Exercise tools, resources, and prompts against a live HTTP server via MCP JSON-RPC over curl. Starts the server, surfaces the catalog, runs real and adversarial inputs, and produces a tight report with concrete findings and numbered follow-up options. Use after adding or modifying definitions, or when the user asks to test, try out, or verify their MCP surface.
Exercise tools, resources, and prompts against a live HTTP server via MCP JSON-RPC over curl. Starts the server, surfaces the catalog, runs real and adversarial inputs, and produces a tight report with concrete findings and numbered follow-up options. Use after adding or modifying definitions, or when the user asks to test, try out, or verify their MCP surface.
Unit tests (add-test skill) verify handler logic with mocked context. Field testing exercises the real HTTP transport with real JSON-RPC: starts the server, calls initialize, surfaces the catalog, runs inputs, and checks what a client actually sees. It catches what unit tests miss — awkward input shapes, unhelpful errors, missing format output, drift between structuredContent and content[], edge-case surprises.
Actively call the tools. Don't read code and guess.
Transport coverage
This skill drives an HTTP server because curl + JSON-RPC is the most reliable harness for shell-based agents. The same handlers run on both transports — only the framing differs — so HTTP exercises the full functional surface. Both HTTP session modes are covered: a durable Mcp-Session-Id session, and the sessionless initialization a MCP_SESSION_MODE=stateless server performs.
Stdio coverage is a boot check only — run this before Step 1. Run bun run rebuild && bun run start:stdio, confirm the startup logs look clean (banner, expected tool/resource counts, no errors/warnings, no missing-config gripes), then kill it. Pino logs go to stderr in stdio mode (stdout is reserved for JSON-RPC), so they print straight to the terminal when you run interactively. No need to call tools over stdio — the HTTP pass already covered handler behavior.
Steps
1. Start the server
Generate a 10-character alphanumeric ID (e.g. 9DJ73-K103L) and write the helper to /tmp/<project-name>-field-test-<ID>.sh. Use that exact path in every subsequent Bash call. Two agents in the same project tree must pick different IDs — that's what keeps their helper files, server logs, and call scratch from colliding.
The helper itself is stateless — every function takes the IDs it needs (server pid, url, port, MCP sid, server log path) as positional args. mcp_start prints them; the agent threads them through every later call. No env vars, no shared state files.
# Pick your ID — example below uses 9DJ73-K103L. Substitute your own.# (Helper path also encodes the project name so /tmp/ stays grep-friendly.)cat > /tmp/<project-name>-field-test-9DJ73-K103L.sh <<'HELPER_EOF'#!/bin/bash# Field-test helper: stateless wrappers around an MCP HTTP server + JSON-RPC# session. Every function takes the IDs it needs as positional args — the agent# threads pid/url/port/sid/log through each call rather than relying on a state# file or env vars (the Bash tool wipes shell state between calls, and a# pointer file would race the same way two agents race on shared state).# See https://github.com/cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/issues/90, #144.## Surfaces failures aggressively — field test is for finding things that fail,# so the helper auto-tails logs and prints HTTP status/body on errors instead# of swallowing them.# Usage: mcp_start /path/to/server [startup-timeout-seconds] (default: 30)# Builds, starts the HTTP server in the background, waits for the listen line,# and prints: ready pid=<n> url=<u> port=<n> log=<path># Capture these — every later helper takes them as args. Raise the timeout for# servers that build a local index at boot.mcp_start() {
localdir="${1:-$PWD}"localtimeout="${2:-30}"local build_log; build_log=$(mktemp /tmp/mcp-field-test-build.XXXXXX)
echo"building $dir ..." >&2
if ! (cd"$dir" && bun run rebuild) >"$build_log" 2>&1; thenecho"BUILD FAILED — last 30 lines of $build_log:" >&2
tail -30 "$build_log" >&2
return 1
firm -f "$build_log"local server_log; server_log=$(mktemp /tmp/mcp-field-test-server.XXXXXX)
echo"starting server ..." >&2
(cd"$dir" && bun run start:http) >"$server_log" 2>&1 &
local pid=$!
