fix(cli): apply a server's persisted mcp.json metadata

The web client and the TUI both read `savedSettings.metadata` and pass it
as `InspectorClientOptions.defaultMetadata`. The CLI never did, and
`InspectorClient` only reads the option rather than falling back to
`serverSettings.metadata` — so a per-server `metadata` entry was silently
inert for `--cli` runs.

Pass it beside the existing `roots:`, guarded on a non-empty map the same
way web and the TUI guard theirs, so `{}` still means "no defaults".
Precedence is unchanged: call-time keys override defaults in `mergeMeta`,
so `--metadata` stays per-invocation and wins on a key collision.

Covered by three catalog-driven tests asserting against the test server's
recorded wire requests. `createTestConfig` is retyped `StoredMCPServer` —
the accurate on-disk shape — since a fixture that cannot express the
per-server keys cannot cover the settings that reach the client.

Closes #2093

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0177mPHAdECD18nLLCTwR5rh
Signed-off-by: cliffhall <cliff@futurescale.com>

clients/cli/__tests__/helpers/fixtures.ts

@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import * as path from "path";
 import * as os from "os";
 import * as crypto from "crypto";
 import { getTestMcpServerCommand } from "@modelcontextprotocol/inspector-test-server";
-import type { MCPServerConfig } from "@inspector/core/mcp/index.js";
+import type { StoredMCPServer } from "@inspector/core/mcp/types.js";
 
 /**
  * Sentinel value for tests that don't need a real server
@@ -61,10 +61,16 @@ function cleanupTempDir(dir: string) {
 }
 
 /**
- * Create a test config file
+ * Create a test config file.
+ *
+ * Entries are `StoredMCPServer`, not bare `MCPServerConfig` — the on-disk
+ * `mcp.json` shape carries the Inspector-specific per-server keys (`metadata`,
+ * `headers`, `roots`, `protocolEra`, …) directly alongside `type`/`url`, and a
+ * fixture that cannot express them cannot cover the settings that reach the
+ * client from the catalog (#2093).
  */
 export function createTestConfig(config: {
-  mcpServers: Record<string, MCPServerConfig>;
+  mcpServers: Record<string, StoredMCPServer>;
 }): string {
   const tempDir = createTempDir("mcp-inspector-config-");
   const configPath = path.join(tempDir, "config.json");

clients/cli/__tests__/metadata.test.ts

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, it, expect } from "vitest";
 import { runCli } from "./helpers/cli-runner.js";
+import type { StrictJsonObject } from "@inspector/core/json/jsonUtils.js";
 import {
   expectCliSuccess,
   expectCliFailure,
@@ -11,7 +12,11 @@ import {
   createAddTool,
   createTestServerInfo,
 } from "@modelcontextprotocol/inspector-test-server";
-import { NO_SERVER_SENTINEL } from "./helpers/fixtures.js";
+import {
+  NO_SERVER_SENTINEL,
+  createTestConfig,
+  deleteConfigFile,
+} from "./helpers/fixtures.js";
 
 describe("Metadata Tests", () => {
   describe("General Metadata", () => {
@@ -1028,4 +1033,143 @@ describe("Metadata Tests", () => {
       }
     });
   });
+  describe("Per-server metadata from mcp.json (#2093)", () => {
+    /**
+     * Write a one-server catalog pointing at `url`, carrying `metadata` as the
+     * on-disk per-server key. Returns the catalog path; the caller deletes it.
+     */
+    function writeCatalogWithMetadata(
+      url: string,
+      metadata: StrictJsonObject,
+    ): string {
+      return createTestConfig({
+        mcpServers: {
+          "meta-server": {
+            type: "streamable-http",
+            url,
+            metadata,
+          },
+        },
+      });
+    }
+
+    it("applies a server's persisted metadata to every request", async () => {
+      // The setting belongs to the server, not to the client that reads it —
+      // web and the TUI already honored it, and the CLI silently did not,
+      // because `InspectorClient` reads `defaultMetadata` rather than falling
+      // back to `serverSettings.metadata`.
+      const server = createTestServerHttp({
+        serverInfo: createTestServerInfo(),
+        tools: [createEchoTool()],
+      });
+      let catalogPath: string | undefined;
+
+      try {
+        await server.start();
+        catalogPath = writeCatalogWithMetadata(server.url, { tenant: "acme" });
+
+        const result = await runCli([
+          "--catalog",
+          catalogPath,
+          "--server",
+          "meta-server",
+          "--cli",
+          "--method",
+          "tools/list",
+        ]);
+
+        expectCliSuccess(result);
+        expect(expectValidJson(result)).toHaveProperty("tools");
+
+        const toolsListRequest = server
+          .getRecordedRequests()
+          .find((r) => r.method === "tools/list");
+        expect(toolsListRequest).toBeDefined();
+        expect(toolsListRequest?.metadata).toEqual({ tenant: "acme" });
+      } finally {
+        if (catalogPath) deleteConfigFile(catalogPath);
+        await server.stop();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("merges --metadata over the persisted defaults", async () => {
+      // `--metadata` is per-invocation and stays that way: non-colliding keys
+      // merge with the catalog's, and a colliding one wins (call-time keys
+      // override defaults in `InspectorClient.mergeMeta`).
+      const server = createTestServerHttp({
+        serverInfo: createTestServerInfo(),
+        tools: [createEchoTool()],
+      });
+      let catalogPath: string | undefined;
+
+      try {
+        await server.start();
+        catalogPath = writeCatalogWithMetadata(server.url, {
+          tenant: "acme",
+          region: "eu",
+        });
+
+        const result = await runCli([
+          "--catalog",
+          catalogPath,
+          "--server",
+          "meta-server",
+          "--cli",
+          "--method",
+          "tools/list",
+          "--metadata",
+          "tenant=override",
+        ]);
+
+        expectCliSuccess(result);
+
+        const toolsListRequest = server
+          .getRecordedRequests()
+          .find((r) => r.method === "tools/list");
+        expect(toolsListRequest?.metadata).toEqual({
+          tenant: "override",
+          region: "eu",
+        });
+      } finally {
+        if (catalogPath) deleteConfigFile(catalogPath);
+        await server.stop();
+      }
+    });
+
+    it("sends no _meta when the persisted metadata is empty", async () => {
+      // `{}` means "no defaults" — an empty map must not put a bare `_meta` on
+      // the wire, matching what the option-less CLI has always sent.
+      const server = createTestServerHttp({
+        serverInfo: createTestServerInfo(),
+        tools: [createEchoTool()],
+      });
+      let catalogPath: string | undefined;
+
+      try {
+        await server.start();
+        catalogPath = writeCatalogWithMetadata(server.url, {});
+
+        const result = await runCli([
+          "--catalog",
+          catalogPath,
+          "--server",
+          "meta-server",
+          "--cli",
+          "--method",
+          "tools/list",
+        ]);
+
+        expectCliSuccess(result);
+
+        const toolsListRequest = server
+          .getRecordedRequests()
+          .find((r) => r.method === "tools/list");
+        expect(toolsListRequest).toBeDefined();
+        expect(toolsListRequest?.metadata).toBeUndefined();
+      } finally {
+        if (catalogPath) deleteConfigFile(catalogPath);
+        await server.stop();
+      }
+    });
+  });
 });