MCP Self-hosted documentation

What does the MCP Self-hosted documentation cover?

The MCP Self-hosted documentation describes MCP Self-hosted from the first download to daily administration. It has three sections:

• Getting started: what MCP is, how the MCP Self-hosted license and the tool add-ons fit together, the Docker install and connecting Claude.
• Setup guides: one guide per tool add-on (Missive, WooCommerce, Database, Brain, WordPress, Lightspeed eCom and Plesk), plus authentication and seats.
• Administration: license management, entitlements versus tool modes, the grace period, renewals, diagnostics, the download and the error codes.

Each guide lists the environment variables it needs, the tools it exposes and what read-only and Can make changes mean for that tool.

In which order should you read the MCP Self-hosted documentation?

For a first install, read in this order:

1. What is MCP: the protocol, the server and the client in one page.
2. Install MCP Self-hosted: download the zip from My Account, fill in .env and run ./mcp-update.sh.
3. Connect Claude to an MCP server: add the server to Claude Desktop or Claude Code with a seat token.
4. The guide for each tool you bought, from the setup guides.
5. MCP seats, once more people or devices need access.

The Administration section is reference material. You open it when a license, a renewal or an error needs attention, not on day one.

What do you need before you start?

You need a machine with Docker and Docker Compose; Node.js runs inside the image, so you do not install it yourself. You also need an MCP client: Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or any MCP client that supports Streamable HTTP or SSE. For each tool, have the login details ready that its guide asks for, such as a Missive API token, WooCommerce REST API keys, a WordPress application password or a database user.

Every download contains docker-compose.yml, a pre-filled .env, .env.registry and mcp-update.sh. It also holds a Claude Code plugin bundle in claude-plugin/ with INSTALL-CLAUDE-PLUGIN.md.

Where do you start for common goals?

Most questions after the install fall into a few groups:

• You want to update. Run ./mcp-update.sh again. The version comes from MCP_VERSION in .env.
• A colleague needs access. Give them their own seat, with its own token, its own set of tools and its own setting per tool: read-only or Can make changes.
• AddoCore was unreachable. A 96-hour grace period keeps every tool running. The grace period doc explains what happens after that.
• A tool does not show up in Claude. Check its entitlement first. A tool without an entitlement is not exposed at all; entitlements vs. tool modes explains the difference.
• You bought an add-on later. No reinstall and no new download. Add the environment variables from the e-mail you received and refresh the license, or wait for the next periodic check:

docker exec mcp-core npm run refresh-license

How does the MCP Self-hosted documentation relate to the products?

The docs describe what the products do once you have them. An MCP Self-hosted license costs € 217,80 excl. VAT: € 180,00 per year and includes 3 seats and 1 activation, where an activation is one running mcp-core container. Extra seats cost € 18,15 excl. VAT: € 15,00 per year each. Tool add-ons start from € 72,60 excl. VAT: € 60,00 per year and are added to the same license; on start and periodically, MCP Self-hosted checks that license with AddoCore and loads only the tools it is entitled to.

Prefer not to run Docker yourself? The MCP Hosted seat is the hosted alternative: AddoCore runs the server for you. Most of the MCP Self-hosted documentation still applies to the tools and seats; the install and update steps do not. The product page for the self-hosted server is MCP Self-hosted.

What is safe by default?

Every tool starts read-only, with one exception: Brain, the markdown knowledge base, can make changes from the start. You choose read-only or Can make changes per tool when you add a seat in My Account → MCP Self-hosted; see entitlements vs tool modes. The Database add-on rejects write statements in read-only mode; for real enforcement, give it a database user with only SELECT rights.

How do you find the right page in the MCP Self-hosted documentation?

Use the sidebar tree on this page or the Docs menu button on smaller screens. Every doc starts with the short answer, puts commands and variables in code blocks and quotes messages exactly, so you can search a page for the error you see. Keep the MCP Self-hosted documentation open next to your terminal during the first install, and follow Getting started from top to bottom.