AWS MCP

Overview

AWS MCP provides access to Amazon Web Services, enabling AI agents to interact with AWS services including S3, DynamoDB, Lambda, EC2, and more. Perfect for cloud infrastructure management, debugging, and building AWS-powered features.

Features

• Multi-Service Support: Access to 50+ AWS services
• S3 Operations: List, upload, download, and manage S3 buckets and objects
• DynamoDB: Query and manage NoSQL tables
• Lambda: Deploy and manage serverless functions
• EC2: Manage virtual machines and instances
• IAM: View and manage permissions and roles
• CloudWatch: Monitor logs and metrics
• Secrets Manager: Retrieve stored secrets

Installation

npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-aws

Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aws": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-aws"],
      "env": {
        "AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID": "your-access-key",
        "AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY": "your-secret-key",
        "AWS_REGION": "us-east-1"
      }
    }
  }
}

For IAM role-based authentication (EC2, Lambda, etc.):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aws": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-aws"],
      "env": {
        "AWS_REGION": "us-east-1"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Services

Service	Description
S3	Object storage
DynamoDB	NoSQL database
Lambda	Serverless compute
EC2	Virtual servers
IAM	Identity management
CloudWatch	Monitoring and logs
Secrets Manager	Secure credential storage
SNS	Notification service
SQS	Message queuing
RDS	Managed databases

Usage Examples

S3 Operations

List all S3 buckets

List objects in bucket "my-app-data"

Download file "config.json" from bucket "my-app-data"

DynamoDB Queries

Query items in table "users" where status = "active"

Get item from table "sessions" with id "abc123"

Lambda Management

List all Lambda functions

Get function code for "process-images"

Invoke Lambda function "process-images" with payload {"key": "value"}

CloudWatch Logs

Get recent logs for Lambda function "api-handler"

List CloudWatch metrics for EC2 instances

Claude Desktop Setup

1. Install the MCP server
2. Configure AWS credentials via environment variables or IAM role
3. Add configuration to claude_desktop_config.json
4. Restart Claude Desktop
5. The AWS tool will appear in your available tools

Security Best Practices

• Use IAM roles instead of access keys when possible
• Apply least-privilege principle to IAM policies
• Store credentials in AWS Secrets Manager or environment variables
• Never commit credentials to version control
• Use separate credentials for development and production

Pros

• ✅ Access to 50+ AWS services
• ✅ Works with IAM role authentication
• ✅ Great for infrastructure debugging
• ✅ Can manage cloud resources directly
• ✅ No additional AWS charges beyond normal usage

Cons

• ❌ Requires AWS account and credentials
• ❌ IAM policy configuration can be complex
• ❌ Risk of accidental resource modification
• ❌ Some services require additional permissions

Resources

• AWS Documentation
• AWS IAM Best Practices
• MCP Server Source