> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.mcp-use.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Self hosted

> Run an MCP server in your own Docker environment

Run a built `mcp-use` server in Docker when you want to operate the server on
your own infrastructure. Your platform is responsible for TLS, a public domain,
authentication, and routing requests to the container.

## Prerequisites

* Docker installed locally, or a container platform that can build and run a
  Docker image.
* An `mcp-use` server that exports its `MCPServer` instance as the default
  export.
* An npm lockfile (`package-lock.json`).

The generated `mcp-server` template already has the required `build` and
`start` scripts. `mcp-use start` serves the production build at
`.mcp-use/build/`.

## Create a Dockerfile

Add this `Dockerfile` at the project root:

```dockerfile theme={null}
FROM node:22-slim AS build

WORKDIR /app
COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm ci
COPY . .
RUN npm run typecheck && npm run build

FROM node:22-slim

WORKDIR /app
ENV NODE_ENV=production
ENV HOST=0.0.0.0
ENV PORT=3000

COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
RUN npm ci --omit=dev
COPY --from=build /app/.mcp-use ./.mcp-use

EXPOSE 3000
CMD ["npm", "start"]
```

`HOST=0.0.0.0` lets the container receive traffic through Docker's network.
`PORT` can be changed to the port required by your container platform.

Add a `.dockerignore` so the build context excludes local and secret files:

```text theme={null}
node_modules
.git
.env
.env.*
.mcp-use
```

## Build and run locally

Build the image and publish the container port locally:

```bash theme={null}
docker build --tag my-mcp-server .
docker run --rm --publish 3000:3000 --env-file .env my-mcp-server
```

The MCP endpoint is available at:

```text theme={null}
http://localhost:3000/mcp
```

Verify it with the bundled client:

```bash theme={null}
npx mcp-use client connect local http://localhost:3000/mcp
npx mcp-use client local tools list
```

## Deploy the image

Push the image to your container registry, then configure your container
platform to run it. Set its public URL in `MCP_URL` and supply application
secrets through the platform's secret manager rather than baking them into the
image.

```env theme={null}
MCP_URL=https://mcp.example.com
```

Configure the platform's health check and reverse proxy to forward requests to
the same `/mcp` path. Terminate TLS at your platform or reverse proxy and use
the resulting HTTPS URL in every MCP client.