---
title: "AWS Knowledge MCP Server: Official AWS Docs for Claude"
url: "https://mcpshelf.co/servers/aws-knowledge"
description: "AWS's free hosted MCP server searches AWS docs, API references, What's New posts and regional availability. No AWS account needed. Setup and tools."
updated: "2026-10-27"
site: "MCP Shelf"
---

# AWS Knowledge MCP Server

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

## 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 | https://github.com/awslabs/mcp |
| GitHub stars | 9.8K |
| Downloads | 15.2K a week |
| Last commit | 26 Oct 2026 |
| Tools | 5 |
| Runs on | Hosted |
| Install check | Started in our test |
| Category | [Cloud and operations](https://mcpshelf.co/categories/cloud-and-ops) |

**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.

## Tools

We listed 5 tools on 27 Oct 2026. Every one of them only reads.

| Tool | Kind | What it is for |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `aws___read_documentation` | reads | Reads a full AWS documentation page as markdown, in chunks, when the search passages leave something out. |
| `aws___search_documentation` | reads | 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. |
| `aws___list_regions` | reads | Lists every AWS Region with its code and name. |
| `aws___get_regional_availability` | reads | Checks whether a service, API or CloudFormation resource is available, planned or missing in up to ten Regions. |
| `aws___retrieve_skill` | reads | Fetches an AWS-written skill, a step-by-step guide for a task, that a search pointed to. |

### How clearly it describes its tools

5 of 5 tools have a description and 5 of 5 say whether they change things. The tool list takes at least ~1,200 tokens of context. Every tool says whether it only reads or can change things, so a client can ask before the risky ones.

## Set it up

### Claude Desktop

Where: Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector

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

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

### Claude Code

Where: Your terminal, in the project folder

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

### Cursor

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

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

### VS Code

Where: .vscode/mcp.json in your project

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

### Windsurf

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

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

### ChatGPT

Where: Settings → Apps & Connectors → create a connector

```
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.

## Settings

| Setting | Kind | Required | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `https://knowledge-mcp.global.api.aws` | config | yes | The hosted server's address. It speaks streamable HTTP and needs no AWS account or keys. |
| `npx mcp-remote` | config | no | A stdio bridge for clients that can only start a command: run npx mcp-remote with the address above. |
| `topics` | config | no | 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)

## Good for

- Getting current answers on AWS services the model learned years ago
- Checking whether a feature exists in your region before you design around it
- CDK and CloudFormation questions with the official examples

## 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.

## Similar servers

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| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Cloudflare MCP Servers](https://mcpshelf.co/servers/cloudflare) | 2 | Hosted | 4.4K |
| [Grafana MCP](https://mcpshelf.co/servers/grafana) | 62 | Your computer | 3.6K |
| [Azure DevOps MCP](https://mcpshelf.co/servers/azure-devops) | 44 | Your computer or hosted | 2.1K |

## Questions

### Do I need an AWS account?

No. The server is free, needs no sign-in and only reads public material.

### Can it change anything in my AWS account?

No. It has no access to your account. It only answers questions from AWS's published content.

### Why use it instead of web search?

Its answers come straight from current AWS pages, including recent launches, and it can check which Regions a service runs in.

### What is the Agent Toolkit for AWS?

AWS's newer, broader set of agent tools. The Knowledge server keeps working and remains the simple choice for documentation questions.

Full docs on GitHub: https://github.com/awslabs/mcp

---

From [MCP Shelf](https://mcpshelf.co/): A short shelf of MCP servers that are worth installing. Index for agents: https://mcpshelf.co/llms.txt