Shorthand syntax for message-attributes in the send-message command in aws-cli for sqs

Currently, the documentation of the short-hand syntax for the --message-attributes option is incorrect and the short-hand syntax does not work.

Instead, you can use the JSON file (as you mentioned). You can also use the inline JSON:

aws sqs send-message 
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/0000000000/aa_queue_name 
  --message-body "message body goes here" 
  --message-attributes '{ "firstAttribute":{ "DataType":"String","StringValue":"hello world" }, "secondAttribute":{ "DataType":"String","StringValue":"goodbye world"} }'

Your Shorthand Syntax format is correct:

MY_KEY={DataType=String, StringValue=MY_VALUE}

You just forgot to enclose the commandline option with single or double quotes:

aws sqs send-message \
  --queue-url https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/0000000000/aa_queue_name \
  --message-body "message body goes here" \
  --message-attributes 'firstAttribute={DataType=String, StringValue="hello world"}, secondAttribute={DataType=String,StringValue="goodbye world"}'

The above shortcut syntax should correctly produce a message with 2 extra headers, a.k.a. Message Attributes:

firstAttribute=hello world
secondAttribute=goodbye world

---

NOTE:

an attribute is a <class 'dict'>, so every attribute looks like a dictionary: {DataType=String, StringValue=MY_VALUE},

• where supported DataTypes are String, Number, and Binary.

• each DataType value can contain an optional custom extention, that is ignored by aws. For example: String.uuid, Number.int, Binary.pdf.

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/SQSDeveloperGuide/sqs-message-attributes.html#message-attribute-components