Cart Service (carts-db) doesn’t auto-create DynamoDB table using docker-compose or Kubernetes manifests

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Cart Service (carts-db) doesn’t auto-create DynamoDB table in docker-compose or Kubernetes manifests

Issue Description

When running the Cart service with the provided docker-compose.yaml or kubernetes.yaml manifests from this repo, the associated DynamoDB Local container (carts-db) starts successfully, but the required Items table is not created automatically.

The Cart service logs confirm it expects the Items table, but reports it as missing:

cart-1  | 2025-09-20T10:55:04.645Z  INFO 1 --- [           main] c.a.s.c.c.DynamoDBConfiguration          : DynamoDB table: Items
cart-1  | 2025-09-20T10:55:04.721Z  INFO 1 --- [           main] c.a.s.c.c.DynamoDBConfiguration          : DynamoDB endpoint: http://carts-db:8000
cart-1  | 2025-09-20T10:55:10.411Z  WARN 1 --- [           main] c.a.s.c.s.DynamoDBCartService            : Dynamo table not found

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Expected Behavior

The Cart service should either:

1. Auto-create the Items table (when RETAIL_CART_PERSISTENCE_DYNAMODB_CREATE_TABLE=true is set), or
2. Provide clear instructions in the documentation to manually create the Items table before starting the service.

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Actual Behavior

• carts-db container starts successfully.
• Cart service connects to DynamoDB Local but the Items table does not exist, causing warnings and failed persistence.

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Steps to Reproduce

1. Clone the repo and run docker compose up (or apply the provided Kubernetes manifests).
2. Wait for cart and carts-db to become healthy.
3. Check Cart service logs:

docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f cart

You will see:

cart-1  | 2025-09-20T10:55:10.411Z  WARN 1 --- [           main] c.a.s.c.s.DynamoDBCartService            : Dynamo table not found

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Suggestion

• Ensure the Items table is created automatically at startup when using the default manifests, or
• Update documentation with explicit instructions on creating the table manually.