Publish to Docker Hub and submit to Docker MCP Catalog

[crtahlin]

Parent issue: #59

Goal

Get swarm-provenance-mcp listed in the Docker MCP Catalog so it appears in Docker Desktop's MCP Toolkit for one-click install.

Approach: Docker-Built (Recommended)

Docker builds, signs, and hosts the image under the mcp/ namespace on Docker Hub. This gives us:

• Cryptographic signatures and provenance tracking
• Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs)
• Automatic security updates
• Image hosted at mcp/swarm-provenance-mcp (no Docker Hub account needed)

Platform support

The image is built for linux/amd64 and linux/arm64. This covers:

• Linux — native on both x86_64 and ARM64
• macOS — Docker Desktop runs Linux containers (ARM64 native on Apple Silicon, amd64 via emulation on Intel)
• Windows — Docker Desktop runs Linux containers via WSL2/Hyper-V (linux/amd64)

No Windows-native container is needed — Docker Desktop on Windows uses Linux containers by default, which is the standard for MCP servers.

Tasks

1. Submit to Docker MCP Registry

• Fork https://github.com/docker/mcp-registry
• Create entry using the Docker-built path
• Verify generated server.yaml looks correct (image should be mcp/swarm-provenance-mcp)
• Open PR against docker/mcp-registry
• Respond to any review feedback

2. Verify Docker Desktop integration

• Wait for PR merge and catalog publishing (~24h after merge)
• Install/update Docker Desktop (4.48+)
• Find swarm-provenance-mcp in MCP Toolkit catalog
• Confirm it starts and responds to MCP protocol messages on all platforms (macOS, Windows, Linux)

Status

PR: docker/mcp-registry#1566 — open, awaiting Docker team review. Updated with duration-based API (duration_hours/size).

Reference

• Docker MCP Catalog: https://hub.docker.com/mcp
• Docker MCP Registry repo: https://github.com/docker/mcp-registry
• Contributing guide: https://github.com/docker/mcp-registry/blob/main/CONTRIBUTING.md
• MCP Toolkit docs: https://docs.docker.com/ai/mcp-catalog-and-toolkit/toolkit/
• Our Dockerfile: Dockerfile in main branch

Acceptance Criteria

• PR submitted to docker/mcp-registry
• Image live at mcp/swarm-provenance-mcp on Docker Hub (built by Docker)
• Server visible and usable in Docker Desktop MCP Toolkit
• Works on macOS (ARM + Intel), Windows, and Linux

[crtahlin]

Status: PR submitted, awaiting Docker team review

PR: docker/mcp-registry#1566
Fork: https://github.com/datafund/mcp-registry (branch: add-swarm-provenance-mcp)

What was done

• Forked docker/mcp-registry under the datafund org
• Created servers/swarm-provenance-mcp/server.yaml — server config matching registry schema (Docker-built path, mcp/swarm-provenance-mcp image)
• Created servers/swarm-provenance-mcp/tools.json — pre-listed all 7 tools (needed because server requires gateway connectivity at startup)
• Submitted PR with fellowship context and roadmap (blockchain anchoring, provenance chain traversal, etc.)

What happens next

1. Docker team reviews the PR (check periodically)
2. If approved, Docker builds, signs, and hosts the image at mcp/swarm-provenance-mcp on Docker Hub
3. Server appears in Docker Desktop MCP Toolkit within ~24h of merge
4. Future updates are automatic — mcp-registry-bot creates "update pin" PRs when our main branch gets new commits

To check status

gh pr view 1566 --repo docker/mcp-registry --json state,reviews

[crtahlin]

Post-merge tasks

After Docker approves and merges the PR:

1. Update repo documentation

• Add Docker Hub / MCP Catalog badge to README.md
• Add "Available on Docker MCP Catalog" section with install instructions for Docker Desktop MCP Toolkit
• Update docker/mcp-registry/server.yaml in our repo to match the final approved version (if Docker made changes)

2. Verify Docker Desktop integration

• Confirm server appears in Docker Desktop MCP Toolkit catalog
• Test one-click install and MCP protocol response
• Screenshot for documentation

---

Release process (for future upgrades)

After adding new features or fixes:

1. Develop on development branch
2. Merge development → main
3. Tag the release: git tag v0.2.0 && git push origin v0.2.0
4. GHCR image is built and published automatically by CI (docker-publish.yml)
5. Docker MCP Catalog is updated automatically — mcp-registry-bot detects the new commit on main and creates an "update pin" PR in docker/mcp-registry

No manual re-submission needed after the initial PR is merged.

[crtahlin]

Status: Partially done — GHCR publishing works, Docker Hub and MCP Catalog not done.

What's done:

• Production-ready Dockerfile with OCI labels, non-root user, minimal image
• GHCR auto-publish workflow (.github/workflows/docker-publish.yml) with multi-platform builds (amd64 + arm64)
• Key commits:
  • a5aa86b add Docker support for containerized deployment
  • 16e301b add Dockerfile, .dockerignore, and Docker tests
  • c119cf5 add multi-platform Docker builds (amd64 + arm64)
  • 1c7553a fix: auto-publish Docker image on push to main
  • e7da5af docs: clarify Docker image is GHCR-only, not on Docker Hub

What remains:

• Docker Hub publishing (currently GHCR-only, explicitly documented as such)
• Docker MCP Catalog submission (only mentioned as possible in README, no metadata/submission done)

[miles-on-nightshift]

Triage (automated): classification=enhancement, priority=medium. Docker Hub + MCP Catalog distribution significantly broadens reach — important for enterprise adoption but not blocking current customer work.

[miles-on-nightshift]

Triage: classification: enhancement, priority: priority-medium

Docker Hub listing and Docker MCP Catalog submission expands reach to MCP server users.

[miles-on-nightshift]

Triage: feature / priority: medium

Docker Hub + MCP Catalog listing increases distribution surface; relevant for enterprise prospects evaluating the toolkit. Coordinate with CLI PyPI publish (#123).

Labels to add: enhancement, priority-medium