CloudWatch MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for searching and analyzing AWS CloudWatch logs. Supports configurable log groups, time-based searches, and service-specific log stream filtering.

Features

• list_log_groups - Browse available CloudWatch log groups
• list_log_streams - Filter streams by prefix and date (perfect for service-based streams like sprive-backend-2026-02-20)
• search_logs - Search logs by time range and CloudWatch filter patterns
• query_logs_insights - Execute advanced CloudWatch Logs Insights queries
• get_log_group_info - Get log group metadata (retention, storage, etc.)

Installation

Using npx (Recommended)

No installation required. Add directly to your config:

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cloudwatch": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "github:nikhilchintawar/cloudwatch-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "AWS_REGION": "eu-west-2",
        "AWS_PROFILE": "your-profile",
        "CLOUDWATCH_LOG_GROUP": "/aws/eks/spv-default-prod-eks/application"
      }
    }
  }
}

Claude Code (~/.claude/settings.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cloudwatch": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "github:nikhilchintawar/cloudwatch-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "AWS_REGION": "eu-west-2",
        "AWS_PROFILE": "your-profile",
        "CLOUDWATCH_LOG_GROUP": "/aws/eks/spv-default-prod-eks/application"
      }
    }
  }
}

Manual Installation

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/nikhilchintawar/cloudwatch-mcp.git
cd cloudwatch-mcp

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Build
npm run build

Then add to your config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cloudwatch": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/cloudwatch-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "AWS_REGION": "eu-west-2",
        "AWS_PROFILE": "your-profile",
        "CLOUDWATCH_LOG_GROUP": "/aws/eks/spv-default-prod-eks/application"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configuration

Config File Locations

• Claude Desktop (macOS): ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Claude Desktop (Windows): %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Claude Code: ~/.claude/settings.json

Environment Variables

Variable	Required	Description
AWS_REGION	Yes	AWS region (e.g., eu-west-2)
CLOUDWATCH_LOG_GROUP	No	Default log group path
CLOUDWATCH_LOG_STREAM_PREFIX	No	Default stream prefix filter

AWS Authentication

The server uses the AWS SDK's default credential provider chain. Choose one method:

Option 1: AWS Profile (Recommended)

{
  "env": {
    "AWS_REGION": "eu-west-2",
    "AWS_PROFILE": "your-profile-name"
  }
}

Option 2: Temporary Credentials

{
  "env": {
    "AWS_REGION": "eu-west-2",
    "AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID": "your-access-key",
    "AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY": "your-secret-key",
    "AWS_SESSION_TOKEN": "your-session-token"
  }
}

Option 3: AWS SSO

# Login first
aws sso login --profile your-sso-profile

{
  "env": {
    "AWS_REGION": "eu-west-2",
    "AWS_PROFILE": "your-sso-profile"
  }
}

Option 4: IAM Role - Automatic when running on EC2, ECS, or Lambda.

Usage Examples

Once configured, you can use natural language to interact with CloudWatch:

• "Search for errors in the last hour"
• "Show me logs from sprive-backend for today"
• "Find all ERROR or WARN messages in the past 30 minutes"
• "Run a Logs Insights query to count errors by service"
• "List all log streams for 2026-02-20"

Available Tools

list_log_groups

List available CloudWatch log groups.

Parameter	Required	Description
prefix	No	Filter by name prefix
limit	No	Max results (default: 50)

list_log_streams

List log streams with smart date/service filtering.

Parameter	Required	Description
logGroup	No	Log group name (uses env var default)
prefix	No	Filter by stream prefix (e.g., sprive-backend)
date	No	Filter by date (YYYY-MM-DD)
limit	No	Max results (default: 50)
orderBy	No	LogStreamName or LastEventTime (default)

search_logs

Search logs using CloudWatch filter patterns.

Parameter	Required	Description
logGroup	No	Log group name
logStreams	No	Specific stream names to search
logStreamPrefix	No	Filter streams by prefix
filterPattern	No	CloudWatch filter pattern
startTime	Yes	Relative (30m, 1h, 2d) or ISO 8601
endTime	No	End time (default: now)
limit	No	Max results (default: 100)

query_logs_insights

Execute CloudWatch Logs Insights queries.

Parameter	Required	Description
logGroups	No	Array of log group names
query	Yes	Logs Insights query string
startTime	Yes	Start time
endTime	No	End time (default: now)
limit	No	Max results (default: 1000)

get_log_group_info

Get detailed information about a log group.

Parameter	Required	Description
logGroup	No	Log group name

Time Formats

The startTime and endTime parameters support:

• Relative: 30m, 1h, 2d, 1w (minutes, hours, days, weeks ago)
• ISO 8601: 2026-02-20T14:30:00Z
• Date: 2026-02-20
• Unix timestamp: 1740067200000 (ms) or 1740067200 (s)

Filter Patterns

CloudWatch filter patterns for searching logs:

• Simple text: ERROR
• OR pattern: ?ERROR ?WARN
• JSON field: { $.level = "error" }
• Multiple conditions: { $.status >= 400 && $.duration > 1000 }

See AWS documentation for full syntax.

Development

# Watch mode for development
npm run dev

# Build for production
npm run build

# Test with MCP Inspector
AWS_REGION=eu-west-2 AWS_PROFILE=your-profile \
  npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node build/index.js

License

MIT