mcp-server-s3
Manage AWS S3 buckets and objects from your AI assistant. Browse files, upload and download content, and generate presigned URLs.
npx mcp-server-s3
Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code Copilot, and any MCP client. Uses your existing AWS credentials (
~/.aws/credentialsor environment variables).

Demo built with remotion-readme-kit
Why
S3 is the most widely used cloud storage service, but managing it from the command line means remembering aws s3 ls, aws s3 cp, presigned URL syntax, and various flags. Google has an official MCP for GCS, Cloudflare has one for R2, but AWS S3 doesn't have a polished standalone MCP server on npm. This one lets you ask your assistant to list buckets, download a config file, upload content, or generate a temporary sharing link. It uses the standard AWS credential chain, so if your CLI already works, this works too.
Tools
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
list_buckets |
List all S3 buckets in your AWS account. |
list_objects |
List objects in a bucket, with optional prefix filter. |
get_object |
Download and read an object's content as text. |
put_object |
Upload text content to an S3 object. |
delete_object |
Delete an object from a bucket. |
presigned_url |
Generate a temporary presigned URL for an object. |
bucket_info |
Check if a bucket exists and get basic info. |
Quick Start
Cursor
Add to .cursor/mcp.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"s3": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["mcp-server-s3"],
"env": {
"AWS_REGION": "us-east-1",
"AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID": "your-access-key",
"AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY": "your-secret-key"
}
}
}
}
Claude Desktop
Add to claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):
{
"mcpServers": {
"s3": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["mcp-server-s3"],
"env": {
"AWS_REGION": "us-east-1",
"AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID": "your-access-key",
"AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY": "your-secret-key"
}
}
}
}
VS Code
Configure the MCP server to run npx mcp-server-s3 with AWS_REGION, AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID, and AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY in the environment.
Authentication
The server uses the standard AWS credential chain:
- Environment variables:
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID,AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY,AWS_REGION - Shared credentials file:
~/.aws/credentials - IAM roles: when running on EC2, ECS, Lambda, or similar
Set AWS_REGION (defaults to us-east-1) and make sure your credentials have the necessary S3 permissions: s3:ListBuckets, s3:ListBucket, s3:GetObject, s3:PutObject, s3:DeleteObject, s3:HeadBucket.
Example prompts
- "List all my S3 buckets"
- "Show me the files in my-bucket/uploads/"
- "Download the config.json from my-bucket"
- "Upload this content to my-bucket/notes.txt"
- "Generate a presigned URL for this file that expires in 1 hour"
Development
npm install
npm run typecheck
npm run build
npm test
npm run format
npm run lint
See also
More MCP servers and developer tools on my portfolio.
Author
README built with README Builder
License
MIT © 2026 Ofer Shapira