AWS Documentation Tool

December 1, 2025 ยท View on GitHub

The AWS documentation tool provides unified access to AWS official documentation and pricing information through five action modes: search, fetch, recommend, list_pricing_services, and get_service_pricing.

  • AWS documentation tool: "What is this service and how does it work?"
  • AWS pricing tool: "How much does this service cost?"
  • Context7 tools (resolve_library_id & get_library_documentation): "How do I code against this service?"

Tool Overview

Tool Name: aws_documentation Actions: search, fetch, recommend, list_pricing_services, get_service_pricing Enablement: Requires ENABLE_ADDITIONAL_TOOLS=aws

Parameters

Required

  • action (string): Action to perform - one of "search", "fetch", or "recommend"

Action-Specific Parameters

For search action:

  • search_phrase (required): Search terms for finding AWS documentation
  • limit (optional): Maximum results to return (1-50, default: 5)

For fetch action:

  • url (required): AWS documentation URL (must be from docs.aws.amazon.com and end with .html)
  • max_length (optional): Maximum characters to return (default: 5000)
  • start_index (optional): Starting character index for pagination (default: 0)

For recommend action:

  • url (required): AWS documentation URL to get recommendations for

For list_pricing_services action:

  • No additional parameters required

For get_service_pricing action:

  • service_code (required): AWS service code (e.g., "AmazonEC2", "AmazonS3")
  • max_results (optional): Maximum number of products to return (default: 10)
  • filters (optional): Array of filter objects, each containing:
    • field (required): Attribute name to filter on (e.g., "instanceType", "location", "operatingSystem")
    • value (required): Value to match (e.g., "t2.micro", "US East (N. Virginia)")
    • type (optional): Comparison type - "TERM_MATCH" (default)

Usage Examples

Search for Documentation

{
  "name": "aws_documentation",
  "arguments": {
    "action": "search",
    "search_phrase": "S3 bucket versioning",
    "limit": 5
  }
}

Returns:

  • action: "search"
  • search_phrase: Original search query
  • results_count: Number of results found
  • results: Array of search results with rank_order, url, title, and context

Fetch Documentation Content

{
  "name": "aws_documentation",
  "arguments": {
    "action": "fetch",
    "url": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/bucketnamingrules.html"
  }
}

Returns:

  • action: "fetch"
  • url: Original documentation URL
  • content: Converted markdown content
  • total_length: Total content length in characters
  • start_index: Starting character index used
  • end_index: Ending character index
  • has_more_content: Boolean indicating if pagination is needed
  • next_start_index: Next starting index for continuation (if applicable)
  • pagination_hint: Instructions for continuing pagination

Get Content Recommendations

{
  "name": "aws_documentation",
  "arguments": {
    "action": "recommend",
    "url": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/s3-express-one-zone.html"
  }
}

Returns:

  • action: "recommend"
  • url: Original documentation URL
  • recommendations: Array of recommendation results with url, title, and context
  • recommendations_count: Number of recommendations found

List All AWS Services with Pricing

{
  "name": "aws_documentation",
  "arguments": {
    "action": "list_pricing_services"
  }
}

Returns:

  • action: "list_pricing_services"
  • services_count: Number of services with pricing data
  • services: Array of AWS service codes (e.g., ["AmazonEC2", "AmazonS3", "AmazonRDS", ...])

Get Service Pricing

{
  "name": "aws_documentation",
  "arguments": {
    "action": "get_service_pricing",
    "service_code": "AmazonEC2",
    "max_results": 5
  }
}

Returns:

  • action: "get_service_pricing"
  • service_code: AWS service code
  • product_count: Number of products returned
  • price_list: Array of pricing data (JSON strings containing product details and pricing terms)

Get Filtered Pricing

{
  "name": "aws_documentation",
  "arguments": {
    "action": "get_service_pricing",
    "service_code": "AmazonEC2",
    "filters": [
      {"field": "instanceType", "value": "t2.micro"},
      {"field": "location", "value": "US East (N. Virginia)"},
      {"field": "operatingSystem", "value": "Linux"}
    ],
    "max_results": 3
  }
}

Configuration

The AWS tools are disabled by default for security purposes. Enable them by adding to your MCP configuration:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "dev-tools": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "/path/to/mcp-devtools",
      "env": {
        "ENABLE_ADDITIONAL_TOOLS": "aws"
      }
    }
  }
}

AWS Credentials for Pricing

Documentation actions (search, fetch, recommend) use AWS's public APIs and require no credentials.

