GitHub - modelcontextprotocol/inspector: Visual testing tool for MCP servers (original) (raw)

MCP Inspector

The MCP inspector is a developer tool for testing and debugging MCP servers.

Architecture Overview

The MCP Inspector consists of two main components that work together:

• MCP Inspector Client (MCPI): A React-based web UI that provides an interactive interface for testing and debugging MCP servers
• MCP Proxy (MCPP): A Node.js server that acts as a protocol bridge, connecting the web UI to MCP servers via various transport methods (stdio, SSE, streamable-http)

Note that the proxy is not a network proxy for intercepting traffic. Instead, it functions as both an MCP client (connecting to your MCP server) and an HTTP server (serving the web UI), enabling browser-based interaction with MCP servers that use different transport protocols.

Running the Inspector

Requirements

• Node.js: ^22.7.5

Quick Start (UI mode)

To get up and running right away with the UI, just execute the following:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector

The server will start up and the UI will be accessible at http://localhost:6274.

From an MCP server repository

To inspect an MCP server implementation, there's no need to clone this repo. Instead, use npx. For example, if your server is built at build/index.js:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node build/index.js

You can pass both arguments and environment variables to your MCP server. Arguments are passed directly to your server, while environment variables can be set using the -e flag:

Pass arguments only

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node build/index.js arg1 arg2

Pass environment variables only

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector -e key=value -e key2=$VALUE2 node build/index.js

Pass both environment variables and arguments

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector -e key=value -e key2=$VALUE2 node build/index.js arg1 arg2

Use -- to separate inspector flags from server arguments

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector -e key=$VALUE -- node build/index.js -e server-flag

The inspector runs both an MCP Inspector (MCPI) client UI (default port 6274) and an MCP Proxy (MCPP) server (default port 6277). Open the MCPI client UI in your browser to use the inspector. (These ports are derived from the T9 dialpad mapping of MCPI and MCPP respectively, as a mnemonic). You can customize the ports if needed:

CLIENT_PORT=8080 SERVER_PORT=9000 npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node build/index.js

For more details on ways to use the inspector, see the Inspector section of the MCP docs site. For help with debugging, see the Debugging guide.

Servers File Export

The MCP Inspector provides convenient buttons to export server launch configurations for use in clients such as Cursor, Claude Code, or the Inspector's CLI. The file is usually called mcp.json.

• Server Entry - Copies a single server configuration entry to your clipboard. This can be added to your mcp.json file inside the mcpServers object with your preferred server name.
  STDIO transport example:
  {
  "command": "node",
  "args": ["build/index.js", "--debug"],
  "env": {
  "API_KEY": "your-api-key",
  "DEBUG": "true"
  }
  }
  SSE transport example:
  {
  "type": "sse",
  "url": "http://localhost:3000/events",
  "note": "For SSE connections, add this URL directly in Client"
  }
• Servers File - Copies a complete MCP configuration file structure to your clipboard, with your current server configuration added as default-server. This can be saved directly as mcp.json.
  STDIO transport example:
  {
  "mcpServers": {
  "default-server": {
  "command": "node",
  "args": ["build/index.js", "--debug"],
  "env": {
  "API_KEY": "your-api-key",
  "DEBUG": "true"
  }
  }
  }
  }
  SSE transport example:
  {
  "mcpServers": {
  "default-server": {
  "type": "sse",
  "url": "http://localhost:3000/events",
  "note": "For SSE connections, add this URL directly in Client"
  }
  }
  }

These buttons appear in the Inspector UI after you've configured your server settings, making it easy to save and reuse your configurations.

For SSE transport connections, the Inspector provides similar functionality for both buttons. The "Server Entry" button copies the SSE URL configuration that can be added to your existing configuration file, while the "Servers File" button creates a complete configuration file containing the SSE URL for direct use in clients.

You can paste the Server Entry into your existing mcp.json file under your chosen server name, or use the complete Servers File payload to create a new configuration file.

Authentication

The inspector supports bearer token authentication for SSE connections. Enter your token in the UI when connecting to an MCP server, and it will be sent in the Authorization header. You can override the header name using the input field in the sidebar.

Security Considerations

The MCP Inspector includes a proxy server that can run and communicate with local MCP processes. The proxy server should not be exposed to untrusted networks as it has permissions to spawn local processes and can connect to any specified MCP server.

