MCP Inspector CLI

By Ludo (Marc Alier) @granludo

A comprehensive command-line tool for inspecting, testing, and debugging MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers. This tool provides an interactive interface to explore and test all MCP capabilities including tools, resources, and prompts.

Works with STDIO Transport protocol

Features

• Interactive Server Testing: Connect to MCP servers and test their capabilities through an intuitive menu-driven interface
• Multiple Server Support: Configure and switch between multiple MCP servers
• Comprehensive MCP Protocol Support:
  • Tools: List available tools and execute them with custom arguments
  • Resources: Browse and read server-provided resources
  • Prompts: List and retrieve prompts with arguments
• Advanced Logging: Automatic session logging with timestamps and colored output
• Flexible Configuration: Support for various configuration file formats and locations
• Real-time I/O Monitoring: View server stdout/stderr output in real-time
• Timeout Handling: Intelligent timeout management with user extension options

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• uv (Python package manager)
• MCP server(s) to test against

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [email protected]:granludo/mcp-inspector-cli.git>
   cd mcp-inspector-cli
   

2. create venv

   uv venv
   source .venv/bin/activate
   uv pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. Run directly with uv :

   uv run mcp-inspector-cli.py
   

Configuration

The tool supports multiple configuration methods, checked in order of priority:

1. Command Line Argument

python mcp-inspector-cli.py /path/to/config.json

2. Local Configuration File

Create mcp.json in the same directory as the script:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["my_server.py"]
    }
  }
}

3. Cursor-style Configuration

Place configuration in ~/.cursor/mcp.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/tmp"]
    },
    "git": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-git", "--repository", "/path/to/repo"]
    }
  }
}

4. Single Server Configuration

For a single server, you can use a simpler format:

{
  "command": "uv",
  "args": ["run", "main.py"],
  "name": "my-custom-server"
}

Usage

Basic Usage

If installed with uv:

mcp-inspector-cli

If running directly with uv:

uv run mcp-inspector-cli.py

With configuration file:

uv run mcp-inspector-cli.py /path/to/config.json

If you have multiple servers configured, you’ll be prompted to select one. For single server configurations, it will connect automatically.

Interactive Menu

Once connected, you’ll see the main menu:

=== MCP Tester Menu ===