MCP + Amazon Q CLI: Boost DevOps Workflows

Let’s dive in!

What is Amazon Q CLI?

Amazon Q CLI is Amazon’s AI-powered coding assistant designed to work directly from your terminal. With it, you can:

Generate application boilerplate code
Create infrastructure as code
Draft Kubernetes YAMLs
Build architecture diagrams (especially when MCP is enabled)
And much more…

When paired with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers, Amazon Q becomes an intelligent DevOps assistant capable of understanding broader context and handling more sophisticated multi-step operations.

🛠️ Prerequisites

Before we begin, you’ll need:

Amazon Q CLI installed
A free Builder ID from AWS (required to authenticate Amazon Q CLI)
Basic terminal knowledge (Mac/Linux/WSL)
Optionally: uvx to run MCP servers locally

Step 1: Install Amazon Q CLI

✅ For macOS

brew install amazon-q

Or you can download the installer directly from Amazon Q's official site.

✅ For Windows (WSL)

Files are installed to ~/.local/bin by default.

✅ For Ubuntu/Linux

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt install libfuse2

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://desktop-release.q.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/latest/amazon-q.deb -o amazon-q.deb
sudo apt install -y ./amazon-q.deb

Once installed, log in using:

q login

Authenticate with your Builder ID, and you're ready to roll!

🧪 Step 2: Run Your First Prompt

After login, just run:

q

You’ll enter the interactive prompt mode. Now try something like:

Write an blog on AWS EC2,=

Or if you're a Vim user:

/editor

This opens an in-terminal editor. Type your multi-line instructions, then press Esc + :wq to execute.

Within seconds, Amazon Q CLI will scaffold a complete project. Yes, AI is your new intern now.

⚙️ Step 3: Enable MCP Server Support

While Amazon Q CLI is powerful on its own, adding MCP server support makes it smarter and more context-aware, enabling use cases like:

Generating real AWS architecture diagrams from natural language
Creating full-stack infrastructure blueprints
Drafting cloud-native patterns based on complex prompts

What’s MCP?

Model Context Protocol (MCP) allows models to be enriched with context from tools, plugins, or local services, which significantly enhances their reasoning capability. Think of it as giving your AI assistant superpowers.

🧰 Installing MCP Servers

We’ll use uvx for this setup. You can also use npx or Docker if you prefer.

✅ macOS

brew install uv

✅ Linux / WSL

sudo snap install astral-uv --classic

Now create a config file for MCP servers:

mkdir -p ~/.aws/amazonq

nano ~/.aws/amazonq/mcp.json

Paste the following configuration:

Now rerun:

q

And you’ll see the MCP servers initializing in the background. Amazon Q CLI is now enhanced with contextual awareness.

Minimize imageEdit imageDelete image

🎨 Use Case: Generate AWS Architecture Diagram

Let’s try a sample command now:

Draw an architecture diagram for a web app hosted on AWS using S3 and CloudFront.

Also you get modification as well to your diagram.

can you add aws SNS as well.

Amazon Q CLI + MCP will generate a realistic, visual architecture diagram using its plugin server (e.g., aws-diagram-mcp-server). No need for drag-and-drop tools!

🌟 Conclusion

With Amazon Q CLI and MCP support, you’re no longer limited by templates or boilerplate generators. You now have an AI that:

Writes working infrastructure code
Generates architecture diagrams
Creates cloud-native DevOps workflows
Understands your intent, deeply

Whether you're a DevOps engineer, cloud architect, or developer—this setup will save you hours and unleash creativity like never before.

🙌 Let’s Connect

If you build something awesome using this setup, share it with me on LinkedIn. I’d love to see your AI-powered DevOps workflows!

Site Terms, Privacy, and more.