AWS Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager
Browse all Amazonaws APIs★ Only Publicly Available OpenAPI DocumentStorageBackup Recoveryhmac8 EndpointsREST
For Agents
Define and manage Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager policies that automate EBS snapshot and AMI backup schedules with retention rules.
Use for: Create a daily snapshot policy for production EBS volumes, List all lifecycle policies in this account, Update the retention period on an existing snapshot policy, Disable a lifecycle policy during a maintenance window
Not supported: Does not handle snapshot data movement, cross-region copy outside policy actions, or non-EBS resource types — use for declarative EBS and AMI lifecycle policies only.
Jentic publishes the only available OpenAPI specification for Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager, keeping it validated and agent-ready. Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) automates the creation, retention, and deletion of Amazon EBS snapshots and AMI backups through declarative lifecycle policies. The API exposes a small surface — create, get, update, and delete policies, plus tag operations — that is purpose-built for treating backup schedules as code. Use it when an agent needs to enforce backup posture across many accounts or to programmatically rotate retention windows as compliance requirements change.
Install Jentic One Beta
Connect the Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager to your agent
Jentic One is a self-hosted execution layer for AI agents. It lets your agent call the Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager, or any other public or private API you need. You set the rules, the agent never sees your credentials, and every call is logged.
Two steps, two machines. Install the instance in a safe environment, then register your agent from wherever it runs.
1
Step 1: Jentic One Host machine
# On the machine that will host your Jentic One instance:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh2
Step 2: Agent machine
# On the machine where your agent runs (keep this separate from the instance):
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/jentic/jentic-one/main/tools/install.sh | sh
jentic register # connects your agent to your Jentic One instanceJentic One is in public beta. The setup above keeps your agent separate from the instance, which is what you want before using real credentials: an agent running as the same OS user as Jentic One can read its stored keys directly. Just evaluating? A single local install is fine to start. See the secure deployment guide for the tiers.
Capabilities
What an agent can do with Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager API.
Define declarative backup schedules for EBS volumes via CreateLifecyclePolicy with target tag selectors
Update retention windows, schedules, and resource targets on an existing policy with PATCH /policies/{policyId}
Disable or re-enable policies during maintenance windows by toggling state on UpdateLifecyclePolicy
Inspect existing policies with GetLifecyclePolicy and GetLifecyclePolicies for inventory and compliance
Apply tags to lifecycle policies for cost allocation and team ownership tracking
Decommission policies that target retired workloads with DeleteLifecyclePolicy
Use Cases
Patterns agents use Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager API for, with concrete tasks.
★ Codify EBS Backup Schedules
Replace ad-hoc snapshot scripts with DLM lifecycle policies that target EBS volumes by tag and run on a fixed schedule. CreateLifecyclePolicy defines the cadence, retention, and target resource tags; the policy then runs without further intervention until updated or deleted, ensuring backups are consistent across accounts.
Call CreateLifecyclePolicy with PolicyDetails.ResourceTypes set to VOLUME, a TargetTags filter of Environment=prod, and a schedule of daily snapshots retained for 14 days.
Rotate Retention to Meet Compliance
When auditors increase retention requirements from 14 to 90 days, DLM can update every affected policy in seconds via PATCH /policies/{policyId}. The new retention applies to subsequent snapshots without recreating the policy or losing the existing schedule history.
Call UpdateLifecyclePolicy on policy-0123456789abcdef with PolicyDetails.Schedules[0].RetainRule.Count set to 90 and verify with GetLifecyclePolicy.
Inventory Lifecycle Posture Across Accounts
Run GetLifecyclePolicies in each account and region to build a backup inventory: which workloads are protected, which schedule applies, and which policies are currently disabled. The flat list lets compliance and FinOps teams quickly spot unprotected volumes or over-retained snapshots driving up storage cost.
Call GetLifecyclePolicies, then GetLifecyclePolicy for any policy in DISABLED state to surface gaps.
Agent-Driven Backup Policy Management
An AI agent connected via Jentic can read a compliance change ticket, locate every DLM policy that needs adjusting, and update retention or schedules accordingly. Jentic returns the matching DLM operation and schema so the agent can execute the change with the right PolicyDetails payload and verify it after the update.
Search Jentic for 'update a DLM lifecycle policy', load UpdateLifecyclePolicy, execute it with the new retention, then GetLifecyclePolicy to confirm.
Key Endpoints
8 endpoints — jentic publishes the only available openapi specification for amazon data lifecycle manager, keeping it validated and agent-ready.
METHOD
PATH
DESCRIPTION
POST
/policies
Create a new lifecycle policy
GET
/policies
List lifecycle policies
GET
/policies/{policyId}/
Get a specific policy
PATCH
/policies/{policyId}
Update an existing policy
DELETE
/policies/{policyId}/
Delete a lifecycle policy
POST
/tags/{resourceArn}
Tag a lifecycle policy
GET
/tags/{resourceArn}
List tags on a policy
POST
/policies
Create a new lifecycle policy
GET
/policies
List lifecycle policies
GET
/policies/{policyId}/
Get a specific policy
PATCH
/policies/{policyId}
Update an existing policy
DELETE
/policies/{policyId}/
Delete a lifecycle policy
POST
/tags/{resourceArn}
Tag a lifecycle policy
GET
/tags/{resourceArn}
List tags on a policy
Why Jentic?
Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.
Credential isolation
AWS access keys for DLM are stored encrypted in the Jentic vault. Jentic signs each DLM request with SigV4 at execution time and the agent only sees scoped, short-lived access — raw access keys never enter the agent's context.
Intent-based discovery
Agents search by intent (e.g., 'create a DLM lifecycle policy' or 'change snapshot retention') and Jentic returns the matching DLM operation with its input schema, so the agent can call the right endpoint without browsing AWS documentation.
Time to first call
Direct DLM integration: half a day to a day for SigV4 signing and PolicyDetails JSON construction. Through Jentic: under 30 minutes — search, load schema, execute.
Related APIs
Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.
FAQs
Specific to using Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager API through Jentic.
Why is there no official OpenAPI spec for Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager?
AWS does not publish an OpenAPI specification. Jentic generates and maintains this spec so that AI agents and developers can call Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager via structured tooling. It is validated against the live API and kept up to date. Get started at https://app.jentic.com/sign-up.
What authentication does the Amazon DLM API use?
DLM uses AWS Signature Version 4 (HMAC) signing with an AWS access key ID and secret access key. Through Jentic, those credentials live encrypted in the Jentic vault and are injected into signed requests at execution time, so the agent never sees the raw secret access key.
Can I update an existing lifecycle policy without deleting it?
Yes. Call PATCH /policies/{policyId} with the modified PolicyDetails — including schedules and retention rules — and the existing policy is updated in place. The schedule continues without losing history of past runs.
What are the rate limits for the Amazon DLM API?
DLM shares standard AWS service quotas, which are managed per account and region rather than published as fixed per-second limits in the spec. Bulk policy listing should rely on pagination, and ThrottlingException responses should trigger backoff.
How do I create an EBS snapshot policy through Jentic?
Search Jentic for 'create a DLM lifecycle policy', load CreateLifecyclePolicy, then execute it with PolicyDetails.ResourceTypes, TargetTags, and a Schedules array. Run pip install jentic to use the async search and execute pattern.
Does this API actually take snapshots, or only schedule them?
The API only schedules and configures policies. Snapshot creation happens automatically inside AWS based on the policy schedule, and the resulting snapshots appear in the EC2 EBS API rather than in DLM responses.
GET STARTED