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Docker Compose

Use the example Compose stack in examples/ when you want a full local environment with:

  • Kafka
  • Confluent Schema Registry
  • KafkaMCP

Files used by the example​

  • examples/docker-compose.yaml
  • examples/docker-compose-kafkamcp.yaml

Full docker-compose.yaml​

This is the exact Compose file from the repository:

services:
  kafka:
    image: bitnami/kafka:3.7
    ports:
      - "9092:9092"
    environment:
      - KAFKA_CFG_NODE_ID=0
      - KAFKA_CFG_PROCESS_ROLES=controller,broker
      - KAFKA_CFG_CONTROLLER_QUORUM_VOTERS=0@kafka:9093
      - KAFKA_CFG_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://:9092,CONTROLLER://:9093
      - KAFKA_CFG_ADVERTISED_LISTENERS=PLAINTEXT://localhost:9092
      - KAFKA_CFG_LISTENER_SECURITY_PROTOCOL_MAP=CONTROLLER:PLAINTEXT,PLAINTEXT:PLAINTEXT
      - KAFKA_CFG_CONTROLLER_LISTENER_NAMES=CONTROLLER
      - KAFKA_CFG_INTER_BROKER_LISTENER_NAME=PLAINTEXT
    volumes:
      - kafka-data:/bitnami/kafka

  schema-registry:
    image: confluentinc/cp-schema-registry:7.6.0
    ports:
      - "8081:8081"
    environment:
      SCHEMA_REGISTRY_HOST_NAME: schema-registry
      SCHEMA_REGISTRY_KAFKASTORE_BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS: kafka:9092
      SCHEMA_REGISTRY_LISTENERS: http://0.0.0.0:8081
    depends_on:
      - kafka

  kafkamcp:
    build:
      context: ..
      dockerfile: Dockerfile
    ports:
      - "3100:3100"
    volumes:
      - ./docker-compose-kafkamcp.yaml:/etc/kafkamcp/kafkamcp.yaml
    depends_on:
      - kafka
      - schema-registry

volumes:
  kafka-data:

Companion KafkaMCP config​

The Compose stack mounts this file into the container:

server:
  transport: sse
  host: 0.0.0.0
  port: 3100
  log_level: info

clusters:
  - name: local
    bootstrap_servers: "kafka:9092"
    security_protocol: PLAINTEXT
    schema_registry:
      url: "http://schema-registry:8081"
    default: true

schema_cache:
  max_entries: 10000
  ttl_seconds: 300

audit:
  enabled: true
  max_entries: 10000

Start the stack​

From the repository root:

cd examples
docker compose up --build

What you get​

  • Kafka broker on localhost:9092
  • Schema Registry on http://localhost:8081
  • KafkaMCP SSE endpoint on http://localhost:3100
  • Prometheus metrics on http://localhost:3101/metrics
  • Process liveness on http://localhost:3101/livez
  • Full readiness on http://localhost:3101/ready
info

This example explicitly binds metrics_host: 0.0.0.0 so Docker can publish port 3101. Direct binary deployments default the metrics listener to 127.0.0.1.

Test the stack​

In another terminal, verify KafkaMCP is up:

curl -s http://localhost:3101/ready

You should get:

ready

Connect an MCP client​

Use the SSE endpoint:

http://localhost:3100

That endpoint is useful for remote clients, browser-based tooling, and local integration tests.

When to use this setup​

Use the Compose example when you want:

  • a reproducible local demo environment
  • a quick way to test Schema Registry features
  • an isolated stack for documentation, development, or demos

If you only need KafkaMCP for Claude Desktop, the simpler stdio setup in Getting Started is usually faster.