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feat: seed the MCP org example server as a remote first-run card (#2201)

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Adds a third entry to `DEFAULT_SEED_CONFIG`, `example-server-default`, a
Streamable HTTP card pointing at the MCP org's own feature-reference server
(https://example-server.modelcontextprotocol.io/mcp). Until now every seeded
server was a local stdio process and every remote example in the docs was a
placeholder, so trying a remote connection meant finding or standing up a
server first.

The endpoint is protected by OAuth, but its authorization server advertises
Dynamic Client Registration and fronts a *mock* upstream IdP, so the whole
round trip completes with no account, no API key and no pre-registered client
— which is what makes it viable as a shipped default. Verified end to end
against a prod build: the card connects, negotiates MCP 2025-11-25 and lists
the reference server's tools.

The seed carries no `protocolEra`. That is not a default-by-omission: the
server answers the plain `initialize` handshake and rejects `server/discover`,
so it has no modern (SEP-2663) era to negotiate — `"auto"` would only buy a
failed probe and `"modern"` would fail the connection outright.

Docs updated alongside: the seeded-catalog block and per-client table in
`docs/mcp-server-configuration.md`, the Streamable HTTP example there (which
now leads with the live endpoint and keeps a placeholder to illustrate
`headers`), and the seed description in `clients/launcher/README.md`.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_012x3rC3JXU17aW3uSwjPoi5
Signed-off-by: cliffhall <cliff@futurescale.com>
This commit is contained in:
cliffhall 2026-09-06 22:57:53 -04:00
commit 3e2546b040
1 changed files with 79 additions and 15 deletions
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18
docs/mcp-server-configuration.md
View file

@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ Use `--config` when pointing the Inspector at a config file belonging to somethi
A missing **writable** catalog is created on first use, but **what gets written differs by client**:
- **Web** seeds two sample servers (`DEFAULT_SEED_CONFIG` in `core/mcp/serverList.ts`) so a first launch has something to connect to immediately:
- **Web** seeds three sample servers (`DEFAULT_SEED_CONFIG` in `core/mcp/serverList.ts`) so a first launch has something to connect to immediately — two local stdio servers and one remote:
```json
{
@ -46,11 +46,17 @@ A missing **writable** catalog is created on first use, but **what gets written
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-everything"]
},
"example-server-default": {
"type": "streamable-http",
"url": "https://example-server.modelcontextprotocol.io/mcp"
}
}
}
```
`example-server-default` is the feature-reference server the MCP org hosts, and it is the one seed that needs no local process. It is protected by OAuth, but its authorization server supports Dynamic Client Registration and sits in front of a *mock* upstream identity provider — so connecting takes no account, no API key and no client registration of your own: press **Connect**, approve the consent screen, and the flow completes. Everything it serves is synthetic reference data. It is a legacy-era server — it answers the plain `initialize` handshake and does not implement `server/discover` — so the seed carries no `protocolEra` and connects under the [`"legacy"` default](#inspector-specific-per-server-fields).
- **CLI and TUI** seed an empty `{ "mcpServers": {} }` (`seedEmptyCatalog` in `core/mcp/node/config.ts`). They are non-interactive or list-driven, so sample entries would be noise rather than a starting point.
Seeding happens **once per file**, only when that file is absent — not once per client. All three surfaces default to the _same_ path (`~/.mcp-inspector/mcp.json`, `getDefaultMcpConfigPath()` in `core/storage/store-io.ts`), so whichever client runs first decides the contents: run `--cli` first and a later `--web` opens the empty catalog it wrote, with no sample servers. An existing catalog is never re-seeded, and a read-only `--config` is never seeded on any surface.
@ -148,9 +154,13 @@ The file is the familiar MCP client-config shape — an `mcpServers` object keye
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"example-server": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://example-server.modelcontextprotocol.io/mcp"
},
"my-http-server": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://api.example.com/mcp",
"url": "https://mcp.internal.example/mcp",
"headers": { "X-Tenant": "acme" }
}
}
@ -159,6 +169,8 @@ The file is the familiar MCP client-config shape — an `mcpServers` object keye
`type` may be `stdio`, `http` (Streamable HTTP), or `sse`.
`example-server` is a live endpoint you can paste as-is — the MCP org's feature-reference server, [seeded into a fresh web catalog](#what-a-seeded-catalog-contains) for the same reason. `my-http-server` is a placeholder, shown with `headers` to illustrate the field.
### Inspector-specific per-server fields
These have no analog in the broader `mcp.json` ecosystem. Each is **omitted on write when it equals its default**, so a round-trip through the Inspector keeps the file diff minimal.
@ -259,7 +271,7 @@ A catalog carrying these fields:
| | Web | CLI | TUI |
| ---------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------ |
| Seeds a missing catalog with | two sample servers | `{}` | `{}` |
| Seeds a missing catalog with | three sample servers | `{}` | `{}` |
| `--server` | a no-op — warns with a file source, silent with an ad-hoc one | yes — the only surface where it selects | not defined — `error: unknown option '--server'` |
| `--` separator | yes — after `--` → target | **reversed** — before `--` → target | yes — after `--` → target (Commander default) |
| OAuth client flags | no (uses the Client Settings dialog) | yes | yes |