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Amazon S3 Inventory provides scheduled listings of the objects in your S3 bucket, along with key metadata. You can generate these reports daily or weekly in CSV or Apache Parquet format, simplifying auditing, compliance, and analytics workflows.

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What Is Amazon S3 Inventory?

An S3 Inventory report gives you a flat-file listing of all objects and their metadata stored in a bucket. It’s ideal for:
  • Auditing object-level configurations
  • Generating cost and usage analytics
  • Verifying compliance requirements
  • Bulk operations (e.g., export object keys for processing)

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Report Formats and Delivery

You can choose one of two output formats:
FormatAdvantages
CSVWidely supported by spreadsheets and ETL tools
Apache ParquetOptimized for big-data queries (e.g., Amazon Athena)
Reports are delivered to a destination bucket in the same AWS Region, and you can configure optional encryption and prefix settings.
Inventory reports can take up to 48 hours to appear when first enabled. Plan accordingly before running compliance checks.

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Metadata Fields Included

By default, each inventory entry includes the following metadata fields:
FieldDescription
Bucket nameThe name of the source bucket
Object keyThe object’s path and file name
Version IDVersion identifier (requires versioning)
SizeObject size in bytes
Last modifiedTimestamp of the last modification
Storage classe.g., STANDARD, INTELLIGENT_TIERING
Replication statusCOMPLETE, PENDING, or FAILED
Encryption statuse.g., AES256 or AWS KMS key
Object lock statusHolds GOVERNANCE or COMPLIANCE locks
The image lists the types of information included in an inventory report, such as bucket name, key name, version ID, size, last modified date, storage class, replication status, encryption status, and object lock status. It also suggests referring to documentation for a complete list.
Refer to the AWS documentation for the full list of available fields.

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Configuring S3 Inventory Reports

You can set up an inventory report via the AWS CLI, SDK, or the S3 console. Below is an example using the AWS CLI: 
aws s3api put-bucket-inventory-configuration \
  --bucket my-source-bucket \
  --id daily-inventory \
  --inventory-configuration '{
    "Destination": {
      "S3BucketDestination": {
        "AccountId": "123456789012",
        "Bucket": "arn:aws:s3:::my-destination-bucket",
        "Format": "CSV",
        "Prefix": "inventory-reports/"
      }
    },
    "IsEnabled": true,
    "Filter": {
      "Prefix": "data/"
    },
    "IncludedObjectVersions": "All",
    "OptionalFields": [
      "Size",
      "LastModifiedDate",
      "StorageClass",
      "ETag",
      "IsMultipartUploaded",
      "ReplicationStatus"
    ],
    "Schedule": {
      "Frequency": "Daily"
    }
  }'
If you include VersionId, versioning must be enabled on the source bucket. Otherwise, the report will fail.

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Key Configuration Options

  • Schedule.Frequency: Daily or Weekly
  • IncludedObjectVersions: All or Current
  • OptionalFields: Add any additional metadata fields you require
  • Destination.S3BucketDestination.Prefix: Organize reports under a common prefix

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References

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