19 lines
1.3 KiB
Markdown
19 lines
1.3 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 the mode flag: `--web` (default), `--cli`, or `--tui`.
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- Forward the rest of `process.argv` to the chosen app.
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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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## Publishing
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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.
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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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