Docker Build and Deployment Guide (mcpo project) MCP Server

What is mcpo?

mcpo (Model Context Protocol OpenAPI Proxy) is a containerized deployment using Docker and Docker Compose. It dynamically installs MCP server tools (Python uvx, Node.js npx) at startup based on a config.json, runs as a non-root user for security, and supports flexible pip and apt mirror configuration.

How to use mcpo?

Create a .env file with MCPO_API_KEY (required) and optionally PIP_SOURCE. Prepare a config.json with MCP server definitions. Build the image with docker-compose build [--no-cache] and start the service with docker-compose up -d. The container’s start.sh script installs dependencies and launches the mcpo service.

Key features of mcpo

• Dynamic dependency installation at container startup.
• Non-root user (appuser) execution for security.
• Persistent volumes for config, logs, data, and caches.
• Configurable pip source via PIP_SOURCE build argument.
• Environment isolation per MCP tool installation.

Use cases of mcpo

• Deploying mcpo with multiple MCP servers in a containerized environment.
• Replicating deployments with pinned tool versions for reproducibility.
• Running mcpo with custom pip mirrors to speed up builds.
• Managing API keys securely via .env files.