6 Must-Have MCP Servers (and How to Use Them)

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The era of AI agents has arrived, and with it, a new standard for how they connect to tools: Model Context Protocol (MCP). MCP unlocks powerful, flexible workflows by giving agents the ability to tap into external tools and systems. but with this thousands of mcp servers (including remote) is now available, it’s easy to ask: Where do I even start?

I’m Oleg Zelajev, and I lead Developer Relations for AI products at Docker. I have been connected to MCP servers since the beginning. In this post, we’ll cover what I think are the best MCP servers for increasing developer productivity, as well as a simple, secure way to find and run them using the Docker MCP Catalog and Toolkit.

let’s get started.

Top MCP Servers for Developer Productivity

Before we dive into specific servers, let’s look at what developers should consider before incorporating these tools into their workflow. What makes MCP Server worth using?

From our perspective, the best MCP server (regardless of your use case) should:

come from Verified, trusted sources To reduce MCP security risks.
easily Connect to existing tool And fit into your workflow.
to pass real productivity pay (Whether it’s note-taking, fetching web content, or keeping your AI agents honest with additional context from trusted libraries).

With that in mind, here are six MCP servers we’d consider for developers who want to boost their everyday productivity.

1. Context7 – Increasing AI Coding Accuracy

What is this: Episode 7 is a powerful MCP tool specifically designed to make AI agents better at coding.
How to use it with Docker: Add the Context7 MCP server by clicking the tile in the Docker toolkit or use the CLI command docker mcp server enable context7.
Why do we use it: This solves the “AI hallucination” problem. When an agent is working on code, Context7 injects up-to-date, version-specific documentation and code examples directly into the prompt. This means that the agent gets accurate information Real The libraries we are using are not from old training data.

2. Obsidian – Better note-writing and project management

What is this: obsidian is a powerful, local-first knowledge base and note-taking app.
How to use it with Docker: While Obsidian itself is a desktop app, install the Community plugin that enables native REST APIs. And then configure the MCP server to talk to that localhost endpoint.
Why do we use it: It provides all the power of Obsidian to our AI assistants. Taking notes and accessing your past memories has never been easier.
here is one Video How you can use it.

3. DuckDuckGo – Bringing search capabilities to coding agents

What is this: This is an MCP server for duckduckgo Search Engine.
How to use it with Docker: Simply enable the DuckDuckGo server in the MCP toolkit or CLI.
Why do we use it: This provides a secure and straightforward way for our AI agents to search the web and fetch content from URLs. If you’re using coding assistants like Cloud Code or Gemini CLI, they know how to do this with built-in functionalities, but if your entry point is something more custom, like an application with an AI component, then giving them access to a trusted search engine is fantastic.

4. Docker Hub – Explore the world’s largest repository of artifacts

What is this: One docker to mcp server Which allows your AI to draw information from the world’s largest artifact repository!
How to use it with Docker: You must provide a personal access token and the username you use to connect docker hubBut enabling this server in the MCP Toolkit is as easy as clicking a few buttons,
Why do we use it: From working with Docker hardened images to checking out repositories and checking which version of a Docker image you can use, accessing Docker Hub gives AI the power to easily tap into the largest artifact repositories.
here is one Video Automatically updating Docker Hub repository information from GitHub repo

Power Pair: GitHub + Notion MCP Server – Transforming customer feedback into actionable development tasks

Some tools are better together. When it comes to empowering AI coding agents, GitHub and Notion make a particularly powerful duo. These two MCP servers unlock seamless access to your codebase And The knowledge base gives agents the ability to reason in both technical and product contexts.

Whether it’s testing issues, scanning PRs, or turning customer feedback into development tasks, this combo lets developer agents easily move between source code and team documentation, with a few simple setup steps in Docker’s MCP toolkit.

Let’s learn how both of these servers work, why we love them, and how you can start using them today.

5. GitHub-Official

What is this: It refers to the official GitHub ServerWhich allows AI agents to interact with GitHub repositories.
How to use it with Docker: Enabled through the MCP toolkit, this server connects your agent to GitHub for tasks like reading issues, checking PRs, or even writing code. Either use a personal access token or log in via OAuth.
Why do we use it: GitHub is an essential tool in almost any developer’s toolbelt. You work from surfing for issues in the repository to checking whether the errors you see are recorded in the repo. GitHub MCP Server gives incredible power to AI coding agents!

6. Perception

What is this: Notion actually has two MCP servers in its catalog. A remote MCP server hosted by Notion itself, and a containerized versionIn any case, if you are using Notion, enabling AI to access your knowledge base has never been easier,
How to use it with Docker: If you choose to use a remote server, enable the MCP server, provide an integration token, or log in via OAuth.
Why do we use it: For example, it provides an easy way to gather customer feedback and raise issues for developers. In any case, plugging your knowledge base into an AI provides almost unlimited power.

here is one Video Where you can see how Notion and GitHub MCP Server work together perfectly.

Getting started with MCP Server made easy

While MCP unlocks powerful new workflows, it also introduces new complexities and security risks. How do developers manage all these new MCP servers? How do they ensure that they are configured correctly and, most importantly, securely?

This focus on a trusted, secure foundation is why partners like E2B chose the Docker MCP Catalog as the provider for their secure AI agent sandbox. The MCP catalog now hosts over 270+ MCP servers, including popular remote servers.

The security risks are not theoretical; Our own “MCP Horror Stories” blog series documents attacks that are already happening. The series, whose latest episode, “Local Host Breach” (CVE-2025-49596), explains how vulnerabilities in this new ecosystem could lead to full system compromise. The MCP Toolkit combats these threats directly with features like container isolation, catalog-signed image verification, and an intelligent gateway that can intercept and block malicious requests before they even reach your tools.

right here docker mcp toolkit Comes. It provides a comprehensive solution that lets you:

Server Isolation: Each MCP server runs in its own sandboxed container, preventing a breach in one tool from compromising your host machine or other services.
Convenient configuration: The toolkit provides a central location to configure all your servers, manage tokens, and handle OAuth flows, dramatically simplifying setup and maintenance.
Advanced Security: It is designed to overcome the most common and dangerous attacks against MCP.

Figure 1: Docker desktop UI showing MCP toolkit with enabled servers (Context7, DuckDuckGo, GitHub, Notion, Docker Hub).

Find MCP servers that work best for you

This list, from private knowledge bases like Obsidian to global repositories like Docker Hub and essential tools like GitHub, is just a glimpse of what’s possible when you securely and reliably connect your AI agents to the tools you use every day.

The Docker MCP Toolkit is your central hub for this new ecosystem. It provides the isolation, configuration, and security needed to experiment and build with confidence, knowing you are protected from a variety of real threats.

this is just Our List of favorites, but the ecosystem is growing every day.

We invite you to explore the full Docker MCP catalog to find all the available servers that can supercharge your AI workflows. Get started with the Docker MCP Toolkit today and take control of your AI tool interactions.

We also want to hear from you: Explore the Docker MCP Catalog and tell us which MCP servers you should have? What amazing equipment combinations have you created? let us know In our community channel!

learn more

Try MCP Toolkit Launching Docker Desktop (Requires version 4.48 or newer to launch MCP Toolkit automatically)
join us community slack channel To tell us you must have an MCP server.
Find out how Docker is powering agentic development.

Source: www.docker.com

Published on: 2025-11-19 09:00:00

Categories: Products,AI/ML,Docker,MCP,MCP server

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