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docs: add the v1 → v2 migration guide

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Closes #1822

Adds docs/v1-to-v2-migration.md — the map for users arriving from v1:

- CLI flag mapping (every v1 flag survives; lists what v2 adds)
- `--config` vs `--catalog` semantics with before/after examples
- Node engine bump (>=22.7.5 → >=22.19.0)
- what no longer ships (the three sub-packages; v2 is one tarball)
- the three behavior changes most likely to bite: exit code 5 on a
  failing tool call, target-must-come-first under --cli, and the
  reversed `--` separator
- env-var mapping (MCP_PROXY_AUTH_TOKEN → MCP_INSPECTOR_API_TOKEN,
  MCP_PROXY_FULL_ADDRESS removed, SERVER_PORT repurposed), the v1 UI
  config settings, web query params, and Docker

Linked from the root README (banner + docs list), the CLI README, and
docs/mcp-server-configuration.md; AGENTS.md's docs/ tree entry updated.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01SW1p8E2uiyyLx4RKwrwSrt
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cliffhall 2026-08-10 19:23:43 -04:00
commit 2e89443739
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README.md
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@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli # CLI
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --tui # TUI
```
> **Upgrading from v1?** Read the [v1 → v2 migration guide](./docs/v1-to-v2-migration.md) — CLI flags, the new `--config` vs. `--catalog` split, the Node engine bump, and what no longer ships.
> **Repo status.** This is the **v2** line of the Inspector. Active development happens on **`v2/main`** (the develop branch — all v2 PRs target it), which is merged into **`main`** at milestone releases; `main` is the default branch and holds the latest released v2, published to the npm `latest` tag. The legacy **v1** line lives on **`v1/main`** — security fixes only, published straight from that branch to the npm `v1-latest` tag (`npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector@v1-latest`). See [`AGENTS.md`](./AGENTS.md) for branch/board conventions.
## Project layout
@ -38,7 +40,7 @@ inspector/
│ └── storage/ # File I/O helpers for the OAuth persist backends
├── test-servers/ # Composable MCP test servers + fixtures used by integration tests
├── scripts/ # Root build/verify tooling (install cascade, smokes, verify-build-gate, verify-format-coverage, pack:verify)
├── docs/ # Task-oriented guides (server configuration, MCP App review, launcher/config plan)
├── docs/ # Task-oriented guides (v1→v2 migration, server configuration, MCP App review, launcher/config plan)
├── specification/ # Design/build specifications
├── AGENTS.md # Contribution rules for agents AND humans (see below)
└── README.md # You are here
@ -49,6 +51,7 @@ Each client has its own README with client-specific detail:
Task-oriented guides live under [`docs/`](./docs):
- [Migrating from v1 to v2](./docs/v1-to-v2-migration.md) — the v1 → v2 map: CLI flag mapping, `--config` vs. `--catalog` semantics with before/after examples, the Node engine bump (`>=22.7.5` → `>=22.19.0`), env-var renames, and the sub-packages that no longer ship.
- [MCP server configuration](./docs/mcp-server-configuration.md) — which server(s) the Inspector connects to: `--catalog` vs. `--config`, ad-hoc targets, the `--` separator, the file format and its Inspector-specific per-server fields. Shared by all three clients; the cli and tui READMEs delegate their server-options sections to it.
- [Reviewing an MCP App](./docs/mcp-app-review.md) — the CLI-first → one-shot-web recipe for automated App-tool review: `--app-info` probe → deep-link navigate → rendered widget, plus OAuth handoff and proxy support.
- [Launcher and config consolidation](./docs/launcher-config-consolidation-plan.md) — why the launcher runs a client in-process rather than spawning it, and how the shared config processor fits in.
