Query history becomes a table
Amazon Athena introduced system tables on November 9, giving platform teams a way to search, aggregate and join query-usage data without building a separate collection pipeline. AWS says usage appears within minutes after a query completes, in service-managed, read-only Apache Iceberg tables on Amazon S3 Tables.
The query_executions table can support analysis of data scanned by workgroup, user or table. Athena can query the records directly; other Iceberg-compatible engines can also read them. Data-scanned analysis is not a guarantee of an exact invoice allocation.
Opt-in has an account and Region boundary
Enablement applies to one AWS account and one Region, covering current and future workgroups there. AWS lists availability where both Athena and S3 Tables are available; the feature does not provide cross-account or cross-Region consolidation.
Querying requires integration of the S3 Tables bucket with AWS Glue Data Catalog. The customer governs read access through IAM or Lake Formation. Query text may contain sensitive information, and Athena does not mask it or grant read permissions on the customer’s behalf.
Set retention before costs accumulate
Athena does not charge to deliver usage data, but standard S3 Tables storage and maintenance charges apply. Queries also incur the chosen engine’s normal charges. The guide sets no default retention period: data remains until expiration is configured.
Disabling collection stops new records without removing previously delivered data; the disabled interval is not backfilled on re-enablement. Before enabling, review the actual Region, permissions, retention and pricing requirements in the linked AWS guide.
