mcp-typescript-template vs docker-agent
Two of the top projects in Agent and MCP starters, side by side: who leads on each score part and who each one suits, then setup, license, activity and what each review found.
mcp-typescript-template
TypeScript starter for remote MCP servers over HTTP with Express and Effect
docker-agent
Docker CLI plugin that runs multi-agent teams defined in YAML
Verdict
mcp-typescript-template ranks higher, 63 to 60. Of the 5 score parts we measure for both, mcp-typescript-template leads on 3, docker-agent on 1 and 1 is even.
- Adoptiondocker-agent leads by 53 points, 53 to 0: a wide gap.
- FreshnessEven at 100.
- Maintenancemcp-typescript-template leads by 4 points, 97 to 93: close to even.
- Easy to runmcp-typescript-template leads by 33 points, 50 to 17: a wide gap.
- Agent-readymcp-typescript-template leads by 55 points, 85 to 30: a wide gap.
Pick mcp-typescript-template if you are
Developers starting a remote MCP server in TypeScript
- Example tools cover structured output, annotations and MCP elicitation with accept/decline/cancel handling
- Stateless per-request server following the MCP 2026-07-28 spec, with fallback for older clients
Pick docker-agent if you are
Developers building multi-agent setups from YAML with MCP tools
- Agents, tools and models declared in versionable YAML, no code required
- Works with local, remote or Docker-based MCP servers as toolsets
| What we compare | mcp-typescript-template | docker-agent |
|---|---|---|
| Score parts, out of 100 | ||
| Adoption | 0, niche | 53, popular |
| Freshness | 100, active | 100, active |
| Maintenance | 97, healthy | 93, healthy |
| Easy to run | 50, easy | 17, hard |
| Agent-ready | 85, ready | 30, minimal |
| Facts from GitHub and the README | ||
| Stars | 58 | 4.6k |
| License | MIT (permissive) | Apache-2.0 (permissive) |
| Last commit | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Last release | Oct 2026 | Oct 2026 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Docker | Yes | Yes |
| GPU | Not needed | Optional |
| arm64 or Apple Silicon | Not stated | Mentioned |
mcp-typescript-template
A degit-able template for building stateless, remote MCP servers on Node 24.11+ using the MCP TypeScript SDK, Express and Effect. It ships two example tools (echo and elicit_echo) with typed input and output schemas, plus an example Agent Skill published through the MCP Skills extension. Build, test, lint and format run through the Vite+ vp CLI.
Who it is for: Developers starting a remote MCP server in TypeScript
Strengths
- Example tools cover structured output, annotations and MCP elicitation with accept/decline/cancel handling
- Stateless per-request server following the MCP 2026-07-28 spec, with fallback for older clients
- Includes Dockerfile, compose file with health check, and in-memory client/server integration tests
- Bundles an example Agent Skill served via skills/list, skills/get and resources/read
Weaknesses
- Requires Node.js 24.11 or newer; Vite+ does not run on earlier Node 24 releases
- Tool code is written in Effect, which adds a learning curve for teams not using it
- HTTP transport only; the README mentions no stdio transport
- No auth or database included; only two toy example tools
- TypeScript
- Needs Node.js 24.11+, Express, Effect, @modelcontextprotocol/server, Vite+
- GitHub template
- Docker
docker-agent
docker-agent is a Go CLI plugin (`docker agent run agent.yaml`) that runs agents declared in YAML: model, instructions, and toolsets, including any MCP server. Agents can delegate to other agents, and configs can be pushed to and pulled from OCI registries. It supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, AWS Bedrock, Mistral, xAI and Docker Model Runner, plus built-in RAG with BM25, embeddings and reranking.
Who it is for: Developers building multi-agent setups from YAML with MCP tools
Strengths
- Agents, tools and models declared in versionable YAML, no code required
- Works with local, remote or Docker-based MCP servers as toolsets
- Agent configs can be shared through any OCI registry
- Many providers supported, plus local models via Docker Model Runner
Weaknesses
- Collects anonymous usage telemetry; opt-out details are only in the docs
- Needs a cloud provider API key or Docker Model Runner to do anything
- Configuration is YAML-centric; custom logic needs MCP tools rather than code hooks
- RAM and hardware requirements are not documented in the README
- Go, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, AWS Bedrock
- Needs Docker CLI (plugin), LLM provider API key or Docker Model Runner, MCP servers (optional), OCI registry (optional)
- Docker
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