Use ko in favour of docker build

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -54,6 +54,9 @@ jobs:
         go-version-file: 'go.mod'
         cache: true
 
+    - name: Set up ko
+      uses: ko-build/setup-ko@v0.9
+
     - name: Run all tests
       run: make test-all
 

.github/workflows/deploy-staging.yml

@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ env:
   PULUMI_VERSION: "3.188.0"
 
 jobs:
-  docker-push:
-    name: Build Docker Image
+  ko-push:
+    name: Build and Push Image with ko
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     permissions:
       contents: read
@@ -24,8 +24,14 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout repository
         uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8
 
-      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@e468171a9de216ec08956ac3ada2f0791b6bd435
+      - name: Set up Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@44694675825211faa026b3c33043df3e48a5fa00
+        with:
+          go-version-file: 'go.mod'
+          cache: true
+
+      - name: Set up ko
+        uses: ko-build/setup-ko@v0.9
 
       - name: Log in to Container Registry
         uses: docker/login-action@5e57cd118135c172c3672efd75eb46360885c0ef
@@ -34,40 +40,31 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ github.actor }}
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Get build timestamp
-        id: build-time
-        run: echo "timestamp=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - name: Extract metadata
-        id: meta
-        uses: docker/metadata-action@c1e51972afc2121e065aed6d45c65596fe445f3f
-        with:
-          images: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}
-          tags: |
-            type=sha,prefix=main-{{date 'YYYYMMDD'}}-,enable={{is_default_branch}}
-            type=raw,value=main,enable={{is_default_branch}}
+      - name: Get build timestamp and tags
+        id: build-info
+        run: |
+          echo "timestamp=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "date=$(date -u +%Y%m%d)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          echo "short_sha=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-      - name: Build and push Docker image
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@263435318d21b8e681c14492fe198d362a7d2c83
-        with:
-          context: .
-          file: ./Dockerfile
-          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
-          push: true
-          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
-          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
-          cache-from: type=gha
-          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
-          build-args: |
-            VERSION=${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
-            GIT_COMMIT=${{ github.sha }}
-            BUILD_TIME=${{ steps.build-time.outputs.timestamp }}
+      - name: Build and push with ko
+        env:
+          KO_DOCKER_REPO: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}
+          VERSION: main-${{ steps.build-info.outputs.date }}-${{ steps.build-info.outputs.short_sha }}
+          GIT_COMMIT: ${{ github.sha }}
+          BUILD_TIME: ${{ steps.build-info.outputs.timestamp }}
+        run: |
+          # Build and push multi-platform image
+          ko build ./cmd/registry \
+            --bare \
+            --platform=linux/amd64,linux/arm64 \
+            --tags=main-${{ steps.build-info.outputs.date }}-${{ steps.build-info.outputs.short_sha }},main
 
   deploy-staging:
     name: Deploy to Staging
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     environment: staging
-    needs: docker-push
+    needs: ko-push
     concurrency:
       group: deploy-staging
       cancel-in-progress: false

.github/workflows/release.yml

@@ -41,15 +41,22 @@ jobs:
         env:
           GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-  docker:
+  ko-push:
+    name: Build and Push Image with ko
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: goreleaser
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@08c6903cd8c0fde910a37f88322edcfb5dd907a8
 
-      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@e468171a9de216ec08956ac3ada2f0791b6bd435
+      - name: Set up Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@44694675825211faa026b3c33043df3e48a5fa00
+        with:
+          go-version-file: 'go.mod'
+          cache: true
+
+      - name: Set up ko
+        uses: ko-build/setup-ko@v0.9
 
       - name: Log in to Container Registry
         uses: docker/login-action@5e57cd118135c172c3672efd75eb46360885c0ef
@@ -58,31 +65,23 @@ jobs:
           username: ${{ github.actor }}
           password: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
 
-      - name: Get build timestamp
-        id: build-time
-        run: echo "timestamp=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-
-      - name: Extract metadata
-        id: meta
-        uses: docker/metadata-action@c1e51972afc2121e065aed6d45c65596fe445f3f
-        with:
-          images: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}
-          tags: |
-            type=semver,pattern={{version}}
-            type=raw,value=latest
+      - name: Get build timestamp and version
+        id: build-info
+        run: |
+          echo "timestamp=$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          # Extract version from tag (e.g., refs/tags/v1.2.3 -> v1.2.3)
+          VERSION="${GITHUB_REF#refs/tags/}"
+          echo "version=$VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
 
-      - name: Build and push Docker image
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@263435318d21b8e681c14492fe198d362a7d2c83
-        with:
-          context: .
-          file: ./Dockerfile
-          platforms: linux/amd64,linux/arm64
-          push: true
-          tags: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.tags }}
-          labels: ${{ steps.meta.outputs.labels }}
-          cache-from: type=gha
-          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
-          build-args: |
-            VERSION=${{ steps.meta.outputs.version }}
-            GIT_COMMIT=${{ github.sha }}
-            BUILD_TIME=${{ steps.build-time.outputs.timestamp }}
+      - name: Build and push with ko
+        env:
+          KO_DOCKER_REPO: ghcr.io/${{ github.repository }}
+          VERSION: ${{ steps.build-info.outputs.version }}
+          GIT_COMMIT: ${{ github.sha }}
+          BUILD_TIME: ${{ steps.build-info.outputs.timestamp }}
+        run: |
+          # Build and push multi-platform image with version tag and latest
+          ko build ./cmd/registry \
+            --bare \
+            --platform=linux/amd64,linux/arm64 \
+            --tags=${{ steps.build-info.outputs.version }},latest

