--- title: "AWS Labs Amazon Translate: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai" canonical: https://undominated.ai/mcp-servers/awslabs-translate/ description: "Translates text and manages document translation jobs and custom terminology with AWS Translate." --- # AWS Labs Amazon Translate: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai > Translates text and manages document translation jobs and custom terminology with AWS Translate. [← Explore all mcp servers](/mcp-servers/) AWS DATA SERVICES / AWS Labs # AWS Labs Amazon Translate Translates text and manages document translation jobs and custom terminology with AWS Translate. [See setup guidance ↓](#setup)[Original source ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp) SOURCE REVIEW Reviewed 2026-10-14 Evidence 8 linked sources Publisher AWS Labs Licence [Apache-2.0 ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/LICENSE) Revision 8840003820a7 [Read what was—and wasn’t—checked ↓](#review) “A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides AI applications with access to neural machine translation service, Amazon Translate for text translation, managed batch processing, and smart translation workflow management across 75+ languages.” [AWS Labs · upstream description ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/README.md) Our analysis follows below. 01 / THE REASONING ## Why this made the selection. - Specialized publisher integration with documented IAM and data access boundaries. - Translate a bounded piece of application copy with reviewed terminology and human language review. - The awslabs/mcp catalogue entries do not include this Translate server. - The README states both a uvx start line and a sample policy wide enough that a catalogue should not call it least privilege. ### A good fit for - Translate a bounded piece of application copy with reviewed terminology and human language review. - Monitor a deliberately configured batch translation job and inspect failures before retrying. - Calling Amazon Translate from a local MCP client after the operator narrows the sample IAM policy ### Weigh up before choosing - The integration registers terminology imports and batch/workflow creation without a global read-only mode. Limit IAM and S3 destinations to the intended task. - Translation validation is a source-defined heuristic, not an independently measured translation-quality guarantee. Review specialist language and consequential content separately. - Batch translation sends content to AWS and writes results to S3; review data-access roles, input/output prefixes and service charges before starting. - The monorepo now recommends Agent Toolkit for AWS for production. This specialized local server remains documented; its leaf and root documentation were checked for deprecation. - This review did not execute the resource. - The sample policy allows translate:* and S3 GetObject, PutObject, and ListBucket on Resource *. This review did not test which actions the tools actually call. - The Claude Desktop example does not name a transport. stdio was not assumed. - The README says AWS charges apply. No call was made and no price was read from a bill. 02 / THE REVIEW RECORD ## What we actually inspected. Source review has boundaries. A clear record is more useful than a “safe” badge. ### Material inspected - src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/README.md - src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/pyproject.toml - src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/awslabs/amazon_translate_mcp_server/server.py - Root README.md and LICENSE - src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/LICENSE ### Our findings - Pinned server registers translate, terminology, batch and workflow tools; translation_service implements the quality-validation logic, so the entry avoids treating its score as independent evidence. - The recommended start line is uvx awslabs.amazon-translate-mcp-server@latest, with a pip alternative that runs the server module. - The tools section names translate_text, detect_language, batch jobs, terminology, and language operations. Those tools were not called. - The sample IAM statement uses translate:* and three S3 actions on Resource *, and the README says an AWS account with Translate access is required and that AWS charges apply. ### Not established by this review - Server startup, authentication, live tool execution and security isolation were not tested. - Published package/container parity with a source revision and hosted implementation internals were not tested. - The resource was not executed and its tools were not called. - The server was not started. - No translation request was sent. - The IAM policy was not applied. The review applies to the material and revision named here. A newer upstream release can change its behavior. 