Get started with AWS SNS

In this quickstart, you’ll create a real-time data pipeline that streams changes from a Postgres database to an Amazon SNS topic. You’ll:

Boot Sequin
Connect to a sample playground database
Create an SNS topic and subscription
Set up a sink to sync changes to SNS
See your changes flow in real-time

By the end, you’ll have hands-on experience setting up Postgres change data capture (CDC) with Sequin and SNS. This same pattern can be used to setup your own Postgres CDC pipeline with SNS.

This is the quickstart for streaming Postgres to SNS. See the how-to guide for an explanation of how to use the SNS sink or the reference for details on all configuration options.

Run Sequin

The easiest way to get started with Sequin is with our Docker Compose file. This file starts a Postgres database, Redis instance, and Sequin server.

Create directory and start services

Download sequin-docker-compose.zip.
Unzip the file.
Navigate to the unzipped directory and start the services:

cd sequin-docker-compose && docker compose up -d

Alternative: Download with curl

curl -L https://github.com/sequinstream/sequin/releases/latest/download/sequin-docker-compose.zip -o sequin-docker-compose.zip \
  && unzip sequin-docker-compose.zip && rm sequin-docker-compose.zip
cd sequin-docker-compose && docker compose up -d

Alternative: Clone the repository

git clone git@github.com:sequinstream/sequin.git
cd sequin/docker
docker compose up -d

Verify services are running

Check that Sequin is running using docker ps:

docker ps

You should see output like the following:

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                           COMMAND                  CREATED          STATUS                    PORTS                              NAMES
bd5c458cabde   sequin/sequin:latest            "/scripts/start_comm…"   11 seconds ago   Up 9 seconds              4000/tcp, 0.0.0.0:7376->7376/tcp   sequin-sequin-1
3bacd89765e7   grafana/grafana                 "/run.sh"                11 seconds ago   Up 11 seconds             0.0.0.0:3000->3000/tcp             sequin-sequin_grafana-1
3ad41319a66c   postgres:16                     "docker-entrypoint.s…"   11 seconds ago   Up 11 seconds (healthy)   0.0.0.0:7377->5432/tcp             sequin-sequin_postgres-1
6139a5fc4e80   redis:7                         "docker-entrypoint.s…"   11 seconds ago   Up 11 seconds             0.0.0.0:7378->6379/tcp             sequin-sequin_redis-1
7e07a5b052de   prom/prometheus                 "/bin/prometheus --c…"   11 seconds ago   Up 11 seconds             0.0.0.0:9090->9090/tcp             sequin-sequin_prometheus-1

Sequin, Postgres, Redis, Prometheus, and Grafana should be up and running (status: Up).

Login

The Docker Compose file automatically configures Sequin with an admin user and a playground database.Let’s log in to the Sequin web console:

Open the web console

After starting the Docker Compose services, open the Sequin web console at http://localhost:7376:

Sequin login page, allowing login with default credentials

Use the following default credentials to login:

Email:

admin@sequinstream.com

Password:

sequinpassword!

View the playground database

To get you started quickly, Sequin’s Docker Compose file creates a logical database called sequin_playground with a sample dataset in the public.products table.Let’s take a look:

Navigate to Databases

In the Sequin web console, click Databases in the sidebar.

Select playground database

Click on the pre-configured sequin-playground database:

The database “Health” should be green.

View contents of the products table

Let’s get a sense of what’s in the products table. Run the following command:

docker exec -i sequin-sequin_postgres-1 \
  psql -U postgres -d sequin_playground -c \
  "select id, name, price from products;"

This command connects to the running Postgres container and runs a psql command.

You should see a list of the rows in the products table:

  id |         name          | price 
----+-----------------------+-------
  1 | Avocados (3 pack)     |  5.99
  2 | Flank Steak (1 lb)    |  8.99
  3 | Salmon Fillet (12 oz) | 14.99
  4 | Baby Spinach (16 oz)  |  4.99
  5 | Sourdough Bread       |  6.99
  6 | Blueberries (6 oz)    |  3.99
(6 rows)

We’ll make modifications to this table in a bit.

Create an SNS topic

We’ll start by creating an Amazon SNS topic that will receive change events from Sequin.

Open the SNS console

Create the topic

Click “Create topic”.For the type, select “Standard”. For name, enter products-updates.Leave the rest of the defaults and click “Create topic”.

