Amazon Cognito Sync

Name: Amazon Cognito Sync API
Brand: Amazon Cognito Sync
Availability: InStock

★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentStorageDocument ManagementAWS Signature v4 (HMAC)17 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Read, write, and synchronize per-user key-value datasets across a user's devices using Amazon Cognito Sync.

Quickstart

Get started with Amazon Cognito Sync in minutes using your preferred integration method.

# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
  "jentic": {
    "url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
    "auth": "oauth"
  }
}

# Then ask your agent:
"sync user records across devices"

# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with Amazon Cognito Sync API.

Store and update user-scoped key-value records in named datasets

Synchronize records across devices via UpdateRecords and ListRecords

Trigger bulk publish of all dataset records to a configured Kinesis stream

Configure push synchronization so changes propagate via SNS

GET STARTED

Start building with Amazon Cognito Sync API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI document for Amazon Cognito Sync, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for Amazon Cognito Sync, keeping it validated and agent-ready. Amazon Cognito Sync stores and synchronizes user-scoped key-value data across a user's devices and the cloud. Each user has datasets containing string records that are merged on conflict and pushed to all signed-in devices via Amazon SNS push notifications. It is a legacy service - AWS now recommends AWS AppSync for new cross-device sync work - but it remains useful for apps already on Cognito Identity that need lightweight per-user state.

Use Cases

Patterns agents use Amazon Cognito Sync API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Cross-Device User Preferences

Mobile apps that already use Amazon Cognito Identity often need to keep user preferences such as theme, language, and feature toggles in sync across the user's devices. Cognito Sync stores these as records in named datasets, merges concurrent updates, and propagates changes via push notifications. Setup is a few hours once Cognito Identity is in place.

Call UpdateRecords on the 'preferences' dataset for an IdentityId, writing a record with key 'theme' and value 'dark', then read it back with ListRecords.

Game Save State Sync

Casual mobile games store progress, settings, and unlocked content per player. Cognito Sync persists this state in the cloud, makes it available when the player switches devices, and resolves conflicts deterministically by sync count. Bulk publish to Kinesis enables downstream analytics on aggregated game state.

Write a 'save_slot_1' record containing serialized game state to a 'gameSaves' dataset and verify it appears in ListRecords for the same identity.

Push-Driven Settings Propagation

Apps that need near-real-time propagation of dataset changes can configure push synchronization. When records update, Cognito Sync publishes via Amazon SNS to subscribed devices, which then pull the latest records. This keeps user-scoped configuration consistent without polling.

Call SetCognitoEvents to register a Lambda on dataset update, then SubscribeToDataset for a device's platform endpoint and confirm the event fires when UpdateRecords is called.

Agent-Managed Per-User State

An AI agent operating on behalf of a user can persist intermediate state (such as long-running task progress or preferences) in Cognito Sync datasets without standing up a database. Through Jentic, the agent loads the UpdateRecords schema and writes records keyed by identity, then reads them back when the user returns.

Use UpdateRecords to write {key: 'last_task', value: 'summary_v3'} to an 'agentState' dataset and read it back with ListRecords.

Key Endpoints

17 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for amazon cognito sync, keeping it validated and agent-ready.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

POST

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}/identities/{IdentityId}/datasets/{DatasetName}

Update records in a dataset

GET

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}/identities/{IdentityId}/datasets

List datasets for an identity

POST

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}/bulkpublish

Trigger bulk publish of dataset data to Kinesis

GET

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}

Describe an identity pool's sync usage

POST

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}/configuration

Configure push sync settings for a pool

POST

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}/identities/{IdentityId}/datasets/{DatasetName}

Update records in a dataset

GET

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}/identities/{IdentityId}/datasets

List datasets for an identity

POST

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}/bulkpublish

Trigger bulk publish of dataset data to Kinesis

GET

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}

Describe an identity pool's sync usage

POST

/identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}/configuration

Configure push sync settings for a pool

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

AWS SigV4 (HMAC) credentials for the Amazon Cognito Sync are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Agents receive scoped, short-lived access via Jentic's MAXsystem rather than holding the raw AWS access key ID and secret access key in their context.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search Jentic with intents like 'sync user records across devices' and Jentic returns the matching Amazon Cognito Sync operation with its input schema, so the agent can call the correct endpoint without browsing the AWS service reference.

Time to first call

Direct integration: 2-4 days for SigV4 request signing, IAM policy setup, and error handling across Amazon Cognito Sync operations. Through Jentic: under 1 hour - search by intent, load the schema, execute.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Complementary

Amazon Cognito Identity

Provides the IdentityId that every Cognito Sync dataset is scoped to.

Set up Cognito Identity first to federate users; then use Cognito Sync to persist their per-user state.

Alternative

AWS AppSync

GraphQL API service with built-in offline sync and conflict resolution.

Choose AppSync over Cognito Sync for new apps that need richer schemas, real-time subscriptions, or offline-first behavior.

Alternative

Firebase APIs

Google's Firebase platform APIs including realtime sync.

Choose Firebase when the rest of the stack is Google-native and AWS IAM mapping is not required.

FAQs

Specific to using Amazon Cognito Sync API through Jentic.

Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for Amazon Cognito Sync?

AWS does not publish an OpenAPI specification. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call Amazon Cognito Sync via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started at https://app.jentic.com/sign-up.

What authentication does the Amazon Cognito Sync API use?

AWS Signature v4 (HMAC) over the Cognito Identity credentials issued to the user's device. Jentic stores the underlying AWS credentials in its vault, signs requests for the agent, and never exposes the secret access key.

Can I store arbitrary blobs with the Amazon Cognito Sync API?

No. Cognito Sync records are limited to small string key-value pairs (up to 1 MB per dataset). For larger objects, store them in Amazon S3 and keep only the S3 key in the Cognito Sync record.

What are the rate limits for the Amazon Cognito Sync API?

Per-identity-pool rate limits apply to all sync operations and are enforced per AWS Region. Expect TooManyRequestsException under heavy concurrent UpdateRecords and back off exponentially; for analytics-style throughput, use BulkPublish to Kinesis instead.

How do I synchronize records across devices with Amazon Cognito Sync through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'sync user records across devices', load the UpdateRecords schema, and execute it against /identitypools/{IdentityPoolId}/identities/{IdentityId}/datasets/{DatasetName} with the record patches. Other devices then call ListRecords to pull the latest state.

Should I use Amazon Cognito Sync for new applications?

AWS recommends AWS AppSync for new cross-device sync workloads because it supports richer data models and offline conflict resolution. Cognito Sync is still supported and is a reasonable fit for existing Cognito Identity apps that need lightweight key-value sync.