What is Mcp Armor

mcp-armor is a secure, sandboxed environment designed for running ‘npx’ commands with caching capabilities, ensuring a safe execution of Node.js packages.

Use cases

Use cases for mcp-armor include running npm packages in isolated environments, executing commands in CI/CD pipelines, and ensuring safe execution of untrusted code in development and testing scenarios.

How to use

To use mcp-armor, install it globally via npm with ‘npm install -g mcp-armor’. You can then run commands using ‘mcp-armor-npx’ or its alias ‘npx-armor’ just like you would with ‘npx’.

Key features

Key features include running any ‘npx’ command in a sandboxed Docker environment, caching downloaded npm modules between runs, seamless integration as a drop-in replacement for ‘npx’, no configuration required, and a pre-built Docker image available on Docker Hub.

Where to use

mcp-armor is ideal for developers and teams who need a secure way to execute Node.js packages without risking their system’s integrity, particularly in environments where security is a priority.

mcp-armor

A secure, sandboxed environment for running npx commands with caching.

Features

• ✅ Runs any npx command in a sandboxed Docker environment
• ✅ Caches downloaded npm modules between runs
• ✅ Works seamlessly as a drop-in replacement for npx
• ✅ No configuration required
• ✅ Pre-built Docker image available on Docker Hub

Prerequisites

• Docker must be installed on your system
• Node.js and npm

Installation

npm install -g mcp-armor

After installation, you’ll have access to two CLI commands:

• mcp-armor-npx - The primary command
• npx-armor - An alias for the same functionality

Both commands function identically, choose whichever is easier to remember.

Usage

Use either mcp-armor-npx or npx-armor exactly as you would use npx:

# Run a package directly
mcp-armor-npx cowsay "Hello, secure world!"
# Or using the alias
npx-armor cowsay "Hello, secure world!"

# Run a specific version of a package
mcp-armor-npx [email protected] "Version specific"

# Run a package with arguments
mcp-armor-npx figlet "Big text"

Additional Commands

# Push the Docker image to Docker Hub (requires Docker Hub login)
mcp-armor-npx --push-image

How It Works

1. First run: Downloads the requested package inside Docker container
2. Second run: Uses cached version for instant execution
3. All execution happens in a sandboxed Docker environment
4. Your npm cache is preserved between runs

Docker Hub Image

The Docker image is available on Docker Hub at dheerajpai/mcp-armor-npx.

If you want to use the image directly:

docker run --rm -v ~/.npm:/home/runner/.npm dheerajpai/mcp-armor-npx [your-npx-args]

Security

All commands run inside an isolated Docker container with:

• A non-root user account
• Limited access to the host system
• Only npm cache is shared with the host

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

• Report bugs
• Suggest features
• Submit pull requests

Please visit our GitHub repository to contribute.

License

ISC

Author

Dheeraj Pai [email protected]