Docker MCP Catalog and Toolkit
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open protocol that standardizes how AI applications access external tools and data sources. By connecting LLMs to local development tools, databases, APIs, and other resources, MCP extends their capabilities beyond their base training.
Through a client-server architecture, applications such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Gordon act as clients that send requests to MCP servers, which then process these requests and deliver the necessary context to AI models.
MCP servers extend the utility of AI applications, but running servers locally also presents several operational challenges. Typically, servers must be installed directly on your machine and configured individually for each application. Running untrusted code locally requires careful vetting, and the responsibility of keeping servers up-to-date and resolving environment conflicts falls on the user.
Docker MCP features
Docker provides three integrated components that address the challenges of running local MCP servers:
- MCP Catalog
- A curated collection of verified MCP servers, packaged and distributed as container images via Docker Hub. All servers are versioned, come with full provenance and SBOM metadata, and are continuously maintained and updated with security patches.
- MCP Toolkit
- A graphical interface in Docker Desktop for discovering, configuring, and managing MCP servers. The Toolkit provides a unified way to search for servers, handle authentication, and connect them to AI applications.
- MCP Gateway
- The core open source component that powers the MCP Toolkit. The MCP Gateway manages MCP containers provides a unified endpoint that exposes your enabled servers to all AI applications you use.
This integrated approach ensures:
- Simplified discovery and setup of trusted MCP servers from a curated catalog of tools
- Centralized configuration and authentication from within Docker Desktop
- A secure, consistent execution environment by default
- Improved performance since applications can share a single server runtime, compared to having to spin up duplicate servers for each application.
