Claude Cowork + xCloud

Run Docker apps with Claude Cowork on xCloud

Running Docker apps with Claude Cowork means handing Anthropic's desktop agent a whole Docker job on xCloud, such as checking the backups of every Docker app or scanning and deploying a Compose repository, and approving only the steps that change something.

Skill: xcloud:deploy
Toolsets: sites, servers
Free with every xCloud account

Set up Claude Cowork All Claude Cowork guides

YouAudit every Docker app on my account for backup schedules and give me one table.

sites_docker_backupSettingsread-only

sites_docker_backupsread-only

AgentFive Docker apps checked. Four have a schedule and a backup from this week. wiki.example.com has no schedule and its last backup is 41 days old.

YouBack up wiki.example.com now, then stop.

AgentThat is a change, and this connector is Read-only. Reconnect xcloud with Full access and I will take the backup. The app will stop briefly while it is captured.

Last updated: October 2026. Keep a human in the loop: xCloud stops and asks before anything that creates, deploys, updates, reboots, deletes or buys.

Setup

How Do You Set Up Claude Cowork to Run Docker apps on xCloud?

Connect Claude Cowork once; every job on this account uses the same connection. Then ask in plain words.

1
Add xCloud as a custom connector
In Cowork, open Customize, then Connectors, and choose Add custom connector. If you already added xCloud to your Claude account, look for it in that list first. Name it xcloud, use this URL and sign in when the xCloud approval page opens.
URL
```
https://app.xcloud.host/mcp
```
2
Check the connection
Start a task and ask this first. Claude Cowork calls xCloud and names your account and the teams you approved, so you know the connector works before you delegate real work.
Prompt
```
Who am I on xCloud?
```
3
Match the access level to the job
Optional. On the xCloud approval screen, Full access lets a delegated job deploy, update plugins and renew certificates; Read-only is enough for audits and reports. To change the level later, reconnect the connector and approve again. A Team or Enterprise owner adds the same URL under Organization settings, then Connectors.
URL
```
https://app.xcloud.host/mcp
```

Check it worked

Then ask Claude Cowork for the job itself, for example:

Prompt

Audit every Docker app on my account: its backup settings, its most recent backup and whether anything is scheduled. Give me one table and flag the apps with no schedule.

In practice

How Does Docker apps Work from Claude Cowork?

Cowork works best when the task is bigger than one question, and Docker apps produce plenty of those. A typical hand-off reads like a work order: find every Docker app on my account, read its backup settings and its latest backup, and write me a table of the ones with no schedule or no backup in the last week. Cowork lists your servers and sites, calls sites_docker_backupSettings and sites_docker_backups for each Docker site, and comes back with one report instead of a string of replies. You do not need to watch the individual calls. If a site has been deleted or lives on a team you did not tick at sign-in, the report says it was not found rather than inventing a row.

A deployment can be delegated the same way, with a stopping point you set in the prompt. Tell Cowork to scan the Compose file in github.com/acme/shop, show you the services and the port it would use, run the dry run and wait. It calls git_detect, git_compose-scan and then the Docker create request with dry_run set to true, and it comes back with the resolved configuration. The confirmation is yours: xCloud refuses the real create without an explicit confirm, so a delegated task halts at that point even if you stepped away, and the idempotency key it sends afterwards means a retry after a timeout does not create a second site.

Choose the access level for the job. Read-only is enough for the scan, the listing and the settings review, and it means an audit task cannot change anything whatever it is asked. A backup is a change, and so is a deploy, so approve Full access when you want Cowork to take one. Because a Docker backup stops the app while it captures, tell Cowork when it may run one, for example not before six in the evening your time. When a task ends in a restore, Cowork stops and gives you the dashboard path, since a restore is not something the connector does.

Claude Cowork specific: Access is fixed when you sign in to xCloud, not per task. A connector approved as Read-only will do the whole audit and then stop at the backup, and the only fix is to reconnect and approve Full access. For unattended work, keep the audit tasks on a Read-only connection and add Full access only for the session in which you want a backup or a deploy done.

