Copy Object
Copies an object to a new key, in the same Amazon S3 bucket or in another bucket.
Copy Object makes a copy of an object in Amazon S3. The copy can stay in the same bucket under a new key, or go to another bucket, even in another region. The original is kept.
Before you start
The AWS S3 actions don't use a stored credential. Each action has the same four connection fields:
| Field | Type | Required | What to put |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access Key | Text | Yes | The access key ID of an AWS IAM user, for example AKIAโฆ. |
| Secret Key | Text | Yes | The secret access key that belongs to that access key. |
| Region | Text | Yes | The AWS region of the bucket, as its code, for example eu-central-1. |
| Bucket | Text | Yes | The bucket name, for example my-company-invoices. |
The IAM user needs S3 permissions on the bucket for the operation you run. The values you type are visible to everyone who can edit the process, so prefer an IAM user limited to the buckets the process needs.
Add the action
In the Process Designer toolbox, open AWS S3 and pick Copy Object (or type Copy Object in the search box).
Inputs and outputs
| Field | Direction | Type | Required | What to put / what you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access Key, Secret Key, Region, Bucket | Input | Text | Yes | The connection fields described above. Region and Bucket are those of the source object. |
| Source Key | Input | Text | Yes | The full key of the object to copy, for example inbox/order-17.csv. |
| Destination Key | Input | Text | Yes | The full key of the copy, for example archive/2026/order-17.csv. Keep the file extension. |
| Destination Bucket | Input | Text | No | The bucket of the copy. Leave empty to copy inside the same bucket. |
| Destination Region | Input | Text | No | The region of the destination bucket. Leave empty when it is the same region. |
| Result | Output | Boolean | No | true if the object was copied, false if not. |
Example
Bucket my-company-orders, Source Key inbox/order-17.csv, Destination Key archive/2026/order-17.csv, the destination fields empty โ the bucket now has both keys and Result is true.
Good to know
- An existing object at the destination key is replaced.
- The same Access Key and Secret Key are used for both buckets, so the IAM user needs read access on the source and write access on the destination.
- Inside one bucket, S3 copies the object directly. Between two buckets, the object is downloaded and uploaded again, and its content type is set from the extension of the Destination Key; custom metadata isn't carried over.
- Bucket names are compared exactly:
Ordersandorderscount as two buckets. - If Source Key or Destination Key is empty, the step fails with "Missing object keys." If the source doesn't exist, the step fails with "Object not found! Ensure the bucket and object key are correct."
- If a connection field is empty, the step fails with "Invalid connection details."
- Common errors from S3: "Access forbidden! Ensure the connection details are valid." (wrong keys or missing permission), "Unable to connect! Ensure the provided region matches the bucket one." (wrong Region), and "Unrecognized Amazon Region: โฆ" (a region code that doesn't exist).