diff --git a/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/main.ts b/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/main.ts
index d30a60af0..1ecc20ad6 100644
--- a/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/main.ts
+++ b/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/main.ts
@@ -1,17 +1,11 @@
 import { BedrockAgentCoreApp } from 'bedrock-agentcore/runtime';
-import { Agent, McpClient, tool, type ToolList } from '@strands-agents/sdk';
+import { Agent, tool, type ToolList } from '@strands-agents/sdk';
 import { z } from 'zod';
 import { loadModel } from './model/load.js';
-import { getStreamableHttpMcpClient } from './mcp_client/client.js';
 {{#if hasMemory}}
 import { getActorId, getOrCreateMemoryManager } from './memory/memory.js';
 {{/if}}
 
-// Define a collection of MCP clients (filter out anything that failed to initialize)
-const mcpClients: McpClient[] = [getStreamableHttpMcpClient()].filter(
-  (client): client is McpClient => Boolean(client)
-);
-
 // Define a collection of tools used by the model
 const tools: ToolList = [];
 
@@ -27,9 +21,6 @@ const addNumbers = tool({
 });
 tools.push(addNumbers);
 
-// Add MCP clients to tools
-tools.push(...mcpClients);
-
 const SYSTEM_PROMPT = `
 You are a helpful assistant. Use tools when appropriate.
 `;
@@ -42,12 +33,16 @@ const requestSchema = z.object({
 {{#if hasMemory}}
 const agentCache = new Map<string, Agent>();
 
-async function getOrCreateAgent(sessionId: string, actorId: string): Promise<Agent> {
+async function getOrCreateAgent(
+  sessionId: string,
+  actorId: string,
+  workloadIdentityToken?: string,
+): Promise<Agent> {
   const key = `${actorId}:${sessionId}`;
   let agent = agentCache.get(key);
   if (agent) return agent;
 
-  const model = await loadModel();
+  const model = await loadModel(workloadIdentityToken);
   agent = new Agent({
     model,
     systemPrompt: SYSTEM_PROMPT,
@@ -68,7 +63,7 @@ const AGENT_CACHE_LIMIT = 128;
 // this holds one entry. For durable history, attach memory.
 const agentCache = new Map<string, Agent>();
 
-async function getOrCreateAgent(sessionId: string): Promise<Agent> {
+async function getOrCreateAgent(sessionId: string, workloadIdentityToken?: string): Promise<Agent> {
   const existing = agentCache.get(sessionId);
   if (existing) {
     agentCache.delete(sessionId);
@@ -79,7 +74,7 @@ async function getOrCreateAgent(sessionId: string): Promise<Agent> {
     const oldest = agentCache.keys().next().value;
     if (oldest !== undefined) agentCache.delete(oldest);
   }
-  const model = await loadModel();
+  const model = await loadModel(workloadIdentityToken);
   const agent = new Agent({
     model,
     systemPrompt: SYSTEM_PROMPT,
@@ -97,10 +92,10 @@ const app = new BedrockAgentCoreApp({
       {{#if hasMemory}}
       const sessionId = context?.sessionId ?? 'default-session';
       const actorId = getActorId(payload, context);
-      const agent = await getOrCreateAgent(sessionId, actorId);
+      const agent = await getOrCreateAgent(sessionId, actorId, context?.workloadAccessToken);
       {{else}}
       const sessionId = context?.sessionId ?? 'default-session';
-      const agent = await getOrCreateAgent(sessionId);
+      const agent = await getOrCreateAgent(sessionId, context?.workloadAccessToken);
       {{/if}}
 
       {{#if hasMemory}}
diff --git a/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/mcp_client/client.ts b/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/mcp_client/client.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index d6e8528f8..000000000
--- a/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/mcp_client/client.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,11 +0,0 @@
-import { McpClient } from '@strands-agents/sdk';
-import { StreamableHTTPClientTransport } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/streamableHttp.js';
-
-// ExaAI provides information about code through web searches, crawling and code context searches through their platform. Requires no authentication
-const EXAMPLE_MCP_ENDPOINT = 'https://mcp.exa.ai/mcp';
-
-export function getStreamableHttpMcpClient(): McpClient {
-  // to use an MCP server that supports bearer authentication, add a headers() callback to requestInit
-  const transport = new StreamableHTTPClientTransport(new URL(EXAMPLE_MCP_ENDPOINT));
-  return new McpClient({ transport });
-}
diff --git a/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/model/load.ts b/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/model/load.ts
index 00e22cd9b..6bc21b17a 100644
--- a/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/model/load.ts
+++ b/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/model/load.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {{#if (eq modelProvider "Bedrock")}}
 import { BedrockModel } from '@strands-agents/sdk/models/bedrock';
 
-export function loadModel(): BedrockModel {
+export function loadModel(_workloadIdentityToken?: string): BedrockModel {
   return new BedrockModel({ modelId: 'global.anthropic.claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929-v1:0' });
 }
 {{/if}}
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { withApiKey } from 'bedrock-agentcore/identity';
 const IDENTITY_PROVIDER_NAME = '{{identityProviders.[0].name}}';
 const IDENTITY_ENV_VAR = '{{identityProviders.[0].envVarName}}';
 
