79b80b459d
CLAUDE.md included @./README.md, which did not exist. Add a root README covering project layout, setup, the @inspector/core shared package, the web "dumb components" + Storybook approach, test-servers, build, the testing/quality gate, publishing, and how AGENTS.md/CLAUDE.md govern contributions for humans and agents alike. Move the publishing/packaging documentation (single-package tarball, "files" invariants, pack:verify) from the launcher README to the root README, where whole-repo packaging belongs; the launcher README now points there. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01BrihGWcrM9JGRyu41nzZYw
103 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
103 lines
7.4 KiB
Markdown
# MCP Inspector Launcher
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The launcher is the package that provides the global `mcp-inspector` binary (e.g. when users run `npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector`). It is not a separate user-facing app—it is the single entrypoint that selects and runs one of the clients (web, CLI, or TUI).
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## Responsibility
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- Parse mode from a leading prefix of `--web` (default), `--cli`, or `--tui` immediately after the script name.
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- Forward all following arguments unchanged (including tokens that look like mode flags).
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- Dynamically import that app’s runner from `clients/{web,cli,tui}/build/index.js` (relative to the launcher build output) and call it **in-process** (no `spawn()`).
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All configuration parsing, config-file loading, and server setup are handled by the app runners and by **core**; the launcher does not interpret config or env vars.
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## Web server-list flags (`--web`)
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`mcp-inspector --web` chooses which server list the UI shows and whether it is
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editable (see [specification/v2_catalog_launch_config.md](../../specification/v2_catalog_launch_config.md)):
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| Invocation | Server list | Editable in UI? |
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| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- |
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| `mcp-inspector --web` | Default catalog `~/.mcp-inspector/mcp.json` | Yes |
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| `mcp-inspector --web --catalog <path>` (or `MCP_CATALOG_PATH=<path>`) | That file as the active catalog (created/seeded if missing) | Yes |
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| `mcp-inspector --web --config <path>` | That file as a **read-only session** — shown but never written, seeded, or migrated (safe for a foreign config) | No |
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| `mcp-inspector --web --server-url <url> --transport http --header "Name: Value"` (or a positional command) | One ad-hoc server held in memory, connectable with the given `--header`s | No |
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Rules: `--catalog` and `--config` are mutually exclusive; neither combines with
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an ad-hoc target or `--header`; `--header` requires an ad-hoc HTTP/SSE server
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and is applied to that connection (it is no longer a warn-only no-op).
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## CLI and TUI server-list flags (`--cli` / `--tui`)
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The CLI and TUI use the same `--catalog` / `--config` vocabulary as `--web`,
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resolved by the shared `core/mcp/node/config.ts` helpers:
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| Invocation | Server list source |
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| ------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| `mcp-inspector --cli` / `--tui` (no source flag, no ad-hoc target) | Default writable catalog `~/.mcp-inspector/mcp.json` (created/seeded empty if missing) |
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| `--catalog <path>` (or `MCP_CATALOG_PATH=<path>`) | That file as a **writable catalog** — seeded empty if missing |
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| `--config <path>` | That file as a **read-only session** — served as-is, never written or seeded; **errors if absent** |
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| positional command / `--server-url <url>` | One ad-hoc server |
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Rules (shared `serverSourceConflict`): `--catalog` and `--config` are mutually
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exclusive, and neither combines with an ad-hoc command/URL target. The CLI/TUI
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do not perform catalog CRUD yet — they are read consumers — so the
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writable/read-only split currently surfaces only as **seed-if-missing**
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(`--catalog`/default) vs **error-if-missing** (`--config`). Full writable
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persistence is tracked in #1482 / #1432.
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### Production web build (`--web`, no `--dev`)
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Prod `--web` serves static assets from `clients/web/dist/`, which only exists
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after a build. In the published package `dist/` always ships. In a fresh dev
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checkout it is absent, so the runner **builds it on demand** the first time you
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launch (`vite build` via `npm run build:client`, run in `clients/web`) instead
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of serving a broken page (#1486). If that build can't run — e.g. dev
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dependencies are missing — the launcher exits with an actionable error telling
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you to run `npm run build` (from `clients/web`) or relaunch with `--dev` to use
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the Vite dev server. `--dev` never needs `dist/`; it runs Vite directly.
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CI and `npm run validate` (via the top-level `smoke` step) exercise this prod
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path end-to-end with `npm run smoke:web` (`scripts/smoke-web.mjs`): it starts
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`mcp-inspector --web` against the built `dist/` and asserts `GET /` returns the
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SPA (HTTP 200) with the injected `__INSPECTOR_API_TOKEN__`.
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### CLI and TUI smokes
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The top-level `smoke` step also runs end-to-end smokes for the other two modes
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through the built launcher artifact (beyond the `--help` checks in
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`smoke:launcher`):
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- `npm run smoke:cli` (`scripts/smoke-cli.mjs`) — runs `mcp-inspector --cli`
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against the bundled stdio test server via a temp `--catalog` and asserts
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`tools/list` returns the server's tools, plus the `--catalog`/`--config`
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resolution paths (default-catalog seed-on-missing, read-only `--config`
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error-without-seed, `--catalog`/`--config` conflict).
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- `npm run smoke:tui` (`scripts/smoke-tui.mjs`) — launches
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`mcp-inspector --tui --catalog <temp>` and asserts the Ink app renders its
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first frame within a timeout, then shuts it down (a shallow boot/render
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check, not full interaction).
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Both build `test-servers/build` on demand if it is missing.
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## Development
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Like the web client, the launcher self-validates from its own folder:
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```bash
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npm run validate # format:check && lint && build && test:coverage
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```
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This has **no** dependency on the other clients being built — it only checks the
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launcher's own source. `eslint.config.js` is a Node-only flat config (the web
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client's React/Storybook plugins stripped out), and the per-file coverage gate
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covers `parse-launcher-argv.ts` (the pure arg-parsing logic); `src/index.ts` is
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excluded as binary bootstrap and is instead exercised by the smokes above. The
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repo-root `validate:launcher` simply delegates here (`cd clients/launcher && npm run validate`).
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## Publishing
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The launcher provides the `mcp-inspector` bin for the single `@modelcontextprotocol/inspector` tarball. Packaging is a whole-repo concern — how the one-package/single-version tarball is assembled, the `"files"` allowlist invariants (no source maps, why `clients/web/build` needs `.npmignore`, why the cli/tui `package.json`s ship), and the `npm run pack:verify` publish smoke — is documented in the [root README](../../README.md#publishing).
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## Architecture
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For how the launcher fits with the shared config processor and app runners, see the [Launcher and config consolidation](../../docs/launcher-config-consolidation-plan.md) document in the repo root `docs/` folder.
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