Amazon SQS Connection

The Amazon SQS connection type enables automations to send messages to and receive messages from Amazon Simple Queue Service queues. It supports both Standard and FIFO queues across all AWS regions.

Connection Details

Property	Value
Type ID	`AMAZON_SQS`
Category	Messaging and Event Systems
Testable	Yes

Friendly Example

What you enter	Example
Connection name	SQS - Support Ticket Queue
Used for	Posting new support requests into a queue and consuming processed results from a response queue
Main details to collect	AWS access key, secret key, region, and queue URL
Best person to provide it	AWS administrator or cloud platform engineer

After it is saved, workflow builders select SQS - Support Ticket Queue in a node instead of entering these details again.

Mandatory Fields

Field	What It Means	Example
`accessKey`	AWS IAM access key ID used to authenticate API requests. Encrypted at rest.	`AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE`
`secretKey`	AWS IAM secret access key paired with the access key above. Encrypted at rest.	`wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY`
`region`	AWS region where the SQS queue is hosted. Must exactly match the region in the queue URL.	`us-east-1`
`queueUrl`	Full URL of the SQS queue. Shown on the queue's detail page in the AWS Console.	`https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue`

Queue URL format

The queue URL always follows this pattern:

https://sqs.{region}.amazonaws.com/{account-id}/{queue-name}

For FIFO queues, the queue name ends in .fifo:

https://sqs.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/123456789012/my-queue.fifo

Copy the URL directly from the AWS Console to avoid typos in the account ID or region.

Advanced Fields

Field	What It Means	Example
`visibilityTimeout`	Seconds a received message is hidden from other consumers after being read. Set this to longer than your automation step takes to process the message.	`30`
`waitTimeSeconds`	Seconds the `ReceiveMessage` call waits for a message to arrive before returning empty (long polling). Values between `1` and `20` reduce empty responses and lower cost.	`20`
`endpointUrl`	Custom endpoint URL for use with AWS-compatible services or VPC endpoints. Leave blank to use the standard AWS endpoint.	`https://sqs.us-east-1.vpce.example.com`

Use long polling to reduce cost

Setting waitTimeSeconds to 20 enables long polling. This reduces the number of empty ReceiveMessage responses and can significantly cut your SQS API costs compared to short polling (waitTimeSeconds = 0).

Standard vs. FIFO Queues

Feature	Standard Queue	FIFO Queue
Delivery guarantee	At-least-once (duplicates possible)	Exactly-once within a 5-minute deduplication window
Message ordering	Best-effort	Strict first-in, first-out within a message group
Throughput	Nearly unlimited	Up to 3,000 messages/second with batching
Queue name suffix	None	Must end in `.fifo`

Use FIFO queues when the automation depends on processing messages in order or when duplicate processing would cause data integrity issues.

Setup Instructions

Create the SQS queue in the AWS Console. Navigate to Amazon SQS → Queues → Create queue. Choose Standard or FIFO based on your requirements. Note the queue URL from the queue detail page after creation.
Create a dedicated IAM user for the automation. In the AWS Console, navigate to IAM → Users → Create user. Give the user a descriptive name (e.g., qinfinite-sqs-automation).

Attach an IAM policy granting the minimum required permissions on the specific queue. The recommended inline policy is:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "sqs:SendMessage",
        "sqs:ReceiveMessage",
        "sqs:DeleteMessage",
        "sqs:GetQueueAttributes"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:sqs:{region}:{account-id}:{queue-name}"
    }
  ]
}

Generate access keys for the IAM user. In the IAM Console, open the user, go to Security credentials → Access keys → Create access key. Select the Application running outside AWS use case and copy both the access key ID and secret access key — the secret is shown only once.
Create the connection in the Global Configurator. Enter the access key, secret key, region, and queue URL, then test the connection to confirm the credentials can reach the queue.

Limit IAM permissions to specific queues

Avoid attaching broad policies such as AmazonSQSFullAccess. Scope the Resource in the IAM policy to the specific queue ARN(s) the automation needs. This limits the blast radius if the credentials are ever compromised.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely Cause
`InvalidClientTokenId` or `AuthFailure`	The access key ID or secret key is wrong, has been deactivated, or belongs to a different AWS account — verify both values in the IAM Console
`AccessDenied` on `SendMessage` or `ReceiveMessage`	The IAM user's policy does not grant the required action on this queue — check the attached policies and queue resource policy
`NonExistentQueue` or `404`	The queue URL is incorrect or the queue was deleted — copy the URL directly from the AWS Console and verify the region matches
Connection test succeeds but messages are not received	The `visibilityTimeout` may be too short, causing messages to become visible again before processing completes — increase it to exceed the maximum expected processing time

Connection Details​

Friendly Example​

Mandatory Fields​

Advanced Fields​

Standard vs. FIFO Queues​

Setup Instructions​

Troubleshooting​