| name | container-manager-lifecycle |
| skill_type | skill |
| description | Docker/Podman container and image lifecycle on local or remote hosts via the container-manager-mcp MCP server — list/inspect/stop/remove/exec containers, read logs, trace which container owns a port, pull/prune images, and run docker-compose stacks. Use when the agent must operate standalone (non-swarm) container workloads on a single engine. Do NOT use for Swarm cluster services/nodes (use container-manager-swarm) or for pushing inventory into the knowledge graph (use container-manager-kg-ingestion). |
| license | MIT |
| tags | ["container-manager-mcp","docker","podman","containers","compose","mcp"] |
| metadata | {"author":"Genius","version":"0.1.0"} |
Container Lifecycle (Docker / Podman)
Domain-typed control of single-host container workloads through the
container-manager-mcp server. Prefer these cm_* tools over raw docker/podman
shell — they carry the host-targeting, port-tracing, and destructive-confirmation
conventions and return typed records.
When to use
- List, inspect, or read logs from containers on the LOCAL socket or a remote host.
- Stop / remove / prune containers, or
exec a command inside one.
- Find which container is publishing a given host port.
- Pull, list, or prune images; bring a
docker-compose file up/down.
When NOT to use
- Swarm cluster services, replicas, or nodes →
container-manager-swarm.
- Snapshotting inventory into the knowledge graph →
container-manager-kg-ingestion.
- Kubernetes workloads →
container-manager-kubernetes-operations (the full cm_k8s_*
surface), not these tools.
- Podman pods, checkpoint/restore, or Kubernetes-YAML interop →
container-manager-podman-operations.
Prerequisites & environment
Connect via the mcp-client skill against the container-manager-mcp MCP server.
A reachable Docker/Podman engine is required (local socket or a remote host over SSH).
| Variable | Required | Notes |
|---|
CONTAINER_MANAGER_TYPE | optional | docker or podman; auto-detected if unset |
CONTAINER_MANAGER_HOST | optional | Default remote host alias (else LOCAL socket) |
Remote hosts resolve from the tunnel-manager inventory — call cm_list_hosts to see
aliases. Omit host to target the LOCAL Docker socket. MCP_TOOL_MODE
(condensed|verbose|both) selects the condensed action-based tools (used below).
Tools & actions
| Condensed tool | Actions |
|---|
cm_container_operations | list_containers, get_container_logs, stop_container, remove_container, prune_containers, exec_in_container |
cm_image_operations | list_images, pull_image, remove_image, prune_images |
cm_compose_operations | up, down, ps, logs |
trace_port_namespace | (single-purpose) locate the container owning a host port |
cm_list_hosts | enumerate remote host aliases |
Key parameters
host — remote alias (omit for LOCAL). Same meaning across every cm_* tool.container_id — id or name; required for logs/stop/remove/exec.command — for exec_in_container.all_containers — include stopped containers in list_containers.tail — log-line count for get_container_logs (default "50").compose_file — path to the compose file for cm_compose_operations.force — required to remove a running container / force prune.
Recipes
List all containers (including stopped) on a remote host:
cm_container_operations action=list_containers all_containers=true host=<alias>
Tail 200 log lines from a container:
cm_container_operations action=get_container_logs container_id=<id|name> tail="200"
Find which container owns host port 8080:
trace_port_namespace port=8080 host=<alias>
Bring a compose stack up / read its services:
cm_compose_operations action=up compose_file=/srv/stack/docker-compose.yml
cm_compose_operations action=ps compose_file=/srv/stack/docker-compose.yml
Gotchas
- Swarm reads (
list_nodes/list_services) live on cm_swarm_operations and must target
a swarm manager; the container tools here operate the plain engine.
remove_container on a running container needs force=true; stop it first when you can.host targets a remote engine over SSH via the tunnel-manager inventory — an unknown
alias fails resolution; call cm_list_hosts first.tail is a string ("50"), not an int.prune_* actions are destructive and unbounded — confirm intent before running.
Related
container-manager-swarm — cluster services / nodes / scaling.container-manager-kubernetes-operations — the full Kubernetes tool surface
(workloads/config/networking/storage/RBAC/cluster/governance/observability).container-manager-podman-operations — Podman-specific pods, checkpoint/
restore, and kube-yaml interop.container-manager-config-walkthrough — first-time setup / choosing
CONTAINER_MANAGER_TYPE before using this skill.container-manager-kg-ingestion — push this inventory into the knowledge graph
as typed :Container / :ContainerImage nodes.
