How do I use container-mcp?

1. Click on "Deploy Server". 2. Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state. 3. In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@container-mcp List all my running containers" That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed. Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.

container-mcp

Q: Which integrations are available for this server?

Allows AI agents to manage, build, inspect, and diagnose Linux containers on macOS using Apple's container CLI.

by ARXNDEV

Overview Schema Source Related Servers Discussions Admin

TypeScript

Local

container-mcp

npm version License: Apache-2.0 MCP Compatible

MCP server for Apple container — manage, build, inspect, and diagnose Linux containers on macOS directly from AI agents like Claude Desktop, Claude Code, and Cursor.

Built on Apple's container CLI for native Linux container support on Apple Silicon Macs.

Prerequisites

macOS 26+ (Tahoe) on Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
Apple container CLI installed — github.com/apple/container
Node.js 18+

Related MCP server: macos-control-mcp

Installation

npm install -g container-mcp

You can run the server directly via npx using the published npm package:

npx -y @arxndev/container-mcp

Or, if you prefer to build from source:

Configuration

For Claude Desktop

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "container-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@arxndev/container-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add container-mcp -- npx -y container-mcp

Cursor

Add to .cursor/mcp.json in your project:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "container": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "container-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
`CONTAINER_CLI_PATH`	`container`	Path to the container CLI binary
`CONTAINER_MCP_LOG_LEVEL`	`info`	Log level: `debug`, `info`, `warn`, `error`
`CONTAINER_MCP_VOLUME_ROOT`	`$HOME`	Restricts host paths for volume mounts and file copies. Paths outside this root are rejected.
`CONTAINER_MCP_CONTEXT_ROOT`	`$HOME`	Restricts the build context path for `build_image`. Paths outside this root are rejected.

Tool Reference

🐳 Container Lifecycle (14 tools)

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
`list_containers`	List all containers	`all`, `format`
`run_container`	Create & run a new container	`image`, `name`, `ports`, `env`, `volumes`, `detach`, `command`
`stop_container`	Stop running containers	`names`, `timeout`
`start_container`	Start stopped containers	`names`
`delete_container`	Remove containers	`names`, `force`
`inspect_container`	Get detailed container info	`name`
`exec_in_container`	Execute command in container	`name`, `command`, `interactive`
`container_commit`	Commit container to new image	`container`, `image`, `message`
`copy_to_container`	Copy file/dir from host to container	`hostPath`, `containerName`, `containerPath`
`copy_from_container`	Copy file/dir from container to host	`containerName`, `containerPath`, `hostPath`
`wait_container`	Wait for container stop, get exit code	`name`, `timeout`
`rename_container`	Rename an existing container	`container`, `newName`
`pause_container`	Pause processes in containers	`names`
`unpause_container`	Unpause processes in containers	`names`

📦 Image Management (7 tools)

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
`list_images`	List local images	`format`
`pull_image`	Pull image from registry	`reference`
`build_image`	Build image from Dockerfile	`context`, `tag`, `dockerfile`, `buildArgs`, `platform`
`remove_image`	Remove images	`references`, `force`
`inspect_image`	Get detailed image info	`reference`
`tag_image`	Tag an existing local image	`source`, `target`
`push_image`	Push image to registry	`image`

📋 Logs & Monitoring (3 tools)

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
`get_logs`	Get container logs	`name`, `tail`, `since`
`get_container_stats`	Get CPU/memory/network stats	`name`
`get_container_processes`	List processes in container	`name`

💾 Volumes (3 tools)

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
`list_volumes`	List all volumes	`format`
`create_volume`	Create a new volume	`name`, `size`
`delete_volume`	Remove volumes	`names`, `force`

🌐 Networks (3 tools)

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
`create_network`	Create a container network	`name`, `driver`, `options`
`delete_network`	Remove one or more networks	`networks`
`list_networks`	List all networks	`format`

⚙️ System (2 tools)

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
`system_info`	Get system info & version	—
`system_prune`	Remove all unused resources	`confirm` (must be `true`)

🤖 AI-Powered Diagnostics (2 tools)

Tool	Description	Key Parameters
`diagnose_container`	Analyze logs & inspect data for issues	`name`
`explain_container`	Human-readable container summary	`name`

Example Prompts

Here are natural language prompts you can use with Claude or any MCP-compatible AI:

"List all my running containers"

"Run an nginx container named web-server on port 8080"

"Why is my database container crashing?"

"Show me the logs from the api container"

"Pull the latest Ubuntu image and run a container with it"

"What's the memory usage of all running containers?"

"Explain what the postgres container is doing"

"Build a Docker image from the current directory and tag it myapp:latest"

"Stop all containers and clean up unused images"

"Diagnose why the redis container keeps restarting"

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/your-org/container-mcp.git
cd container-mcp
npm install

Build

npm run build

Test

npm test
npm run test:coverage

Run locally

npm run dev

Contributing

Fork the repository
Create a feature branch: git checkout -b feature/my-feature
Write code and tests
Ensure tests pass: npm test
Ensure the build works: npm run build
Submit a Pull Request

Code Style

TypeScript strict mode
ESM modules
Prettier + ESLint for formatting
Zod schemas for all input validation
JSDoc comments on all exported functions

Architecture

container-mcp
├── MCP Server (stdio transport)
│   ├── Container Tools (8) ── container CLI
│   ├── Image Tools (5) ────── container CLI
│   ├── Log Tools (3) ──────── container CLI
│   ├── Volume Tools (3) ───── container CLI
│   ├── Network Tools (1) ──── container CLI
│   ├── System Tools (2) ───── container CLI
│   └── AI Tools (2) ──────── combines multiple CLI calls
│       ├── diagnose_container → logs + inspect → pattern analysis
│       └── explain_container  → inspect + stats + top → summary
└── Utilities
    ├── CLI Executor (execa, safe args)
    ├── Output Parsers (JSON, table)
    └── Logger (structured, stderr)

License

Apache-2.0

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Maintenance

ActivityInactive

ResponsivenessNo issues

Resources

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container-mcp

Prerequisites

Installation

Configuration

For Claude Desktop

Claude Code

Cursor

Environment Variables

Tool Reference

🐳 Container Lifecycle (14 tools)

📦 Image Management (7 tools)

📋 Logs & Monitoring (3 tools)

💾 Volumes (3 tools)

🌐 Networks (3 tools)

⚙️ System (2 tools)

🤖 AI-Powered Diagnostics (2 tools)

Example Prompts

Development

Setup

Build

Test

Run locally

Contributing

Code Style

Architecture

License

Maintenance

Resources

Related MCP Connectors

Related MCP Servers

xcforge

macos-control-mcp

vincent-vnc-mcp

Klyk