Test an MCP tool in seconds

Point mcp-tui at a server and it opens on the Tools tab. Pick a tool, fill the form it builds from the input schema, press Enter, and the result appears beside the form.

Verify an MCP tool in seconds. Connect to a server, pick a tool, fill the form mcp-tui builds from its input schema, run it, and copy the same call as a CLI command.

Connect

mcp-tui --cmd demo-server --args -stdio            # a stdio server
mcp-tui --url http://127.0.0.1:8931/mcp            # a streamable HTTP server
mcp-tui "npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-everything stdio"

With no arguments, mcp-tui opens a connection screen listing the servers it found in Claude Desktop, VS Code and its own saved configurations.

Pick a tool and fill the form

↑/↓ or j/k move through the tools; the pane on the right shows the selected tool’s name, annotations and description. Enter opens its form.

Each field comes from the input schema, with its type and constraints in the label: status [open | pending | solved | closed] for an enum, limit [integer 1–50, default 10] for a bounded integer. Values are converted to the declared type as you type. An object field opens as a sub-form with Ctrl+E, an array of objects as a list of them.

Run it

Enter in any field runs the tool. Before the call goes out, the arguments are checked against the whole schema; a call that breaks it is refused, and the error names the argument (see Validate tool arguments).

On a terminal 120 columns or wider the result sits to the right of the form. Each content block gets its own heading, JSON is coloured, and structuredContent follows the text when the text does not already repeat it. PgUp/PgDn scroll it from anywhere; Ctrl+C copies it.

Take it to the shell

The CLI button, or c off a text field, shows the same call as a shell command and copies it:

mcp-tui --porcelain --transport stdio --cmd demo-server --arg -stdio tool call search_tickets limit=3 status=open

It is written for scripts: --porcelain drops the progress messages, and each server argument is its own quoted --arg. Paste it into a terminal, a script or a CI job. To collect a whole session at once, see Turn manual checks into CI scripts.