What xCloud does for docker apps

xCloud reads the repository, scans the Compose file for services and ports before anything is created, previews the site with a dry run and deploys it behind its own nginx once you approve. Docker sites can be backed up on demand and on a schedule, and a failed deploy is diagnosed and retried on the same site.

Pick a Docker server. The agent uses the server you name, or lists your servers and asks. A Docker deploy needs a Docker server; any other stack answers with an incompatible_server refusal, and an agentic server never takes a second site. WordPress is not supported on Docker servers.
Detect the repository. git_detect reads the repository root for a Dockerfile or one of the four Compose file names, and checks access and server compatibility. It creates nothing, and an access problem is never worked around by naming an app type by hand.
Scan the Compose file. git_compose-scan runs before the dry run. It lists the services and the host ports the file publishes, resolves which Compose file name it found, and suggests a primary port. The agent never guesses the port.
Dry run, then one approval. The agent sends the Docker create request with dry_run set to true and shows the resolved configuration: compose file, port, address and warnings. It asks once, naming the server and the URL, before sending the same body with confirm set to true and an idempotency key.
Poll and verify. A 202 means queued, not running. The agent polls the site status until it is terminal, reads failed_steps and the SSL block, and fetches the URL before it calls the app live. A 502 here usually means the Compose file publishes no port.
Back up and recover. The agent can take a Docker backup, read the backup list and settings, and add a note to a backup. If a deploy fails it reads the diagnosis, proposes a fix from the correctable fields and retries on the same site after your approval. Restoring a backup is a dashboard step.

Reference

Docker apps Settings and Limits on xCloud

The facts Claude Cowork works within when it runs Docker apps. Where a row names the dashboard, that step stays yours to take there.

Setting or limit	What applies
Supported inputs	A Dockerfile for a single container, or a Compose file for one or more services, on a Docker server. Go, Python, Rust and Java apps all deploy this way
Server stack	Docker servers only. The Docker deploy on any other stack, including an agentic server, answers 422 with the code incompatible_server
Which Compose file runs	docker-compose.yml at the repository root. A file named compose.yaml, compose.yml or docker-compose.yaml, or one in a subdirectory, deploys through the pinned Docker create with docker.compose_file set to the path the scan resolved
Public port	xCloud's nginx owns ports 80 and 443 and proxies to one host port of 1024 or higher on 127.0.0.1. xCloud runs your Compose file as-is and never rewrites its ports mapping
Port refusals	A port another site already holds is refused as port_unavailable. A port the file does not publish is refused as port_not_published, with the published ports listed
No published port	A Compose file that publishes no port is accepted and then answers 502, so the scan is the step that catches it
Private registries	The deploy runs docker compose pull and never docker login, so an image from a private registry cannot be pulled. Build the image from source instead
Environment and redeploys	Send environment values through env_file_content. A redeploy runs git reset --hard and git clean -df in the site directory, so uncommitted server-side changes are lost
What a Docker backup holds	Named volumes, eligible bind mounts, the Compose file and the app's .env, in an encrypted snapshot. The app is stopped while the backup captures and restarted afterwards
Backup tools	Take a backup, list backups, read the count and the settings, change the settings, add a note and delete a backup. Remote copies go to a storage provider you add in the dashboard
Restores	A restore replaces the app's data in place, so it stays a dashboard step: Site, Site Backup, Previous Backups, Restore Backup
Dot-prefixed paths	A 403 on a path that starts with a dot is the dot-path allowlist. It is fixed with docker.allowed_dot_paths in the deploy settings, without a rebuild

Rules Claude Cowork has to follow

The Compose file is scanned before the dry run, and the port always comes from the scan, never from a guess.
A file that binds ports 80 or 443, publishes no port or pulls from a private registry is not deployed as-is. The agent shows the rewrite, such as publishing 127.0.0.1:<high port>:<app port> and building the image from source, and the change goes into your repository.
Creating a site, deploying, redeploying and deleting a backup stop for your approval. A backup runs without a separate prompt but stops the app while it captures, so ask for one at a quiet time.
A failed Docker site is retried in place with corrections. It is never deleted and recreated, because it keeps its domain and port.
Restoring a backup, adding a backup storage provider and changing a live site's domain are dashboard steps; the agent gives you the path and the dashboard link xCloud returned.

