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Docker Deployment for MCP Server

Learn how to deploy the Checkmate MCP Server using Docker alongside the main Checkmate application.

Architecture​

The Docker setup includes three services:

  1. checkmate-db - MySQL database
  2. checkmate-app - Main Checkmate application
  3. checkmate-mcp - MCP Server

All services communicate via a Docker bridge network.

Prerequisites​

  • Docker (v20.10+)
  • Docker Compose (v2.0+)
  • Git

Quick Start​

1. Clone and Setup​

git clone https://github.com/ds-horizon/checkmate.git
cd checkmate

# Create main app .env
cp .env.example .env

# Create MCP server .env  
cd mcp-server
cp .env.example .env
cd ..

2. Configure Environment​

Edit mcp-server/.env:

# Use Docker service name for internal communication
CHECKMATE_API_BASE=http://checkmate-app:3000

# Get token from Checkmate UI
CHECKMATE_API_TOKEN=your-api-token-here

3. Start Services​

# Build and start
docker-compose up -d

# Check status
docker-compose ps

# View logs
docker-compose logs -f checkmate-mcp

Configuration​

Main Application​

Configure the main Checkmate app normally (see main documentation).

MCP Server​

Required variables in mcp-server/.env:

# API Base URL (use Docker service name)
CHECKMATE_API_BASE=http://checkmate-app:3000

# Authentication token
CHECKMATE_API_TOKEN=your-token

# Optional: Rate limiting
MCP_RATE_LIMIT_REQUESTS=100
MCP_RATE_LIMIT_WINDOW_MS=60000

# Optional: Cache settings
MCP_CACHE_TTL=300
MCP_CACHE_MAX_SIZE=100

Management​

Start Services​

docker-compose up -d

Stop Services​

docker-compose down

View Logs​

# All services
docker-compose logs -f

# Specific service
docker-compose logs -f checkmate-mcp

Rebuild​

docker-compose up -d --build checkmate-mcp

Health Check​

# Check MCP server
docker-compose exec checkmate-mcp node build/index.js --version

# Check connectivity
docker-compose exec checkmate-mcp curl http://checkmate-app:3000/api/v1/orgs

Troubleshooting​

MCP Server Can't Connect to API​

Problem: Connection refused errors

Solution:

# 1. Check checkmate-app is running
docker-compose ps checkmate-app

# 2. Verify network
docker network ls
docker network inspect checkmate_default

# 3. Check environment
docker-compose exec checkmate-mcp env | grep CHECKMATE

Authentication Failures​

Problem: 401 Unauthorized

Solution:

  1. Verify token in .env
  2. Regenerate token in Checkmate UI
  3. Restart MCP service: docker-compose restart checkmate-mcp

Performance Issues​

Problem: Slow responses

Solution:

# Check resource usage
docker stats

# Increase rate limits in mcp-server/.env
MCP_RATE_LIMIT_REQUESTS=200

Production Deployment​

Security​

# Use secrets for tokens
docker-compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

# Enable TLS
# Configure reverse proxy (nginx/traefik)

Monitoring​

# View resource usage
docker stats checkmate-mcp

# Check logs
docker-compose logs --tail=100 checkmate-mcp

Scaling​

# Run multiple MCP instances
docker-compose up -d --scale checkmate-mcp=3

Support​

For issues: