MCP Inspector CLI

A command-line tool to inspect and interact with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers.

mcp-inspector-cli connects to any MCP server and allows you to explore:

• Tools
• Resources
• Resource templates
• Prompts
• Query interactions

This tool is useful for debugging, testing, and exploring MCP servers without needing an AI agent.

Installation

You can run it directly using npx:

npx mcp-inspector-cli --server <mcp_server_url>

Example:

npx mcp-inspector-cli --server http://localhost:3000/mcp

Or install globally:

npm install -g mcp-inspector-cli

Then run:

mcp-inspector-cli --server http://localhost:3000/mcp

Usage

Start the CLI and connect to an MCP server.

mcp-inspector-cli --server http://localhost:3000/mcp

Once connected, the interactive menu appears:

What would you like to do?

❯ Query
  Tools
  Resources
  Prompts
  Exit

Features

Query

Send queries to the MCP server and allow the server to trigger tool calls.

Tools

List available tools and invoke them with custom arguments.

Resources

Browse and read resources exposed by the MCP server.

Supports both:

• static resources
• resource templates

Prompts

List and execute prompts defined by the MCP server.

Example Workflow

1. Connect to server

mcp-inspector-cli --server http://localhost:3000/mcp

2. Select Tools

3. Choose a tool

4. Provide input arguments

5. Execute the tool and inspect the response

Development

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/Sandeep-Petwal/mcp-inspector-cli
cd mcp-inspector-cli

Install dependencies:

npm install

Run locally:

npm run dev

Build the CLI:

npm run build

Link locally for testing:

npm link

Then run:

mcp-inspector-cli --server http://localhost:3000/mcp

Project Structure

src/
 ├── cli.ts
 ├── mcpClient.ts
 └── handlers/
      ├── toolHandler.ts
      ├── resourceHandler.ts
      ├── promptHandler.ts
      ├── queryHandler.ts
      └── shutdownHandler.ts

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• An MCP server endpoint

License

MIT