03 / PUT IT TO WORK ## Connect a server deliberately. [Upstream setup instructions ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/README.md) DOCUMENTED COMMAND uvx awslabs.amazon-translate-mcp-server@latest Copy command ↗ Copying does not execute this command. It may retrieve a newer version than the reviewed source. - Configure the target region/profile with only needed Translate and S3 permissions. - For text translation specify language pair and terminology; verify the output with the intended audience before use. - For batches supply reviewed S3 locations and data-access role, preserve the job ID and reconcile completion before retrying. ### Before you start - Python 3.10 or newer, uv/uvx and an MCP client that can launch a local stdio process. - An AWS account, configured credentials and access to the intended region and service resources. ### Documented configuration example Use the client and authentication context described in the setup guidance. Configuration formats vary between hosts. { "mcpServers": { "awslabs-translate": { "command": "uvx", "args": [ "awslabs.amazon-translate-mcp-server@latest" ], "env": { "AWS_PROFILE": "YOUR_RESTRICTED_PROFILE", "AWS_REGION": "us-east-1" } } } } Copy configuration ↗ ### Compatibility Python 3.10 or newer, uv/uvx and an MCP client that can launch a local stdio process. · An AWS account, configured credentials and access to the intended region and service resources. · Claude Desktop · MCP clients that can launch uvx ### Implementation Python · python ### Transports stdio ### AWS data services - Sends text/documents to AWS Translate and can create terminology or start billable translation jobs and S3 output writes. - Translate text and manage terminology and batch jobs if the credentials allow them - Read and write the S3 objects the sample policy names, if that policy is used - The README does not describe a read-only flag ### Cost model AWS service, model, query and storage charges apply; running the MCP process does not include those services. 04 / FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE ## The source trail. Our notes are separate from the original resource. Check upstream before adopting a new version. - [Publisher setup, capabilities and operating boundaries ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/README.md) Checked 2026-10-14 https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/README.md Supports: summary, install, configExample, access, limitations, bestFor, review, compatibility, transports - [Pinned package and implementation ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/pyproject.toml) Checked 2026-10-14 https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/pyproject.toml Supports: summary, install, configExample, access, limitations, bestFor, review, compatibility, transports - [Pinned package and implementation ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/awslabs/amazon_translate_mcp_server/server.py) Checked 2026-10-14 https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/awslabs/amazon_translate_mcp_server/server.py Supports: summary, install, configExample, access, limitations, bestFor, review, compatibility, transports - [Pinned package and implementation ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/README.md) Checked 2026-10-14 https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/README.md Supports: summary, install, configExample, access, limitations, bestFor, review, compatibility, transports - [Applicable licence ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/LICENSE) Checked 2026-10-14 https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/LICENSE Supports: license - [Pinned operational implementation ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/awslabs/amazon_translate_mcp_server/translation_service.py) Checked 2026-10-14 https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/awslabs/amazon_translate_mcp_server/translation_service.py Supports: summary, install, configExample, access, limitations, bestFor, review, compatibility, transports - [Translate MCP README ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/README.md) Checked 2026-10-14 https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/README.md Supports: uvx line, sample policy, and charges note - [Directory LICENSE ↗](https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/LICENSE) Checked 2026-10-14 https://github.com/awslabs/mcp/blob/8840003820a78dd018561d55c7ab12fcdd708464/src/amazon-translate-mcp-server/LICENSE Supports: Apache License Version 2.0 KEEP COMPARING ## Other approaches to consider. Related by category or shared topics. These are alternatives to inspect, not a measured quality order. [### AWS Labs Finch ↗ Builds and pushes container images through the local Finch CLI, with additional ECR repository support.](/mcp-servers/awslabs-finch/)[### AWS Labs HealthImaging ↗ Searches and manages medical imaging datastores, image sets and DICOM lifecycle operations.](/mcp-servers/awslabs-healthimaging/)[### AWS Labs HealthLake ↗ Discovers HealthLake datastores and reads or manages FHIR resources, with an explicit read-only mode.](/mcp-servers/awslabs-healthlake/) [AI Tools ↗](/tools/)[Skills ↗](/skills/)[Agents ↗](/agents/)[MCP Servers ↗](/mcp-servers/)[Workflows ↗](/workflows/) ## Continue your investigation - [Inspect resource evidence](/tools/) - [Choose a host](/agents/) - [Inspect reusable workflows](/skills/) - [Use Undominated data](/api/)