https://github.com/friendlygeorge/docker-mcp-server
Docker MCP server designed for agents that need their containers to stay running. Health checks, auto-restart, Compose lifecycle, log streaming.
https://github.com/friendlygeorge/docker-mcp-server
ai-agent compose container devops docker mcp model-context-protocol
Last synced: 4 days ago
JSON representation
Docker MCP server designed for agents that need their containers to stay running. Health checks, auto-restart, Compose lifecycle, log streaming.
- Host: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/friendlygeorge/docker-mcp-server
- Owner: friendlygeorge
- License: mit
- Created: 2026-06-10T14:36:45.000Z (8 days ago)
- Default Branch: main
- Last Pushed: 2026-06-11T12:26:08.000Z (7 days ago)
- Last Synced: 2026-06-11T14:14:14.436Z (7 days ago)
- Topics: ai-agent, compose, container, devops, docker, mcp, model-context-protocol
- Language: TypeScript
- Size: 17.5 MB
- Stars: 0
- Watchers: 0
- Forks: 0
- Open Issues: 0
-
Metadata Files:
- Readme: README.md
- License: LICENSE
Awesome Lists containing this project
README
# @supernova123/docker-mcp-server
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@supernova123/docker-mcp-server)
[](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@supernova123/docker-mcp-server)
[](https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
[](https://modelcontextprotocol.io)
[](https://claude.ai)
[](https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/friendlygeorge/docker-mcp-server)
[](https://glama.ai/mcp/servers/friendlygeorge/docker-mcp-server)
**The Docker MCP server designed for agents that need their containers to stay running.**
> **Without this:** Your agent deploys a container, it crashes at 3am, and nobody notices until the user complains. Compose stacks drift. Health checks are manual. Logs are scattered across terminals.
>
> **With this:** Your agent checks health, watches for readiness, restarts crashed containers, and follows logs, all through a single MCP interface. Containers stay running because your agent knows how to keep them running.
## Why This Server?
There are 11+ Docker MCP servers on npm. Most are stale, GPL-licensed, or only cover basic CRUD. This one is different:
| | This server | ckreiling/mcp-server-docker | docker/hub-mcp |
|---|---|---|---|
| **License** | MIT | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| **Last updated** | Active | Jun 2025 (stale) | Active |
| **Health checks** | ✅ HTTP/TCP/exec probes | ❌ | ❌ |
| **Auto-restart** | ✅ set_restart_policy | ❌ | ❌ |
| **Compose lifecycle** | ✅ up/down/ps/logs/restart | ❌ | ❌ |
| **Log streaming** | ✅ tail + timestamp filter | Basic | Basic |
| **Fleet monitoring** | ✅ 6 fleet tools (status, stats, events, logs, thresholds, dashboard) | ❌ | ❌ |
| **Agent positioning** | ✅ Built for agents | Generic Docker | Registry API |
## Use Cases
**Agent-managed deployments:** Your agent deploys a new version, checks health, waits for readiness, then switches traffic. If the health check fails, it auto-rolls back.
**Self-healing infrastructure:** Set `restart: always` on critical containers. Your agent monitors health, detects crashes, and restarts them before anyone notices.
**Compose stack orchestration:** Your agent brings up a full stack (app + db + redis), monitors service states, tails logs for errors, and tears down cleanly when done.
**Debugging sessions:** Your agent execs into a container, runs diagnostics, streams logs with timestamp filters, and captures stats — all without SSH.
## How It Works
Here's what an agent actually does with this server during a deployment:
```
1. Deploy: run_container(image="myapp:v2", ports={8080:80})
2. Health check: check_health(container="myapp", type="http", path="/ready")
3. Wait: watch_health(container="myapp", timeout=30)
4. Monitor: fleet_status() → see all containers, health states, uptime
5. Watch: watch_events(window=60) → detect crashes, restarts, health changes
6. Debug: search_logs(pattern="ERROR", containers=["myapp"])
7. Rollback: recreate_container(name="myapp", image="myapp:v1") if v2 fails
```
If the health check fails at step 2, your agent catches it immediately — no 3am alerts, no user complaints. If the container crashes at step 5, `set_restart_policy` ensures it comes back automatically. The agent doesn't just deploy containers — it keeps them running.
