@modelcontextprotocol/inspector-client
MCP ServerFreeClient-side application for the Model Context Protocol inspector
Capabilities8 decomposed
mcp server introspection and schema discovery
Medium confidenceDynamically discovers and introspects MCP server capabilities by parsing server initialization responses and resource/tool declarations. Uses the MCP protocol handshake to extract available tools, resources, prompts, and their JSON schemas without requiring manual configuration. Builds an in-memory capability registry that maps server endpoints to their declared functions and data types.
Provides real-time, protocol-level introspection of MCP servers by directly parsing MCP messages rather than relying on external documentation or manual schema registration. Implements the full MCP client state machine to handle server capabilities negotiation.
Unlike generic API documentation tools, the inspector directly connects to live MCP servers and extracts capabilities from the protocol itself, ensuring schema accuracy and supporting dynamic server configurations.
interactive tool invocation with request/response visualization
Medium confidenceProvides a UI for constructing and executing tool calls against connected MCP servers, with full request/response payload visualization. Builds tool invocation requests by accepting user input for required and optional parameters, validates against the tool's JSON schema, serializes to MCP protocol format, and displays both the sent request and received response in structured form. Supports parameter type coercion and validation before sending.
Implements schema-aware parameter input validation and type coercion before tool invocation, with side-by-side visualization of both the MCP protocol request and the server response, enabling developers to understand the exact wire format.
More detailed than curl or Postman for MCP tools because it understands MCP protocol semantics and validates parameters against the tool's declared JSON schema before sending, catching errors earlier in the development cycle.
resource content retrieval and preview
Medium confidenceFetches and displays content from MCP server resources with support for multiple content types (text, image, PDF, etc.). Handles resource URI resolution, content type negotiation, and streaming large resources. Implements caching to avoid redundant fetches and provides a preview UI that adapts to the resource content type (syntax highlighting for code, image rendering, etc.).
Implements content-type-aware rendering with syntax highlighting for code resources and native browser rendering for media types, plus in-memory caching to optimize repeated resource access patterns.
Provides richer preview capabilities than raw MCP client libraries because it understands content types and renders them appropriately, rather than returning raw bytes that require external tools to inspect.
prompt template exploration and execution
Medium confidenceDiscovers and executes prompt templates exposed by MCP servers, with parameter substitution and output visualization. Parses prompt metadata (description, arguments schema) and provides a form-based UI for supplying argument values. Executes prompts by sending the MCP PromptRequest message and displays the resulting prompt text that would be sent to an LLM, enabling developers to verify prompt composition logic.
Provides a dedicated UI for prompt template testing with argument substitution and final text preview, allowing developers to see exactly what text will be sent to an LLM before execution.
More focused than general prompt engineering tools because it integrates directly with MCP servers and understands their prompt schema, enabling real-time testing against the actual server implementation.
server connection lifecycle management with transport abstraction
Medium confidenceManages MCP server connections across multiple transport types (stdio, SSE, WebSocket) with automatic reconnection, error recovery, and connection state tracking. Implements the MCP client state machine including initialization handshake, capability negotiation, and graceful shutdown. Provides connection status monitoring and detailed error reporting for connection failures, timeouts, and protocol violations.
Abstracts transport layer details (stdio vs SSE vs WebSocket) behind a unified connection interface, implementing the full MCP client state machine with automatic reconnection and detailed error reporting.
Handles connection lifecycle more robustly than raw MCP SDK usage because it implements automatic reconnection, timeout handling, and detailed error reporting out of the box.
request/response message logging and inspection
Medium confidenceCaptures and displays all MCP protocol messages (requests and responses) exchanged with the server in a structured log view. Implements message filtering by type (tool calls, resource requests, etc.), timestamp tracking, and JSON pretty-printing for readability. Provides search and filtering capabilities to find specific messages and understand the sequence of protocol interactions.
Provides real-time, protocol-level message logging with filtering and search capabilities, allowing developers to see the exact MCP messages being exchanged without instrumenting server code.
More detailed than server logs because it captures the exact protocol messages at the client level, making it easier to debug protocol compliance issues without access to server internals.
multi-server session management with tab-based switching
Medium confidenceManages multiple simultaneous MCP server connections within a single inspector session, with tab-based UI for switching between servers. Maintains separate capability registries, message logs, and interaction state for each server. Enables side-by-side comparison of capabilities across different servers and testing of multi-server workflows.
Implements tab-based multi-server management with isolated state per server, allowing developers to work with multiple MCP servers in a single inspector session without context switching.
More efficient than opening multiple inspector instances because it shares UI resources and allows quick switching between servers, reducing memory overhead and improving developer workflow.
error handling and protocol violation detection
Medium confidenceDetects and reports MCP protocol violations, malformed messages, and server errors with detailed diagnostic information. Validates server responses against the MCP specification and provides actionable error messages that help developers identify the root cause. Implements timeout detection, connection error handling, and graceful degradation when servers return unexpected response formats.
Implements MCP protocol-aware error detection that validates server responses against the specification and provides detailed diagnostic information specific to protocol violations.
More helpful than generic error messages because it understands MCP protocol semantics and can identify specific protocol violations, making it easier to fix server implementations.
Capabilities are decomposed by AI analysis. Each maps to specific user intents and improves with match feedback.
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@modelcontextprotocol/inspector-server
Server-side application for the Model Context Protocol inspector
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@modelcontextprotocol/inspector
Model Context Protocol inspector
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Best For
- ✓MCP server developers building and testing custom servers
- ✓LLM application builders integrating multiple MCP servers
- ✓DevOps teams debugging MCP server deployments
- ✓MCP server developers testing tool implementations during development
- ✓Integration testers validating tool behavior across different input scenarios
- ✓Debugging tool integration issues in production MCP deployments
- ✓MCP resource server developers testing content delivery
- ✓Integration engineers validating resource availability and content correctness
Known Limitations
- ⚠Only discovers capabilities declared in server initialization — cannot detect dynamically added tools at runtime
- ⚠Schema introspection is read-only; cannot modify server capabilities from the inspector
- ⚠No caching of discovered schemas — re-introspects on each connection
- ⚠No support for streaming tool responses — only handles complete request/response cycles
- ⚠Parameter input limited to JSON-serializable types; binary data not supported
- ⚠No request history or replay functionality — each invocation is independent
Requirements
Input / Output
UnfragileRank
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Client-side application for the Model Context Protocol inspector
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