Launch from Code (Beta)

Programmatically launch and configure MCPJam Inspector from your code or build tools

Beta Feature - This API is in active development. We’d love your feedback!

Share feedback on Discord or open a GitHub issue

Launch MCPJam Inspector programmatically from your code. This is useful for:

• MCP server developers - Auto-launch the inspector when running your dev server
• Framework integrations - Embed inspector into your Vite dev workflow

CLI Flags

Configure the inspector via CLI flags when running npx @mcpjam/inspector@latest:

npx @mcpjam/inspector@latest \
  --url http://localhost:3000/mcp \
  --name "My Server" \
  --tab playground

Available Flags

Flag	Description	Example
--url <url>	HTTP transport URL to connect to	--url http://localhost:3000/mcp
--name <name>	Display name for the server	--name "My Server"
--tab <tab>	Initial tab to navigate to	--tab playground
--bearer <token>	Bearer token for Authorization header	--bearer sk-xxx
--oauth	Trigger OAuth flow on connect	--oauth
--header <key=value>	Custom header (repeatable)	-H "X-Custom=value"

Example: OAuth Server

npx @mcpjam/inspector@latest \
  --url https://my-oauth-server.com/mcp \
  --name "OAuth Server" \
  --oauth \
  --tab servers

Programmatic API

Use launchInspector() to spawn the inspector from any Node.js script:

npm install @mcpjam/inspector

import { launchInspector } from "@mcpjam/inspector";

const inspector = await launchInspector({
  server: {
    name: "My MCP Server",
    url: "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
  },
  defaultTab: "tools",
});

console.log(`Inspector running at ${inspector.url}`);

// When done, stop the inspector
await inspector.stop();

LaunchOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
server.name	string	-	Display name for the server in the UI
server.url	string	-	HTTP URL of the MCP server
server.headers	Record<string, string>	-	Custom headers to send with requests
server.useOAuth	boolean	false	Trigger OAuth flow on connect
defaultTab	string	-	Initial tab: "servers", "tools", "resources", "prompts", "playground"

InspectorInstance

The returned instance provides:

Property	Type	Description
url	string	Full URL where inspector is running
process	ChildProcess	Underlying Node.js child process
stop()	() => Promise<void>	Gracefully stop the inspector

Example: Auto-launch with your MCP server

// dev.ts - Run with: npx tsx dev.ts
import { launchInspector } from "@mcpjam/inspector";
import { startMyMCPServer } from "./server";

async function main() {
  // Start your MCP server
  const server = await startMyMCPServer({ port: 3000 });
  console.log("MCP server running on http://localhost:3000/mcp");

  // Launch inspector connected to it
  const inspector = await launchInspector({
    server: {
      name: "Dev Server",
      url: "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
    },
    defaultTab: "playground",
  });

  console.log(`Inspector: ${inspector.url}`);

  // Handle cleanup
  process.on("SIGINT", async () => {
    await inspector.stop();
    await server.close();
    process.exit(0);
  });
}

main();

Vite Plugin

For Vite-based projects, use the plugin to auto-launch the inspector alongside your dev server:

// vite.config.ts
import { defineConfig } from "vite";
import { mcpInspector } from "@mcpjam/inspector/vite";

export default defineConfig({
  plugins: [
    mcpInspector({
      server: {
        name: "My MCP Server",
        url: "http://localhost:3000/mcp",
      },
      defaultTab: "playground",
    }),
  ],
});

When you run npm run dev, the inspector automatically launches and connects to your server.

Plugin Options

Option	Type	Default	Description
server	object	-	Server configuration (same as programmatic API)
defaultTab	string	"playground"	Initial tab to navigate to
autoLaunch	boolean	true	Launch inspector when Vite starts

Feedback Wanted

This is a beta feature and we’re actively iterating on the API. We’d love to hear:

• What use cases are you building?
• What’s missing from the API?
• Any bugs or rough edges?

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