ghost-mcp/README-DOCKER.md

Ghost MCP - Docker Development Setup

This guide helps you set up a Ghost instance for Ghost MCP development and API investigation.

Quick Start

1. Copy environment file:

   cp .env.example .env
   

2. Start Ghost and MySQL:

   docker compose up -d
   

3. Access Ghost:

   • Ghost Admin: http://localhost:2368/ghost
   • Ghost Site: http://localhost:2368
   • phpMyAdmin (optional): http://localhost:8080

Services

Ghost (Main Service)

• Image: ghost:5-alpine
• Port: 2368
• URL: http://localhost:2368
• Admin: http://localhost:2368/ghost

MySQL Database

• Image: mysql:8.0
• Database: ghost_dev (configurable via .env)
• User: ghost (configurable via .env)

phpMyAdmin (Optional Debug Tool)

• Image: phpmyadmin/phpmyadmin:latest
• Port: 8080
• Access: http://localhost:8080

To start with phpMyAdmin for database debugging:

docker compose --profile debug up -d

Initial Setup

1. First-time Ghost Setup

1. Start the services: docker compose up -d
2. Wait for Ghost to initialize (check logs: docker compose logs ghost)
3. Visit http://localhost:2368/ghost
4. Create your admin account
5. Complete the Ghost setup wizard

2. Obtain API Keys

1. In Ghost Admin, go to Settings → Integrations
2. Click "Add custom integration"
3. Give it a name (e.g., "MCP Development")
4. Copy both API keys:
   • Content API Key: For read-only operations
   • Admin API Key: For read/write operations

3. Update Environment (Optional)

Add the API keys to your .env file:

GHOST_CONTENT_API_KEY=your_content_api_key_here
GHOST_ADMIN_API_KEY=your_admin_api_key_here

API Testing

Content API (Read-only)

Test the Content API with curl:

# Get all posts
curl "http://localhost:2368/ghost/api/content/posts/?key=YOUR_CONTENT_API_KEY"

# Get site settings
curl "http://localhost:2368/ghost/api/content/settings/?key=YOUR_CONTENT_API_KEY"

Admin API (Read/Write)

The Admin API requires JWT authentication. You'll need to generate a JWT token using your Admin API key.

Management Commands

Start services

docker compose up -d

Stop services

docker compose down

View logs

# All services
docker compose logs

# Ghost only
docker compose logs ghost

# Follow logs
docker compose logs -f ghost

Reset everything (⚠️ Destroys all data)

docker compose down -v
docker volume rm ghost_mcp_content ghost_mcp_mysql

Backup data

# Create backup of Ghost content
docker run --rm -v ghost_mcp_content:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/ghost-content-backup.tar.gz -C /data .

# Create backup of MySQL data
docker run --rm -v ghost_mcp_mysql:/data -v $(pwd):/backup alpine tar czf /backup/mysql-backup.tar.gz -C /data .

Troubleshooting

Ghost won't start

1. Check if MySQL is healthy: docker compose ps
2. Check Ghost logs: docker compose logs ghost
3. Verify environment variables in .env

Can't access Ghost admin

1. Ensure Ghost is running: docker compose ps
2. Check if port 2368 is available: netstat -an | grep 2368
3. Try accessing directly: http://localhost:2368/ghost

Database connection issues

1. Check MySQL health: docker compose logs ghost-db
2. Verify database credentials in .env
3. Ensure database has started before Ghost

API requests failing

1. Verify API keys are correct
2. Check Content API: should work with query parameter
3. Check Admin API: requires proper JWT token generation

Development Notes

• Ghost data persists in named Docker volumes
• Database is accessible via phpMyAdmin at localhost:8080
• All Ghost content (themes, images, etc.) is stored in the ghost_content volume
• MySQL data is stored in the ghost_mysql volume
• Environment variables are loaded from .env file

Next Steps

Once Ghost is running, you can:

1. Create test content (posts, pages, tags)
2. Test API endpoints
3. Begin MCP server development
4. Investigate Ghost API authentication flows

For MCP development, see the main project documentation.