October 10, 2026

Add secure Web Search to Claude Desktop with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore

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WebCrimp analysis and practical explanation. AI-assisted; reviewed before publication.

Quick Summary

This guide walks through integrating Amazon Bedrock AgentCore with Web Search capabilities to overcome the model's knowledge cutoff limitation. By connecting Claude Desktop to a managed web index via Amazon Bedrock AgentCore's AgentCore Gateway and JWT-based authentication, users can retrieve current information including documentation updates, live pricing, and real-time web content.

What Happened?

The process involves creating an Amazon Cognito user pool as an OIDC token issuer, configuring AWS IAM Identity Center as a SAML identity provider, creating a Cognito app client for authentication, setting up an AgentCore Gateway with JWT authorizer, attaching the managed Web Search connector, and finally configuring Claude Desktop to use the newly created gateway with JWT-based inbound authentication.

Why It Matters

Without integrated web search, Claude Desktop's responses are constrained by the model's training knowledge cutoff, making it unable to provide current information such as recent documentation updates, live pricing, or breaking news. This integration bridges that gap by connecting to a fully managed, Model Context Protocol-compatible web search capability backed by an Amazon web index spanning tens of billions of documents, ensuring responses reflect the most current information while keeping all query traffic within AWS infrastructure.

Who Can Use It?

Cloud Engineers · DevOps Engineers · AI/ML Professionals · Cloud Architects · Business Analysts · IT Security Teams · Developers · Product Managers

How Can I Use This?

If you work in Cloud Engineers, DevOps Engineers, AI/ML Professionals, Cloud Architects, Business Analysts, IT Security Teams, Developers, Product Managers

  • As a Cloud Engineer, configure the AWS IAM Identity Center and Amazon Cognito first by creating a user pool and SAML application, then wire the SAML IdP to Cognito. As a DevOps engineer, deploy the AgentCore Gateway in the appropriate region (us-east-1, eu-west-1, or ap-northeast-1) and attach the Web Search connector. As an AI/ML professional, enable the Web Search tool in Claude Desktop by entering the gateway URL, Cognito client ID, and client secret during the connection setup. Follow the step-by-step configuration in the guide to establish JWT-based authentication and verify the gateway reaches READY status before testing with real queries.

AI Tip

When creating the AgentCore Gateway, ensure the authorizer type is set to CUSTOM_JWT and the discovery URL points to your Cognito OpenID Connect endpoint. This allows Claude Desktop to securely authenticate using JWT tokens issued by AWS IAM Identity Center.

AI Trick

Use the Cognito application client with generated secrets rather than hardcoding credentials; this follows security best practices and integrates naturally with the existing AWS identity governance framework.

Example Workflow

  1. 1. Create an Amazon Cognito user pool for OIDC token issuance. 2. Configure AWS IAM Identity Center SAML application pointing to the Cognito pool. 3. Register IAM Identity Center as a SAML IdP in the Cognito user pool. 4. Create a Cognito app client with a client secret for the AgentCore Gateway. 5. Configure the AgentCore Gateway with JWT authorizer type, referencing the Cognito discovery URL and allowed OAuth flows. 6. Attach the managed Web Search connector to the gateway. 7. In Claude Desktop, add a server connector using the gateway URL, Cognito client ID, and client secret, selecting JWT-based inbound authentication. 8. Test by querying topics requiring current information to confirm the Web Search tool executes successfully.

Copy This Prompt

Set up Amazon Bedrock AgentCore with Web Search integration for Claude Desktop. First, create an Amazon Cognito user pool named 'agentcore-websearch-pool' with email as a verified attribute. Then create a SAML application in AWS IAM Identity Center pointing to this pool. Register IAM Identity Center as a SAML IdP in the Cognito pool. Create a Cognito app client called 'agentcore-websearch-client' with a generated secret and the SAML IdP as the supported identity provider. Finally, create an AgentCore Gateway named 'websearch-gateway' with protocolType 'MCP', authorizerType 'CUSTOM_JWT', and attach the 'web-search' connector. Configure Claude Desktop to connect to this gateway using JWT-based inbound authentication with the Cognito client ID and secret.

Recommended Tools

  • AWS CLI v2
  • Python 3.10+
  • Boto3 SDK
  • Amazon Bedrock AgentCore
  • Amazon Cognito
  • AWS IAM
  • AWS Organizations

Check official documentation, availability and pricing before using these suggestions.

Difficulty

Intermediate

Estimated Time Saved

Not measured; validate with your own workflow.

Source

AWS AI
Add secure Web Search to Claude Desktop with Amazon Bedrock AgentCore
Original publication date: 2026-10-02T15:46:05+00:00