LocalStack MCP Server
Let an AI agent manage and interact with LocalStack on your machine.
[!IMPORTANT] The LocalStack MCP server is currently available as an experimental public preview. For questions, issues or feedback, please utilize the LocalStack Community slack or submit a GitHub Issue
LocalStack emulates the cloud on your local machine so software teams and AI agents can validate security, quality, and reliability faster and more safely than the cloud allows. This Model Context Protocol (MCP) server lets any MCP client (Cursor, Claude, VS Code, and more) start LocalStack, deploy infrastructure, and debug your local cloud in natural language.
Quick start
Set up the server in your MCP client with the interactive wizard:
npx -y @localstack/localstack-mcp-server initThe wizard detects your installed clients, asks how you want to run the server, and writes the configuration for you. You need a LocalStack Auth Token; the wizard reads LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN from your environment or asks for it. For the full options, prerequisites, and manual setup, see Installation.
What you can ask your agent
Once the server is configured, talk to LocalStack through your agent in natural language:
- "Start LocalStack and deploy the Terraform project in
./infra, then tell me which resources came up." - "My Lambda calls are failing. Read the LocalStack logs, find the permission errors, and generate an IAM policy that fixes them."
- "Inject 500ms of latency into DynamoDB and confirm my retry logic still works."
- "Search the LocalStack docs for how to enable S3 event notifications and summarize the steps."
How it works
The server connects MCP-compatible apps directly to your local LocalStack environment and its emulated AWS services, so your assistant can operate the stack securely without custom scripts or manual setup.
This server eliminates custom scripts and manual LocalStack management. Your agent can:
- Start, stop, restart, and monitor LocalStack for AWS container status with built-in auth.
- Deploy CDK, Terraform, and SAM projects with automatic configuration detection.
- Search LocalStack documentation for guides, API references, and configuration details.
- Parse logs, catch errors, and auto-generate IAM policies from violations.
- Inject chaos faults and network effects into LocalStack to test system resilience.
- Manage LocalStack state snapshots via Cloud Pods for development workflows.
- Export, import, inspect, and reset LocalStack state locally with Export & Import State file-based workflows.
- Install, remove, list, and discover LocalStack Extensions from the marketplace.
- Launch and manage Ephemeral Instances for remote LocalStack testing workflows.
- Replicate external AWS resources into LocalStack with AWS Replicator so IaC stacks can resolve shared dependencies locally.
- Inspect LocalStack application flows with App Inspector traces, spans, events, payload metadata, and IAM policy evaluations.
- Start repeatable LocalStack workflows from ready-made MCP prompts, including infrastructure validation and integration test generation.
Tools
This server provides your AI with dedicated tools for managing your LocalStack environment:
[!NOTE] All tools in this MCP server require
LOCALSTACK_AUTH_TOKEN.
| Tool Name | Description | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
localstack-management | Manages LocalStack runtime operations for AWS and Snowflake stacks | - Execute start, stop, restart, and status checks<br/>- Integrate LocalStack authentication tokens<br/>- Inject custom environment variables<br/>- Verify real-time status and perform health monitoring |
localstack-deployer | Handles infrastructure deployment to LocalStack for AWS environments | - Automatically run CDK, Terraform, and SAM tooling to deploy infrastructure locally<br/>- Enable parameterized deployments with variable support<br/>- Process and present deployment results<br/>- Requires you to have cdklocal, tflocal, or samlocal installed in your system path |
localstack-logs-analysis | Analyzes LocalStack for AWS logs for troubleshooting and insights | - Offer multiple analysis options including summaries, errors, requests, and raw data<br/>- Filter by specific services and operations<br/>- Generate API call metrics and failure breakdowns<br/>- Group errors intelligently and identify patterns |
localstack-iam-policy-analyzer | Handles IAM policy management and violation remediation | - Set IAM enforcement levels including enforced, soft, and disabled modes<br/>- Search logs for permission-related violations<br/>- Generate IAM policies automatically from detected access failures<br/>- Requires a valid LocalStack Auth Token |
localstack-chaos-injector | Injects and manages chaos experiment faults for system resilience testing | - Inject, add, remove, and clear service fault rules<br/>- Configure network latency effects<br/>- Comprehensive fault targeting by service, region, and operation<br/>- Built-in workflow guidance for chaos experiments<br/>- Requires a valid LocalStack Auth Token |
localstack-cloud-pods | Manages remote LocalStack Cloud Pods for development workflows | - Save current state as a Cloud Pod<br/>- Load previously saved Cloud Pods instantly<br/>- Delete Cloud Pods from remote cloud-backed storage<br/>- Use this for managed remote state snapshots, not local export/import files<br/>- Requires a valid LocalStack Auth Token |
localstack-state-management | Manages local file-based LocalStack state export/import workflows | - Export LocalStack state to a local file on disk through the LocalStack State REST API<br/>- Import LocalStack state from a local file<br/>- Inspect current LocalStack state as JSON metamodel data<br/>- Reset all state or only selected services<br/>- Supports service-level granularity for export, reset, and inspect<br/>- Use this for local disk workflows; use Cloud Pods for remote cloud-backed snapshots<br/>- Requires a valid LocalStack Auth Token |
localstack-extensions | Installs, uninstalls, lists, and discovers LocalStack Extensions | - Manage installed extensions via CLI actions (list, install, uninstall)<br/>- Browse the LocalStack Extensions marketplace (available)<br/>- Requires a valid LocalStack Auth Token |
localstack-ephemeral-instances | Manages cloud-hosted LocalStack Ephemeral Instances | - Create temporary cloud-hosted LocalStack instances and get an endpoint URL<br/>- List available ephemeral instances, fetch logs, and delete instances<br/>- Supports lifetime, extension preload, Cloud Pod preload, and custom env vars on create<br/>- Requires a valid LocalStack Auth Token and LocalStack CLI |
localstack-aws-client | Runs AWS CLI commands inside the LocalStack for AWS container | - Executes commands via awslocal inside the running container<br/>- Sanitizes commands to block shell chaining<br/>- Auto-detects LocalStack coverage errors and links to docs |
localstack-aws-replicator | Replicates external AWS resources into a running LocalStack instance | - Start single-resource |
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