The latest articles on DEV Community by Usman Ahmad (@usmangt). https://dev.to/usmangt https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F903359%2F5ac1d883-ad72-477c-a746-706bc0d18436.jpeg https://dev.to/usmangt en Usman Ahmad Thu, 21 Aug 2025 11:54:36 +0000 https://dev.to/usmangt/using-grafana-mcp-with-docker-1097 https://dev.to/usmangt/using-grafana-mcp-with-docker-1097 <p>Hi all,</p> <p>This is my very first post so allow me to introduce myself 🙂</p> <p>My name is <strong>Usman</strong> and I work as a <strong>Staff Developer Advocate at Grafana Labs</strong>. I have been using Grafana for a quite while now and also an active member of the Open Source Community.</p> <p>I am with the Tech Industry for 15+ years and in my free time I create Tutorials for Linux and Grafana as a hobby to help users in learning tools that can help in their career growth.</p> <h2> What is MCP❓ </h2> <p>MCP stands for Model Content Protocol which was introduce by Anthropic in late 2024. </p> <p>In very short it is a Open Protocol that allows you to connect your devices/services to an AI Agent.</p> <h2> How it works❓ </h2> <p>For anyone who is still new to the MCP, can be explained in these 3 steps:</p> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fy6oaqyhork2v3jelu7xp.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fy6oaqyhork2v3jelu7xp.png" alt="How MCP Server works" width="800" height="136"></a></p> <h2> Advantages of using MCP </h2> <p><a href="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F382idpaeo5g7g57kz5dw.png" class="article-body-image-wrapper"><img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F382idpaeo5g7g57kz5dw.png" alt="Advantages of using MCP Server" width="763" height="623"></a> </p> <h2> Introduction to the Grafana MCP Server </h2> <p>Recently Grafana Labs has released their own MCP Server which Open Source and can be used easily to visualize your data and dashobards with the help of AI very easily. You can deploy the Grafana MCP Server if you are using any of the following:</p> <ul> <li>Windows</li> <li>Mac OS</li> <li>Linux</li> </ul> <p>The Grafana MCP Server is compatible with the following:</p> <ul> <li>Cursor</li> <li>Claude</li> <li>Zed</li> </ul> <p>All you need is to run it via Docker which is makes the job easier without going through a lot of learning curve.</p> <h2> Step by Step Tutorial </h2> <p>Here is a complete tutorial on how to setup the Grafana MCP Server with Docker:</p> <p><iframe width="710" height="399" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UNyYgCNpx4A"> </iframe> </p> <p>Also here is the link to the additional resources:</p> <div class="ltag__link"> <a href="https://medium.com/@syed_usman_ahmed/setup-the-grafana-mcp-server-on-docker-1d77e22ecf9a" class="ltag__link__link" rel="noopener noreferrer"> <div class="ltag__link__pic"> <img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fmiro.medium.com%2Fv2%2Fresize%3Afill%3A64%3A64%2F1%2AldVpc0dPVlRLR1vafWGliQ.jpeg" alt="Syed Usman Ahmad"> </div> </a> <a href="https://medium.com/@syed_usman_ahmed/setup-the-grafana-mcp-server-on-docker-1d77e22ecf9a" class="ltag__link__link" rel="noopener noreferrer"> <div class="ltag__link__content"> <h2>Setup the Grafana MCP Server on Docker | by Syed Usman Ahmad | Aug, 2025 | Medium</h2> <h3>Syed Usman Ahmad ・ <time>Aug 7, 2025</time> ・ <div class="ltag__link__servicename"> <img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fassets.dev.to%2Fassets%2Fmedium-f709f79cf29704f9f4c2a83f950b2964e95007a3e311b77f686915c71574fef2.svg" alt="Medium Logo"> Medium </div> </h3> </div> </a> </div> <h2> Connect with me </h2> <p>🔔 <strong><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/usmanlinux/" rel="noopener noreferrer">LinkedIn</a></strong> — Join with me !!<br> 📺 <strong><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@freelinuxtutorials" rel="noopener noreferrer">My YouTube Channel</a></strong> — Learn FREE Tutorials<br> ✖️ <strong><a href="https://x.com/usahmad87" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter</a></strong> — Follow me to get updates.<br> ☁️ <strong><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/freelinuxtutorials.bsky.social" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bluesky</a></strong> — Follow me for socials<br> 📸 <strong><a href="https://www.instagram.com/freelinuxtutorials/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Instagram</a></strong> — Follow my feeds<br> 👤 <strong><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@usmanlinux" rel="noopener noreferrer">TikTok</a></strong> — Watch my new videos and content</p> <h2> Support me by Saying Thank you </h2> <p>Thank you very much for reading this article. Please provide your feedback in the comments and appreciate the clap</p> <p>It takes a good time and resources to create content and publish it and I try to do it in my free time whenever possible ✍️. I will appreciate your small contribution as it can go a longer way 🙏.</p> <p><a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/usman.ahmad" rel="noopener noreferrer"><br> <img src="https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=800%2Cheight=%2Cfit=scale-down%2Cgravity=auto%2Cformat=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2F0d81mwgjgeb7is9zytli.png" width="429" height="116"><br> </a></p> ai mcp docker tutorial