Ask Gordon - Docker's CLI AI Assistant

Ask Gordon - Docker’s CLI AI Assistant

Ask Gordon is Docker’s AI-powered command-line assistant that integrates with MCP servers to provide enhanced capabilities. This guide explains how to use Ask Gordon with various MCP servers.

What is Ask Gordon?

Ask Gordon is an AI assistant built into the Docker CLI. It allows you to interact with Docker and perform various tasks using natural language through the docker ai command. When combined with MCP servers, Ask Gordon gains additional capabilities like time awareness, file access, web searches, and more.

Setting Up Ask Gordon with MCP Servers

Ask Gordon uses a file named gordon-mcp.yml in your working directory to discover and connect to MCP servers. This is a standard Docker Compose file that defines which MCP servers Ask Gordon should use in the current context.

Basic Configuration

Here’s a simple example of a gordon-mcp.yml file that adds time awareness to Ask Gordon:

services:
  time:
    image: mcp/time

With this configuration, you can ask Ask Gordon time-related questions:

$ docker ai 'what time is it now in Paris?'

    • Calling get_current_time

  The current time in Paris, France is 5:43 PM on March 17, 2025.

Multiple MCP Servers

You can include multiple MCP servers in your configuration to give Ask Gordon different capabilities:

services:
  time:
    image: mcp/time
  fetch:
    image: mcp/fetch
  fs:
    image: mcp/filesystem
    command:
      - /rootfs
    volumes:
      - .:/rootfs

With this configuration, Ask Gordon can tell you the time, fetch web content, and manipulate files in your current directory.

Example Use Cases

Web Content and File Management

Ask Gordon can fetch web content and save it to a file:

$ docker ai 'fetch the content from docker.com and save a summary to summary.txt'

    • Calling fetch ✔️
    • Calling write_file ✔️
  
  I've fetched the content from docker.com, created a summary, and saved it to summary.txt in your current directory.

Database Queries

With the PostgreSQL MCP server, Ask Gordon can interact with your databases:

services:
  postgres:
    image: mcp/postgres
    command: postgresql://username:password@hostname/database

$ docker ai 'what tables are in my database and how many users do I have?'

    • Calling get_schema ✔️
    • Calling query ✔️
  
  Your database has the following tables: users, products, orders, and categories.
  You currently have 1,245 users in your database.

GitHub Repository Analysis

Ask Gordon can help analyze and manage GitHub repositories:

services:
  github:
    image: mcp/github
    environment:
      - GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN=your_token_here

$ docker ai 'what are the recent PRs in my repository and summarize them'

    • Calling list_pull_requests ✔️
    • Calling get_pull_request (multiple calls) ✔️
  
  Here's a summary of your recent pull requests:
  1. PR #42: "Add new authentication feature" - Implements OAuth2 login process
  2. PR #41: "Fix navbar styling issues" - Resolves responsive design problems on mobile
  3. PR #40: "Update documentation" - Improves installation and configuration docs

Advanced Configuration

Resource Access Control

One of the benefits of using Docker containers for MCP servers is the ability to precisely control what resources Ask Gordon can access. For example, with the filesystem server, you can limit file access to specific directories:

services:
  fs:
    image: mcp/filesystem
    command:
      - /rootfs
    volumes:
      - ./public:/rootfs/public
      - ./docs:/rootfs/docs

This configuration only allows Ask Gordon to access files in the ./public and ./docs directories.

Environment Variables

Many MCP servers require API tokens or other configuration through environment variables:

services:
  slack:
    image: mcp/slack
    environment:
      - SLACK_API_TOKEN=xoxb-your-token-here

Known Working MCP Servers

The following MCP servers have been tested and confirmed to work with Ask Gordon:

  • mcp/time: Time and timezone operations
  • mcp/fetch: Web content retrieval
  • mcp/filesystem: File operations
  • mcp/postgres: PostgreSQL database access
  • mcp/git: Git repository management
  • mcp/sqlite: SQLite database operations
  • mcp/github: GitHub repository management

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

  1. MCP Server Not Found
    • Ensure your gordon-mcp.yml file is in the current directory
    • Check that the image name is correct
  2. Permission Issues
    • Make sure proper volume mounts and permissions are configured
  3. API Timeout
    • Some API-based MCP servers may have rate limits or require authentication

Viewing Logs

If you’re encountering issues, you can view the logs of the running MCP servers using Docker Compose:

docker compose -f gordon-mcp.yml logs

Or for a specific service:

docker compose -f gordon-mcp.yml logs fs

Additional Resources