# IAM Permissions for AWS MCP Server
This document lists IAM permissions required for each tool category. Use **least-privilege** IAM policies.
---
## General Principles
- Create a dedicated IAM user or role for the MCP server.
- Use **read-only** actions only (`Describe*`, `List*`, `Get*`, `Lookup*`).
- Never grant write/delete permissions for MCP tools.
---
## Service-Specific Permissions
### Identity & STS
- `sts:GetCallerIdentity`
### S3
- `s3:ListAllMyBuckets`
- `s3:GetBucketPolicyStatus` (if `check_public_access` is used)
### EC2
- `ec2:DescribeInstances`, `ec2:DescribeVpcs`, `ec2:DescribeSubnets`, `ec2:DescribeRouteTables`
- `ec2:DescribeInternetGateways`, `ec2:DescribeNatGateways`, `ec2:DescribeSecurityGroups`
- `ec2:DescribeVolumes`, `ec2:DescribeAddresses`
### IAM
- `iam:ListUsers`, `iam:ListAccessKeys`, `iam:ListMFADevices`
### CloudTrail
- `cloudtrail:LookupEvents`
### CloudWatch
- `cloudwatch:DescribeAlarms`, `cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics`
### CloudWatch Logs
- `logs:DescribeLogStreams`, `logs:GetLogEvents`, `logs:FilterLogEvents`
### Cost Explorer
- `ce:GetCostAndUsage`, `ce:GetCostForecast`, `ce:GetAnomalies`
- `ce:GetSavingsPlansUtilization`, `ce:GetReservationUtilization`
### Budgets
- `budgets:DescribeBudgets`
### GuardDuty
- `guardduty:ListDetectors`, `guardduty:ListFindings`, `guardduty:GetFindings`
### Health
- `health:DescribeEvents`
### ACM
- `acm:ListCertificates`, `acm:DescribeCertificate`
### RDS
- `rds:DescribeDBInstances`
### Lambda
- `lambda:ListFunctions`
### Backup
- `backup:ListBackupJobs`
### ELB
- `elasticloadbalancing:DescribeLoadBalancers`, `elasticloadbalancing:DescribeTargetGroups`
- `elasticloadbalancing:DescribeTargetHealth`, `elasticloadbalancing:DescribeListeners`
- `elasticloadbalancing:DescribeRules`
### WAF
- `wafv2:ListWebACLs`, `wafv2:ListIPSets`, `wafv2:GetIPSet`, `wafv2:GetSampledRequests`
### SNS
- `sns:ListTopics`
### Route 53
- `route53:ListHostedZones`, `route53:ListResourceRecordSets`
### ECS
- `ecs:ListClusters`, `ecs:DescribeClusters`, `ecs:ListServices`, `ecs:DescribeServices`
### EKS
- `eks:ListClusters`
### Auto Scaling
- `autoscaling:DescribeAutoScalingGroups`, `autoscaling:DescribeScalingActivities`
### CloudFront
- `cloudfront:ListDistributions`
### Secrets Manager
- `secretsmanager:ListSecrets`
### SSM
- `ssm:DescribeParameters`
### CloudFormation
- `cloudformation:ListStacks`
### DynamoDB
- `dynamodb:ListTables`
### Support (Trusted Advisor)
- `support:DescribeTrustedAdvisorChecks` (requires Business/Enterprise support plan)
---
## Example Policy (Read-Only, Full Coverage)
```json
{
"Version": "2012-10-17",
"Statement": [
{
"Effect": "Allow",
"Action": [
"sts:GetCallerIdentity",
"s3:ListAllMyBuckets",
"s3:GetBucketPolicyStatus",
"ec2:Describe*",
"iam:ListUsers",
"iam:ListAccessKeys",
"iam:ListMFADevices",
"cloudtrail:LookupEvents",
"cloudwatch:DescribeAlarms",
"cloudwatch:GetMetricStatistics",
"logs:DescribeLogStreams",
"logs:GetLogEvents",
"logs:FilterLogEvents",
"ce:*",
"budgets:DescribeBudgets",
"guardduty:ListDetectors",
"guardduty:ListFindings",
"guardduty:GetFindings",
"health:DescribeEvents",
"acm:ListCertificates",
"acm:DescribeCertificate",
"rds:DescribeDBInstances",
"lambda:ListFunctions",
"backup:ListBackupJobs",
"elasticloadbalancing:Describe*",
"wafv2:ListWebACLs",
"wafv2:ListIPSets",
"wafv2:GetIPSet",
"wafv2:GetSampledRequests",
"sns:ListTopics",
"route53:ListHostedZones",
"route53:ListResourceRecordSets",
"ecs:ListClusters",
"ecs:DescribeClusters",
"ecs:ListServices",
"ecs:DescribeServices",
"eks:ListClusters",
"autoscaling:DescribeAutoScalingGroups",
"autoscaling:DescribeScalingActivities",
"cloudfront:ListDistributions",
"secretsmanager:ListSecrets",
"ssm:DescribeParameters",
"cloudformation:ListStacks",
"dynamodb:ListTables",
"support:DescribeTrustedAdvisorChecks"
],
"Resource": "*"
}
]
}
```
Narrow this further by removing actions for tools you do not use.