.ko.dockerignore

@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+# Build artifacts
+bin/
+*.exe
+*.dll
+*.so
+*.dylib
+
+# Test and coverage files
+coverage.out
+coverage.html
+*.test
+
+# Database files
+*.db
+.db/
+
+# Deployment files
+deploy/
+
+# Documentation
+docs/
+
+# Tests
+tests/
+
+# Git
+.git/
+.gitignore
+
+# GitHub Actions
+.github/
+
+# Docker files (no longer used)
+Dockerfile
+.dockerignore
+docker-compose.yml
+
+# IDE and editor files
+.vscode/
+.idea/
+*.swp
+*.swo
+*~
+
+# Temporary files
+tmp/
+temp/
+*.tmp
+
+# OS files
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db

.ko.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+# ko configuration for MCP Registry
+# Documentation: https://ko.build/configuration/
+
+# Default base image for all builds
+# Using Chainguard's static image for minimal, secure containers (~2MB)
+defaultBaseImage: cgr.dev/chainguard/static:latest
+
+# Default platforms for multi-architecture builds
+defaultPlatforms:
+  - linux/amd64
+  - linux/arm64
+
+# Build configuration
+builds:
+  - id: registry
+    # Main package to build
+    main: ./cmd/registry
+    # Inject version information at build time via ldflags
+    ldflags:
+      - -s -w
+      - -X main.Version={{ .Env.VERSION }}
+      - -X main.GitCommit={{ .Env.GIT_COMMIT }}
+      - -X main.BuildTime={{ .Env.BUILD_TIME }}
+    env:
+      - CGO_ENABLED=0
+
+# SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) configuration
+sbom: spdx
+
+# Base import path handling
+# Set to false to preserve full import paths in image names
+baseImportPaths: false

Makefile

@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-.PHONY: help build test test-unit test-integration test-endpoints test-publish test-all lint lint-fix validate validate-schemas validate-examples check dev-compose clean publisher generate-schema check-schema
+.PHONY: help build test test-unit test-integration test-endpoints test-publish test-all lint lint-fix validate validate-schemas validate-examples check ko-build ko-rebuild dev-compose dev-down clean publisher generate-schema check-schema
 
 # Default target
 help: ## Show this help message
@@ -83,11 +83,23 @@ check: dev-down lint validate test-all ## Run all checks (lint, validate, unit t
 	@echo "All checks passed!"
 
 # Development targets
-dev-compose: ## Start development environment with Docker Compose (builds image automatically)
+ko-build: ## Build registry image using ko (loads into local docker daemon)
+	@echo "Building registry with ko..."
+	VERSION=dev-$$(git rev-parse --short HEAD) \
 	GIT_COMMIT=$$(git rev-parse HEAD) \
-	GIT_COMMIT_SHORT=$$(git rev-parse --short HEAD) \
 	BUILD_TIME=$$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ) \
-	docker compose up --build
+	KO_DOCKER_REPO=ko.local \
+	ko build --preserve-import-paths --tags=dev --sbom=none ./cmd/registry
+	@echo "Image built: ko.local/github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry/cmd/registry:dev"
+
+ko-rebuild: ## Rebuild with ko and restart registry container
+	@$(MAKE) ko-build
+	@echo "Restarting registry container..."
+	@docker compose restart registry
+
+dev-compose: ko-build ## Start development environment with Docker Compose (builds with ko first)
+	@echo "Starting Docker Compose..."
+	docker compose up
 
 dev-down: ## Stop development environment
 	docker compose down

README.md

@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@ Often (but not always) ideas flow through this pipeline:
 #### Pre-requisites
 
 - **Docker**
-- **Go 1.24.x** 
+- **Go 1.24.x**
+- **ko** - Container image builder for Go ([installation instructions](https://ko.build/install/))
 - **golangci-lint v2.4.0**
 
 #### Running the server
@@ -44,6 +45,8 @@ make dev-compose
 
 This starts the registry at [`localhost:8080`](http://localhost:8080) with PostgreSQL. The database uses ephemeral storage and is reset each time you restart the containers, ensuring a clean state for development and testing.
 
+**Note:** The registry uses [ko](https://ko.build) to build container images. The `make dev-compose` command automatically builds the registry image with ko and loads it into your local Docker daemon before starting the services.
+
 By default, the registry seeds from the production API with a filtered subset of servers (to keep startup fast). This ensures your local environment mirrors production behavior and all seed data passes validation. For offline development you can seed from a file without validation with `MCP_REGISTRY_SEED_FROM=data/seed.json MCP_REGISTRY_ENABLE_REGISTRY_VALIDATION=false make dev-compose`.
 
 The setup can be configured with environment variables in [docker-compose.yml](./docker-compose.yml) - see [.env.example](./.env.example) for a reference.

docker-compose.yml

@@ -1,14 +1,9 @@
 services:
   registry:
-    image: modelcontextprotocol/registry:dev
-    pull_policy: never
+    # Built using ko (see Makefile dev-compose target)
+    # Image format: ko.local/<import-path>:<tag>
+    image: ko.local/github.com/modelcontextprotocol/registry/cmd/registry:dev
     container_name: registry
-    build:
-      dockerfile: Dockerfile
-      args:
-        - VERSION=dev-${GIT_COMMIT_SHORT:-unknown}
-        - GIT_COMMIT=${GIT_COMMIT:-unknown}
-        - BUILD_TIME=${BUILD_TIME:-unknown}
     depends_on:
       postgres:
         condition: service_healthy
@@ -30,6 +25,8 @@ services:
       - MCP_REGISTRY_ENABLE_REGISTRY_VALIDATION=${MCP_REGISTRY_ENABLE_REGISTRY_VALIDATION:-true}
     ports:
       - 8080:8080
+    volumes:
+      - ./data:/data:ro
     restart: "unless-stopped"
 
   postgres: