[GH-ISSUE #15771] feat: MCP documentation is dead in the water with no quick prebuilt docker path #33195

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GiteaMirror · 2026-04-25T07:06:19-05:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-04-25 07:06:19 -05:00

Originally created by @jamesyc on GitHub (Jul 16, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/issues/15771

Check Existing Issues

I have searched the existing issues and discussions.

Problem Description

Openwebui is considered far behind in the MCP category due to how it handles MCP. This is often repeated on web forums.

https://docs.openwebui.com/openapi-servers/mcp/

The MCP documentation is... very slow to figure out a solution that doesn't impact the rest of my dev machine. I don't want to build a docker container locally! If you're making all your users run pip install natively or build a docker container to use MCP, that's a bad strategy.

If I already have a MCP server working with claude code, the user would want to do a minimum to get it working with openwebui

Desired Solution you'd like

Proposed solution:

Create a github repo "open-webui-mcp" which contains all the MCP proxy code, and then upload it to GHCR for use with docker
Update the documentation to have a single docker command/docker compose command which instantly runs the proxy. This also means no impact to the rest of the machine, as the container would be easily removed with a docker compose down command.
- Note: the docker-compose.yml file would be the configuration file to point to the correct MCP server

This makes setup easy. Make a new folder for the proxy, copy the docker-compose.yml file there and edit it to point to the correct MCP server, run docker compose up, and that's it. The user can see what proxies are running via docker ps.

Alternatives Considered

No response

Additional Context

No response

Originally created by @jamesyc on GitHub (Jul 16, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/open-webui/open-webui/issues/15771 ### Check Existing Issues - [x] I have searched the existing issues and discussions. ### Problem Description Openwebui is considered far behind in the MCP category due to how it handles MCP. This is often repeated on web forums. https://docs.openwebui.com/openapi-servers/mcp/ The MCP documentation is... very slow to figure out a solution that doesn't impact the rest of my dev machine. I don't want to build a docker container locally! If you're making all your users run pip install natively or build a docker container to use MCP, that's a bad strategy. If I already have a MCP server working with claude code, the user would want to do a minimum to get it working with openwebui ### Desired Solution you'd like Proposed solution: - Create a github repo "open-webui-mcp" which contains all the MCP proxy code, and then upload it to GHCR for use with docker - **Update the documentation to have a single docker command/docker compose command** which instantly runs the proxy. This also means no impact to the rest of the machine, as the container would be easily removed with a `docker compose down` command. - Note: the docker-compose.yml file would be the configuration file to point to the correct MCP server This makes setup easy. Make a new folder for the proxy, copy the docker-compose.yml file there and edit it to point to the correct MCP server, run `docker compose up`, and that's it. The user can see what proxies are running via `docker ps`. ### Alternatives Considered _No response_ ### Additional Context _No response_

GiteaMirror closed this issue

2026-04-25 07:06:19 -05:00

GiteaMirror commented

2026-04-25 07:06:20 -05:00

@tjbck commented on GitHub (Jul 16, 2025):

https://github.com/open-webui/mcpo

@tjbck commented on GitHub (Jul 16, 2025): https://github.com/open-webui/mcpo

GiteaMirror commented

2026-04-25 07:06:21 -05:00

@jamesyc commented on GitHub (Jul 16, 2025):

Really, the important part is the DOCUMENTATION change, not the "make a new github repo" part. That part is optional.

@jamesyc commented on GitHub (Jul 16, 2025): Really, the important part is the DOCUMENTATION change, not the "make a new github repo" part. That part is optional.

GiteaMirror commented

2026-04-25 07:06:22 -05:00

@luguoyixiazi commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2025):

So in OpenWebUI, is it still impossible to use MCP directly? Only through MCPO?
The documentation mentions that MCPO's advantage is environment isolation.
If OpenWebUI is mounted on a public network server, this makes sense for security reasons.
However, for local users, this adds unnecessary operational complexity—this approach feels too unfriendly.
I've seen an excellent implementation example at https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenWebUI/comments/1jaidh4/mcp_integration_into_openwebui, and I believe this is what most local users are hoping for.
Not everyone wants to operate as an LLM service provider.

@luguoyixiazi commented on GitHub (Aug 9, 2025): So in OpenWebUI, is it still impossible to use MCP directly? Only through MCPO? The documentation mentions that MCPO's advantage is environment isolation. If OpenWebUI is mounted on a public network server, this makes sense for security reasons. However, for local users, this adds unnecessary operational complexity—this approach feels too unfriendly. I've seen an excellent implementation example at ```https://www.reddit.com/r/OpenWebUI/comments/1jaidh4/mcp_integration_into_openwebui```, and I believe this is what most local users are hoping for. Not everyone wants to operate as an LLM service provider.

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Reference: github-starred/open-webui#33195