# modelcontextprotocol/inspector

Visual testing tool for MCP servers

Repository: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/inspector
Homepage: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/tools/inspector
Language: TypeScript
License Family: other
Topics: tool, debug, mcp, cli, tui, web
Last push: 2026-08-27T00:10:57+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 89/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 99, longevity 49
- inputs: {"age_days": 699, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 7, "gap_med": 7.5, "n_releases_24m": 59}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 10760, forks 1497 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:44.175920+00:00)

## What it is
The MCP Inspector is the reference developer tool for testing and debugging Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. It ships as a single npm package offering three clients behind one binary: a web UI, a scriptable CLI, and an interactive terminal UI.

## Use cases
- test and debug an MCP server before shipping it
- inspect MCP tool, resource, and prompt calls in a browser UI
- run MCP server checks in CI pipelines
- script MCP server interactions for coding agents
- debug MCP servers from the terminal without a browser
- verify OAuth flows and protocol version negotiation for an MCP server

## When to choose
- you are building or integrating MCP servers and need the official reference inspector
- you want one tool that works in the browser, CLI, and terminal with shared config and OAuth state
- you need machine-readable MCP output for automation or agent feedback loops

## When to avoid
- you need to test non-MCP APIs or protocols
- you want a general-purpose HTTP or GraphQL debugger
- your environment cannot run Node.js 22.19+

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: testing, developer-tools, cli, mcp
- domain: developer-tools, artificial-intelligence
- platform: cli, browser, cross-platform
- tags: mcp, model-context-protocol, inspector, tui, debugging-tool, protocol-testing, oauth, typescript, debugging, ai-agents, command-line, nodejs

## Member repositories
- modelcontextprotocol/inspector (main) score 89

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:44.175920+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:17:53.444013+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/inspector (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:44.175920+00:00, sha 9b50d6fd0396)
  - homepage: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/tools/inspector (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:23.492408+00:00, sha b8ed896061bd)
  - site_page: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/getting-started/intro (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:23.501763+00:00, sha 07c1cb30d058)
  - site_page: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/registry/about (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:23.503856+00:00, sha 59c4c7c6cfb1)
  - site_page: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/learn/architecture (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:23.505804+00:00, sha d78e2ca1030c)
  - site_page: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/learn/server-concepts (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:23.508838+00:00, sha dcfdf8aa6212)
  - site_page: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/learn/client-concepts (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:23.510827+00:00, sha 4a3b517c32bd)
  - site_page: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/learn/versioning (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:23.512890+00:00, sha b65b22767e07)
  - site_page: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/develop/connect-local-servers (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:23.514494+00:00, sha 48f81283c5c2)
  - site_page: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/2026-07-28/develop/connect-remote-servers (fetched 2026-08-29T08:17:23.516208+00:00, sha dde4687fd7b6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.