Agents Connect
Use when connecting your agent to external APIs, tools, or services via Gateway, or...
Install
npx skills add aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws --skill agents-connect -g -a claude-code -y- Repository
- aws/agent-toolkit-for-aws3.4k
- Category
- Testing
- Updated
- 5d ago
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Context cost
- Mediumabout 3,000 tokens
- Runs scripts
- No, instructions only
What it does
Use when connecting your agent to external APIs, tools, or services via Gateway, or restricting tool access with Cedar policies. Handles gateway setup, target types, outbound auth (OAuth, API key, IAM), credentials, and Cedar policy authoring. Triggers on: "connect to API", "add gateway", "connect to MCP server", "Lambda tools", "OpenAPI", "gateway target", "Cedar policy", "restrict tools", "policy engine", "gateway auth error", "store API key", "outbound credential", "env var API key", "API key None after deploy", "credential not available after deploy", "should this be a gateway target", "give my agent tools", "add tools to agent". Not for inbound auth (who can call your agent), use agents-harden. Not for debugging agent behavior, use agents-debug. Not for VPC networking errors (agent can't reach APIs due to VPC), use agents-build. Not for creating or hosting a new MCP server project, use agents-get-started.
connect
Give your AgentCore agent access to external APIs, tools, and services via the AgentCore Gateway, and control what it can access with Cedar policies.
When to use
- You want your agent to call an external API or MCP server
- You want to expose Lambda functions as agent tools
- You have an OpenAPI spec you want to turn into agent tools
- Your agent needs credentials to call an external service
- You want to restrict which tools your agent can call (Cedar policies)
- You want role-based or amount-based access control on tool calls
- A gateway connection, tool call, or policy authorization is failing
For adding Cedar policies to control tool access, load references/policy.md.
Input
$ARGUMENTS is optional:
/connect # interactive, asks what you're connecting to
/connect mcp # MCP server setup
/connect lambda # Lambda function as tools
/connect openapi # OpenAPI schema as tools
/connect credential # Add a credential for outbound auth
Process
Step 0: Verify CLI version
Run agentcore --version. This skill requires v0.9.0 or later. If the version is older, tell the developer to run agentcore update before proceeding.
Step 1: Read the project
Read agentcore/agentcore.json to understand:
- What framework the project uses
- What gateways and targets are already configured (in the
agentCoreGatewaysarray)
If no project context: Ask what they're trying to connect to and proceed with the appropriate pattern.
Step 2: Identify what they're connecting to
Ask (or infer from $ARGUMENTS):
"What are you connecting your agent to?
- An external MCP server (e.g., a third-party tool provider)
- A Lambda function you've written
- An API with an OpenAPI spec
- An AWS API Gateway REST API
- An external service with no OpenAPI spec, MCP server, or Lambda in front of it, and you can't add one"
