# MCP Client Configuration Guide
This guide provides the configuration for connecting MCP clients to the Crawl4AI MCP server running in Docker with HTTP transport.
## Prerequisites
- Docker and Docker Compose installed
- The Crawl4AI MCP server running via Docker Compose
- MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop, MCP CLI)
## Starting the Server
1. Clone the repository and navigate to the project directory
2. Copy `.env.example` to `.env` and configure your API keys
3. Start the services:
```bash
docker compose up -d
```
The MCP server will be available at `http://localhost:8051` with HTTP transport.
## MCP Client Configuration
### Claude Desktop Configuration
Save this configuration to your Claude Desktop config file:
- **Windows**: `%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json`
- **macOS**: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
- **Linux**: `~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json`
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"crawl4ai-docker": {
"url": "http://localhost:8051",
"transport": "http"
}
}
}
```
### MCP CLI Configuration
For the MCP CLI tool, use this configuration:
```bash
# Connect to the server
mcp connect http://localhost:8051
# Or with environment variable
export MCP_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:8051
mcp list-tools
```
## Docker Compose Configuration
The server runs with these default settings in `docker-compose.yml`:
```yaml
services:
mcp-crawl4ai:
build:
context: .
dockerfile: Dockerfile
container_name: mcp-crawl4ai
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
- TRANSPORT=http
- HOST=0.0.0.0
- PORT=8051
ports:
- "8051:8051"
# ... other configurations
```
## Environment Variables
Configure these in your `.env` file:
```bash
# Transport (fixed to HTTP for Docker deployment)
TRANSPORT=http
HOST=0.0.0.0
PORT=8051
# Vector Database
VECTOR_DATABASE=qdrant
QDRANT_URL=http://qdrant:6333
# API Keys
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-openai-api-key
# Optional Features
USE_RERANKING=true
ENABLE_AGENTIC_RAG=true
ENABLE_HYBRID_SEARCH=true
USE_KNOWLEDGE_GRAPH=false
```
## Available Tools
Once connected, the following tools are available:
1. **scrape_urls** - Crawl and store web pages
2. **perform_rag_query** - Search through scraped content
3. **search_code_examples** - Find code snippets
4. **web_search** - Search the web via SearXNG
5. **list_mcp_tools** - List all available tools
## Testing the Connection
### Using Claude Desktop
1. Save the configuration and restart Claude Desktop
2. Look for the MCP icon in the interface
3. Test with: "What MCP tools are available?"
### Using MCP CLI
```bash
# List available tools
mcp list-tools --server http://localhost:8051
# Call a tool
mcp call scrape_urls --url "https://example.com"
```
### Using curl
```bash
# Health check
curl http://localhost:8051/health
# List tools (MCP protocol)
curl -X POST http://localhost:8051 \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "tools/list", "params": {}, "id": 1}'
```
## Troubleshooting
### Connection Issues
1. **Check if services are running:**
```bash
docker compose ps
```
2. **View logs:**
```bash
docker compose logs -f mcp-crawl4ai
```
3. **Test connectivity:**
```bash
curl http://localhost:8051/health
```
### Common Problems
- **Port 8051 already in use**: Change the port in `.env` and docker-compose.yml
- **Connection refused**: Ensure Docker containers are running and healthy
- **Authentication errors**: Check your API keys in the `.env` file
- **Vector database errors**: Ensure Qdrant is running and accessible
## Production Deployment
For production deployments:
1. Use a reverse proxy (nginx, traefik) with SSL
2. Configure authentication/authorization
3. Set resource limits in docker-compose.yml
4. Enable monitoring and logging
5. Use external vector database and cache services
Example nginx configuration:
```nginx
server {
listen 443 ssl;
server_name mcp.yourdomain.com;
ssl_certificate /path/to/cert.pem;
ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.pem;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:8051;
proxy_http_version 1.1;
proxy_set_header Upgrade $http_upgrade;
proxy_set_header Connection "upgrade";
proxy_set_header Host $host;
proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
}
}
```
## Support
For issues or questions:
- Check the logs: `docker compose logs -f mcp-crawl4ai`
- Review the [README.md](README.md) for more details
- Submit issues to the project repository
