AWS Knowledge MCP Server

AWS's free hosted server for current AWS docs, API references and region checks.

Started in our test
★ 9.8K GitHub stars
15.2K downloads a week
Last commit 26 Oct 2026

At a glance

The AWS Knowledge server is one of the open source MCP servers in AWS Labs' awslabs/mcp repository, and the easiest one to start with: AWS hosts it, it needs no AWS account and it only reads. It searches the AWS documentation, API references, What's New posts, blogs and Well-Architected guidance, and returns whole pages as Markdown.

It can also say whether a service, API or CloudFormation resource is available in a given region, and it serves AWS agent skills: step-by-step guides for tasks such as deployment and troubleshooting. To act on your account rather than read about it, the same repository has servers that call AWS APIs with your credentials.

Made by: Amazon Web Services (awslabs/mcp)
GitHub stars: 9.8K
Downloads: 15.2K a week
Last commit: 26 Oct 2026
Tools: 5
Runs on: Hosted

Our check: We ran this exact config on 27 Oct 2026: it started and answered with 5 tools. The shared database pointed this repository at "npx mcp", an unrelated npm package. AWS Labs publishes dozens of servers from awslabs/mcp; this page covers the hosted Knowledge server.

What's in the pod: its tools

We found 5 tools when we started it on 27 Oct 2026. Every one of them only reads, so nothing changes unless you act on what it finds.

Only reads5 tools · Looks things up and changes nothing.

Tool	What it is for
`aws___get_regional_availability`	Checks whether a service, API or CloudFormation resource is available, planned or missing in up to ten Regions.
`aws___list_regions`	Lists every AWS Region with its code and name.
`aws___read_documentation`	Reads a full AWS documentation page as markdown, in chunks, when the search passages leave something out.
`aws___retrieve_skill`	Fetches an AWS-written skill, a step-by-step guide for a task, that a search pointed to.
`aws___search_documentation`	Searches AWS documentation, API references, What's New posts, blogs and architecture guidance, and returns real page passages. You can narrow it to a topic such as troubleshooting or CDK.

Grouped and described by us. The README on GitHub lists the inputs each tool takes.

How clearly it describes its tools to your assistant

Tools with a description: 5 of 5
Say if they change things: 5 of 5
Context it takes, at least: ~1,200 tokens

Every tool says whether it only reads or can change things, so a client can ask before the risky ones.

From the tool list it sent us. The token figure counts names, descriptions and input names; the full schemas your client loads add more.

Set it up

Pick your app for the exact snippet and where it goes.

Where it goes: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector

Claude Desktop

https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws

Paste the URL and sign in if asked. Custom connectors depend on your plan.

Where it goes: Your terminal, in the project folder

Claude Code

claude mcp add --transport http aws-knowledge https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws

Where it goes: ~/.cursor/mcp.json, or .cursor/mcp.json in a project

Cursor

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aws-knowledge": {
      "url": "https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws"
    }
  }
}

Where it goes: .vscode/mcp.json in your project

VS Code

{
  "servers": {
    "aws-knowledge": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws"
    }
  }
}

Where it goes: ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

Windsurf

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aws-knowledge": {
      "serverUrl": "https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws"
    }
  }
}

Where it goes: Settings → Apps & Connectors → create a connector

ChatGPT

https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws

Paste the URL as the connector address and sign in if asked.

It is rate limited but free. For clients that only start local commands, use uvx fastmcp run https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws as the command.

New to this? See the setup guides for Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop and ChatGPT.

Settings

Names are exactly as the project spells them. Required ones are marked.

Setting	What it does
`https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws`Config · required	The hosted server's address. It speaks streamable HTTP and needs no AWS account or keys.
`npx mcp-remote`Config	A stdio bridge for clients that can only start a command: run npx mcp-remote with the address above.
`topics`Config	A search option that narrows results to one area, such as reference_documentation, current_awareness, troubleshooting or cdk.

What it can touch

It can read

Public AWS documentation, blogs, What's New posts and Well-Architected guidance
AWS Region and service availability data

It can change

Safer setup: It is read-only and never touches your AWS account. To act on your resources you need a different server, such as the AWS API MCP server.

Before you start

Nothing: no AWS account or key
A client that connects to a remote URL (or a stdio bridge such as fastmcp)

If it does not work

Requests start failing with throttled: The free server is rate limited. Wait a moment, and ask for fewer full-page reads, since the search passages often already hold the answer.
Your client cannot add a URL server: Use npx mcp-remote https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws as a command instead.
Regional availability rejects a service name: Names must match AWS's catalogue exactly. Ask for one Region with no filter first to see the exact names.
A client still uses the old SSE transport: Connect with streamable HTTP to the same address.

Peas in a pod: similar servers

How AWS Knowledge MCP Server lines up against other cloud and operations servers on the shelf.

Server	Tools	Runs on	Licence	Stars
AWS Knowledge MCP Server	5	Hosted	–	9.8K
Cloudflare MCP Servers	2	Hosted	–	4.4K
Grafana MCP	62	Your computer	Apache-2.0	3.6K
Azure DevOps MCP	44	Your computer or hosted	MIT	2.1K