Docker MCP

Remote Docker management over SSH — exposed as a local MCP server for GitHub Copilot sessions.

No server-side component required. The MCP runs locally and SSHes into the remote host to execute Docker commands.

Tools

Setup

1. Clone the repository

git clone git@github.com:Isak-Landin/mcp-docker-engine.git ~/mcp-docker-engine
cd ~/mcp-docker-engine

You can clone to any directory. Replace ~/mcp-docker-engine with your preferred path — just use that same path in step 5.

2. Install dependencies

sudo apt install python3.12-venv
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Configure SSH target

cp config.example.json config.json
# Edit config.json with your server details

config.json fields:

{
  "host": "your-server.example.com",
  "user": "ubuntu",
  "key_path": "~/.ssh/id_rsa",
  "port": 22
}

Override config path at runtime:

DOCKER_MCP_CONFIG=/other/path/config.json .venv/bin/python3 server.py

4. Verify SSH access

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_rsa ubuntu@your-server.example.com docker ps

5. Register with GitHub Copilot

Use the absolute path to your clone. If you used ~/mcp-docker-engine, expand it: run echo ~/mcp-docker-engine to get the full path, then substitute below.

MCP server config

GitHub Copilot CLI (~/.config/github-copilot/mcp.json) — add to your existing mcpServers object, or create the file:

"docker-mcp": {
  "command": "/your/path/to/mcp-docker-engine/.venv/bin/python3",
  "args": ["/your/path/to/mcp-docker-engine/server.py"]
}

VS Code / Copilot in VS Code (.vscode/mcp.json or user settings) — add to your existing servers object, or create the file:

"docker-mcp": {
  "type": "stdio",
  "command": "/your/path/to/mcp-docker-engine/.venv/bin/python3",
  "args": ["/your/path/to/mcp-docker-engine/server.py"]
}

Copilot instructions

instructions.md contains example tool usage for all 26 tools. You can:

• Add its contents to your existing Copilot instructions file (e.g. .github/copilot-instructions.md or your workspace instructions)

• Use it as-is if you don't have an instructions file yet

Notes

• The SSH connection uses StrictHostKeyChecking=accept-new - safe for known hosts, will warn on key changes.

• docker_build and docker_pull use a 5-10 min timeout; adjust timeout in server.py if needed.

• For Compose tools, project_dir is the remote path containing docker-compose.yml.

• docker_logs and docker_exec redirect stderr to stdout so output is always captured.