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--- ---
title: MCP Inspector title: Inspector
description: In-depth guide to using the MCP Inspector for testing and debugging Model Context Protocol servers description: In-depth guide to using the MCP Inspector for testing and debugging Model Context Protocol servers
--- ---
The [MCP Inspector](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector) is an interactive developer tool for testing and debugging MCP servers. While the [Debugging Guide](docs/tools/debugging) covers the Inspector as part of the overall debugging toolkit, this document provides a detailed exploration of the Inspector's features and capabilities. The [MCP Inspector](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector) is an interactive developer tool for testing and debugging MCP servers. While the [Debugging Guide](/docs/tools/debugging) covers the Inspector as part of the overall debugging toolkit, this document provides a detailed exploration of the Inspector's features and capabilities.
## Getting started ## Getting started
@ -20,111 +20,35 @@ Pass arguments to your server after the path:
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector path/to/server.js arg1 arg2 npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector path/to/server.js arg1 arg2
``` ```
## Interface overview ## Feature overview
The Inspector provides several key panels for interacting with your MCP server: The Inspector provides several features for interacting with your MCP server:
### Server info panel ### Server connection pane
- Displays server name and version - Allows selecting the [transport](/docs/concepts/transports) for connecting to the server
- Shows negotiated protocol version - For local servers, supports customizing the command-line arguments and environment
- Lists supported capabilities
- Indicates connection status
### Resources browser ### Resources tab
- Lists all available resources - Lists all available resources
- Shows resource metadata (MIME types, descriptions) - Shows resource metadata (MIME types, descriptions)
- Allows resource content inspection - Allows resource content inspection
- Supports subscription testing - Supports subscription testing
### Prompts panel ### Prompts tab
- Displays available prompt templates - Displays available prompt templates
- Shows prompt arguments and descriptions - Shows prompt arguments and descriptions
- Enables prompt testing with custom arguments - Enables prompt testing with custom arguments
- Previews generated messages - Previews generated messages
### Tools panel ### Tools tab
- Lists available tools - Lists available tools
- Shows tool schemas and descriptions - Shows tool schemas and descriptions
- Provides input validation - Enables tool testing with custom inputs
- Displays tool execution results - Displays tool execution results
## Testing features ### Notifications pane
- Presents all logs recorded from the server
### Resource testing - Shows notifications received from the server
```typescript
// Example resource URI to test
resource://myapp/data/123
```
1. View resource metadata
2. Inspect content representations
3. Test subscription updates
4. Monitor resource changes
### Prompt testing
Test prompts with different arguments:
```json
{
"temperature": 0.7,
"style": "concise"
}
```
1. Validate argument constraints
2. Preview generated messages
3. Test error conditions
4. Check template rendering
### Tool testing
Test tool execution with various inputs:
```json
{
"query": "SELECT * FROM users",
"limit": 10
}
```
1. Validate input schemas
2. Test error handling
3. Monitor execution progress
4. Inspect tool results
## Advanced usage
### Message inspector
The Message inspector panel shows all communication between the client and server:
1. Request/response pairs
2. Notifications
3. Progress updates
4. Error messages
This helps debug:
- Protocol conformance
- Message formatting
- Error conditions
- State transitions
### Subscription testing
Test resource subscriptions:
1. Subscribe to resources
2. Monitor update notifications
3. Test unsubscribe behavior
4. Verify update patterns
### Capability testing
Verify server capabilities:
1. Check supported features
2. Test capability negotiation
3. Verify feature availability
4. Monitor initialization flow
## Best practices ## Best practices
@ -137,52 +61,16 @@ Verify server capabilities:
2. Iterative testing 2. Iterative testing
- Make server changes - Make server changes
- Restart Inspector - Rebuild the server
- Reconnect the Inspector
- Test affected features - Test affected features
- Monitor messages - Monitor messages
3. Error testing 3. Test edge cases
- Test invalid inputs - Invalid inputs
- Check error responses
- Verify error handling
- Test recovery flows
### Tips and tricks
1. Keep Inspector Running
- Monitor changes in real-time
- Quick iteration cycle
- Immediate feedback
2. Use Message Filtering
- Filter by message type
- Focus on specific features
- Debug targeted behaviors
3. Test Edge Cases
- Invalid resource URIs
- Malformed tool inputs
- Missing prompt arguments - Missing prompt arguments
- Concurrent operations - Concurrent operations
- Verify error handling and error responses
## Common patterns
### Development loop
1. Start server development
2. Launch Inspector
3. Implement feature
4. Test in Inspector
5. Refine implementation
6. Repeat
### Integration testing
1. Test basic functionality
2. Verify error handling
3. Check performance
4. Validate protocols
5. Test user flows
## Next steps ## Next steps