| Filename | Latest commit message | Latest commit date |
|---|---|---|
36b48e61a2* feat(web): build dist on demand for prod --web + end-to-end CI smoke (#1486) Prod `mcp-inspector --web` serves static assets from clients/web/dist, which only exists after a build. In a fresh checkout it was absent and the prod path served a broken page (ENOENT on index.html); the launcher smoke test only covered --help, so this path was unverified in CI. - ensure-web-build.ts: build dist on demand (vite build via build:client) when missing, or exit with an actionable error if the build can't run. - run-web.ts: invoke ensureWebBuild before startHonoServer in the prod path (--dev runs Vite directly and skips it). - scripts/smoke-web.mjs + smoke:web: start --web against built dist and assert GET / returns 200 with the injected __INSPECTOR_API_TOKEN__. Wired into validate:launcher and a new CI step. - Docs: launcher README + AGENTS.md. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> * fix(web): surface spawn error in build-on-demand; clarify smoke comment Address PR #1497 review: - runViteBuild now logs result.error.message (e.g. ENOENT when npm isn't on PATH) before returning a null status, so the spawn-failure cause surfaces instead of only the generic actionable error. The build seam gains a `log` param; added a test covering the ENOENT path. - Reword scripts/smoke-web.mjs header so it no longer implies the readiness wait covers a cold build-on-demand vite build (it's sized for a pre-built dist, which validate/CI guarantee). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> --------- Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com> |
||
| .. | ||
| __tests__ | ||
| scripts | ||
| src | ||
| package-lock.json | ||
| package.json | ||
| README.md | ||
| tsconfig.json | ||
MCP Inspector Launcher
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).
Responsibility
- Parse mode from a leading prefix of
--web(default),--cli, or--tuiimmediately after the script name. - Forward all following arguments unchanged (including tokens that look like mode flags).
- 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 (nospawn()).
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.
Web server-list flags (--web)
mcp-inspector --web chooses which server list the UI shows and whether it is
editable (see specification/v2_catalog_launch_config.md):
| Invocation | Server list | Editable in UI? |
|---|---|---|
mcp-inspector --web |
Default catalog ~/.mcp-inspector/mcp.json |
Yes |
mcp-inspector --web --catalog <path> (or MCP_CATALOG_PATH=<path>) |
That file as the active catalog (created/seeded if missing) | Yes |
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 |
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 --headers |
No |
Rules: --catalog and --config are mutually exclusive; neither combines with
an ad-hoc target or --header; --header requires an ad-hoc HTTP/SSE server
and is applied to that connection (it is no longer a warn-only no-op).
Production web build (--web, no --dev)
Prod --web serves static assets from clients/web/dist/, which only exists
after a build. In the published package dist/ always ships. In a fresh dev
checkout it is absent, so the runner builds it on demand the first time you
launch (vite build via npm run build:client, run in clients/web) instead
of serving a broken page (#1486). If that build can't run — e.g. dev
dependencies are missing — the launcher exits with an actionable error telling
you to run npm run build (from clients/web) or relaunch with --dev to use
the Vite dev server. --dev never needs dist/; it runs Vite directly.
CI and npm run validate (via validate:launcher) exercise this prod path
end-to-end with npm run smoke:web (scripts/smoke-web.mjs): it starts
mcp-inspector --web against the built dist/ and asserts GET / returns the
SPA (HTTP 200) with the injected __INSPECTOR_API_TOKEN__.
Publishing
The root @modelcontextprotocol/inspector package ships as one fat tarball: npm run build at the repo root builds all clients, then prepack runs before npm publish. Runtime dependencies are declared on the root package.json; client builds bundle @inspector/core and externalize npm packages resolved from the root install.
Architecture
For how the launcher fits with the shared config processor and app runners, see the Launcher and config consolidation document in the repo root docs/ folder.