@ -130,18 +133,18 @@ This is what lets an Inspector connection negotiating `protocolEra: "auto" | "mo
Each config below is a ready-made server for exercising one feature by hand. Load one with `--config`, and unless noted, connect with **Protocol Era = Modern**.
| Config | Demonstrates | Issue |
| ----------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Config | Demonstrates | Issue |
| ----------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `mcp-app-http.json` **(legacy era)** | An MCP App (UI resource + app tool) in the Apps tab | [#1859](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1859) |
| `modern-mrtr-http.json` | A single MRTR round-trip | — |
| `mrtr-showcase-http.json` | Every MRTR preset in one server | — |
| `modern-network-http.json` | Network tab: `Mcp-*` headers + error taxonomy | [#1628](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1628) |
| `xmcpheader-modern-http.json` | Tools tab: `x-mcp-header` mirroring and exclusions | [#1632](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1632) |
| `pagination-http.json` | Page-by-page list fetching | [#1721](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1721) |
| `advertised-extensions-http.json` | Tool registration gated on advertised extensions | [#1739](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1739) |
| `logging-{legacy,modern}-http.json` | Logging, both eras | [#1629](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1629) |
| `subscriptions-{legacy,modern}-http.json` | Resource subscriptions, both eras | [#1630](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1630) |
| `tasks-{legacy,modern}-http.json` | Tasks, both eras | [#1631](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1631) |
| `modern-mrtr-http.json` | A single MRTR round-trip | — |
| `mrtr-showcase-http.json` | Every MRTR preset in one server | — |
| `modern-network-http.json` | Network tab: `Mcp-*` headers + error taxonomy | [#1628](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1628) |
| `xmcpheader-modern-http.json` | Tools tab: `x-mcp-header` mirroring and exclusions | [#1632](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1632) |
| `pagination-http.json` | Page-by-page list fetching | [#1721](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1721) |
| `advertised-extensions-http.json` | Tool registration gated on advertised extensions | [#1739](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1739) |
| `logging-{legacy,modern}-http.json` | Logging, both eras | [#1629](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1629) |
| `subscriptions-{legacy,modern}-http.json` | Resource subscriptions, both eras | [#1630](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1630) |
| `tasks-{legacy,modern}-http.json` | Tasks, both eras | [#1631](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1631) |
#### MCP Apps
@ -261,17 +264,17 @@ Individual clients: `build:web`, `build:cli`, `build:tui`, `build:launcher`. The
Each client self-validates from its own folder; the root scripts chain them. There is **no** aggregate root `test` script — use `validate` (fast) or `coverage` (the gate).
| Script | What it does |
| --------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `npm run validate` | Runs `verify:format-coverage` (asserts every tracked source file is format-gated) first, then `validate:core` (the shared `core/` `format:check` + `lint` gate), then per client: `format:check` + `lint` + **`typecheck`** (cli/tui only) + `build` + fast unit tests. The quick inner-loop check. |
| `npm run coverage` | The **per-file ≥90% gate** (lines/statements/functions/branches) under v8 instrumentation, per client. CI-enforced. For web this also runs the integration project and covers the shared `core/` runtime (including `core/json` and `core/client`). |
| `npm run smoke` | End-to-end smokes through the built launcher (`--help` dispatch + prod cli/tui/web), plus two headless-Chromium smokes: a boot smoke that runs the prod web bundle and asserts a clean first render (no uncaught error — sync exception or unhandled rejection, how a Node built-in reaching the browser bundle manifests), and an **MCP Apps** smoke (`smoke:web:app`) that drives connect → open app → `data-app-status="ready"` against a composable App server, covering the sandbox proxy and UI-protocol bridge. |
| `npm run verify:build-gate` | Runs a real `vite build` with a Node built-in forced into the browser graph and asserts the build **fails** via the #1769 gate (which turns Vite's browser-externalization warning into a hard error). Guards against the warning phrasing drifting in a Vite bump and silently disabling the gate. Part of `npm run ci`. |
