Topic Types

Type	Description	Use Case
Standard	Best-effort ordering, at-least-once	Most use cases
FIFO	Strict ordering, exactly-once	Order-sensitive

Subscription Protocols

Protocol	Description
Lambda	Invoke Lambda function
SQS	Send to SQS queue
HTTP/HTTPS	POST to endpoint
Email	Send email
SMS	Send text message
Application	Mobile push notification

Message Filtering

Route messages to specific subscribers based on message attributes.

Common Patterns

Create Topic and Subscribe

AWS CLI:

# Create standard topic
aws sns create-topic --name my-topic

# Create FIFO topic
aws sns create-topic \
  --name my-topic.fifo \
  --attributes FifoTopic=true

# Subscribe Lambda
aws sns subscribe \
  --topic-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic \
  --protocol lambda \
  --notification-endpoint arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:123456789012:function:my-function

# Subscribe SQS
aws sns subscribe \
  --topic-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic \
  --protocol sqs \
  --notification-endpoint arn:aws:sqs:us-east-1:123456789012:my-queue

# Subscribe email
aws sns subscribe \
  --topic-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic \
  --protocol email \
  --notification-endpoint user@example.com

boto3:

import boto3

sns = boto3.client('sns')

# Create topic
response = sns.create_topic(Name='my-topic')
topic_arn = response['TopicArn']

# Subscribe Lambda
sns.subscribe(
    TopicArn=topic_arn,
    Protocol='lambda',
    Endpoint='arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:123456789012:function:my-function'
)

# Subscribe SQS with filter
sns.subscribe(
    TopicArn=topic_arn,
    Protocol='sqs',
    Endpoint='arn:aws:sqs:us-east-1:123456789012:order-queue',
    Attributes={
        'FilterPolicy': '{"event_type": ["order_created", "order_updated"]}'
    }
)

Publish Messages

import boto3
import json

sns = boto3.client('sns')
topic_arn = 'arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic'

# Simple publish
sns.publish(
    TopicArn=topic_arn,
    Message='Hello, World!',
    Subject='Notification'
)

# Publish with attributes (for filtering)
sns.publish(
    TopicArn=topic_arn,
    Message=json.dumps({'order_id': '12345', 'status': 'created'}),
    MessageAttributes={
        'event_type': {
            'DataType': 'String',
            'StringValue': 'order_created'
        },
        'priority': {
            'DataType': 'Number',
            'StringValue': '1'
        }
    }
)

# Publish to FIFO topic
sns.publish(
    TopicArn='arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic.fifo',
    Message=json.dumps({'order_id': '12345'}),
    MessageGroupId='order-12345',
    MessageDeduplicationId='unique-id'
)

Message Filtering

# Add filter policy to subscription
aws sns set-subscription-attributes \
  --subscription-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic:abc123 \
  --attribute-name FilterPolicy \
  --attribute-value '{
    "event_type": ["order_created"],
    "priority": [{"numeric": [">=", 1]}]
  }'

Filter policy examples:

// Exact match
{"event_type": ["order_created", "order_updated"]}

// Prefix match
{"customer_id": [{"prefix": "PREMIUM-"}]}

// Numeric comparison
{"price": [{"numeric": [">=", 100, "<=", 500]}]}

// Exists check
{"customer_id": [{"exists": true}]}

// Anything but
{"event_type": [{"anything-but": ["deleted"]}]}

// Combined
{
  "event_type": ["order_created"],
  "region": ["us-east", "us-west"],
  "priority": [{"numeric": [">=", 1]}]
}

Fan-Out Pattern (SNS to Multiple SQS)

import boto3
import json

sns = boto3.client('sns')
sqs = boto3.client('sqs')

# Create topic
topic = sns.create_topic(Name='orders-topic')
topic_arn = topic['TopicArn']

# Create queues for different processors
queues = {
    'analytics': sqs.create_queue(QueueName='order-analytics')['QueueUrl'],
    'fulfillment': sqs.create_queue(QueueName='order-fulfillment')['QueueUrl'],
    'notification': sqs.create_queue(QueueName='order-notification')['QueueUrl']
}

# Subscribe each queue
for name, queue_url in queues.items():
    queue_arn = sqs.get_queue_attributes(
        QueueUrl=queue_url,
        AttributeNames=['QueueArn']
    )['Attributes']['QueueArn']

    sns.subscribe(
        TopicArn=topic_arn,
        Protocol='sqs',
        Endpoint=queue_arn
    )

