allow passing env vars to server from command line

README.md

@@ -14,10 +14,17 @@ To inspect an MCP server implementation, there's no need to clone this repo. Ins
 npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector build/index.js
 ```
 
-You can also pass arguments along which will get passed as arguments to your MCP server:
+You can pass both arguments and environment variables to your MCP server. Arguments are passed directly to your server, while environment variables can be set using the `-e` flag:
 
-```
+```bash
-npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector build/index.js arg1 arg2 ...
+# Pass arguments only
+npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector build/index.js arg1 arg2
+
+# Pass environment variables only
+npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector -e KEY=value -e KEY2=value2 build/index.js
+
+# Pass both environment variables and arguments
+npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector -e KEY=value -e KEY2=value2 build/index.js arg1 arg2
 ```
 
 The inspector runs both a client UI (default port 5173) and an MCP proxy server (default port 3000). Open the client UI in your browser to use the inspector. You can customize the ports if needed:

bin/cli.js

@@ -11,8 +11,24 @@ function delay(ms) {
 }
 
 async function main() {
-  // Get command line arguments
+  // Parse command line arguments
-  const [, , command, ...mcpServerArgs] = process.argv;
+  const args = process.argv.slice(2);
+  const envVars = {};
+  const mcpServerArgs = [];
+  let command = null;
+
+  for (let i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
+    if (args[i] === "-e" && i + 1 < args.length) {
+      const [key, value] = args[++i].split("=");
+      if (key && value) {
+        envVars[key] = value;
+      }
+    } else if (!command) {
+      command = args[i];
+    } else {
+      mcpServerArgs.push(args[i]);
+    }
+  }
 
   const inspectorServerPath = resolve(
     __dirname,
@@ -52,7 +68,11 @@ async function main() {
       ...(mcpServerArgs ? [`--args=${mcpServerArgs.join(" ")}`] : []),
     ],
     {
-      env: { ...process.env, PORT: SERVER_PORT },
+      env: {
+        ...process.env,
+        PORT: SERVER_PORT,
+        MCP_ENV_VARS: JSON.stringify(envVars),
+      },
       signal: abort.signal,
       echoOutput: true,
     },

client/src/components/Sidebar.tsx

@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ import {
   CircleHelp,
   Bug,
   Github,
+  Eye,
+  EyeOff,
 } from "lucide-react";
 import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button";
 import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input";
@@ -54,6 +56,7 @@ const Sidebar = ({
 }: SidebarProps) => {
   const [theme, setTheme] = useTheme();
   const [showEnvVars, setShowEnvVars] = useState(false);
+  const [shownEnvVars, setShownEnvVars] = useState<Record<string, boolean>>({});
 
   return (
     <div className="w-80 bg-card border-r border-border flex flex-col h-full">
@@ -134,20 +137,40 @@ const Sidebar = ({
               {showEnvVars && (
                 <div className="space-y-2">
                   {Object.entries(env).map(([key, value], idx) => (
-                    <div key={idx} className="grid grid-cols-[1fr,auto] gap-2">
+                    <div key={idx} className="space-y-2 pb-4">
-                      <div className="space-y-1">
+                      <div className="flex gap-2">
                         <Input
                           placeholder="Key"
                           value={key}
                           onChange={(e) => {
+                            const newKey = e.target.value;
                             const newEnv = { ...env };
                             delete newEnv[key];
-                            newEnv[e.target.value] = value;
+                            newEnv[newKey] = value;
                             setEnv(newEnv);
+                            setShownEnvVars((prev) => {
+                              const { [key]: shown, ...rest } = prev;
+                              return shown ? { ...rest, [newKey]: true } : rest;
+                            });
                           }}
                           className="font-mono"
                         />
+                        <Button
+                          variant="destructive"
+                          size="icon"
+                          className="h-9 w-9 p-0 shrink-0"
+                          onClick={() => {
+                            // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
+                            const { [key]: _removed, ...rest } = env;
+                            setEnv(rest);
+                          }}
+                        >
+                          ×
+                        </Button>
+                      </div>
+                      <div className="flex gap-2">
                         <Input
+                          type={shownEnvVars[key] ? "text" : "password"}
                           placeholder="Value"
                           value={value}
                           onChange={(e) => {
@@ -157,25 +180,35 @@ const Sidebar = ({
                           }}
                           className="font-mono"
                         />
+                        <Button
+                          variant="outline"
+                          size="icon"
+                          className="h-9 w-9 p-0 shrink-0"
+                          onClick={() => {
+                            setShownEnvVars((prev) => ({
+                              ...prev,
+                              [key]: !prev[key],
+                            }));
+                          }}
+                        >
+                          {shownEnvVars[key] ? (
+                            <Eye className="h-4 w-4" />
+                          ) : (
+                            <EyeOff className="h-4 w-4" />
+                          )}
+                        </Button>
                       </div>
-                      <Button
-                        variant="destructive"
-                        onClick={() => {
-                          // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-unused-vars
-                          const { [key]: removed, ...rest } = env;
-                          setEnv(rest);
-                        }}
-                      >
-                        Remove
-                      </Button>
                     </div>
                   ))}
                   <Button
                     variant="outline"
+                    className="w-full mt-2"
                     onClick={() => {
+                      const key = "";
                       const newEnv = { ...env };
-                      newEnv[""] = "";
+                      newEnv[key] = "";
                       setEnv(newEnv);
+                      setShownEnvVars({});
                     }}
                   >
                     Add Environment Variable

server/src/index.ts

@@ -15,6 +15,11 @@ import express from "express";
 import mcpProxy from "./mcpProxy.js";
 import { findActualExecutable } from "spawn-rx";
 
+const defaultEnvironment = {
+  ...getDefaultEnvironment(),
+  ...(process.env.MCP_ENV_VARS ? JSON.parse(process.env.MCP_ENV_VARS) : {}),
+};
+
 // Polyfill EventSource for an SSE client in Node.js
 // eslint-disable-next-line @typescript-eslint/no-explicit-any
 (global as any).EventSource = EventSource;
@@ -40,13 +45,12 @@ const createTransport = async (query: express.Request["query"]) => {
   if (transportType === "stdio") {
     const command = query.command as string;
     const origArgs = shellParseArgs(query.args as string) as string[];
-    const env = query.env ? JSON.parse(query.env as string) : undefined;
+    const queryEnv = query.env ? JSON.parse(query.env as string) : {};
+    const env = { ...process.env, ...defaultEnvironment, ...queryEnv };
 
     const { cmd, args } = findActualExecutable(command, origArgs);
 
-    console.log(
+    console.log(`Stdio transport: command=${cmd}, args=${args}`);
-      `Stdio transport: command=${cmd}, args=${args}, env=${JSON.stringify(env)}`,
-    );
 
     const transport = new StdioClientTransport({
       command: cmd,
@@ -136,8 +140,6 @@ app.post("/message", async (req, res) => {
 
 app.get("/config", (req, res) => {
   try {
-    const defaultEnvironment = getDefaultEnvironment();
-
     res.json({
       defaultEnvironment,
       defaultCommand: values.env,