URL: https://gofastmcp.com/cli/inspecting
Title: Inspecting Servers - FastMCP

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Inspecting Servers
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View a server’s components and metadata
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New in version
2.9.0
fastmcp inspect
loads a server and reports what it contains — its tools, resources, prompts, version, and metadata. The default output is a human-readable summary:
fastmcp
inspect
server.py
Server: MyServer
Instructions: A helpful MCP server
Version: 1.0.0
Components:
Tools: 5
Prompts: 2
Resources: 3
Templates: 1
Environment:
FastMCP: 2.0.0
MCP: 1.0.0
Use --format [fastmcp|mcp] for complete JSON output
​
JSON Output
For programmatic use, two JSON formats are available:
FastMCP format
(
--format fastmcp
) includes everything FastMCP knows about the server — tool tags, enabled status, output schemas, annotations, and custom metadata. Field names use
snake_case
. This is the format for debugging and introspecting FastMCP servers.
MCP protocol format
(
--format mcp
) shows exactly what MCP clients see through the protocol — only standard MCP fields,
camelCase
names, no FastMCP-specific extensions. This is the format for verifying client compatibility and debugging what clients actually receive.
# Full FastMCP metadata to stdout
fastmcp
inspect
server.py
--format
fastmcp
# MCP protocol view saved to file
fastmcp
inspect
server.py
--format
mcp
-o
manifest.json
​
Options
Option
Flag
Description
Format
--format
,
-f
fastmcp
or
mcp
(required when using
-o
)
Output File
--output
,
-o
Save to file instead of stdout
​
Entrypoints
The
inspect
command supports the same local entrypoints as
fastmcp run
: inferred instances, explicit entrypoints, factory functions, and
fastmcp.json
configs.
fastmcp
inspect
server.py
# inferred instance
fastmcp
inspect
server.py:my_server
# explicit entrypoint
fastmcp
inspect
server.py:create_server
# factory function
fastmcp
inspect
fastmcp.json
# config file
inspect
only works with local files and
fastmcp.json
— it doesn’t connect to remote URLs or standard MCP config files.
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