# One publish reaches all queues
sns.publish(
    TopicArn=topic_arn,
    Message=json.dumps({'order_id': '12345', 'total': 99.99})
)

Lambda Permission for SNS

aws lambda add-permission \
  --function-name my-function \
  --statement-id sns-trigger \
  --action lambda:InvokeFunction \
  --principal sns.amazonaws.com \
  --source-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic

CLI Reference

Topic Management

Command	Description
`aws sns create-topic`	Create topic
`aws sns delete-topic`	Delete topic
`aws sns list-topics`	List topics
`aws sns get-topic-attributes`	Get topic settings
`aws sns set-topic-attributes`	Update topic settings

Subscriptions

Command	Description
`aws sns subscribe`	Create subscription
`aws sns unsubscribe`	Remove subscription
`aws sns list-subscriptions`	List all subscriptions
`aws sns list-subscriptions-by-topic`	List topic subscriptions
`aws sns confirm-subscription`	Confirm pending subscription

Publishing

Command	Description
`aws sns publish`	Publish message

Best Practices

Reliability

Use SQS for durability — SNS is push-based, SQS queues messages
Implement retries for HTTP/HTTPS endpoints
Configure DLQ for failed deliveries
Use FIFO topics for ordering requirements

Security

Use topic policies to control access
Enable encryption with SSE
Use VPC endpoints for private access

# Enable SSE
aws sns set-topic-attributes \
  --topic-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic \
  --attribute-name KmsMasterKeyId \
  --attribute-value alias/my-key

Cost Optimization

Use message filtering to reduce unnecessary deliveries
Batch operations where possible
Monitor and clean up unused topics/subscriptions

Message Design

Keep messages small (256 KB limit)
Use message attributes for routing
Include correlation IDs for tracing

Troubleshooting

Subscription Not Receiving Messages

Check:

Subscription is confirmed (not pending)
Filter policy matches message attributes
Target permissions (Lambda, SQS)

# Check subscription status
aws sns list-subscriptions-by-topic \
  --topic-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic

# Check subscription attributes
aws sns get-subscription-attributes \
  --subscription-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic:abc123

HTTP Endpoint Not Working

Debug:

# Check delivery status logging
aws sns set-topic-attributes \
  --topic-arn arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic \
  --attribute-name DeliveryPolicy \
  --attribute-value '{
    "http": {
      "defaultHealthyRetryPolicy": {
        "minDelayTarget": 20,
        "maxDelayTarget": 20,
        "numRetries": 3,
        "numMaxDelayRetries": 0,
        "numNoDelayRetries": 0,
        "numMinDelayRetries": 0,
        "backoffFunction": "linear"
      }
    }
  }'

Messages Not Matching Filter

Verify:

Message attributes are set (not in body)
Attribute types match (String vs Number)
Filter policy syntax is correct

# Correct: attributes must be message attributes
sns.publish(
    TopicArn=topic_arn,
    Message='body content',
    MessageAttributes={
        'event_type': {
            'DataType': 'String',
            'StringValue': 'order_created'  # This is filtered
        }
    }
)

# Wrong: this won't be filtered
sns.publish(
    TopicArn=topic_arn,
    Message=json.dumps({'event_type': 'order_created'})  # Not filtered
)

SQS Not Receiving from SNS

Check SQS queue policy:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {"Service": "sns.amazonaws.com"},
      "Action": "sqs:SendMessage",
      "Resource": "arn:aws:sqs:us-east-1:123456789012:my-queue",
      "Condition": {
        "ArnEquals": {
          "aws:SourceArn": "arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:my-topic"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Topic Types

Subscription Protocols

Message Filtering

Common Patterns

Create Topic and Subscribe

Publish Messages

Message Filtering

Fan-Out Pattern (SNS to Multiple SQS)

Lambda Permission for SNS

CLI Reference

Topic Management

Subscriptions

Publishing

Best Practices

Reliability

Security

Cost Optimization

Message Design

Troubleshooting

Subscription Not Receiving Messages

HTTP Endpoint Not Working

Messages Not Matching Filter

SQS Not Receiving from SNS

References

sns

AWS SNS

Table of Contents

Core Concepts

Topics