Create a subscription

We’ll create an email subscription so you can see notifications arrive in your inbox:

Subscribe an email endpoint

On the topic overview page click “Create subscription”.Set “Protocol” to “Email” and enter your email address in the “Endpoint” field.Click “Create Subscription”.

Confirm the subscription

Check your email inbox for a message from Amazon SNS and click the “Confirm subscription” link.Once confirmed, the subscription’s Status will change to Confirmed in the SNS console.

If you don’t see the confirmation email, check your spam folder.You can re-send the confirmation email by clicking “Request confirmation” in the SNS console.

Create an SNS Sink

With the playground database connected and your SNS topic ready, you can create a sink in Sequin. This sink will send changes from the products table to your SNS topic:

Navigate to Sinks

In Sequin, click “Sinks” in the sidebar navigation, then click “Create Sink”.

Select sink type

Select “Amazon SNS” as the sink type and click “Continue”.

Note "Source" configuration

In the “Source” card, note that the sequin-playground database is selected and all schemas and tables are included. Leave these defaults:

Source card showing the sequin_playground database and products table

Setup a backfill

In the Inital backfill card, select the public.products table to initate a backfill when the sink is created.

Initial backfill card with public.products table selected

Configure SNS

In the SNS card, enter your configuration:

Topic ARN: the ARN of the SNS topic you created earlier
AWS Access Key ID / Secret Access Key: credentials that have permission to publish to the topic

If you don’t have credentials, you can create a new user for Sequin with write permissions to SNS.

Create the sink

Give your sink a name, like products-sns, and click “Create Sink”.Sequin will first backfill the rows in the products table, then stream every change in real‑time to your SNS topic.

See backfill messages in Sequin

With our initial backfill complete, click the “Messages” tab to see the status of backfill messages. All messages will be marked as “Delivered”:

See backfill notifications in your email

Check your email inbox. You should see an email for each backfill message. The email contains a JSON payload with the backfilled data. Sequin’s message is under the Message field.

See changes flow to SNS

Now, see how changes flow to SNS in real-time:

Make some changes

In your terminal insert a new row into the products table:

docker exec -i sequin-sequin_postgres-1 \
  psql -U postgres -d sequin_playground -c \
  "insert into products (name, price) values ('Organic Honey (16 oz)', 12.99);"

The change should flow through SNS to your email inbox in a few seconds.Feel free to try other changes:

Update a product's price

docker exec -i sequin-sequin_postgres-1 \
  psql -U postgres -d sequin_playground -c \
  "update products set price = 7.99 where name = 'Avocados (3 pack)';"

Change a product's name

docker exec -i sequin-sequin_postgres-1 \
  psql -U postgres -d sequin_playground -c \
  "update products set name = 'Organic Avocados (3 pack)' where name = 'Avocados (3 pack)';"

Delete a product

docker exec -i sequin-sequin_postgres-1 \
  psql -U postgres -d sequin_playground -c \
  "delete from products where name = 'Blueberries (6 oz)';"

Each change will be forwarded to your email inbox via SNS within a few seconds.

Great work!

You’ve successfully:

Created an SNS topic and confirmed an email subscription
Loaded existing data through a backfill
Made changes to the products table
Verified notifications are flowing to SNS (and landing in your inbox)
Set up a complete Postgres change data capture pipeline

Ready to stream

Now you’re ready to connect your own database to Sequin and start streaming changes:

Guide: Connect Postgres

Connect your Postgres database to Sequin.

Guide: Setting up an SNS sink

Set up an SNS sink to bring CDC events to AWS.

Get started

Sink setup guides

How-to guides

Concepts

Reference

Database setup guides

Tutorials

Get started with AWS SNS

Run Sequin

Login

View the playground database

Create an SNS topic

Create a subscription

Create an SNS Sink

See backfill messages in Sequin

See backfill notifications in your email

See changes flow to SNS

Ready to stream

Guide: Connect Postgres

Guide: Setting up an SNS sink

Run Sequin

Login

View the playground database

Create an SNS topic

Create a subscription

Create an SNS Sink

See backfill messages in Sequin

See backfill notifications in your email

See changes flow to SNS

​Ready to stream

Guide: Connect Postgres

Guide: Setting up an SNS sink

Ready to stream