| `npm run verify:format-coverage` | Parses the `format:check` globs out of every `package.json` (only those reachable from `validate`), enumerates all tracked source files, and **fails** listing any not covered by a glob — the durable guard for the "every first-party source file is format-gated" invariant (#1792). Runs first in `validate`. |
| `npm run test:scripts` | Table-driven unit tests (`node --test`) for the guard's own pure parsers (`scripts/lib/npm-scripts.mjs` + the exported helpers of `verify-typecheck-coverage.mjs`), one case per rule they encode. Runs in `validate` — and `verify:typecheck-coverage` guards *this* gate in turn (reachable from `validate`, non-empty test set, every test file matched by the `test:scripts` glob), since `node --test` silently skips a file its glob misses and still exits 0. |
| `npm run verify:typecheck-coverage` | The typecheck-coverage analog of the above (#1791): for each Node client (auto-discovered from disk — enrolled via its `typecheck` script's projects, or for a `tsc -b` client like `clients/web` via its `tsconfig.json` `references`) it runs those projects with `tsc --listFilesOnly`, unions them, and **fails** listing any tracked `.ts`/`.tsx`/`.mts`/`.cts` under the client that lands in no project (so a new top-level config/helper can't silently go untypechecked). It also requires, deny-by-default, the first-party TS no client owns (`test-servers/src`, the root `vitest.shared.mts`, all of `core/`, and any new top-level location) to land in some client project's tsc pass — so a `core` `*.tsx` web's projects don't reach is caught too. Also asserts the gate is wired (each client's typecheck pass — its `typecheck` script, or web's `tsc -b` — is reachable from its `validate`, and the root chain runs each client's `validate`). Runs in `validate`. |
| `npm run ci` | **Mandatory pre-push command.** `validate` → `coverage` → `verify:build-gate` → `smoke` → Storybook. A true superset of GitHub CI. |
| `npm run pack:verify` | Publish smoke — see [Publishing](#publishing). |
| Script | What it does |
| ----------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `npm run validate` | Runs `verify:format-coverage` (asserts every tracked source file is format-gated) first, then `validate:core` (the shared `core/` `format:check` + `lint` gate), then per client: `format:check` + `lint` + **`typecheck`** (cli/tui only) + `build` + fast unit tests. The quick inner-loop check. |
| `npm run coverage` | The **per-file ≥90% gate** (lines/statements/functions/branches) under v8 instrumentation, per client. CI-enforced. For web this also runs the integration project and covers the shared `core/` runtime (including `core/json` and `core/client`). |
| `npm run smoke` | End-to-end smokes through the built launcher (`--help` dispatch + prod cli/tui/web), plus two headless-Chromium smokes: a boot smoke that runs the prod web bundle and asserts a clean first render (no uncaught error — sync exception or unhandled rejection, how a Node built-in reaching the browser bundle manifests), and an **MCP Apps** smoke (`smoke:web:app`) that drives connect → open app → `data-app-status="ready"` against a composable App server, covering the sandbox proxy and UI-protocol bridge. |
| `npm run verify:build-gate` | Runs a real `vite build` with a Node built-in forced into the browser graph and asserts the build **fails** via the #1769 gate (which turns Vite's browser-externalization warning into a hard error). Guards against the warning phrasing drifting in a Vite bump and silently disabling the gate. Part of `npm run ci`. |
| `npm run verify:format-coverage` | Parses the `format:check` globs out of every `package.json` (only those reachable from `validate`), enumerates all tracked source files, and **fails** listing any not covered by a glob — the durable guard for the "every first-party source file is format-gated" invariant (#1792). Runs first in `validate`. |
| `npm run test:scripts` | Table-driven unit tests (`node --test`) for the guard's own pure parsers (`scripts/lib/npm-scripts.mjs` + the exported helpers of `verify-typecheck-coverage.mjs`), one case per rule they encode. Runs in `validate` — and `verify:typecheck-coverage` guards _this_ gate in turn (reachable from `validate`, non-empty test set, every test file matched by the `test:scripts` glob), since `node --test` silently skips a file its glob misses and still exits 0. |
