Overview
This MCP server is designed to generate and configure development containers directly from devcontainer.json configuration files. Built with Node.js, it can be run locally or in a Docker-enabled remote environment and can be executed without local Node installation via npx. It supports three MCP transports—stdio, SSE, and streamable HTTP—for flexible client integration. The server is built on the devcontainers/cli, leveraging its tooling to create, initialize, and manage development containers from devcontainer configuration files. It exposes a suite of MCP tools that perform common tasks: devcontainer_up to initialize and start a devcontainer in a workspace, devcontainer_run_user_commands to execute postCreateCommand and postStartCommand scripts, devcontainer_exec to run arbitrary shell commands inside the container, devcontainer_cleanup to clean up all devcontainer environments, and devcontainer_workspace_folders to discover workspace folders containing a devcontainer configuration. For quick experimentation, the project supports GitHub Codespaces trials and provides guidance to connect via mcp-inspector over Streamable HTTP or remote URLs. Build, watch, lint, and release preparation scripts streamline development and publishing.
Features
Devcontainer generation from devcontainer.json
Generates and configures development containers directly from devcontainer.json configuration files via the MCP server.
Multi-transport MCP server
Supports STDIO, Server-Sent Events (SSE), and streamable HTTP transports for client communication.
Devcontainers/CLI integration
Built on the devcontainers/cli, leveraging its tooling to create and manage development containers.
devcontainer_up
Initializes and starts a devcontainer environment in the specified workspace folder, returning startup information.
devcontainer_run_user_commands
Executes user-defined postCreateCommand and postStartCommand scripts inside the devcontainer.
devcontainer_exec
Runs a custom shell command inside the devcontainer workspace.
devcontainer_cleanup
Cleans up all devcontainer environments by issuing Docker commands.
devcontainer_workspace_folders
Finds all workspace folders under a root path containing a devcontainer configuration.
Who Is This For?
- Developers:Generate and configure devcontainers from devcontainer.json using MCP server in local or remote environments.
- DevOps:Automate and manage container environments for CI/CD with multiple transport options.
- Codespaces:Trial MCP server in GitHub Codespaces without local Docker setup for quick experimentation and testing.
