ - Changelog
__ - License
