---
url: /mcp.zig/guide/inspector.md
description: >-
  Use the MCP Inspector to test and debug your MCP servers with interactive tool
  calls and resource reads.
---

# MCP Inspector

The **MCP Inspector** is an interactive developer tool for testing and debugging MCP servers.

## Getting started

::: info Prerequisites
The MCP Inspector is a Node.js tool. You must have [Node.js](https://nodejs.org/) installed to run it, even though your project is in Zig.
:::

The Inspector runs directly through `npx` without requiring installation:

```bash
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector <command>
```

### Inspecting local servers

To inspect servers locally developed (e.g., your Zig MCP server), you can run:

```bash
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector <your-server-command> [args...]
# Example for a Zig server
npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector zig build run-server
```

## Features

The Inspector interface provides several features:

* **Server connection pane**: Select transport and customize command-line arguments.
* **Resources tab**: List resources, show metadata, inspect content, and test subscriptions.
* **Prompts tab**: Display templates, arguments, and test prompts with custom inputs.
* **Tools tab**: List tools, show schemas, and test tool execution.
* **Notifications pane**: View logs and notifications received from the server.

## Best Practices

* **Iterative testing**: Make server changes, rebuild, reconnect Inspector, and test.
* **Monitor messages**: Watch the log pane to see JSON-RPC traffic.
* **Test edge cases**: Try invalid inputs or missing arguments to verify error handling.