# MCP Server for AI Documentation

URL: https://edu.chainguard.dev/mcp-server-ai-docs.md
Last Modified: April 10, 2026

Access Chainguard documentation through MCP for AI assistants and automation

 Overview The Chainguard AI Documentation MCP (Model Context Protocol) server enables AI assistants and automation tools to interact with Chainguard’s complete documentation library through a standardized protocol. This provides efficient, searchable access to container image docs, security guides, and tool references without loading entire documentation bundles into context.
What is MCP? Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open protocol that standardizes how AI applications access external data and tools. MCP servers expose structured data and capabilities that AI assistants can query and use to provide more accurate, context-aware responses.
Why Use the MCP Server? Efficient Context Usage
Only retrieve relevant documentation sections Avoid loading 2.8 MB of docs into every prompt Search and filter content dynamically Better for Agents
Programmatic access to documentation Structured queries (get specific image docs, search CVEs, etc.) Perfect for automated workflows and CI/CD IDE Integration
Works with Claude Desktop, Cursor, and other MCP-compatible tools Access Chainguard docs while coding No manual copy/paste needed Getting Started Prerequisites MCP-compatible client (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, or other MCP-compatible tools) Hosted Server (Recommended) The fastest way to get started — no Docker or local setup required. Chainguard hosts a public MCP server at mcp.edu.chainguard.dev.
Add this to your MCP client configuration:
{ "mcpServers": { "chainguard-docs": { "url": "https://mcp.edu.chainguard.dev/mcp/" } } }For Claude Desktop, the configuration file is located at:
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json For Claude Code, add the server from the command line:
claude mcp add chainguard-docs --transport http https://mcp.edu.chainguard.dev/mcp/After adding this configuration, restart your MCP client. The Chainguard documentation tools will be available in your conversations.
Local Docker Setup If you prefer to run the MCP server locally, you can use the container image:
docker pull ghcr.io/chainguard-dev/ai-docs:latestRun in stdio mode for MCP clients that support local processes:
docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/chainguard-dev/ai-docs:latest serve-mcpClaude Desktop configuration for the local Docker setup:
{ "mcpServers": { "chainguard-docs": { "command": "docker", "args": [ "run", "--rm", "-i", "ghcr.io/chainguard-dev/ai-docs:latest", "serve-mcp" ] } } } Available Tools The MCP server provides seven tools for querying Chainguard documentation, looking up package compatibility, and checking image availability:
search_docs Search across all Chainguard documentation for relevant content.
Parameters:
query (string, required): Search query max_results (integer, optional): Maximum results to return (default: 5) Example prompts:
“Search Chainguard docs for python CVE management” “Find information about FIPS compliance” “Search for nginx configuration examples” get_image_docs Get documentation for a specific Chainguard container image.
Parameters:
image_name (string, required): Image name (e.g., “python”, “node”, “nginx”) Example prompts:
“Show me the Python image documentation” “Get docs for the nginx image” “What’s in the node image?” list_images List available Chainguard container images with optional filtering and equivalent mapping info. When the image catalog is available, results include metadata such as documentation status and alternative mappings.
Parameters:
filter (string, optional): Filter images by name or alternate mapping (for example, “python”, “nginx”, “apache”) include_upstream (Boolean, optional): Include alternate image mappings and variants in results (default: false) Example prompts:
“List all Chainguard images” “Show me images related to Python” “List images with equivalent mappings included” get_security_docs Get security-related documentation including CVE management, SBOMs, and signing.
Example prompts:
“How does Chainguard handle CVEs?” “Show me security documentation” “Explain SBOM generation” get_tool_docs Get documentation for Chainguard tools and ecosystem components.
Parameters:
tool_name (string, required): Tool name: wolfi, apko, melange, or chainctl Example prompts:
“Show me wolfi documentation” “How do I use apko?” “Explain melange” find_package_equivalent Find Chainguard OS or Wolfi package equivalents for other OS packages. This is useful when migrating Dockerfiles from Debian, Fedora, or Alpine to Chainguard images and you need to translate package names for apk add commands.
Parameters:
package (string, required): Upstream OS package name (e.g., “build-essential”, “libssl-dev”, “python3-pip”) distro (string, optional): Source distribution to search: debian, fedora, or alpine. Searches all distributions if omitted. Example prompts:
“What’s the Wolfi equivalent of Debian’s build-essential?” “Find the Chainguard package for libssl-dev” “I need to replace python3-pip in my Alpine Dockerfile” check_image_freshness Check a Chainguard image’s availability and list its current tags via a live registry query to cgr.dev. Falls back to catalog data if no network access is available.
