AWS MCP Server: what it is, how to connect it, what it costs
The AWS MCP Server is Amazon's managed remote MCP server that lets AI coding agents call AWS APIs and search AWS documentation using your existing IAM credentials. AWS announced general availability on May 6, 2026. It runs in US East (N. Virginia) and Europe (Frankfurt), with no extra charge beyond AWS resources, per AWS's post read 2026-10-27 (America/Chicago).
Checked by Agentic Weekly's editorial process: vendor pages re-read.
Last verified: 2026-10-27 (America/Chicago) · Versions covered: AWS News Blog (published 2026-05-06, updated through 2026-06-09) and the aws/mcp-proxy-for-aws README, read 2026-10-27 · Evidence: Reported (see “What we tested”)
What the AWS MCP Server is
According to AWS's announcement by Sébastien Stormacq, the AWS MCP Server is "a managed remote Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that gives AI agents and coding assistants secure, authenticated access to all AWS services through a small, fixed set of tools." It is part of the Agent Toolkit for AWS, which AWS describes as a suite including the MCP server, skills and plugins.
| Item | What AWS says |
|---|---|
call_aws | Executes any of the 15,000+ AWS API operations using your existing IAM credentials; AWS says new APIs are supported within days of launch |
search_documentation and read_documentation | Retrieve current AWS documentation and best practices at query time; documentation retrieval no longer requires authentication |
run_script | The agent writes a short Python script that runs server-side in a sandbox; it inherits your IAM permissions and has no network access |
| Skills | Replace Agent SOPs: curated guidance for tasks where agents commonly make mistakes, contributed and maintained by AWS service teams |
| Permissions | Supports IAM context keys, so no separate IAM permission is needed; IAM policies or Service Control Policies can allow a user to mutate while the MCP server is restricted to read-only actions |
| Observability | Amazon CloudWatch metrics under the AWS-MCP namespace; AWS CloudTrail captures all API calls |
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How an agent connects
AWS says the server uses IAM SigV4 authentication, while MCP clients speak OAuth 2.1, so you run the open-source MCP Proxy for AWS locally to bridge the two. In the announcement's Claude Code demo the author added the server with claude mcp add-json and a uvx command that launches the proxy against the regional endpoint https://aws-mcp.us-east-1.api.aws/mcp, passing AWS_REGION metadata to choose a Region for calls.
The command in that post pinned mcp-proxy-for-aws==1.6.0 and AWS notes the version changes, so check current instructions. The proxy's GitHub README, read 2026-10-27, now tells CLI and uvx users to install mcp-proxy-for-aws-cli, a version-pinned distribution, with the form uvx mcp-proxy-for-aws-cli@latest <SigV4 MCP endpoint URL>, and lists Python 3.10+, the uv package manager and configured AWS credentials as prerequisites. It describes the unsuffixed mcp-proxy-for-aws package as the library distribution. We did not run either command.
AWS says the server works with Claude Code, Kiro, Cursor and any MCP-compatible client, and the post names Kiro CLI, Codex and others. AWS's post points to an AWS MCP Server User Guide for setup details.
What it costs
AWS states: "There is no additional charge for the AWS MCP server itself. You pay only for the AWS resources you create and any applicable data transfer costs." So an agent that calls call_aws to create resources creates normal AWS charges, and your model provider's token costs are separate. We list no prices for either.
Regions
The post says the server is available in US East (N. Virginia) and Europe (Frankfurt) and can make API calls to any Region. That was the list on May 6, 2026; we did not find a newer region list, so check AWS's documentation.
Other AWS MCP servers
The AWS Labs open-source MCP directory, read 2026-10-27, shows 63 servers, including documentation, Knowledge, API, infrastructure, container, serverless, database and Bedrock servers. Its entry for the AWS MCP server still reads "in preview" and mentions Agent SOPs, which differs from the May 6 general-availability post, so we treat the announcement as the later statement and recommend checking both. We did not verify whether any older server is deprecated and make no claim on that.
What we tested
Nothing: we have no AWS account connected on our box and did not install the proxy or call the server. Everything here is from AWS's pages read on 2026-10-27. AWS's re:Invent 2026 runs November 30 to December 4, 2026; features may change, and we will re-check then. See upcoming AI dates.
FAQ
What is the AWS MCP Server?
A managed remote MCP server from AWS that gives AI agents authenticated access to AWS services through a small fixed set of tools, including call_aws for API operations and documentation search tools. AWS announced general availability on May 6, 2026.
Is the AWS MCP Server free?
AWS says there is no additional charge for the server itself. You pay for the AWS resources you create and any data transfer costs, plus your model provider's own costs, which are separate.
Which clients work with the AWS MCP Server?
AWS says it works with Claude Code, Kiro, Cursor and any MCP-compatible client. Because the server uses IAM SigV4 authentication, clients connect through AWS's open-source MCP Proxy for AWS, which bridges IAM authentication to MCP.
Where is the AWS MCP Server hosted?
AWS's May 6, 2026 post says US East (N. Virginia) and Europe (Frankfurt), and that it can make API calls to any Region. Check AWS's documentation for a newer list, since we found none.
Have you tested the AWS MCP Server?
No. We have no AWS account connected on our box and did not install the proxy or call the server. This guide reports AWS's announcement and the proxy README as read on 2026-10-27, so commands shown or described are not verified by us.
Sources
- AWS News Blog: The AWS MCP Server is now generally available (fetched 2026-10-27)
- GitHub: aws/mcp-proxy-for-aws README (fetched 2026-10-27)
- AWS Labs: Open Source MCP Servers for AWS (fetched 2026-10-27)
Related
Page history
- : First published from AWS's announcement, the proxy README and the AWS Labs directory, read on this date. Nothing was run.
Markdown version for agents: /guides/aws-mcp-servers.md
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