MCPKite Documentation for builders and operators

Getting started

Run the full development stack, create your workspace, and open the builder.

Requirements

Use Docker with the Compose plugin. The default stack includes PostgreSQL, the API, the frontend, an isolated tool runner, local object-storage services, and MCP Inspector.

Configure local files

From the repository root, copy the example files. The copies are ignored by Git and are for local development.

cp -n backend/.env.example backend/.env
cp -n frontend/.env.example frontend/.env
cp -n .env.example .env

Set a private, persistent WORKSPACE_SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY in backend/.env before saving reusable secrets. Generate a 32-byte key with openssl rand -base64 32 and keep a secure backup alongside the database backup. If the key is lost, encrypted values cannot be decrypted.

Set PGADMIN_DEFAULT_EMAIL and PGADMIN_DEFAULT_PASSWORD in the root .env before starting the stack. Never use development defaults for a hosted deployment.

Start the stack

docker compose up --build

Open the app at http://localhost:8080. The management API docs are at http://localhost:8000/docs. MCP Inspector is available at http://localhost:6274; its port is bound to the local machine.

The frontend runs in Vite development mode with hot reload. Backend code changes reload automatically. Rebuild a container only after changing its dependencies or Dockerfile.

Create your workspace

The first account becomes the workspace owner. On an existing installation, the first signup adopts server definitions already in the database into that workspace. Later accounts need a one-time invitation link from the owner.

Start by creating a server, then add a tool, prompt, or resource from its capability workspace. See Servers and clients for endpoint setup, or follow an individual guide from the overview.

Try an MCP endpoint

  1. Create and save a tool in the server's Tools workspace.
  2. In MCP Inspector, add a Streamable HTTP connection using http://backend:8000 followed by the endpoint path shown in MCPKite.
  3. For a protected endpoint, enter its server bearer token in the Inspector authorization field. It is not your MCPKite login.
  4. Connect, open Tools, and call the saved tool with valid, safe arguments.

Inspector runs inside Docker, so use the Compose hostname backend. Host-based clients use the host-facing endpoint from the Connect guide instead.

To stop the stack, run docker compose down. To also remove saved database and storage data, run docker compose down --volumes; this permanently deletes that local data.