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Integration

MCP Server

Integrate awsdac into Claude, Cursor, VS Code, and any MCP-compatible AI assistant to generate AWS architecture diagrams directly from chat.

The MCP (Model Context Protocol) server exposes diagram generation tools to AI assistants. Once configured, you can ask your AI to create AWS architecture diagrams in natural language — it writes the DAC YAML, calls the tool, and returns the PNG directly in chat.

Recommended: install via npm

npm installs the correct pre-built binary automatically. No Go toolchain required.

Install — npm (all platforms)

bash
npm install -g awsdac-mcp-server

Install — Go install

bash
go install github.com/fernandofatech/diagram-as-code/cmd/awsdac-mcp-server@latest

Claude Desktop — claude_desktop_config.json

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "awsdac": {
      "command": "awsdac-mcp-server",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Where is claude_desktop_config.json?

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json — Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

Claude Code (CLI) — .claude/mcp.json

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "awsdac": {
      "command": "awsdac-mcp-server",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

Cursor — .cursor/mcp.json

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "awsdac": {
      "command": "awsdac-mcp-server",
      "args": []
    }
  }
}

VS Code — settings.json

json
{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "awsdac": {
        "type": "stdio",
        "command": "awsdac-mcp-server",
        "args": []
      }
    }
  }
}

Custom log file path (optional)

json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "awsdac": {
      "command": "awsdac-mcp-server",
      "args": ["--log-file", "/tmp/awsdac-mcp.log"]
    }
  }
}

Available MCP tools

ToolDescriptionReturns
getDiagramAsCodeFormatReturns the full DAC YAML format spec, resource types, and examples. Call this first.Text documentation
generateDiagramGenerates a PNG diagram from DAC YAML. Returns a base64-encoded image inline in chat.base64 PNG image
generateDiagramToFileGenerates a PNG diagram and saves it to a file path on disk. Use this in clients that do not render images inline (e.g. Amazon Q).File path confirmation

Workflow: call getDiagramAsCodeFormat first

Always call getDiagramAsCodeFormat before generateDiagram. This gives the AI the complete format specification so it generates valid YAML.

Example prompts

text
# Inline PNG (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code)
Create an AWS architecture diagram with:
- one VPC in us-east-1
- two public subnets
- an internet-facing ALB
- two EC2 instances behind the ALB
- an Internet Gateway
Return the PNG diagram.

# Save to file (Amazon Q, file-based workflows)
Generate a diagram of a serverless architecture with API Gateway,
Lambda, and DynamoDB. Save it to ~/Desktop/serverless.png

Supported clients

  • Claude Desktop — returns PNG inline in chat (generateDiagram)
  • Claude Code CLI — returns PNG inline in terminal
  • Cursor — returns PNG inline in chat
  • VS Code (Copilot with MCP support) — returns PNG inline
  • Amazon Q — use generateDiagramToFile to save PNG to disk
  • Any MCP-compatible client using stdio transport
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