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MCPJam Inspector

by MCPJam (community)

Development platform to debug, chat, inspect, and evaluate MCP servers and MCP apps. 1,940 GitHub stars and 100 commits on main in the last 30 days.

1,940·6 tools·Released AUG 2025·Apache-2.0 + commercial (server/services, evals)
npx -y @mcpjam/inspector
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Development platform to debug, chat, inspect, and evaluate MCP servers and MCP apps. 1,940 stars and 100 commits on main in the last 30 days.

Reviewed by M. Nouriel · MAY 2026

INSTALL THIS SERVER

{ "mcpServers": { "mcpjam-inspector": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@mcpjam/inspector" ] } } }
PrereqNPM: `@mcpjam/inspector`. Run against a non-production MCP target for safe debugging. Path: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS).
{ "mcpServers": { "mcpjam-inspector": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@mcpjam/inspector" ] } } }
{ "mcpServers": { "mcpjam-inspector": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@mcpjam/inspector" ] } } }
{ "mcpServers": { "mcpjam-inspector": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@mcpjam/inspector" ] } } }
{ "mcpServers": { "mcpjam-inspector": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "-y", "@mcpjam/inspector" ] } } }

6 TOOLS AVAILABLE

connect_server
Connect MCPJam to an MCP server for inspection
Admin
list_tools
List tools exposed by the connected MCP server
Read
invoke_tool
Invoke a tool with arbitrary parameters
Admin
chat_with_server
Open a chat session that uses the MCP server tools
Admin
evaluate_server
Run an evaluation suite against the MCP server
Admin
inspect_transport
Inspect transport-layer behaviour for a session
Read

OUR ASSESSMENT

Strengths
  • 1,940 GitHub stars.
  • 100 commits on main in the last 30 days.
  • Chat and evaluation features beyond the official inspector.
  • Active community development.
  • Transport inspection helps diagnose stdio/HTTP issues.
Weaknesses
  • Dual-licensed: `server/services/` directories and `server/routes/mcp/evals.ts` are under a separate commercial license, not Apache-2.0.
  • gh api reports NOASSERTION for the spdx_id because of the mixed-licence structure.
  • Community-maintained; feature parity with the official inspector is a moving target.
  • Connecting to a production MCP server requires careful credential handling.
Security Notes

No authentication for the Inspector. Connecting to a production MCP server passes through your credentials; treat the Inspector session as having the same access as the connected server. For debugging, prefer a non-production MCP target. Licence caveat: code in `server/services/` directories and `server/routes/mcp/evals.ts` is governed by a commercial licence (see `server/evals/LICENSE`) rather than Apache-2.0; review before redistribution or building derivative MCPs.

Best For

MCP server authors who want chat-based testing alongside protocol-level debugging; eval-driven dev where the agent runs a suite against an MCP; production debugging where inspection plus replay matters.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Language
typescript
Transport
stdiostreamable-http
Clients
Claude DesktopClaude CodeCursorVS CodeWindsurf
License
Apache-2.0 + commercial (server/services, evals)
GitHub
MCPJam/inspector · ★ 1,940
npm
@mcpjam/inspector
Last Release
@mcpjam/inspector (npm latest)MAY 12, 2026
First Released
AUG 1, 2025

ADOPTION METRICS

// GitHub Stars
1,940

// Reading this1,940 stars on MCPJam/inspector. 100 commits on main in the last 30 days.

// Popularity Rank
#9
Globally · #9 in Dev Tools

// Reading thisPairs with MCP Inspector, MCPHub, ToolHive, MCP Registry as MCP infrastructure. MCPJam owns the chat-plus-eval slot.

SOURCES & VERIFICATION

We don't take any single directory's word for it. Before scoring, we cross-reference 4 public MCP sources, install the server ourselves against the clients we cover, and record when we last re-verified.

01
Discovered
Manual submission
First indexed MAY 12, 2026
02
Cross-referenced
4 directories
PulseMCP, MCP.so, Glama, Smithery
03
Verified against
Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code
Installed and tested across clients
04
Last re-checked
MAY 12, 2026
Weekly re-verification
// How other directories see it

The same server, 4 different lenses. We reconcile these signals into our editorial score, which is why our number sometimes diverges from a directory-aggregate star count.

SourceTheir ratingTheir star countTheir downloadsLast synced
AutomationSwitch This page4.2editorial1,940MAY 12, 2026
PulseMCP— unratedunavailableunavailableMAY 12, 2026
MCP.so— unratedunavailableunavailableMAY 12, 2026
Glama— unratedunavailableunavailableMAY 12, 2026
Smithery— unratedunavailableunavailableMAY 12, 2026

// Counts are directory-reported; we don't adjust them. Discrepancies usually come from different snapshot times or star-caching.

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// Get in touch

DISCUSS YOUR
MCP REQUIREMENTS.

Evaluating a server, scoping an internal deployment, or working out whether MCP is the right fit at all. Start the conversation and we will point you at the right piece of the ecosystem.

Discuss Your MCP Requirements →