MCP server
by manusa
Integrate with Podman for seamless container creation, management, and orchestration in automated DevOps and microservic
Provides direct API access to Podman for container management through conversational interfaces. Enables creation, monitoring, and orchestration of containers and images without switching between tools.
Podman is a community-built MCP server published by manusa that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Integrate with Podman for seamless container creation, management, and orchestration in automated DevOps and microservic It is categorized under developer tools.
You can install Podman in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.
Apache-2.0
Podman is released under the Apache-2.0 license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.
Add new capabilities to Claude beyond text generation
Example
Access external data sources, execute code, interact with tools and services
Transform Claude from chatbot to action-taking agent
Provide Claude with access to relevant context and data
Example
Load project documentation, access knowledge bases, query databases
Get more accurate, context-aware responses
Automate multi-step workflows combining AI and external tools
Example
Research → Summarize → Create document → Send notification
Complete complex tasks end-to-end without manual steps
Share your MCP server with the developer community
We wired Podman into a staging workspace; the listing’s GitHub and npm pointers saved time versus hunting across READMEs.
Podman has been reliable for tool-calling workflows; the MCP profile page is a good permalink for internal docs.
We evaluated Podman against two servers with overlapping tools; this profile had the clearer scope statement.
I recommend Podman for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.
Podman reduced integration guesswork — categories and install configs on the listing matched the upstream repo.
According to our notes, Podman benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
Podman is among the better-indexed MCP projects we tried; the explainx.ai summary tracks the official description.
Strong directory entry: Podman surfaces stars and publisher context so we could sanity-check maintenance before adopting.
According to our notes, Podman benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
Podman is among the better-indexed MCP projects we tried; the explainx.ai summary tracks the official description.
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✨ Features | 🚀 Getting Started | 📚 Documentation | 🎥 Demos | ⚙️ Configuration | 🛠️ Tools | 🧑💻 Development
A powerful and flexible MCP server for container runtimes supporting Podman and Docker.
If you have npm installed, this is the fastest way to get started with podman-mcp-server on Claude Desktop.
Open your claude_desktop_config.json and add the mcp server to the list of mcpServers:
{
"mcpServers": {
"podman": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"podman-mcp-server@latest"
]
}
}
}
Install the Podman MCP server by clicking one of the following links:
<img src="https://img.shields.io/badge/VS_Code-VS_Code?style=flat-square&label=Install%20Server&color=0098FF" alt="Install in VS Code"> <img alt="Install in VS Code Insiders" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/VS_Code_Insiders-VS_Code_Insiders?style=flat-square&label=Install%20Server&color=24bfa5">
Alternatively, you can install the extension manually by running the following command:
# For VS Code
code --add-mcp '{"name":"podman","command":"npx","args":["-y","podman-mcp-server@latest"]}'
# For VS Code Insiders
code-insiders --add-mcp '{"name":"podman","command":"npx","args":["-y","podman-mcp-server@latest"]}'
Goose CLI is the easiest (and cheapest) way to get rolling with artificial intelligence (AI) agents.
If you have npm installed, this is the fastest way to get started with podman-mcp-server.
Open your goose config.yaml and add the mcp server to the list of mcpServers:
extensions:
podman:
command: npx
args:
- -y
- podman-mcp-server@latest
For detailed setup guides, configuration reference, and feature specifications, see the Documentation.
The Podman MCP server can be configured using command line (CLI) arguments.
You can run the CLI executable either by using npx or by downloading the latest release binary.
