Agent Setup¶

Install your chosen AI coding agent and configure it to connect to the AWS MCP Server. This gives your agent authenticated access to AWS services throughout the workshop.

Install Your Agent¶

Choose the tab for your AI coding agent and follow the installation steps.

Claude CodeKiroCursorCodex

Install Claude Code if you haven't already:

# macOS / Linux
brew install claude-code

# Or via npm
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Add the Agent Toolkit plugin:

/plugin marketplace add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws
/plugin install aws-core@agent-toolkit-for-aws

This registers the AWS MCP Server as a tool provider in Claude Code.

Install Kiro from kiro.dev if you haven't already.

Configure the MCP Server by adding the following to ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aws": {
      "url": "https://mcp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/",
      "transport": "sse"
    }
  }
}

Add Agent Toolkit skills:

npx skills add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws/skills

Restart Kiro to pick up the new MCP configuration.

Install Cursor from cursor.com if you haven't already.

Configure the MCP Server by creating or editing .cursor/mcp.json in your project root:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "aws": {
      "url": "https://mcp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/",
      "transport": "sse"
    }
  }
}

Restart Cursor to activate the MCP connection.

Install Codex if you haven't already:

npm install -g @openai/codex

Add the Agent Toolkit plugin:

codex plugin marketplace add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws

This registers the AWS MCP Server as a tool provider in Codex.

Info

Alternative for all agents: You can also run the interactive CLI wizard to configure the Agent Toolkit:

aws configure agent-toolkit

This will guide you through MCP endpoint setup and credential configuration.

Configure AWS Credentials¶

Your agent needs AWS credentials to authenticate with the MCP Server. Workshop Studio provides temporary credentials that you must configure in your local environment.

Get Credentials from Workshop Studio¶

In the Workshop Studio dashboard, click Get AWS CLI credentials on the left sidebar
Copy the credentials block — it contains AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY, and AWS_SESSION_TOKEN

Set Credentials Locally¶

Claude CodeKiroCursorCodex

Export the credentials as environment variables in your terminal before launching Claude Code:

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="<your-access-key>"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="<your-secret-key>"
export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN="<your-session-token>"
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="us-east-1"

Then start Claude Code in the same terminal session.

Export the credentials as environment variables in your terminal:

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="<your-access-key>"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="<your-secret-key>"
export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN="<your-session-token>"
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="us-east-1"

Restart Kiro from the same terminal to inherit the credentials.

Export the credentials as environment variables in your terminal:

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="<your-access-key>"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="<your-secret-key>"
export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN="<your-session-token>"
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="us-east-1"

Then open Cursor from the same terminal (cursor .) so it inherits the environment.

Export the credentials as environment variables in your terminal before launching Codex:

export AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID="<your-access-key>"
export AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY="<your-secret-key>"
export AWS_SESSION_TOKEN="<your-session-token>"
export AWS_DEFAULT_REGION="us-east-1"

Then start Codex in the same terminal session.

Warning

Workshop Studio credentials are temporary and expire when your session ends. If your agent stops working during the workshop, refresh credentials from the Workshop Studio dashboard and re-export them.

MCP Server Endpoint¶

All agents connect to the same MCP Server endpoint:

https://mcp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/

This endpoint provides your agent with authenticated access to AWS documentation search, API tools, and agent skills used throughout the workshop.

Next Step¶

Once your agent is installed and credentials are configured, proceed to Verify Connection to confirm everything is working.