Example prompts

What Can You Ask Claude Cowork to Do for Docker apps?

Type these as written and swap in your own repository, site and server names. Reads and routine actions such as backups, cache purges, PageSpeed scans and vulnerability scans run straight away; creating, deploying, updating, rebooting, deleting, buying or starting a broken-link scan stops and asks first.

Prompt

Audit every Docker app on my account: its backup settings, its most recent backup and whether anything is scheduled. Give me one table and flag the apps with no schedule.

Prompt

Scan the compose file in github.com/acme/shop, show me the services and the port xCloud would use, run the dry run and stop there for my approval.

Prompt

Take a backup of notes.example.com and wiki.example.com one after the other, confirm both finished and add a note saying they were taken before the upgrade.

Prompt

Scan the docker-compose.yml in github.com/acme/api and tell me which services and ports xCloud would use.

Prompt

Deploy github.com/acme/shop to the Frankfurt Docker server as a Compose app. Scan the compose file first, show me the services and ports, then wait for my approval before creating anything.

Prompt

Deploy the main branch of github.com/acme/api to my Docker server as a Compose app on a staging hostname.

Prompt

My Compose app on notes.example.com answers 502. Check which port its compose file publishes and which port xCloud is using.

Prompt

Take a backup of the Docker app on notes.example.com now, before I upgrade it, and tell me when it is done.

Prompt

Show the backup settings and the last backup of every Docker app on this team, and list the ones with no schedule.

Prompt

The last deploy of the API site failed. Diagnose it, show me the settings I can correct, fix the build command and retry on the same site.

Claude Cowork and Docker apps: Frequently Asked Questions

What people ask before they let Claude Cowork run Docker apps through xCloud.

Can Claude Cowork back up all my Docker apps in one task?

Yes, with Full access. It takes one backup per site, one after another, and each app stops while its own snapshot is captured. Name a quiet time in the prompt so it does not run during busy hours, and expect it to report each backup separately.

Will Claude Cowork deploy a Docker app while I am away?

It will scan and run the dry run, then stop. Creating a site needs your explicit confirmation, and xCloud refuses the call without it. Cowork waits for your reply, and then sends the approved request with an idempotency key.

Which servers can run a Docker app on xCloud?

Docker servers. Node.js, PHP and static builds use Nginx or OpenLiteSpeed servers, and the Docker deploy on any other stack is refused with an incompatible_server code. An OpenClaw, Hermes, Paperclip or DeepSeek Harness server hosts only the site created at provisioning, so it takes no Docker app.

Why does the agent scan the Compose file before deploying?

xCloud proxies to the host port your file publishes and never rewrites it. The scan lists the services and ports, so the agent picks a port that is free on the server and published by the file instead of guessing.

Why does my Compose app answer 502 after it deployed?

The most common cause is a Compose file that publishes no port: xCloud accepts it, then its nginx has nothing to proxy to. Publish the app on 127.0.0.1 with a high port, such as 127.0.0.1:8080:8080, and redeploy.

Can an agent deploy an image from a private registry?

Not as-is. The deploy runs docker compose pull and never docker login, so a private image cannot be pulled. Build the image from source in the Compose file, or deploy a repository that does.

Can an agent back up and restore a Docker app?

It can take a backup, read the backup list and settings, change the settings, add a note and delete a backup. Restoring replaces the app's data in place, so you do that in the dashboard under Site, Site Backup, Previous Backups.

Can I run WordPress as a Docker app on xCloud?

No. Creating a WordPress site on a Docker server is refused because WordPress is not supported on Docker servers. Use an Nginx or OpenLiteSpeed server for WordPress.

Other agents