Pricing actions (list_pricing_services, get_service_pricing) use the AWS Pricing API and require AWS credentials. The tool automatically detects credentials from:

  1. Environment variables:

    • AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID
    • AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY
    • AWS_SESSION_TOKEN (for temporary credentials/SSO)

  2. AWS SSO: If logged in via aws sso login, credentials are automatically used

  3. Shared credentials file: ~/.aws/credentials and ~/.aws/config

  4. IAM instance profile: When running on EC2

If pricing actions are called without credentials, a clear error message will be returned. Documentation actions continue to work without credentials.

Common Workflows

AWS Service Research

  1. Use search action to find relevant AWS service pages
  2. Use fetch action with URLs from search results to read detailed content
  3. Use recommend action to discover related AWS services and features
  4. Use pagination for large documents with start_index and max_length

AWS Pricing Research

  1. Ensure you have AWS credentials configured (see Configuration section)
  2. Use list_pricing_services to discover available AWS services with pricing
  3. Use get_service_pricing with service code to get pricing information
  4. Apply filters to narrow down pricing results (instance types, locations, operating systems, etc.)
  5. Pricing data is fetched on-demand via AWS Pricing API - no caching required

AWS Strands Agents SDK Learning

  1. Use resolve_library_id with 'strands agents' to find available library IDs
  2. Use get_library_documentation with the appropriate library ID (e.g., '/strands-agents/sdk-python')
  3. Available library IDs include:
    • /strands-agents/docs - General documentation
    • /strands-agents/sdk-python - Python SDK
    • /strands-agents/samples - Code samples
    • /strands-agents/tools - Tools documentation

Complete AWS Documentation Research

  1. Search for broad topic (e.g., "Lambda security")
  2. Read most relevant results using fetch action
  3. Get recommendations from key pages
  4. For Strands Agents documentation, use the package documentation tools

Best Practices

Search Optimisation

  • Include AWS service names for targeted results
  • Use specific technical terms rather than general phrases
  • Combine multiple keywords for precision
  • Try alternative terms if initial search is insufficient

Pagination Management

  • Start with default max_length (5000 characters)
  • Check has_more_content field before continuing
  • Use next_start_index from response for continuation
  • Increase max_length for fewer pagination requests

Content Discovery

  • Use recommendations after reading important pages
  • Check "New" recommendations for latest AWS features
  • Follow "Highly Rated" recommendations for popular topics
  • Use "Journey" recommendations for complete workflows

Strands SDK Usage

  • Use resolve_library_id tool to find appropriate Strands library IDs
  • Use get_library_documentation with specific topics for focused documentation
  • Library IDs are in format '/strands-agents/[component]'

Pricing Filters

  • Use field and value pairs to filter pricing results
  • Common EC2 filters: instanceType, location, operatingSystem, tenancy, preInstalledSw
  • Common S3 filters: storageClass, location, volumeType
  • Location values use AWS's descriptive names (e.g., "US East (N. Virginia)", "EU (Ireland)")
  • Combine multiple filters in the array to narrow results effectively
  • Filters use exact matching by default (TERM_MATCH type)

URL Requirements

All AWS documentation URLs must:

  • Use the docs.aws.amazon.com domain
  • Use HTTPS protocol
  • End with .html file extension

Valid Examples:

  • https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/bucketnamingrules.html
  • https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/lambda-invocation.html
  • https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ec2/latest/userguide/concepts.html

Integration Examples

Complete Research Workflow

// 1. Search for AWS service documentation
{
  "action": "search",
  "search_phrase": "Lambda environment variables"
}

// 2. Read specific result
{
  "action": "fetch",
  "url": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/configuration-envvars.html"
}

// 3. Get related recommendations
{
  "action": "recommend",
  "url": "https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/latest/dg/configuration-envvars.html"
}

This tool provides a consistent interface for AWS documentation needs.

AWS Strands Agents SDK Documentation

The AWS documentation tool focuses on official AWS service documentation. For AWS Strands Agents SDK documentation, use these complementary tools:

  1. resolve_library_id: Find the correct Context7 library ID for Strands components
  2. get_library_documentation: Retrieve comprehensive documentation for specific Strands libraries

Available Strands Library IDs:

  • /strands-agents/docs - General Strands Agents SDK documentation
  • /strands-agents/sdk-python - Python SDK specific documentation
  • /strands-agents/samples - Sample code and examples
  • /strands-agents/tools - Tools documentation