How to integrate Docker hub MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK

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Introduction

This guide walks you through connecting Docker hub to the OpenAI Agents SDK using the Composio tool router. By the end, you'll have a working Docker hub agent that can create a new docker hub repository, add a member to my docker organization, delete an old image from a repository, set up a webhook for repository updates through natural language commands.

This guide will help you understand how to give your OpenAI Agents SDK agent real control over a Docker hub account through Composio's Docker hub MCP server.

Before we dive in, let's take a quick look at the key ideas and tools involved.

TL;DR

Here's what you'll learn:
  • Get and set up your OpenAI and Composio API keys
  • Install the necessary dependencies
  • Initialize Composio and create a Tool Router session for Docker hub
  • Configure an AI agent that can use Docker hub as a tool
  • Run a live chat session where you can ask the agent to perform Docker hub operations

What is open-ai-agents-sdk?

The OpenAI Agents SDK is a lightweight framework for building AI agents that can use tools and maintain conversation state. It provides a simple interface for creating agents with hosted MCP tool support.

Key features include:

  • Hosted MCP Tools: Connect to external services through hosted MCP endpoints
  • SQLite Sessions: Persist conversation history across interactions
  • Simple API: Clean interface with Agent, Runner, and tool configuration
  • Streaming Support: Real-time response streaming for interactive applications

What is the Docker hub MCP server, and what's possible with it?

The Docker hub MCP server is an implementation of the Model Context Protocol that connects your AI agent and assistants like Claude, Cursor, etc directly to your Docker Hub account. It provides structured and secure access to your container repositories and organizations, so your agent can perform actions like creating repositories, managing organization members, deleting images, setting up webhooks, and cleaning up tags on your behalf.

  • Repository and image management: Let your agent create new Docker Hub repositories, delete existing ones, and remove specific images or tags as needed.
  • Organization and team automation: Easily add members to organizations, create new Docker Hub organizations, or delete organizations and teams directly from your workflows.
  • Webhook configuration: Set up or remove repository webhooks to automate external integrations and keep your CI/CD pipelines in sync.
  • Tag and resource cleanup: Direct your agent to delete outdated tags or unused resources, helping you maintain a tidy container registry.
  • Secure role management: Invite users with specific roles to your organizations, ensuring the right access for collaborators and teams.

Supported Tools & Triggers

Tools
Add Organization MemberTool to send an invitation for a user to join a Docker Hub organization.
Create Docker Hub OrganizationTool to create a Docker Hub organization.
Create Docker Hub RepositoryTool to create a Docker Hub repository under a namespace.
Create Docker Hub WebhookTool to create a webhook on a Docker Hub repository.
Delete Repository ImageTool to delete a specific image within a Docker Hub repository.
Delete Docker Hub OrganizationTool to delete a specific Docker Hub organization.
Delete Docker Hub RepositoryTool to delete a specific Docker Hub repository.
Delete Repository TagTool to delete a specific tag from a Docker Hub repository.
Delete Docker Hub TeamTool to delete a specific team from an organization.
Delete Docker Hub repository webhookTool to delete a specific webhook from a repository.
Get Docker Hub ImageTool to retrieve detailed information about a specific image within a Docker Hub repository.
Get Organization DetailsTool to retrieve details of a specific organization namespace.
Get Docker Hub RepositoryTool to retrieve details of a specific Docker Hub repository.
Get Docker Hub TagTool to retrieve details of a specific Docker Hub repository tag.
Get Docker Hub TeamTool to retrieve a specific Docker Hub team.
Get Docker Hub WebhookTool to retrieve details of a specific Docker Hub webhook.
List Repository ImagesTool to list image variants for a specific Docker Hub repository.
List Docker Hub OrganizationsTool to list organizations (namespaces) for the authenticated user.
List Docker Hub Organization MembersTool to list members of a Docker Hub organization.
List Docker Hub RepositoriesTool to list repositories under a namespace.
List Repository TagsTool to list tags for a Docker Hub repository.
List Team MembersTool to list members of a Docker Hub team.
List Organization TeamsTool to list teams in a specific organization.
List Docker Hub repository webhooksTool to list webhooks for a Docker Hub repository.
Remove Organization MemberTool to remove a user from a Docker Hub organization.
Remove Team MemberTool to remove a user from a Docker Hub team.

What is the Composio tool router, and how does it fit here?

What is Tool Router?

Composio's Tool Router helps agents find the right tools for a task at runtime. You can plug in multiple toolkits (like Gmail, HubSpot, and GitHub), and the agent will identify the relevant app and action to complete multi-step workflows. This can reduce token usage and improve the reliability of tool calls. Read more here: Getting started with Tool Router

The tool router generates a secure MCP URL that your agents can access to perform actions.

How the Tool Router works

The Tool Router follows a three-phase workflow:

  1. Discovery: Searches for tools matching your task and returns relevant toolkits with their details.
  2. Authentication: Checks for active connections. If missing, creates an auth config and returns a connection URL via Auth Link.
  3. Execution: Executes the action using the authenticated connection.

Step-by-step Guide

Prerequisites

Before starting, make sure you have:
  • Composio API Key and OpenAI API Key
  • Primary know-how of OpenAI Agents SDK
  • A live Docker hub project
  • Some knowledge of Python or Typescript

Getting API Keys for OpenAI and Composio

OpenAI API Key
  • Go to the OpenAI dashboard and create an API key. You'll need credits to use the models, or you can connect to another model provider.
  • Keep the API key safe.
Composio API Key

Install dependencies

pip install composio_openai_agents openai-agents python-dotenv

Install the Composio SDK and the OpenAI Agents SDK.

