I tried using the organization setting added to Amazon Q Developer that allows disabling of MCP configuration
This is Iwasa.
Amazon Q Developer has MCP configuration functionality.
By using MCP, users can extend the functionality of Amazon Q Developer.
However, recently there has been an increase in unauthorized MCP servers, and some organizations may want to allow connections only to approved MCP servers, or may want to restrict MCP functionality altogether.
Probably due to a recent update (previously there was no setting in the management console), Amazon Q Developer now allows enabling/disabling MCP configuration as an organization-wide setting.
In this article, I'll introduce how the behavior changes when using this feature, which I've confirmed with both the Amazon Q Developer CLI and IDE.## MCP is Enabled by Default
When you first start using Amazon Q Developer, MCP is available to use.
Below is an example from Amazon Q Developer CLI showing a configuration with 2 MCP servers.
% q chat
✓ playwright loaded in 2.05 s
⠼ 1 of 2 mcp servers initialized. ctrl-c to start chatting now
⢠⣶⣶⣦⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣤⣶⣿⣿⣿⣶⣦⡀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⣾⡿⢻⣿⡆⠀⠀⠀⢀⣄⡄⢀⣠⣤⣤⡀⢀⣠⣤⣤⡀⠀⠀⢀⣠⣤⣤⣤⣄⠀⠀⢀⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⡀⠀⠀⣀⣤⣤⣤⣀⠀⠀⠀⢠⣤⡀⣀⣤⣤⣄⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢠⣿⣿⠋⠀⠀⠀⠙⣿⣿⡆
⠀⠀⣼⣿⠇⠀⣿⣿⡄⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠛⠉⠻⣿⣿⠛⠉⠛⣿⣿⠀⠀⠘⠛⠉⠉⠻⣿⣧⠀⠈⠛⠛⠛⣻⣿⡿⠀⢀⣾⣿⠛⠉⠻⣿⣷⡀⠀⢸⣿⡟⠛⠉⢻⣿⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣼⣿⡏⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿
⠀⢰⣿⣿⣤⣤⣼⣿⣷⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⠀⠀⢀⣴⣶⣶⣶⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣠⣾⡿⠋⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⡇⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢹⣿⣇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⡿
⢀⣿⣿⠋⠉⠉⠉⢻⣿⣇⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⠀⠀⣿⣿⡀⠀⣠⣿⣿⠀⢀⣴⣿⣋⣀⣀⣀⡀⠘⣿⣿⣄⣀⣠⣿⣿⠃⠀⢸⣿⡇⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢿⣿⣦⣀⣀⣀⣴⣿⡿⠃
⠚⠛⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⠛⠛⠀⠘⠛⠛⠀⠀⠀⠛⠛⠀⠀⠀⠛⠛⠀⠀⠙⠻⠿⠟⠋⠛⠛⠀⠘⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠃⠀⠈⠛⠿⠿⠿⠛⠁⠀⠀⠘⠛⠃⠀⠀⠘⠛⠛⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠛⠿⢿⣿⣿⣋⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠛⠿⢿⡧
╭─────────────────────────────── Did you know? ────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ You can specify wait time (in ms) for mcp server loading with q │
│ settings mcp.initTimeout {timeout in int}. Servers that takes longer │
│ than the specified time will continue to load in the background. Use /tools │
│ to see pending servers. │
│ │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
/help all commands • ctrl + j new lines • ctrl + s fuzzy search
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🤖 You are chatting with claude-sonnet-4
✓ awslabs.aws-documentation-mcp-server loaded in 2.68 s
> /mcp
awslabs.aws-documentation-mcp-server
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✓ awslabs.aws-documentation-mcp-server loaded in 2.68 s
playwright
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✓ playwright loaded in 2.05 s
>
```## Disabling MCP using organization settings from the management console
Let's check the organization settings.
As a prerequisite, to use these organizational controls, you need an Amazon Q Developer Pro environment using IAM Identity Center.
However, this feature is available not only for organizational instances but also for account instances that cannot use Organizations.
Access the Amazon Q Developer console from the AWS account hosting IAM Identity Center.
