MCP Inspector
Value Proposition Accelerate AI prototyping and validate operational safety. The MCP Inspector provides an isolated environment to visually audit tool boundaries, debug complex workflows, and verify agent performance prior to production rollout. Read the full value proposition
# Launch Inspector
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx -y @neverinfamous/mysql-mcp \
--transport stdio \
--allowed-io-roots "C:/temp,/tmp" \
--mysql mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/databaseOpen http://localhost:5173 in your browser.
Note
Global install users can substitute npx -y @neverinfamous/mysql-mcp with mysql-mcp.
# Start the HTTP server in one terminal:
npx -y @neverinfamous/mysql-mcp --transport http --server-host 0.0.0.0 --port 3000 --allowed-io-roots "C:/temp,/tmp" --mysql mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/database
# In a separate terminal, launch the Inspector pointing to the SSE endpoint:
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector http://localhost:3000/sseWarning
Do not use the --stateless flag when testing SSE Transport. This flag explicitly disables the /sse endpoint and will cause immediate connection failures.
Note
The HTTP transport exposes the /metrics endpoint. Prometheus can scrape this endpoint. To enable the metrics endpoint, pass the --metrics-export prometheus flag.
| Tab | Capability |
|---|---|
| Tools | Browse all tools, view schemas, test with custom inputs |
| Resources | View all observability resource endpoints and their current content |
| Prompts | Test all prompts with custom arguments |
| Notifications | View server logs and notifications in real-time |
Test with specific tool subsets (e.g., starter or dba-monitor):
# Example: Test with starter tools only
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx -y @neverinfamous/mysql-mcp \
--transport stdio \
--allowed-io-roots "C:/temp,/tmp" \
--mysql mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/database \
--tool-filter "starter"
# Example: Test with DBA Monitoring tools
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector npx -y @neverinfamous/mysql-mcp \
--transport stdio \
--allowed-io-roots "C:/temp,/tmp" \
--mysql mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/database \
--tool-filter "dba-monitor"The Inspector UI provides buttons to export your server configuration:
-
Server Entry — Copy a single server config for your
mcp.json -
Servers File — Copy a complete
mcpServersconfiguration
# Start Inspector in Docker
docker run --rm -p 5173:5173 ghcr.io/modelcontextprotocol/inspector:<version>
# Then configure it to connect to your mysql-mcp instanceTip
Connect to the /sse endpoint instead of /mcp when manually testing SSE Transport endpoints. The Inspector manages session negotiation automatically.
If you are developing the server locally, run the inspector directly against your build:
cd /path/to/mysql-mcp
pnpm run build
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node dist/cli.js \
--transport stdio \
--allowed-io-roots "C:/temp,/tmp" \
--mysql mysql://user:password@localhost:3306/database