Quick Configuration

Choose the setup that matches your environment.

Before You Start

Confirm you have the account, endpoint, or API key required for AWS.
Start with minimum scopes and read-only access where possible.
Keep secrets in environment variables instead of hardcoding them in JSON.

Last verified: 2026-06-13

Environment: uvx with awslabs.aws-api-mcp-server over stdio; uses your AWS profile, read-only mode

Install command: uvx awslabs.aws-api-mcp-server@latest

Local config

JSON

Local config json

{
  "aws": {
    "command": "uvx",
    "args": ["awslabs.aws-api-mcp-server@latest"],
    "env": {
      "AWS_REGION": "us-east-1",
      "AWS_API_MCP_PROFILE_NAME": "${AWS_PROFILE}",
      "READ_OPERATIONS_ONLY": "true"
    }
  }
}

After copying

Check the AWS JSON before running it in OpenClaw, then verify the server with a real prompt.

Check config Submit config review Run verification prompt Browse related MCPs

Verify prompt

List my S3 buckets and the EC2 instances in us-east-1.

Expected success output

You should see your buckets and instances returned via read-only AWS API calls.

Common Pitfalls & Fixes

⚠️ Watch out: IAM permissions, region selection, and resource naming.
🔑 Always store API keys in environment variables, never hardcode them in JSON.
🛡️ Start with read-only scopes if available to verify connection safely.

Security checklist

Keep READ_OPERATIONS_ONLY=true and use a least-privilege IAM profile.
Never inline AWS keys in JSON; use an AWS profile or environment credentials.

Common errors

Error	Cause	Fix
`uvx not found`	uv is not installed or not on PATH.	Install uv (which provides uvx).
`Unable to locate credentials`	No AWS profile or credentials are configured.	Configure an AWS profile and set AWS_API_MCP_PROFILE_NAME to it.
`AccessDenied`	The IAM identity lacks the needed read permissions.	Attach least-privilege read-only policies for the services you query.

Example Prompts

Once connected, try these prompts to test capabilities:

List S3 buckets and their total size.
Check Lambda function runtime and memory settings.
Get EC2 instance status and public IP addresses.

Verification Checklist

Run 1-2 real prompts to confirm AWS returns usable data.
Check that error messages are clear enough for troubleshooting.
Document the required scopes, dependencies, and env vars for future reuse.

AWS