Common ARN Patterns by Service
Each AWS service uses ARNs differently. While the base structure is consistent, resource paths and optional fields vary widely. This cheat sheet covers the most common patterns — with validated, copyable examples.
S3 Buckets & Objects
- Bucket:
arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket - Object:
arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/path/to/file.txt - Folder:
arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/logs/
Note: Region and account ID are omitted. Use wildcards in policies: arn:aws:s3:::my-bucket/private/*
EC2 Instances & Volumes
- Instance:
arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:instance/i-0abcd1234efgh5678 - Volume:
arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1:123456789012:volume/vol-0123456789abcdef0 - AMI:
arn:aws:ec2:us-east-1::image/ami-0abcd1234efgh5678
IAM Roles & Policies
- Role:
arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/MyAppRole - Policy:
arn:aws:iam::123456789012:policy/MyAppPolicy - AWS-Managed:
arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonS3ReadOnlyAccess
Lambda Functions
- Function:
arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:123456789012:function:my-function - Version:
arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:123456789012:function:my-function:1 - Alias:
arn:aws:lambda:us-east-1:123456789012:function:my-function:prod
DynamoDB Tables
- Table:
arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:123456789012:table/Users - Index:
arn:aws:dynamodb:us-east-1:123456789012:table/Users/index/email-index
RDS & Other Services
- RDS Instance:
arn:aws:rds:us-east-1:123456789012:db:my-database - SNS Topic:
arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:123456789012:alerts - SQS Queue:
arn:aws:sqs:us-east-1:123456789012:my-queue
Pro Tips
- Use
*wildcards only in resource paths (after final colon) - Never hardcode account IDs in templates
- Validate all ARNs before applying IAM policies
FAQ
Can I use ARNs across regions?
Yes, if the service supports it (e.g., IAM roles, S3 with Cross-Region Replication).
Are ARNs required in the AWS Console?
No — the console abstracts them. But CLI, SDKs, and IaC require full ARNs.
How do I find a resource’s ARN?
Use the AWS Console (resource details), CLI (aws resource describe), or this parser.
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