Starting mcp server in 6.1.0rc1 in docker

[cabsil]

Hello,

I am trying to start mcp server as a docker container but I don't find any doc to do that. So I tried by copying the superset container and changing the arg to mcp. But I am always getting the error when I am trying to connect to the mcp server.

2026-03-17 22:01:42,790:WARNING:root:Failed to validate request: No application found. Either work inside a view function or push an application context. See [http://flask-sqlalchemy.pocoo.org/contexts/.⁠](http://flask-sqlalchemy.pocoo.org/contexts/)

Here is my container :
superset_mcp: env_file: - path: docker/.env # default required: true - path: docker/.env-local # optional override required: false image: *superset-image container_name: superset_mcp_app command: ["/app/docker/docker-bootstrap.sh", "mcp"] user: "root" restart: unless-stopped ports: - 5008:5008 depends_on: superset-init: condition: service_completed_successfully volumes: - ./docker:/app/docker - ./superset-core:/app/superset-core - superset_home:/app/superset_home

Any advice to solve this ?

Thanks in advance

Christophe

[dosubot[bot]]

Hi @cabsil! I'm Dosu and I’m helping the superset team.

Hi Christophe,

The issue is that the docker-bootstrap.sh script doesn't support an "mcp" argument - it only handles worker, beat, app, and app-gunicorn. The MCP service also requires a separate ASGI server (uvicorn) and can't run within Flask's application context, which is why you're seeing that error.

To run the MCP server in Docker:

1. Enable MCP in your Superset configuration:

   ENABLE_MCP_SERVICE = True

2. Modify your container command to run MCP directly instead of using docker-bootstrap.sh:

   command: ["superset", "mcp", "run", "--port", "5008"]

   Or create a custom entrypoint script that runs uvicorn with the MCP service.

The MCP service is designed to run as a separate ASGI process outside the Flask application, not as part of the standard Superset worker/app infrastructure.

Let me know if you need help creating a custom bootstrap script for the MCP container!

To reply, just mention @dosu.

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[cabsil]

I think Dosu is giving information about the previous implementation and not what's in 6.1.0rc1. Any other advice ?

Thanks

[manimovassagh]

The Dosu answer above is partially outdated. In 6.1.0rc1, the MCP server setup changed. Here's what actually works:

The error No application found. Either work inside a view function or push an application context means the Flask app context isn't being initialized before the MCP server tries to access SQLAlchemy/database resources.

You need to make sure the app context is pushed before the MCP service starts. Try this approach:

Option 1: Use the CLI command with proper environment

superset_mcp:
  env_file:
    - path: docker/.env
      required: true
    - path: docker/.env-local
      required: false
  image: *superset-image
  container_name: superset_mcp_app
  command: ["python", "-c", "from superset.app import create_app; app = create_app(); app.app_context().push(); from superset.mcp.server import run_mcp; run_mcp(port=5008)"]
  user: "root"
  restart: unless-stopped
  ports:
    - 5008:5008
  depends_on:
    superset-init:
      condition: service_completed_successfully
  volumes:
    - ./docker:/app/docker
    - ./superset-core:/app/superset-core
    - superset_home:/app/superset_home

Option 2: Create a small wrapper script

Create docker/docker-mcp.sh:

#!/bin/bash
set -e

# Source the common environment
. /app/docker/docker-bootstrap.sh app

# Run MCP server with Flask app context
python -c "
from superset.app import create_app
app = create_app()
with app.app_context():
    from superset.mcp.server import run_mcp
    run_mcp(host='0.0.0.0', port=5008)
"

Then set command: ["/bin/bash", "/app/docker/docker-mcp.sh"]

The key insight is that unlike the main Superset app (where gunicorn/Flask handles the context lifecycle), the MCP server runs as a standalone process and needs explicit context setup. Make sure ENABLE_MCP_SERVICE = True is set in your superset_config.py as well.

Also double-check that your .env file includes all the database connection variables (SUPERSET_SECRET_KEY, SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI, etc.) -- the MCP container needs the same config as the main app.

[syafiqmuda]

based on the option 1, I just copy and paste into the docker-compose-image-tag.yml when I try start the docker, it keep restarting for the "superset_mcp_app"