-async function getApiKey(): Promise<string> {
+async function getApiKey(workloadIdentityToken?: string): Promise<string> {
   if (process.env.LOCAL_DEV === '1') {
     const apiKey = process.env[IDENTITY_ENV_VAR] ?? process.env.ANTHROPIC_API_KEY;
     if (!apiKey) {
@@ -20,14 +20,16 @@ async function getApiKey(): Promise<string> {
     }
     return apiKey;
   }
-  return withApiKey({ providerName: IDENTITY_PROVIDER_NAME })(async (apiKey: string) => apiKey)();
+  return withApiKey({ providerName: IDENTITY_PROVIDER_NAME, workloadIdentityToken })(
+    async (apiKey: string) => apiKey,
+  )();
 }
 
 let _model: AnthropicModel | undefined;
 
-export async function loadModel(): Promise<AnthropicModel> {
+export async function loadModel(workloadIdentityToken?: string): Promise<AnthropicModel> {
   if (!_model) {
-    const apiKey = await getApiKey();
+    const apiKey = await getApiKey(workloadIdentityToken);
     _model = new AnthropicModel({
       apiKey,
       modelId: 'claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929',
@@ -44,7 +46,7 @@ import { withApiKey } from 'bedrock-agentcore/identity';
 const IDENTITY_PROVIDER_NAME = '{{identityProviders.[0].name}}';
 const IDENTITY_ENV_VAR = '{{identityProviders.[0].envVarName}}';
 
-async function getApiKey(): Promise<string> {
+async function getApiKey(workloadIdentityToken?: string): Promise<string> {
   if (process.env.LOCAL_DEV === '1') {
     const apiKey = process.env[IDENTITY_ENV_VAR] ?? process.env.OPENAI_API_KEY;
     if (!apiKey) {
@@ -52,14 +54,16 @@ async function getApiKey(): Promise<string> {
     }
     return apiKey;
   }
-  return withApiKey({ providerName: IDENTITY_PROVIDER_NAME })(async (apiKey: string) => apiKey)();
+  return withApiKey({ providerName: IDENTITY_PROVIDER_NAME, workloadIdentityToken })(
+    async (apiKey: string) => apiKey,
+  )();
 }
 
 let _model: OpenAIModel | undefined;
 
-export async function loadModel(): Promise<OpenAIModel> {
+export async function loadModel(workloadIdentityToken?: string): Promise<OpenAIModel> {
   if (!_model) {
-    const apiKey = await getApiKey();
+    const apiKey = await getApiKey(workloadIdentityToken);
     _model = new OpenAIModel({
       api: 'chat',
       apiKey,
@@ -76,7 +80,7 @@ import { withApiKey } from 'bedrock-agentcore/identity';
 const IDENTITY_PROVIDER_NAME = '{{identityProviders.[0].name}}';
 const IDENTITY_ENV_VAR = '{{identityProviders.[0].envVarName}}';
 
-async function getApiKey(): Promise<string> {
+async function getApiKey(workloadIdentityToken?: string): Promise<string> {
   if (process.env.LOCAL_DEV === '1') {
     const apiKey = process.env[IDENTITY_ENV_VAR] ?? process.env.GEMINI_API_KEY;
     if (!apiKey) {
@@ -84,14 +88,16 @@ async function getApiKey(): Promise<string> {
     }
     return apiKey;
   }
-  return withApiKey({ providerName: IDENTITY_PROVIDER_NAME })(async (apiKey: string) => apiKey)();
+  return withApiKey({ providerName: IDENTITY_PROVIDER_NAME, workloadIdentityToken })(
+    async (apiKey: string) => apiKey,
+  )();
 }
 
 let _model: GoogleModel | undefined;
 
-export async function loadModel(): Promise<GoogleModel> {
+export async function loadModel(workloadIdentityToken?: string): Promise<GoogleModel> {
   if (!_model) {
-    const apiKey = await getApiKey();
+    const apiKey = await getApiKey(workloadIdentityToken);
     _model = new GoogleModel({
       apiKey,
       modelId: 'gemini-2.5-flash',
diff --git a/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/package.json.template b/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/package.json.template
index 804fec0f1..351c788b4 100644
--- a/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/package.json.template
+++ b/src/assets/templates/agent-typescript-strands/package.json.template
@@ -12,10 +12,9 @@
   "dependencies": {
     {{#if (eq modelProvider "Anthropic")}}"@anthropic-ai/sdk": "~0.92.0",
     {{/if}}{{#if (eq modelProvider "Gemini")}}"@google/genai": "~1.40.0",
-    {{/if}}"@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "~1.25.2",
-    "@opentelemetry/api": "~1.9.0",
+    {{/if}}"@opentelemetry/api": "~1.9.0",
     "@strands-agents/sdk": "~1.5.0",
-    "bedrock-agentcore": "~0.3.0",
+    "bedrock-agentcore": "~0.4.3",
     {{#if (eq modelProvider "OpenAI")}}"openai": "~6.7.0",
     {{/if}}"tsx": "~4.19.0",
     "zod": "~4.4.3"
diff --git a/src/core/project/__snapshots__/manager.test.ts.snap b/src/core/project/__snapshots__/manager.test.ts.snap
index 46d1f2f1f..c38fa7681 100644
--- a/src/core/project/__snapshots__/manager.test.ts.snap
+++ b/src/core/project/__snapshots__/manager.test.ts.snap
@@ -119,7 +119,6 @@ exports[`FsProjectManager.create snapshots the Strands TypeScript project manife
     "app/agent_typescript_strands/.gitignore",
     "app/agent_typescript_strands/README.md",
     "app/agent_typescript_strands/main.ts",
-    "app/agent_typescript_strands/mcp_client/client.ts",
     "app/agent_typescript_strands/memory/memory.ts",
     "app/agent_typescript_strands/model/load.ts",
     "app/agent_typescript_strands/package.json",