AI Developer Tools

mcpsnoop

A transparent proxy that shows every real tool call between your AI client and MCP servers, live in your terminal.

What is mcpsnoop?

mcpsnoop is a terminal-based debugging tool that sits between your AI client and MCP servers to inspect and replay JSON-RPC tool calls.

mcpsnoop vs Similar AI Tools

Pricing ModelFreeFreeCustom PricingFree, Paid
Free Credits
Key Features
  • Live JSON-RPC stream with color-coded requests, responses, errors, and slow calls
  • Replay any captured tool call against a fresh isolated server
  • Capability inspector showing client and server handshake
  • GitHub Pages hosting
  • Jekyll integration
  • Markdown content support
  • Workload monitoring and anomaly detection
  • Slow query identification and optimization
  • Natural language querying to SQL translation
  • Scans skills and MCP servers against ATR rules before loading
  • Real-time runtime protection against prompt injection and hijacks
  • Signed audit-ready evidence for compliance (EU AI Act, NYDFS, DORA)
Pros
  • Transparent proxy requires no configuration changes
  • Live terminal UI with powerful filtering
  • Free hosting with custom domain support
  • Easy setup via Git
  • Quick one-line installation and setup in 15 minutes
  • Self-hosted ensures data stays within your infrastructure
  • Open source with MIT license
  • Real-time detection and prevention
Cons
  • Pre-1.0 software may have breaking changes
  • Only supports MCP protocol traffic
  • Limited to static content
  • No server-side processing
  • Requires self-hosting and VPC setup
  • No free tier or trial mentioned
  • Enterprise features require paid tiers
  • Setup may require technical expertise
Best For
  • Developers debugging MCP-based AI applications
  • Engineers building custom MCP servers or clients
  • Developers
  • Open source projects
  • Database administrators
  • Data engineers
  • Developers building and deploying AI agents
  • Enterprises needing audit-ready AI security

How to use mcpsnoop?

  1. 1Install via 'go install github.com/kerlenton/mcpsnoop/cmd/mcpsnoop@latest' or 'brew install mcpsnoop'.
  2. 2Wrap your server command with 'mcpsnoop -- <server>' in your client's MCP config.
  3. 3Use your client as usual.
  4. 4Run 'mcpsnoop' to open the live terminal UI.
  5. 5For streamable HTTP servers, use 'mcpsnoop http --target URL --listen :7000'.

mcpsnoop Key Features

  • Live JSON-RPC stream with color-coded requests, responses, errors, and slow calls
  • Replay any captured tool call against a fresh isolated server
  • Capability inspector showing client and server handshake
  • Frame inspector with full pretty-printed JSON and in-frame search
  • Hung-call detection with live PENDING timer
  • Filter stream by tool, status, direction, kind, ID, or plain text

mcpsnoop Use Cases

  • Debugging real-time MCP traffic between AI clients and servers
  • Inspecting tool call arguments and responses
  • Replaying tool calls for iterative development
  • Verifying capability agreements between client and server

mcpsnoop Pricing & Free Credits

mcpsnoop currently operates on a Free model.

This tool is completely free to use

Open Source

Free

MIT licensed, free to use without restrictions

mcpsnoop Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Transparent proxy requires no configuration changes
  • Live terminal UI with powerful filtering
  • Replay functionality for quick iteration
  • Works with any MCP server language

Cons

  • Pre-1.0 software may have breaking changes
  • Only supports MCP protocol traffic
  • Requires Go or Homebrew for installation

What is mcpsnoop best for?

  • Developers debugging MCP-based AI applications
  • Engineers building custom MCP servers or clients

mcpsnoop FAQ

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