| `npm run verify:typecheck-coverage` | The typecheck-coverage analog of the above (#1791): for each Node client (auto-discovered from disk — enrolled via its `typecheck` script's projects, or for a `tsc -b` client like `clients/web` via its `tsconfig.json` `references`) it runs those projects with `tsc --listFilesOnly`, unions them, and **fails** listing any tracked `.ts`/`.tsx`/`.mts`/`.cts` under the client that lands in no project (so a new top-level config/helper can't silently go untypechecked). It also requires, deny-by-default, the first-party TS no client owns (`test-servers/src`, the root `vitest.shared.mts`, all of `core/`, and any new top-level location) to land in some client project's tsc pass — so a `core` `*.tsx` web's projects don't reach is caught too. Also asserts the gate is wired (each client's typecheck pass — its `typecheck` script, or web's `tsc -b` — is reachable from its `validate`, and the root chain runs each client's `validate`). Runs in `validate`. |
| `npm run ci` | **Mandatory pre-push command.** `validate` → `coverage` → `verify:build-gate` → `smoke` → Storybook. A true superset of GitHub CI. |
| `npm run pack:verify` | Publish smoke — see [Publishing](#publishing). |
Per-client scripts exist too (`validate:web`, `coverage:cli`, `smoke:tui`, …), plus root `validate:core` / `format:core` for the shared `core/` package, `format:scripts` for the root `scripts/` tooling, and `format:shared` / `lint:shared` for the root "shared" surface (`test-servers/src/**`, `vitest.shared.mts`, the root `eslint.config.js`). Run `npm run format` before committing — the root `format` fixes `core/`, the root `scripts/`, the shared surface, and every client; `validate` runs the non-fixing `format:check` and fails CI on any unformatted file.
@ -287,7 +290,7 @@ The root `package.json` `"files"` allowlist is the source of truth for the tarba
- **No source maps.** The client bundlers set `sourcemap: false` (`clients/{cli,tui}/tsup.config.ts`, `clients/web/tsup.runner.config.ts`); Vite and the launcher's `tsc` already emit none. Maps are ~half the unpacked size and aren't needed at runtime — debug via `npm run dev` on the source.
- **`clients/web/build` ships via `clients/web/.npmignore`.** `clients/web/.gitignore` lists `build/`, and npm's packlist honors that nested `.gitignore` over the root `"files"` allowlist — so the prod web-server runner was silently missing from the tarball while `clients/web/dist` slipped through (its `.gitignore` only lists `dist-ssr`). `clients/web/.npmignore` overrides the `.gitignore` for publishing so both `build/` (runner) and `dist/` (SPA) ship. The other clients don't need this — none ship a nested `.gitignore`.
- **`clients/web/static` ships the MCP Apps sandbox proxy.** `clients/web/static/sandbox_proxy.html` is a committed source file (not a build artifact), read from disk at runtime by `clients/web/server/sandbox-controller.ts` as `<runner dir>/../static/sandbox_proxy.html`. It was missing from the root `"files"` allowlist entirely, so every published build failed the Apps tab with **"Sandbox not loaded"** ([#1859](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1859)) while working fine in the repo. Because the path is resolved *relative to* `clients/web/build`, the directory must ship at that exact location — `pack:verify` asserts both the tarball entry and the installed-on-disk path.
- **`clients/web/static` ships the MCP Apps sandbox proxy.** `clients/web/static/sandbox_proxy.html` is a committed source file (not a build artifact), read from disk at runtime by `clients/web/server/sandbox-controller.ts` as `<runner dir>/../static/sandbox_proxy.html`. It was missing from the root `"files"` allowlist entirely, so every published build failed the Apps tab with **"Sandbox not loaded"** ([#1859](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1859)) while working fine in the repo. Because the path is resolved _relative to_ `clients/web/build`, the directory must ship at that exact location — `pack:verify` asserts both the tarball entry and the installed-on-disk path.
- **A single version number, read from the root `package.json`.** The Inspector ships as one package with one version, so only the **root** `package.json` carries a `version` — the four `clients/*/package.json`s deliberately have none. Every Node client (CLI, TUI, and the web backend) resolves the version through the shared `readInspectorVersion()` reader in `core/node/version.ts`, which walks up to the root manifest (always present in the tarball). No client `package.json` is read at runtime, so none needs to ship. The web **browser** can't read the filesystem; it gets its version from the backend via `GET /api/config` (see [#1639](https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector/issues/1639)).
### `npm run pack:verify` — publish smoke against the real tarball