exportTime value for DDB export to S3 (full export) from earlier point in time.

Question

I am performing a DynamoDB export to S3 from an earlier point in time. For this export, I specified the date 2025-08-09. However, after the export completed, the **manifest-summary.json** file shows the **exportTime** value as 2025-09-02.

I would like clarification on which date is expected to appear in the **exportTime** parameter when performing a point-in-time export.

This detail is important for my downstream pipeline: my code reads the exportTime from manifest-summary.json and uses it as a column in my data warehouse. I need to ensure the correct date is reflected, since I plan to backfill data for specific historical dates before scheduling the pipeline (which will use full exports going forward). TIA!

re:Post Agent · Answer

When you perform a DynamoDB export to S3 from an earlier point in time, the `exportTime` value in the manifest-summary.json file represents the specific point in time from which the data was exported, not when the export operation was initiated.

In your case, if you specified 2025-08-09 as your export point in time, but the manifest shows 2025-09-02, this suggests there might be a discrepancy between the time you requested and the time that was actually used for the export.

For a full export with point-in-time recovery (PITR) enabled, you can export data from any point within the PITR window (up to 35 days in the past). The `exportTime` field should reflect the exact timestamp of the data snapshot that was exported.

Since this value is important for your downstream pipeline, you should verify that you're correctly specifying the export time in your export request. When using the AWS CLI or API, make sure you're properly setting the export time parameter. If using the console, double-check the point-in-time selection before initiating the export.

If the discrepancy persists, you might need to adjust your downstream code to use a different timestamp or parameter that better aligns with your requirements, or contact AWS Support to investigate why the requested export time differs from what appears in the manifest file.  
**Sources**  
[Requesting a table export in DynamoDB - Amazon DynamoDB](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/S3DataExport_Requesting.html)  
[DynamoDB table export output format - Amazon DynamoDB](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/S3DataExport.Output.html)  
[Amazon DynamoDB | Import & Export | Amazon Web Services](https://aws.amazon.com/dynamodb/bulk-import-export/)

exportTime value for DDB export to S3 (full export) from earlier point in time.

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