File: //lib/python2.7/site-packages/awscli/examples/dynamodb/get-item.rst
**To read an item in a table**
This example retrieves an item from the *MusicCollection* table. The table has a hash-and-range primary key (*Artist* and *SongTitle*), so you must specify both of these attributes.
Command::
aws dynamodb get-item --table-name MusicCollection --key file://key.json
The arguments for ``--key`` are stored in a JSON file, ``key.json``. Here are the contents of that file::
{
"Artist": {"S": "Acme Band"},
"SongTitle": {"S": "Happy Day"}
}
Output::
{
"Item": {
"AlbumTitle": {
"S": "Songs About Life"
},
"SongTitle": {
"S": "Happy Day"
},
"Artist": {
"S": "Acme Band"
}
}
}