# Run the Podman MCP server using npx (in case you have npm installed)
npx podman-mcp-server@latest --help
# Run the Podman MCP server using the latest release binary
./podman-mcp-server --help
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
--port, -p | Starts the MCP server in HTTP mode with Streamable HTTP at /mcp and SSE at /sse endpoints. |
--output-format, -o | Output format for list commands: text (default, human-readable table) or json. |
--podman-impl | Podman implementation to use. Auto-detects if not specified. |
--sse-port | Deprecated. Use --port instead. Starts the MCP server in SSE-only mode. |
--sse-base-url | Deprecated. SSE public base URL to use when sending the endpoint message. |
The server supports multiple transport modes:
--port) - Modern HTTP transport with both Streamable HTTP and SSE endpoints--sse-port) - Legacy Server-Sent Events transport (deprecated)# Start HTTP server on port 8080 (Streamable HTTP at /mcp and SSE at /sse)
podman-mcp-server --port 8080
# Legacy SSE-only server on port 8080 (deprecated, use --port instead)
podman-mcp-server --sse-port 8080
The server supports multiple Podman backend implementations:
| Implementation | Description | Priority |
|---|---|---|
api | Podman REST API via Unix socket | 100 (preferred) |
cli | Podman/Docker CLI wrapper | 50 (fallback) |
By default, the server auto-detects the best available implementation.
The api implementation is preferred when a Podman socket is available, otherwise the cli implementation is used as a fallback.
Use the --podman-impl flag to force a specific implementation:
# Force CLI implementation
podman-mcp-server --podman-impl=cli
# Force API implementation (requires Podman socket)
podman-mcp-server --podman-impl=api
The api implementation communicates directly with the Podman REST API via Unix socket, while the cli implementation shells out to the podman or docker binary.
container_inspect - Displays the low-level information and configuration of a Docker or Podman container with the specified container ID or name
name (string) (required) - Docker or Podman container ID or name to display the informationcontainer_list - Prints out information about the running Docker or Podman containers
container_logs - Displays the logs of a Docker or Podman container with the specified container ID or name
name (string) (required) - Docker or Podman container ID or name to display the logscontainer_remove - Removes a Docker or Podman container with the specified container ID or name (rm)
name (string) (required) - Docker or Podman container ID or name to removecontainer_run - Runs a Docker or Podman container with the specified image name
environment (array) - Environment variables to set in the container. Format: <key>=<value>. Example: FOO=bar. (Optional, add only to set environment variables)imageName (string) (required) - Docker or Podman container image name to runports (array) - Port mappings to expose on the host. Format: <hostPort>:<containerPort>. Example: 8080:80. (Optional, add only to expose ports)container_stop - Stops a Docker or Podman running container with the specified container ID or name
name (string) (required) - Docker or Podman container ID or name to stopimage_build - Build a Docker or Podman image from a Dockerfile, Podmanfile, or Containerfile
containerFile (string) (required) - The absolute path to the Dockerfile, Podmanfile, or Containerfile to build the image fromimageName (string) - Specifies the name which is assigned to the resulting image if the build process completes successfully (--tag, -t)image_list - List the Docker or Podman images on the local machine
image_pull - Copies (pulls) a Docker or Podman container image from a registry onto the local machine storage
imageName (string) (required) - Docker or Podman container image name to pullimage_push - Pushes a Docker or Podman container image, manifest list or image index from local machine storage to a registry
imageName (string) (required) - Docker or Podman container image name to pushimage_remove - Removes a Docker or Podman image from the local machine storage
imageName (string) (required) - Docker or Podman container image name to removeCompile the project and run the Podman MCP server with mcp-inspector to inspect the MCP server.
# Compile the project
make build
# Run the Podman MCP server with mcp-inspector
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector@latest $(pwd)/podman-mcp-server
mcp-name: io.github.manusa/podman-mcp-server
Prerequisites
Time Estimate
15-60 minutes depending on server complexity
Steps
Troubleshooting
✓ Do
✗ Don't
💡 Pro Tips
Architecture
Model Context Protocol standardizes how AI hosts (Claude, Cursor) communicate with external tools and data sources through server implementations.
Protocols
Compatibility
✓ Use when
Use when you need Claude to access external data, execute actions, or integrate with tools. Best for extending AI capabilities beyond conversation.
✗ Avoid when
Avoid when native integrations exist (use official APIs directly), for real-time critical systems, or when security/compliance requires zero external dependencies.