MCP Inspector Testing Skill
Quick testing for MCP servers (stdio, HTTP, SSE). Run Inspector CLI commands to validate tools, resources, and prompts.
Quick Start
bash
# Basic tool test (local server) npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli node build/index.js --method tools/list # Call a tool npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli node build/index.js \ --method tools/call --tool-name mytool --tool-arg key=value # Remote server (HTTP/SSE) npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector --cli https://server.com --method tools/list
Common Methods
| Method | Purpose | Required Flags |
|---|---|---|
tools/list | List available tools | none |
tools/call | Execute a tool | --tool-name |
resources/list | List resources | none |
resources/read | Read resource content | --uri |
resources/templates/list | List resource templates | none |
prompts/list | List prompts | none |
prompts/get | Get prompt with args | --prompt-name |
Key CLI Flags
Transport:
- •
--cli- Enable non-interactive mode (required) - •
--transport <stdio\|sse\|http>- Explicit transport type - •
--server-url <url>- Server URL for SSE/HTTP
Testing:
- •
--method <name>- MCP method to call - •
--tool-arg key=value- Tool arguments (repeatable) - •
--uri <uri>- Resource URI - •
--prompt-args key=value- Prompt arguments (repeatable)
Config:
- •
--config <path>- Load from mcp.json - •
--server <name>- Select server from config - •
-e KEY=VALUE- Set environment variable - •
--header "Name: Value"- HTTP headers for remote servers
Transport Auto-Detection
- •URLs ending in
/mcp→ HTTP (streamable) - •URLs ending in
/sse→ SSE - •No URL → stdio (local server)
Reference Docs
See references/ directory:
- •
cli-flags.md- Complete flag reference - •
transports.md- stdio/SSE/HTTP details - •
testing-methods.md- All methods with examples - •
config-files.md- mcp.json patterns - •
known-issues.md- Server vs CLI bugs
Language-Specific Examples
See examples/ directory:
- •
julia-stdio.md- Julia server testing - •
remote-servers.md- HTTP/SSE testing, curl, mcp-remote