Set up your testing environment

Prerequisites for MCP testing with Docker and Python

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed on your machine:

• Python 3.11 or later with the ability to create Python virtual environments
• Docker Engine or Docker Desktop
• Git

If you’re on Linux, you need the Python virtual environment package.

For Debian or Ubuntu, run:

    

        
        
sudo apt install -y python3-venv

    

You can verify Docker is running by executing:

    

        
        
docker info

    

The output shows your Docker configuration. If Docker isn’t running, start the Docker daemon before proceeding.

Clone the Arm MCP repository

First, clone the Arm MCP server repository which contains the test framework:

    

        
        
git clone https://github.com/arm/mcp.git
cd mcp

    

Build the MCP server Docker image

The integration tests require a locally built Docker image of the MCP server. Build it from the repository root:

    

        
        
docker buildx build -f mcp-local/Dockerfile -t arm-mcp .

    

This command creates a Docker image tagged as arm-mcp:latest. The build process takes several minutes as it generates the vector database for the knowledge base.

To verify the image was created successfully:

    

        
        
docker images arm-mcp

    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        REPOSITORY   TAG       IMAGE ID       CREATED         SIZE
arm-mcp      latest    a1b2c3d4e5f6   2 minutes ago   1.2GB

        
    

Create a Python virtual environment

Create an isolated Python environment for your test dependencies:

    

        
        
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

    

On Windows, activate the environment using:

    

        
        
venv\Scripts\activate

    

Install test dependencies

The test framework requires Pytest and Testcontainers. Install them using the provided requirements file:

    

        
        
pip install -r mcp-local/tests/requirements.txt

    

The requirements file includes:

    

        
        
testcontainers
pytest

    

Verify your setup

Run a quick verification to ensure everything is configured correctly:

    

        
        
python -c "from testcontainers.core.container import DockerContainer; print('Testcontainers ready')"

    

The output confirms Testcontainers can interact with Docker:

    

        
        Testcontainers ready

        
    

Understanding the MCP test directory structure

The test files are located in mcp-local/tests/:

    

        
        
mcp-local/tests/
├── constants.py      # Test data and expected responses
├── requirements.txt  # Python dependencies
├── sum_test.s        # Sample Arm assembly file for MCA tests
└── test_mcp.py       # Main test file

    

• constants.py: Contains MCP request payloads and expected responses for each tool being tested
• test_mcp.py: The main test file that uses Testcontainers to spin up the MCP server and run assertions
• sum_test.s: A sample Arm assembly file used to test the LLVM-MCA analysis tool

What you’ve learned and what’s next

In this section:

• You cloned the Arm MCP repository and built the server Docker image
• You set up a Python virtual environment with Pytest and Testcontainers
• You explored the test directory structure

In the next section, you’ll run basic Testcontainers examples to understand how containers are managed programmatically.