Authentication

The MCP Inspector proxy server requires authentication by default. When starting the server, a random session token is generated and printed to the console:

🔑 Session token: 3a1c267fad21f7150b7d624c160b7f09b0b8c4f623c7107bbf13378f051538d4

🔗 Open inspector with token pre-filled:
   http://localhost:6274/?MCP_PROXY_AUTH_TOKEN=3a1c267fad21f7150b7d624c160b7f09b0b8c4f623c7107bbf13378f051538d4

This token must be included as a Bearer token in the Authorization header for all requests to the server. When authentication is enabled, auto-open is disabled by default to ensure you use the secure URL.

Recommended: Use the pre-filled URL - Click or copy the link shown in the console to open the inspector with the token already configured.

Alternative: Manual configuration - If you already have the inspector open:

1. Click the "Configuration" button in the sidebar
2. Find "Proxy Session Token" and enter the token displayed in the proxy console
3. Click "Save" to apply the configuration

The token will be saved in your browser's local storage for future use.

If you need to disable authentication (NOT RECOMMENDED), you can set the DANGEROUSLY_OMIT_AUTH environment variable:

DANGEROUSLY_OMIT_AUTH=true npm start

Local-only Binding

By default, the MCP Inspector proxy server binds only to 127.0.0.1 (localhost) to prevent network access. This ensures the server is not accessible from other devices on the network. If you need to bind to all interfaces for development purposes, you can override this with the HOST environment variable:

Warning: Only bind to all interfaces in trusted network environments, as this exposes the proxy server's ability to execute local processes.

DNS Rebinding Protection

To prevent DNS rebinding attacks, the MCP Inspector validates the Origin header on incoming requests. By default, only requests from the client origin are allowed (respects CLIENT_PORT if set, defaulting to port 6274). You can configure additional allowed origins by setting the ALLOWED_ORIGINS environment variable (comma-separated list):

ALLOWED_ORIGINS=http://localhost:6274,http://127.0.0.1:6274,http://localhost:8000 npm start

Configuration

The MCP Inspector supports the following configuration settings. To change them, click on the Configuration button in the MCP Inspector UI:

These settings can be adjusted in real-time through the UI and will persist across sessions.

The inspector also supports configuration files to store settings for different MCP servers. This is useful when working with multiple servers or complex configurations:

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --config path/to/config.json --server everything

Example server configuration file:

{ "mcpServers": { "everything": { "command": "npx", "args": ["@modelcontextprotocol/server-everything"], "env": { "hello": "Hello MCP!" } }, "my-server": { "command": "node", "args": ["build/index.js", "arg1", "arg2"], "env": { "key": "value", "key2": "value2" } } } }

Tip: You can easily generate this configuration format using the Server Entry and Servers File buttons in the Inspector UI, as described in the Servers File Export section above.

You can also set the initial transport type, serverUrl, serverCommand, and serverArgs via query params, for example:

http://localhost:6274/?transport=sse&serverUrl=http://localhost:8787/sse
http://localhost:6274/?transport=streamable-http&serverUrl=http://localhost:8787/mcp
http://localhost:6274/?transport=stdio&serverCommand=npx&serverArgs=arg1%20arg2

You can also set initial config settings via query params, for example:

http://localhost:6274/?MCP_SERVER_REQUEST_TIMEOUT=10000&MCP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_RESET_ON_PROGRESS=false&MCP_PROXY_FULL_ADDRESS=http://10.1.1.22:5577

Note that if both the query param and the corresponding localStorage item are set, the query param will take precedence.

From this repository

If you're working on the inspector itself:

Development mode:

**Note for Windows users:**On Windows, use the following command instead:

Production mode:

CLI Mode

CLI mode enables programmatic interaction with MCP servers from the command line, ideal for scripting, automation, and integration with coding assistants. This creates an efficient feedback loop for MCP server development.

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli node build/index.js

The CLI mode supports most operations across tools, resources, and prompts. A few examples:

Basic usage

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli node build/index.js

With config file

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli --config path/to/config.json --server myserver

List available tools

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli node build/index.js --method tools/list

Call a specific tool

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli node build/index.js --method tools/call --tool-name mytool --tool-arg key=value --tool-arg another=value2

List available resources

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli node build/index.js --method resources/list

List available prompts

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli node build/index.js --method prompts/list

Connect to a remote MCP server

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli https://my-mcp-server.example.com

Call a tool on a remote server

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli https://my-mcp-server.example.com --method tools/call --tool-name remotetool --tool-arg param=value

List resources from a remote server

npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli https://my-mcp-server.example.com --method resources/list

UI Mode vs CLI Mode: When to Use Each

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License—see the LICENSE file for details.