---
title: "List S3 Buckets"
description: "Automate AWS S3 interactions. This Python snippet uses Boto3 to easily list all S3 buckets in your account."
author: "Mohammad Abu Mattar"
canonical: https://mkabumattar.com/codesnippets/post/python-list-s3-buckets
---

# List S3 Buckets

## Overview

### Multi-Profile S3 Management

**Multi-Profile S3 Safari!** Ever juggled multiple AWS accounts and needed a quick S3 bucket inventory across all of them? This Python script is your guide!

### Use Case

Perfect for organizations managing multiple AWS accounts or developers working with different IAM roles and profiles.

## The Problem

### Multi-Profile Complexity

When you're working with multiple AWS accounts or IAM roles through different profiles, getting a consolidated view of your S3 buckets can be a hassle. Switching contexts or running commands repeatedly for each profile is inefficient and prone to oversight, making comprehensive inventory or auditing a chore.

### Manual Process Inefficiencies

Traditional approaches require manual switching between profiles and running separate commands for each account.

## The Solution

### Automated Profile Discovery

This Python script, powered by Boto3, automates the discovery of all your configured AWS CLI profiles. It then iterates through each profile, attempting to list its S3 buckets. The script provides a clear, profile-by-profile breakdown and includes robust error handling for issues like missing credentials or access denied for specific profiles, ensuring it runs smoothly even in complex setups.

### Comprehensive Error Handling

Gracefully handles various error conditions including missing credentials, access denied, and network issues.

## Features

### Key Capabilities

**TL;DR**

- Lists S3 buckets across ALL configured AWS CLI profiles in one go.
- Automatically discovers available AWS profiles.
- Provides a clear, per-profile output of S3 buckets.
- Gracefully handles errors for individual profiles (e.g., credential issues, access denied).

### Output Format

Organized display showing buckets grouped by AWS profile with clear visual separation.

## Code Implementation

### Dependencies and Setup

```python title="list_s3_buckets.py" showLineNumbers

from botocore.exceptions import NoCredentialsError, ClientError
```

### Profile Discovery Function

```python
def get_aws_profiles():
    """Get all configured AWS profiles from the AWS CLI configuration."""
    try:
        session = boto3.Session()
        return session.available_profiles
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error getting AWS profiles: {str(e)}")
        return []
```

### Bucket Listing Function

```python
def list_s3_buckets_for_profile(profile_name):
    """
    Lists all S3 buckets for a specific AWS profile.
    Returns a list of bucket names or an empty list if an error occurs.
    """
    buckets = []
    try:
        session = boto3.Session(profile_name=profile_name)
        s3_client = session.client('s3')
        response = s3_client.list_buckets()
        if response['Buckets']:
            for bucket in response['Buckets']:
                buckets.append(bucket['Name'])
    except NoCredentialsError:
        print(f"  Warning: No credentials found for profile '{profile_name}'. Skipping.")
    except ClientError as e:
        error_code = e.response.get("Error", {}).get("Code")
        error_message = e.response.get("Error", {}).get("Message")
        print(f"  Warning: AWS Client Error for profile '{profile_name}' ({error_code}): {error_message}. Skipping.")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"  Warning: An unexpected error occurred for profile '{profile_name}': {e}. Skipping.")
    return buckets
```

### Main Display Function

```python
def display_all_s3_buckets_by_profile():
    """
    Fetches and displays S3 buckets for all configured AWS profiles.
    """
    profiles = get_aws_profiles()

    if not profiles:
        print("No AWS profiles found. Please configure your AWS CLI.")
        return

    print(f"\nChecking S3 Buckets across {len(profiles)} AWS Profiles:")
    print("-" * 40)

    for profile in sorted(profiles):
        print(f"\nProfile: {profile}")
        print("  S3 Buckets:")
        buckets = list_s3_buckets_for_profile(profile)
        if buckets:
            for bucket_name in buckets:
                print(f"    - {bucket_name}")
        else:
            print("    No buckets or inaccessible for this profile.")
        print("-" * 40)

    if not any(list_s3_buckets_for_profile(p) for p in profiles):
        print("\nNo S3 buckets found across any configured profiles or all were inaccessible.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    display_all_s3_buckets_by_profile()
```

## Benefits and Usage

### Operational Advantages

**Why This Helps**

This script is a game-changer for anyone managing multiple AWS environments. It drastically simplifies S3 bucket auditing, inventory tasks, and compliance checks across your entire AWS footprint. Get a unified view without the manual grind, making your cloud operations more efficient and less error-prone.

### Use Cases

Ideal for inventory management, compliance auditing, and multi-account AWS operations.

## Community Discussion

### Your S3 Management Approaches

**Your Turn**

How do you manage S3 bucket information in your Python projects? Any favorite Boto3 tricks for S3 you'd like to share?

### Alternative Tools

Share your preferred methods for managing S3 resources across multiple AWS accounts.