Parameters:
image_name (string, required): Chainguard image name (such as “python”, “node”, “nginx”) Example prompts:
“What tags are available for the Python image?” “Show me the available tags for the nginx image” “Is the golang image available on cgr.dev?” Image Catalog The MCP server includes a pre-built image catalog that powers the list_images, find_package_equivalent, and check_image_freshness tools. The catalog contains:
All Chainguard container images with registry references, sourced from image documentation Package mappings across Debian, Fedora, and Alpine to Wolfi equivalents The catalog is regenerated automatically as part of the weekly documentation build.
Example Usage Once configured with Claude Desktop:
You: Search for python image security best practices Claude: [Uses search_docs tool] Based on the Chainguard documentation, here are Python image security best practices: ...You: Show me the nginx image documentation Claude: [Uses get_image_docs tool] Here's the complete documentation for the Chainguard nginx image: ...You: What's the Wolfi equivalent of Debian's build-essential? Claude: [Uses find_package_equivalent tool] The Wolfi equivalent of Debian's build-essential is build-base. You can install it with: apk add build-base ...You: What tags are available for the python image? Claude: [Uses check_image_freshness tool] The Chainguard Python image (cgr.dev/chainguard/python) is available with these tags: latest, latest-dev, 3.13, 3.13-dev, ... Standalone Installation (without Docker) The MCP server script and its dependencies are available directly from the repository. The documentation files are distributed via the container image.
# Download the MCP server script and requirements curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chainguard-dev/edu/main/scripts/mcp-server.py curl -LO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chainguard-dev/edu/main/scripts/mcp-requirements.txt # Extract the documentation bundle from the container image docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/output ghcr.io/chainguard-dev/ai-docs:latest extract /output # Writes chainguard-ai-docs.md and image-catalog.json to the current directory # Install dependencies pip install -r mcp-requirements.txt # Run the server DOCS_PATH=chainguard-ai-docs.md CATALOG_PATH=image-catalog.json python3 mcp-server.pyTo use this with Claude Desktop, update your configuration to point to the local script:
{ "mcpServers": { "chainguard-docs": { "command": "python3", "args": ["/path/to/mcp-server.py"], "env": { "DOCS_PATH": "/path/to/chainguard-ai-docs.md", "CATALOG_PATH": "/path/to/image-catalog.json" } } } } Self-Hosting with HTTP Transport You can also self-host the MCP server using Streamable HTTP transport. This is useful for running your own instance behind a firewall or with custom configuration.
Standalone python3 mcp-server.py --transport http --port 8080The server will start on http://0.0.0.0:8080 with the MCP endpoint at /mcp.
You can also configure via environment variables:
MCP_TRANSPORT=http MCP_PORT=8080 python3 mcp-server.py Docker docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 ghcr.io/chainguard-dev/ai-docs:latest serve-mcp-httpThen configure your MCP client to connect to http://localhost:8080/mcp/.
CLI Flags Flag Env Var Default Description --transport MCP_TRANSPORT stdio Transport mode: stdio or http --host MCP_HOST 0.0.0.0 HTTP server bind address --port MCP_PORT 8080 HTTP server port Alternative: Static Documentation If you don’t need MCP server functionality, extract the documentation from the container:
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/output \ ghcr.io/chainguard-dev/ai-docs:latest extract /outputSee the Developer Resources page for more details on static extraction.
Security Features Following Chainguard’s security-first approach:
Minimal Image: Built on cgr.dev/chainguard/wolfi-base Zero CVEs: Regularly updated to maintain zero known vulnerabilities Non-root: Runs as non-root user Signed: Container images are signed with Cosign Transparent: Full SBOM and provenance available Troubleshooting Server Not Appearing in Claude Desktop Check that the configuration file path is correct Restart Claude Desktop after configuration changes Check Claude Desktop logs for error messages If using Docker locally, ensure Docker is running Connection Issues Test the hosted server:
curl -X POST https://mcp.edu.chainguard.dev/mcp/ \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \ -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"initialize","params":{"protocolVersion":"2025-03-26","capabilities":{},"clientInfo":{"name":"test","version":"1.0"}}}'You should receive a JSON response with the server’s capabilities.
To test a local Docker server:
docker run --rm -i ghcr.io/chainguard-dev/ai-docs:latest serve-mcpThe server should start and display startup messages.
Documentation Out of Date The hosted server at mcp.edu.chainguard.dev is updated automatically. If using Docker locally, pull the latest image:
docker pull ghcr.io/chainguard-dev/ai-docs:latest Resources Model Context Protocol Documentation Chainguard MCP Blog Post Developer Resources Chainguard Images Directory Need Help? Chainguard Support Community Slack GitHub Issues