Docker

Docker

The image shibbirweb/mcp-db-read-only runs the same server with nothing else installed. It's built for Intel and Apple Silicon (linux/amd64 and linux/arm64).

Tag	Gets
latest	The newest release
1	The newest 1.x release (recommended: new features and fixes, never a breaking change)
1.1	The newest 1.1.x release
1.1.0	Exactly that version

In your MCP client

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "databases": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "--add-host", "host.docker.internal:host-gateway",
        "-e", "DB_URL=postgres://readonly:secret@host.docker.internal:5432/myapp",
        "shibbirweb/mcp-db-read-only:1"
      ]
    }
  }
}

• -i is required: the client talks to the server through its input and output.
• --rm removes the container when the client closes it.
• Pass every setting with its own -e NAME=value.

Reaching a database on your computer

Inside a container, localhost means the container itself. Use host.docker.internal instead, and keep the --add-host host.docker.internal:host-gateway line (Docker Desktop has it built in, Linux needs the flag).

flowchart LR
    subgraph computer["Your computer"]
        DB[("Your database<br/>port 5432")]
        subgraph container["Docker container"]
            S["mcp-db-read-only"]
            L["localhost<br/>(the container itself)"]
        end
    end
    S -->|"host.docker.internal:5432<br/>reaches it"| DB
    S -.->|"localhost:5432<br/>finds nothing"| L

Loading

A database in another container? Put both on one Docker network and use the container's name as the host.

SQLite files

Mount the folder, read-only, and use the path inside the container:

"-v", "/Users/me/data:/data:ro",
"-e", "DB_URL=sqlite:///data/app.db"

Logs

Mount a folder for DB_LOG_DIR, so the logs outlive the container:

"-v", "/Users/me/Library/Logs/mcp-db-read-only:/logs",
"-e", "DB_LOG_DIR=/logs"

And view them, from Docker or with npx, as described on Logging and Viewer:

docker run --rm -p 127.0.0.1:4800:4800 -v /Users/me/Library/Logs/mcp-db-read-only:/logs:ro \
  shibbirweb/mcp-db-read-only node dist/index.js viewer --dir /logs --port 4800

-p 127.0.0.1:4800:4800 makes the page reachable from your computer only.

npm or Docker?

Both run the same code. npm (npx) starts a little faster and needs Node 22.13+. Docker needs nothing but Docker and keeps the server walled off from the rest of your computer: it can only reach what you pass in.