containerize-mcp-server

Containerize MCP Server

Package an R MCP server into a Docker container for portable deployment.

When to Use

• Deploying an R MCP server without requiring a local R installation
• Creating a reproducible MCP server environment
• Running MCP servers alongside other containerized services
• Distributing an MCP server to other developers

Inputs

• Required: R MCP server implementation (mcptools-based or custom)
• Required: Docker installed and running
• Optional: Additional R packages the server needs
• Optional: Transport mode (stdio or HTTP)

Procedure

Step 1: Create Dockerfile for MCP Server

FROM rocker/r-ver:4.5.0

# Install system dependencies
RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
    libcurl4-openssl-dev \
    libssl-dev \
    libxml2-dev \
    libgit2-dev \
    libssh2-1-dev \
    git \
    curl \
    && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

# Install R packages
RUN R -e "install.packages(c( \
    'remotes', \
    'ellmer' \
    ), repos='https://cloud.r-project.org/')"

# Install mcptools
RUN R -e "remotes::install_github('posit-dev/mcptools')"

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /workspace

# Expose MCP server ports
EXPOSE 3000 3001 3002

# Environment variables
ENV R_LIBS_USER=/workspace/renv/library
ENV RENV_PATHS_CACHE=/workspace/renv/cache

# Default: start MCP server
CMD ["R", "-e", "mcptools::mcp_server()"]

Got: A Dockerfile exists in the project root with rocker/r-ver base image, system dependencies, mcptools installation, and the MCP server as the default command.

If fail: Verify the base image tag matches your R version. If remotes::install_github fails, check that git and libgit2-dev are in the system dependencies layer.

Step 2: Create docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  mcp-server:
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    container_name: r-mcp-server
    image: r-mcp-server:latest

    volumes:
      - /path/to/projects:/workspace
      - renv-cache:/workspace/renv/cache

    stdin_open: true
    tty: true

    network_mode: "host"

    environment:
      - TERM=xterm-256color
      - R_LIBS_USER=/workspace/renv/library

    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:
  renv-cache:
    driver: local