Set up environment variables

bash
OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your-api-key
COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your-api-key
USER_ID=composio_user@gmail.com

Create a .env file and add your OpenAI and Composio API keys.

Import dependencies

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession
What's happening:
  • You're importing all necessary libraries.
  • The Composio and OpenAIAgentsProvider classes are imported to connect your OpenAI agent to Composio tools like Docker hub.

Set up the Composio instance

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())
What's happening:
  • load_dotenv() loads your .env file so OPENAI_API_KEY and COMPOSIO_API_KEY are available as environment variables.
  • Creating a Composio instance using the API Key and OpenAIAgentsProvider class.

Create a Tool Router session

# Create a Docker hub Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["docker_hub"]
)

mcp_url = session.mcp.url

What is happening:

  • You give the Tool Router the user id and the toolkits you want available. Here, it is only docker_hub.
  • The router checks the user's Docker hub connection and prepares the MCP endpoint.
  • The returned session.mcp.url is the MCP URL that your agent will use to access Docker hub.
  • This approach keeps things lightweight and lets the agent request Docker hub tools only when needed during the conversation.

Configure the agent

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access Docker hub. "
        "Help users perform Docker hub operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)
What's happening:
  • We're creating an Agent instance with a name, model (gpt-5), and clear instructions about its purpose.
  • The agent's instructions tell it that it can access Docker hub and help with queries, inserts, updates, authentication, and fetching database information.
  • The tools array includes a HostedMCPTool that connects to the MCP server URL we created earlier.
  • The headers dict includes the Composio API key for secure authentication with the MCP server.
  • require_approval: 'never' means the agent can execute Docker hub operations without asking for permission each time, making interactions smoother.

Start chat loop and handle conversation

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())
What's happening:
  • The program prints a session URL that you visit to authorize Docker hub.
  • After authorization, the chat begins.
  • Each message you type is processed by the agent using Runner.run().
  • The responses are printed to the console, and conversations are saved locally using SQLite.
  • Typing exit, quit, or q cleanly ends the chat.

Complete Code

Here's the complete code to get you started with Docker hub and open-ai-agents-sdk:

import asyncio
import os
from dotenv import load_dotenv

from composio import Composio
from composio_openai_agents import OpenAIAgentsProvider
from agents import Agent, Runner, HostedMCPTool, SQLiteSession

load_dotenv()

api_key = os.getenv("COMPOSIO_API_KEY")
user_id = os.getenv("USER_ID")

if not api_key:
    raise RuntimeError("COMPOSIO_API_KEY is not set. Create a .env file with COMPOSIO_API_KEY=your_key")

# Initialize Composio
composio = Composio(api_key=api_key, provider=OpenAIAgentsProvider())

# Create Tool Router session
session = composio.create(
    user_id=user_id,
    toolkits=["docker_hub"]
)
mcp_url = session.mcp.url

# Configure agent with MCP tool
agent = Agent(
    name="Assistant",
    model="gpt-5",
    instructions=(
        "You are a helpful assistant that can access Docker hub. "
        "Help users perform Docker hub operations through natural language."
    ),
    tools=[
        HostedMCPTool(
            tool_config={
                "type": "mcp",
                "server_label": "tool_router",
                "server_url": mcp_url,
                "headers": {"x-api-key": api_key},
                "require_approval": "never",
            }
        )
    ],
)

print("\nComposio Tool Router session created.")

chat_session = SQLiteSession("conversation_openai_toolrouter")

print("\nChat started. Type your requests below.")
print("Commands: 'exit', 'quit', or 'q' to end\n")

async def main():
    try:
        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            "What can you help me with?",
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error: {e}\n")

    while True:
        user_input = input("You: ").strip()
        if user_input.lower() in {"exit", "quit", "q"}:
            print("Goodbye!")
            break

        result = await Runner.run(
            agent,
            user_input,
            session=chat_session
        )
        print(f"Assistant: {result.final_output}\n")

asyncio.run(main())

Conclusion

This was a starter code for integrating Docker hub MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK to build a functional AI agent that can interact with Docker hub.

Key features:

  • Hosted MCP tool integration through Composio's Tool Router
  • SQLite session persistence for conversation history
  • Simple async chat loop for interactive testing
You can extend this by adding more toolkits, implementing custom business logic, or building a web interface around the agent.

How to build Docker hub MCP Agent with another framework

FAQ

What are the differences in Tool Router MCP and Docker hub MCP?

With a standalone Docker hub MCP server, the agents and LLMs can only access a fixed set of Docker hub tools tied to that server. However, with the Composio Tool Router, agents can dynamically load tools from Docker hub and many other apps based on the task at hand, all through a single MCP endpoint.

Can I use Tool Router MCP with OpenAI Agents SDK?

Yes, you can. OpenAI Agents SDK fully supports MCP integration. You get structured tool calling, message history handling, and model orchestration while Tool Router takes care of discovering and serving the right Docker hub tools.

Can I manage the permissions and scopes for Docker hub while using Tool Router?

Yes, absolutely. You can configure which Docker hub scopes and actions are allowed when connecting your account to Composio. You can also bring your own OAuth credentials or API configuration so you keep full control over what the agent can do.

How safe is my data with Composio Tool Router?

All sensitive data such as tokens, keys, and configuration is fully encrypted at rest and in transit. Composio is SOC 2 Type 2 compliant and follows strict security practices so your Docker hub data and credentials are handled as safely as possible.

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Letta
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Altera
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Entelligence
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