gridgain/mcp repository overview

⁠GridGain MCP Server

The GridGain MCP (Model Context Protocol) server lets an AI assistant — Claude Code, Cursor, Visual Studio Code or any other MCP host — explore and query a GridGain 8 cluster. The server is read-only: it lists caches, tables and system views, runs SELECT queries and returns query plans.

It is available only with GridGain Ultimate Edition.

⁠Quick start

docker run -i --rm \
  -e GRIDGAIN_HOST=host.docker.internal \
  -e GRIDGAIN_USERNAME=mcp_reader \
  -e GRIDGAIN_PASSWORD \
  gridgain/mcp:<version>

• -i is required. The server talks to the MCP host over standard input and output; without -i, standard input is empty and the server exits at once.
• --rm removes the container when the host closes the session.

You normally don't run this command yourself — the MCP host starts the container when it needs the server and stops it when the session ends.

An -e option without a value, such as -e GRIDGAIN_PASSWORD, takes the value from the environment of the docker command. Use it to keep passwords out of the command line.

⁠Supported platforms

One image manifest covers linux/amd64 and linux/arm64. The server runs as non-root user ID 10000, and the image publishes no ports.

⁠Connecting an MCP host

Use docker as the server command in the host's MCP settings. For example, in Claude Code's .mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "gridgain": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "docker",
      "args": [
        "run", "-i", "--rm",
        "-e", "GRIDGAIN_HOST",
        "-e", "GRIDGAIN_USERNAME",
        "-e", "GRIDGAIN_PASSWORD",
        "gridgain/mcp:<version>"
      ],
      "env": {
        "GRIDGAIN_HOST": "db.example.com",
        "GRIDGAIN_USERNAME": "mcp_reader",
        "GRIDGAIN_PASSWORD": "${GRIDGAIN_PASSWORD}"
      }
    }
  }
}

Add an -e option for each additional variable you set. Don't write the password into the settings file.

With Claude Code you can also add the server from the command line instead of editing the file:

export GRIDGAIN_PASSWORD='...'
claude mcp add gridgain --scope project \
  -e GRIDGAIN_HOST=db.example.com \
  -e GRIDGAIN_USERNAME=mcp_reader \
  -- docker run -i --rm \
       -e GRIDGAIN_HOST -e GRIDGAIN_USERNAME -e GRIDGAIN_PASSWORD \
       gridgain/mcp:<version>

Everything after -- is the command that starts the server. Don't pass the password with claude mcp add -e, which stores it in the settings file; set it in the shell you start Claude Code from instead. Run claude mcp list to check the result.

To check the setup, ask the assistant to check the database connection — it calls the check_database_connection tool.

⁠Configuration

Every setting is an environment variable (pass with -e) with a matching flag (pass after the image name). A flag wins over the variable. Put credentials and store passwords in the environment.

Connection timeouts, heartbeats and retries have their own MCP_* variables with sensible defaults.

⁠Reaching the cluster

Inside the container, localhost is the container itself. For a cluster on the same machine:

• On Docker Desktop, use GRIDGAIN_HOST=host.docker.internal.
• On Linux, add --add-host=host.docker.internal:host-gateway, or use --network host.

⁠Certificates

Mount the trust store and key store into the container read-only, make them readable by user ID 10000, and set the *_PATH variables to the path inside the container. A store that is missing, of the wrong type or has a different password stops the server at startup.

⁠Audit log

A later release adds an audit log under /opt/gridgain-mcp/.gridgain8/mcp/logs. To keep it beyond --rm, mount a host directory there, owned by user ID 10000 with mode 0700. The container warns on standard error when the path is not a mount, and starts anyway.

⁠Example: TLS with mounted certificates

docker run -i --rm \
  -e GRIDGAIN_HOST=host.docker.internal \
  -e GRIDGAIN_USERNAME=mcp_reader \
  -e GRIDGAIN_PASSWORD \
  -e GRIDGAIN_SSL_MODE=REQUIRED \
  -e GRIDGAIN_SSL_TRUSTSTORE_PATH=/etc/gridgain-mcp/certs/truststore.jks \
  -e GRIDGAIN_SSL_TRUSTSTORE_PASSWORD \
  -v /path/to/stores:/etc/gridgain-mcp/certs:ro \
  -v /path/to/audit:/opt/gridgain-mcp/.gridgain8/mcp/logs \
  gridgain/mcp:<version>

⁠What the server offers

An MCP host discovers the server's tools (tools/list) and reference resources (resources/list) on its own. The release notes list what each release adds.