bcdocker

MCP server and CLI for Business Central Docker container management. Run via npx -- no install needed.

npx bcdocker list              # list containers
npx bcdocker create            # create a BC sandbox
npx bcdocker test bcsandbox    # run AL tests

Quick start

As MCP server (AI assistants)

Zero-install -- add to your IDE config and your AI can manage BC containers directly:

Cursor (.cursor/mcp.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bcd": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "bcdocker", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "bcd": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "bcdocker", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

VS Code / Copilot (.vscode/mcp.json):

{
  "servers": {
    "bcd": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "bcdocker", "mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Once configured, ask your AI assistant things like:

• "List my BC containers"
• "Create a new BC sandbox with version 26.0"
• "Show me the apps in bcsandbox"
• "Run tests in my container"
• "Compile and publish my AL project"

As CLI

Via npx (no install):

npx bcdocker list
npx bcdocker info bcsandbox
npx bcdocker create --name bcsandbox --type sandbox --bc-version 26.0 --country w1 --bypass-cdn
npx bcdocker start bcsandbox
npx bcdocker stop bcsandbox
npx bcdocker apps bcsandbox --publisher Microsoft
npx bcdocker test bcsandbox --codeunit 50100

Global install (puts bcd on your PATH):

npm i -g bcdocker
bcd list
bcd create --name mybc --bc-version 26.0
bcd test mybc

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Windows PowerShell 5.1 (BC management cmdlets require it)
• Docker Desktop in Windows containers mode

The npm package bundles the PowerShell module in ps/. Override with BCD_MODULE_PATH if needed.

CLI commands

Command	Description
list / ls	List all BC containers with status
info <container>	Show version, status, and endpoints
create	Create a new BC container (5-30 min)
remove <container>	Remove a container
start <container>	Start a stopped container
stop <container>	Stop a running container
restart <container>	Restart a container
open <container>	Open BC Web Client in browser
apps <container>	List apps (optional --publisher)
install <container> <appFile>	Install a .app file
uninstall <container> <app> <publisher>	Uninstall an app
publish <container> <folder>	Compile and publish an AL project
test [container]	Run AL tests (optional --codeunit, --function, --app)
toolkit <container>	Import test toolkit (--full for all)
license <container> <file>	Import a license file

MCP tools

The same 15 operations exposed as MCP tools for AI assistants:

list-containers container-info create-container remove-container start-container stop-container restart-container open-webclient list-apps install-app uninstall-app publish-project run-tests import-test-toolkit import-license

Naming

Term	What it is
bcdocker	This npm package and GitHub repo.
bcd	The CLI command after global install (npm i -g bcdocker).
bcdocker-toolkit	The PowerShell + Windows UI repo (module BCDocker). Different repo.

Related

• bcdocker-toolkit -- PowerShell module and Windows UI for Business Central Docker containers

Migrating from 1.x to 2.0

Breaking changes in 2.0:

• MCP server invocation: add "mcp" arg to your MCP client config. The previous config "args": ["-y", "bcdocker"] ran the CLI (which showed help instead of starting the MCP server). New: "args": ["-y", "bcdocker", "mcp"].
• bcd create flags: the --version flag (which actually meant "artifact type") is replaced by --type sandbox|onprem and -v, --bc-version <version>. Previously bcd create --version sandbox → now bcd create --type sandbox. A specific BC version like 28.0 now works: bcd create --bc-version 28.0.
• MCP create-container schema: the version field is split into type (enum: sandbox, onprem) and bcVersion (string, e.g. "28.0" or empty for latest).
• MCP tool responses: handlers now surface stderr and non-zero exit codes as Failed:\n... text instead of returning the confident fallback message. AI clients will get actionable failure details instead of spurious "complete" messages.

License

MIT