Docker MCP Gateway

Content

Docker MCP Gateway is the open-source Docker CLI plugin and gateway behind Docker Desktop's MCP Toolkit. It runs selected MCP servers in containers, groups them through profiles, and exposes them to MCP clients through one gateway command or network transport.

The repository documents gateway runs over stdio by default, plus SSE or streaming transports when serving one or more clients over a TCP port. Servers can come from Docker MCP Catalog references, OCI images, MCP Registry entries, or local server definition files.

Source Review

• https://github.com/docker/mcp-gateway
• https://github.com/docker/mcp-gateway/blob/main/README.md
• https://github.com/docker/mcp-gateway/blob/main/LICENSE
• https://github.com/docker/mcp-gateway/blob/main/docs/mcp-gateway.md
• https://github.com/docker/mcp-gateway/blob/main/docs/security.md
• https://github.com/docker/mcp-gateway/blob/main/docs/profiles.md
• https://github.com/docker/mcp-gateway/blob/main/docs/generator/reference/docker_mcp_gateway_run.yaml
• https://hub.docker.com/r/docker/mcp-gateway

These sources were reviewed on 2026-06-06. Prefer the live repository, README, gateway guide, security guide, profiles guide, generated command reference, Docker image page, and license file for current gateway behavior, feature flags, deployment options, and security controls.

Features

• Run MCP servers inside Docker containers with CPU and memory limits.
• Expose a unified MCP gateway over stdio, SSE, or streaming transports.
• Organize MCP servers into reusable profiles for client-specific tool sets.
• Pull servers from Docker MCP Catalog, OCI images, MCP Registry entries, or local server files.
• Connect clients such as Claude Desktop, Cursor, and VS Code to the selected profile.
• Enable or disable selected tools per gateway run or profile.
• Manage catalogs, server definitions, profile import/export, and OCI-backed profile sharing.
• Handle secrets through Docker Desktop secrets or explicit fallback secret files.
• Support OAuth flows for MCP servers that require service authentication.
• Use logging, call tracing, network blocking, secret blocking, image signature verification, and interceptors.

Installation

Recent Docker Desktop versions include the Docker MCP CLI plugin when the MCP Toolkit feature is enabled. The repository also documents building and installing the plugin manually:

git clone https://github.com/docker/mcp-gateway.git
cd mcp-gateway
mkdir -p "$HOME/.docker/cli-plugins/"
make docker-mcp

Run the default stdio gateway with:

docker mcp gateway run

Connect Claude Desktop or another stdio MCP client with:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "MCP_DOCKER": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "mcp",
        "gateway",
        "run"
      ]
    }
  }
}

For shared client access, run the gateway with a port and streaming transport, or pass a profile, selected servers, selected tools, secret sources, and other gateway flags from the documented command reference.

Use Cases

• Give Claude a single managed entrypoint to a curated Docker MCP Toolkit profile.
• Run MCP servers from Docker MCP Catalog in isolated containers instead of directly on the host.
• Share a team profile through exported profile files or OCI references.
• Test one server image with docker mcp gateway run --server before adding it to a catalog.
• Restrict risky tools with explicit tool allowlists before connecting a client.
• Use the gateway's SSE or streaming transport for multi-client access.
• Keep API keys in Docker Desktop secrets or a controlled secret file instead of ad hoc environment variables.
• Review tool-call logs and container limits when evaluating an MCP server for production.

Safety and Privacy

Docker MCP Gateway is a control point for other MCP servers. It can reduce risk by running servers in containers, limiting CPU and memory, blocking secrets, blocking network access, enforcing selected tools, and checking image signatures. Those controls still depend on the chosen catalog entries, profiles, server files, gateway flags, Docker permissions, and client approval settings.

Treat Docker Engine access as privileged. A user or service that can run containers, mount host paths, access the Docker socket, or load arbitrary server definitions can affect the host. Review every server's volume mounts, allowed hosts, secrets, OAuth scopes, and enabled tools before connecting Claude or another agent client.

The gateway and its downstream servers can see tool arguments, tool outputs, logs, traces, catalog metadata, profile exports, container image names, Docker metadata, secrets, OAuth tokens, and local file paths. Keep exported profiles, catalogs, .env files, and logs out of public repositories.

Duplicate Check

No docker/mcp-gateway source entry or Docker MCP Gateway entry was found in content/mcp. The existing Docker MCP Server for Claude entry is distinct content about Docker API management from Claude rather than Docker's MCP Toolkit gateway and catalog runner.