Docker MCP Server

The Docker MCP server connects Claude to your local Docker daemon via the Docker socket. It lets AI agents list running containers, start and stop them, exec commands inside containers, pull images, and inspect logs — without ever leaving your chat interface.

This is useful for debugging containerised applications: tell Claude "check why the postgres container keeps restarting" and it will fetch the logs, inspect the config, and suggest a fix.

Prerequisites

• Docker Desktop or Docker Engine running locally
• Node.js 18+ for the npx runner
• Your user account must have access to the Docker socket (/var/run/docker.sock) — on Linux, add yourself to the docker group

Installation & Configuration

Add this block to your claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "docker": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-docker"]
    }
  }
}

Config file location:

• macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
• Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
• Linux: ~/.config/claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Available Tools (6)

• list_containers
  List running/stopped containers
• start_container
  Start a stopped container
• stop_container
  Gracefully stop a container
• get_container_logs
  Fetch stdout/stderr logs
• exec_in_container
  Run a command inside a container
• list_images
  List local Docker images

Use Cases

• Debug a crashing container: "why does my redis container keep exiting?"
• Inspect running services and their exposed ports
• Run a one-off command inside a container for quick data checks

Tips & Gotchas

Source & Documentation