From the settings menu, you should be able to see a setting called "Model Context Protocol (MCP)".
By default, it is set to ON.
You can change the preference value from the edit option, so let's try turning MCP OFF from here.
## After the change
Once you've changed the settings in the management console, let's verify the behavior in the existing Amazon Q Developer environment.### Amazon Q Developer CLI
First, let's start a new session with Amazon Q Developer CLI.
Normally, the MCP server loads when you start `q chat`, but let's see what happens.
```bash
% q chat
⚠️ WARNING: MCP functionality has been disabled by your administrator.
⢠⣶⣶⣦⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣤⣶⣿⣿⣿⣶⣦⡀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⣾⡿⢻⣿⡆⠀⠀⠀⢀⣄⡄⢀⣠⣤⣤⡀⢀⣠⣤⣤⡀⠀⠀⢀⣠⣤⣤⣤⣄⠀⠀⢀⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⡀⠀⠀⣀⣤⣤⣤⣀⠀⠀⠀⢠⣤⡀⣀⣤⣤⣄⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢠⣿⣿⠋⠀⠀⠀⠙⣿⣿⡆
⠀⠀⣼⣿⠇⠀⣿⣿⡄⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠛⠉⠻⣿⣿⠛⠉⠛⣿⣿⠀⠀⠘⠛⠉⠉⠻⣿⣧⠀⠈⠛⠛⠛⣻⣿⡿⠀⢀⣾⣿⠛⠉⠻⣿⣷⡀⠀⢸⣿⡟⠛⠉⢻⣿⣷⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣼⣿⡏⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿
⠀⢰⣿⣿⣤⣤⣼⣿⣷⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⠀⠀⢀⣴⣶⣶⣶⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣠⣾⡿⠋⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⡇⠀⢸⣿⡇⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢹⣿⣇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⡿
⢀⣿⣿⠋⠉⠉⠉⢻⣿⣇⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⠀⠀⣿⣿⡀⠀⣠⣿⣿⠀⢀⣴⣿⣋⣀⣀⣀⡀⠘⣿⣿⣄⣀⣠⣿⣿⠃⠀⢸⣿⡇⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢿⣿⣦⣀⣀⣀⣴⣿⡿⠃
⠚⠛⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⠛⠛⠀⠘⠛⠛⠀⠀⠀⠛⠛⠀⠀⠀⠛⠛⠀⠀⠙⠻⠿⠟⠋⠛⠛⠀⠘⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠛⠃⠀⠈⠛⠿⠿⠿⠛⠁⠀⠀⠘⠛⠃⠀⠀⠘⠛⠛⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠛⠿⢿⣿⣿⣋⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠛⠿⢿⡧
╭─────────────────────────────── Did you know? ────────────────────────────────╮
│ │
│ Use /model to select the model to use for this conversation │
│ │
╰──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯
/help all commands • ctrl + j new lines • ctrl + s fuzzy search
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🤖 You are chatting with claude-sonnet-4
>
Oh, there's a display that says "WARNING: MCP functionality has been disabled by your administrator."
It seems the MCP has been disabled by the administrator.
Let's also check the MCP server configuration with the /mcp command.
> /mcp
⚠️ WARNING: MCP functionality has been disabled by your administrator.
The same warning message is displayed here as well, and we can no longer retrieve the MCP server settings that were previously accessible before the configuration change.### Amazon Q Developer IDE
Next, let's try it in Amazon Q Developer IDE on Visual Studio Code.
In the case of Amazon Q Developer IDE, although settings can be configured in the configuration file, a feature for configuring MCP servers is provided in the chat window.[1]
It can be accessed from below.
When pressed, here too the warning message "MCP functionality has been disabled by your administrator" is displayed, and I could not check the MCP configuration.
Finally
Today I tried using the organizational setting that was added to disable MCP configuration in Amazon Q Developer.
I still don't fully understand the extent to which there are cases where you want to allow using Amazon Q Developer but don't want to allow the use of MCP servers, but I'll remember that it can be disabled.
I feel like there might be needs in the future to allow only specific MCP servers or configure them in a whitelist format.