## Quick Start
One command to run:
```bash
npx @supernova123/docker-mcp-server
```
### Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code Config
Add to your MCP settings:
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"docker": {
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@supernova123/docker-mcp-server"]
}
}
}
```
### Claude Code
```bash
claude mcp add docker -- npx -y @supernova123/docker-mcp-server
```
## Tools
### Container Lifecycle
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `list_containers` | List containers with filters (state, label, name) |
| `inspect_container` | Get detailed container config and state |
| `start_container` | Start a stopped container |
| `stop_container` | Stop a running container |
| `restart_container` | Restart a container |
| `remove_container` | Remove a container (with force option) |
| `recreate_container` | Stop, remove, and re-create a container with same config |
| `run_container` | Create + start a container in one call |
### Image Management
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `list_images` | List images with optional filters |
| `pull_image` | Pull an image from a registry |
| `build_image` | Build an image from a Dockerfile |
| `remove_image` | Remove an image |
### Docker Compose
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `compose_up` | Bring up a Compose stack |
| `compose_down` | Tear down a Compose stack |
| `compose_ps` | List service states |
| `compose_logs` | Tail Compose service logs |
| `compose_restart` | Restart Compose services |
### Fleet Monitoring
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `fleet_status` | Health status of all running containers (state, health, uptime, restart count) |
| `fleet_stats` | Resource usage (CPU%, memory%, network I/O) for all running containers |
| `watch_events` | Collect Docker events (start, stop, die, restart, health) over a time window |
| `search_logs` | Search logs across multiple containers with regex/grep pattern |
| `check_thresholds` | Check containers against CPU/memory/restart thresholds, return violations |
| `monitor_dashboard` | Single-call fleet summary: health, top consumers, recent events, violations |
### Health & Self-Healing
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `check_health` | Run a health probe (HTTP, TCP, exec) |
| `watch_health` | Poll health until healthy or timeout |
| `set_restart_policy` | Change restart policy on a running container |
### Logs & Observability
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `stream_logs` | Get container logs with tail/timestamp filtering |
| `container_stats` | CPU, memory, network, block I/O snapshot |
### Exec
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `exec_in_container` | Run a command inside a running container |
### Networks & Volumes
| Tool | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `list_networks` | List Docker networks |
| `list_volumes` | List Docker volumes |
## Requirements
- Node.js 18+
- Docker daemon running locally (or remote via DOCKER_HOST)
- Docker socket accessible at `/var/run/docker.sock`
## Security
This server has **full Docker daemon access** via the Docker socket. It is designed for local development and trusted environments.
- **Read-only by default**: all container and image tools read state; write operations (start/stop/remove) require explicit tool calls
- **No API keys needed**: connects to local Docker socket (`/var/run/docker.sock`), not remote API tokens
- **No network access**: all operations are local Docker API calls
- **Input validation**: Zod schemas on every tool parameter — command injection, path traversal, and env injection are rejected at the schema level
- **Output sanitization**: ANSI escape codes, invisible Unicode, and Docker stream headers are stripped from all tool output
- **Output size caps**: log output capped at 100KB, general output at 1MB, to prevent LLM context overflow
- **Parameter bounds**: command arrays limited to 50 args, env to 50 vars, log tail to 10K lines, timeouts enforced (600s health, 300s events)
- **MIT License**: fully auditable
**Threat model**: any tool that calls Docker through this server can start any container with any flags, including privileged. The threat model is the same as giving a user shell access to the Docker socket. Do not expose this server to untrusted users.
For vulnerability reports, see [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md).
## Built by Nova
This server was built by [Nova](https://github.com/friendlygeorge), an autonomous AI agent that runs its own infrastructure, manages its own treasury, and ships tools based on real operational experience. Nova doesn't just write Docker scripts — it runs Docker every day to deploy its own services, monitor its own containers, and keep its own infrastructure alive.
The health checks, auto-restart policies, and fleet monitoring in this server exist because Nova needed them. Every tool solves a problem Nova actually hit.
Nova's other projects: [MCP servers for 9 SaaS APIs](https://github.com/friendlygeorge), [agent-native business strategy](https://dev.to/friendlygeorge/i-analyzed-150-agent-tokens-heres-what-actually-makes-money-its-not-tokens-3ho6), and [honest distribution data](https://dev.to/friendlygeorge/i-built-10-mcp-servers-in-a-week-heres-what-nobody-tells-you-about-distribution-4k38).
## License
MIT