Arcane MCP
TypeScript MCP server for the Arcane Docker management API. Exposes a single arcane tool that routes all Docker environment, project, container, image, network, volume, system, registry, image-update, vulnerability, and GitOps operations through the Arcane service.
Overview
Arcane MCP wraps the Arcane REST API behind a Model Context Protocol interface. An AI agent calls the arcane tool with an action and subaction. The server authenticates the request, enforces a confirmation gate on destructive operations, routes to the appropriate backend service, and returns JSON.
The server ships two MCP tools:
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|
arcane | Unified action/subaction router for all Arcane API operations |
arcane_help | Returns the full action/subaction reference as formatted text |
Tools
arcane
Call this tool with action, subaction, and optional envId, id, and params.
{
"action": "container",
"subaction": "list",
"envId": "env-abc123"
}
Parameter rules
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|
action | string (enum) | Resource family: environment, project, container, image, network, volume, system, image-update, vulnerability, registry, gitops |
subaction | string (enum) | Operation to perform (see per-family tables below) |
envId | string (optional) | Target environment ID. Required by all families except registry. For environment subactions, envId and id are interchangeable for single-resource ops. |
id | string (optional) | Resource ID for single-resource operations (get, delete, etc.) |
params | object (optional) | Operation-specific payload. Pass { "confirm": true } to authorize a destructive operation without elicitation. |
Destructive operation gate
Any operation in the DESTRUCTIVE set (listed per family below) is blocked unless one of three conditions is met:
ARCANE_MCP_ALLOW_DESTRUCTIVE=true — all destructive ops auto-confirm, no re-call needed.ARCANE_MCP_ALLOW_YOLO=true — skips the interactive elicitation prompt; the tool must still be re-called with params: { "confirm": true } to proceed.- Default — if the MCP client supports elicitation forms, the server prompts the user interactively. If the client does not support elicitation, the server returns a prompt asking for a re-call with
params: { "confirm": true }.
Action families
environment
Top-level Docker host connections. envId and id are interchangeable for single-resource operations.
| Subaction | Description | Destructive |
|---|
list | List all environments | |
get | Get an environment by ID | |
create | Create a new environment; pass params with apiUrl, apiKey, and optional name, enabled, isEdge | |
update | Update environment settings; pass params with fields to change | |
delete | Permanently delete an environment | yes |
test | Test the environment's API connection | |
Example:
{"action": "environment", "subaction": "list"}
{"action": "environment", "subaction": "get", "id": "env-abc123"}
{"action": "environment", "subaction": "create", "params": {"apiUrl": "https://host.example.com", "apiKey": "..."}}
{"action": "environment", "subaction": "delete", "id": "env-abc123", "params": {"confirm": true}}
project
Docker Compose stacks running inside an environment. Requires envId.
| Subaction | Description | Destructive |
|---|
list | List all projects in the environment | |
get | Get a project by ID | |
create | Create a project; pass params with name, composeContent, and optional envContent | |
update | Update a project; pass params with composeContent, envContent, or name | |
up | Start a project (docker compose up) | |
down | Stop a project (docker compose down) | yes |
restart | Restart all containers in the project | yes |
pull | Pull latest images without restarting | |
destroy | Stop and remove containers, networks, volumes created by the compose file | yes |
redeploy | Pull images and recreate the project | yes |
build | Build images for the project; pass optional params with services, provider, push, load | |
Example:
