RFC: AWS Amplify MCP Server

[pranavosu]

Is this related to an existing feature request or issue?

No

Summary

The AWS Amplify MCP server enables AI agents to generate production-ready, full-stack applications using AWS Amplify Gen2. It addresses the current challenge where AI tools generate working Amplify applications only 10% of the time due to outdated patterns, Gen1/Gen2 version confusion, and documentation ranking issues.

It is a fully managed remote server that provides specialized guidance for backend infrastructure, frontend integration across multiple frameworks (React, Vue, Angular, React Native, Flutter, Swift, Android), and deployment workflows.

Use case

Problems

• AI tools frequently generate Amplify code using deprecated Gen1 patterns despite Gen2 being the current version
• Generated code often fails to compile or uses outdated library versions (AWS Amplify has 6 active JavaScript versions)
• Developers spend significant time refactoring AI-generated code before production deployment
• Gen1 (released 2017) dominates internet examples, while Gen2 (released May 2024) has limited online presence
• General AWS documentation sources rank higher than Amplify-specific docs in RAG systems

Amplify MCP Solutions

• Production-Ready Code Generation: Generate concise, maintainable code following Gen2 best practices
• Latest Version Enforcement: Always use current Amplify Gen2 backend and latest library versions
• Multi-Framework Support: Provide framework-specific guidance for Web (React, Vue, Angular, Next.js), Mobile (React Native, Flutter, Swift, Android)
• Complete Lifecycle Coverage: Backend infrastructure setup → Frontend integration → Deployment orchestration
• Simplified Implementations: Generate applications using Amplify abstractions instead of verbose AWS SDK code

Proposal

The Amplify MCP server is a fully managed remote MCP server that provides specialized guidance for building AWS Amplify Gen2 applications. Similar to the AWS Knowledge MCP server, it will be hosted at a public endpoint and accessible via HTTP transport.

Repository Contribution: Configuration documentation and usage examples in awslabs/mcp/src/aws-amplify-mcp-server/

Documentation Update: Adds AWS Amplify MCP Server link to Available MCP Servers > Developer Tools and Support

Core Tools:

1. get_backend_guidance - Returns step-by-step instructions for implementing Amplify Gen2 backend infrastructure including authentication (Cognito), data models (GraphQL + DynamoDB), storage (S3), serverless functions (Lambda), and AI features using TypeScript code-first approach.
2. get_frontend_guidance - Returns framework-specific instructions for integrating frontend applications with Amplify backend services, covering authentication flows, data operations, storage, and AI features across all supported platforms.
3. search_documentation - Searches Amplify Gen2 documentation and returns relevant excerpts with titles, URLs, and content snippets for specific implementation questions.
4. get_deployment_guidance - Returns deployment instructions for Amplify applications, including sandbox vs. production workflows and configuration management.

Configuration

Users will configure the Amplify MCP server using the following URL:

https://amplify-mcp.global.api.aws

Example configuration for Q CLI:

  "mcpServers": {
    "aws-amplify-mcp-server": {
      "url": "https://amplify-mcp.global.api.aws",
      "type": "http"
    }
  }
}

For clients that don't support HTTP transport, users can proxy via fastmcp:

  "mcpServers": {
    "aws-amplify-mcp-server": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["fastmcp", "run", "https://amplify-mcp.global.api.aws"]
    }
  }
}

Remote vs. Local

Most MCP servers in awslabs/mcp are local/client-side servers that users install and run themselves. The Amplify MCP is designed as a remote server for these reasons:

• Amplify guidance doesn't require AWS account access (unlike servers that analyze resources)
• No local data storage needed (stateless guidance provision)
• Frequent Amplify updates would require constant local server updates
• Documentation-based guidance benefits from centralized curation

Repository Structure

Following the pattern of other remote AWS MCP servers, the contribution to awslabs/mcp will include:

• src/aws-amplify-mcp-server/README.md - Configuration instructions, tool documentation, and usage examples
• No server implementation code

Out of scope

• CI/CD pipeline generation (future enhancement)
• Migration from other frameworks to Amplify (future enhancement)
• Creating or modifying AWS resources directly (guidance only, no resource management)

Potential challenges

• Documentation Coverage: Maintaining comprehensive, up-to-date guidance across 7+ frontend frameworks with framework-specific patterns
• Version Management: Keeping knowledge base current as Amplify releases new features and library versions
• Success Measurement: Defining and measuring improvement in code generation quality

Dependencies and Integrations

No response

Alternative solutions

1. Enhance existing AWS Knowledge MCP with Amplify-specific content:

• Pros: Reuses existing infrastructure
• Cons: Doesn't solve version confusion; lacks targeted framework-specific guidance; mixed with general AWS content

2. Documentation-only approach (no MCP):

• Pros: Simpler to maintain
• Cons: Doesn't address documentation ranking issues in RAG systems; no specialized guidance structure

3. Framework-specific separate MCPs:

• Pros: Highly specialized per framework
• Cons: Fragmented experience; duplicated backend guidance; harder to maintain consistency