AWS Glue Delete Table Action

GitHub Action to delete AWS Glue Data Catalog tables.

Features

• Delete Glue tables
• Automatic verification that table is deleted
• Gracefully handles non-existent tables
• Support for cross-account catalog access
• Comprehensive error reporting

Usage

Basic Usage

- name: Delete Glue table
  uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'my_database'
    table-name: 'my_table'

Cross-Account Table

- name: Delete table in another account
  uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'shared_database'
    table-name: 'shared_table'
    catalog-id: '987654321098'

Authentication

This action requires AWS credentials to be configured. Use the official AWS configure credentials action:

- uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
  with:
    role-to-assume: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/GitHubActionsRole
    aws-region: us-east-1

- uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'my_database'
    table-name: 'my_table'

Inputs

Input	Required	Default	Description
database-name	Yes	-	Name of the Glue database containing the table
table-name	Yes	-	Name of the table to delete
catalog-id	No	current account	AWS account ID for cross-account access

Outputs

Output	Description
table-name	Name of the deleted table
database-name	Name of the database that contained the table

Examples

Complete Workflow

name: Cleanup Glue Table
on:
  workflow_dispatch:
    inputs:
      database_name:
        description: 'Database name'
        required: true
      table_name:
        description: 'Table to delete'
        required: true

jobs:
  delete-table:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      id-token: write
      contents: read

    steps:
      - uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
        with:
          role-to-assume: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/GitHubActionsRole
          aws-region: us-east-1

      - name: Delete Glue table
        uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
        with:
          database-name: ${{ github.event.inputs.database_name }}
          table-name: ${{ github.event.inputs.table_name }}
        id: delete-table

      - name: Report deletion
        run: |
          echo "Table: ${{ steps.delete-table.outputs.table-name }}"
          echo "Database: ${{ steps.delete-table.outputs.database-name }}"

Cleanup Test Tables

- name: Delete test table
  uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'test_database'
    table-name: 'test_${{ github.run_id }}'

Multiple Tables

- name: Delete staging tables
  uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'analytics'
    table-name: 'staging_events'

- name: Delete temp table
  uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'analytics'
    table-name: 'temp_results'

Conditional Cleanup on PR Close

name: Cleanup on PR Close
on:
  pull_request:
    types: [closed]

jobs:
  cleanup:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      id-token: write
      contents: read

    steps:
      - uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
        with:
          role-to-assume: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/GitHubActionsRole
          aws-region: us-east-1

      - name: Delete PR-specific table
        uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
        with:
          database-name: 'pr_testing'
          table-name: 'pr_${{ github.event.pull_request.number }}_events'

Cleanup After Failed Tests

- name: Run integration tests
  id: tests
  run: pytest tests/integration

- name: Cleanup test table
  if: always()
  uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'test_db'
    table-name: 'test_data_${{ github.run_id }}'

IAM Permissions

The AWS credentials used by this action need the following IAM permissions:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "glue:DeleteTable",
        "glue:GetTable"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:glue:*:*:catalog",
        "arn:aws:glue:*:*:database/*",
        "arn:aws:glue:*:*:table/*/*"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Error Handling

Non-existent Table

If the table doesn't exist, the action will:

• Log a warning: "Table X.Y does not exist - nothing to delete"
• Exit successfully (not an error)
• Set outputs with table and database names

This makes the action idempotent and safe to run multiple times.

Permission Errors

If credentials lack necessary permissions:

• Action will fail with AWS SDK error
• Error details include HTTP status and error code
• Check IAM permissions match requirements above

Database Not Found

If the database doesn't exist:

• Action will fail with EntityNotFoundException
• Ensure database exists before attempting to delete tables

Common Use Cases

1. Cleanup Test Data

- uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'integration_tests'
    table-name: 'temp_results'

2. Environment Teardown

- uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'ephemeral_${{ github.sha }}'
    table-name: 'events'

3. Replace Table Pattern

# Delete old table
- uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'analytics'
    table-name: 'events'

# Create new table with updated schema
- uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-create-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'analytics'
    table-name: 'events'
    table-input: '{"Name": "events", ...}'

4. Selective Cleanup (Keep Database)

# Delete individual tables but keep database
- uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'my_database'
    table-name: 'old_table_1'

- uses: predictr-io/aws-glue-delete-table@v0
  with:
    database-name: 'my_database'
    table-name: 'old_table_2'

Verification

After deletion, the action polls GetTable to verify the table no longer exists:

• Max 10 attempts with 1s delay
• Logs verification progress
• Ensures eventual consistency is handled

Related Actions

• aws-glue-create-table - Create or update Glue tables
• aws-glue-create-database - Create Glue databases
• aws-glue-delete-database - Delete Glue databases (with cascade option for all tables)

License

MIT