local line=""local waited=0
while [ "$waited" -lt "$((timeout * 4))" ]; do
line=$(grep -Eo 'listening at http://[^" ]+/mcp'"$server_log" | head -1)
[ -n "$line" ] && breakif ! kill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null; thenecho"server exited during startup — last 30 lines of $server_log:" >&2
tail -30 "$server_log" >&2
rm -f "$server_log"return 1
fisleep 0.25
waited=$((waited + 1))
doneif [ -z "$line" ]; thenecho"server failed to start within ${timeout}s — last 30 lines of $server_log:" >&2
tail -30 "$server_log" >&2
kill"$pid" 2>/dev/null
rm -f "$server_log"return 1
filocal url="${line#listening at }"local port; port=$(echo"$url" | sed -E 's|.*:([0-9]+)/.*|\1|')
echo"ready pid=$pid url=$url port=$port log=$server_log"
}
# Internal: report a failed initialize with the raw exchange, then clean up._mcp_init_fail() {
local msg="$1"; local body_file="$2"; local hdr="$3"echo"init failed — $msg" >&2
echo"--- response body ---" >&2
if [ -s "$body_file" ]; thencat"$body_file" >&2; elseecho"(empty)" >&2; fiecho"--- response headers ---" >&2
if [ -s "$hdr" ]; thencat"$hdr" >&2; elseecho"(none)" >&2; firm -f "$hdr""$body_file"return 1
}
# Usage: mcp_init <url># Runs `initialize`, sends `notifications/initialized`, prints:# ready sid=<id-or-empty> protocol=<negotiated-version> requested=<want> (HTTP <code>)# The initialize *result* is what decides success — a session ID is optional.# A server started with MCP_SESSION_MODE=stateless mints none, and the session# header is then omitted from every later request. Capture BOTH `sid` and# `protocol`: mcp_call takes the protocol as its 5th arg, which is what carries# the negotiated revision when there is no session to carry it.# A negotiated version older than the requested one means the server capped it# — note that in the report; you are then testing an older protocol than a# current client would use.mcp_init() {
local url="$1"
[ -z "$url" ] && { echo"usage: mcp_init <url>" >&2; return 1; }
local want="${MCP_FIELD_TEST_PROTOCOL:-2025-11-25}"local hdr; hdr=$(mktemp)
local body_file; body_file=$(mktemp)
local code curl_rc
code=$(curl -sS -D "$hdr" -o "$body_file" -w '%{http_code}' -X POST "$url" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
-d "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":1,\"method\":\"initialize\",\"params\":{\"protocolVersion\":\"$want\",\"capabilities\":{},\"clientInfo\":{\"name\":\"field-test\",\"version\":\"1.0.0\"}}}")
curl_rc=$?
if [ "$curl_rc" -ne 0 ] || [ -z "$code" ] || [ "$code" = "000" ]; then
_mcp_init_fail "transport failure — curl exit $curl_rc, http_code '${code:-none}'; nothing listening at $url""$body_file""$hdr"return 1
fi
[ "$code" -ge 400 ] && { _mcp_init_fail "HTTP $code""$body_file""$hdr"; return 1; }
# Unwrap SSE framing when present; a plain JSON body is used as-is.local payload; payload=$(sed -n 's/^data: //p'"$body_file")
[ -z "$payload" ] && payload=$(cat"$body_file")
local reply; reply=$(printf'%s\n'"$payload" | grep -E '"(result|error)"' | head -1)
[ -z "$reply" ] && reply="$payload"ifprintf'%s'"$reply" | grep -q '"error"'; then
_mcp_init_fail "server returned a JSON-RPC error""$body_file""$hdr"return 1
fiif ! printf'%s'"$reply" | grep -q '"result"'; then
_mcp_init_fail "HTTP $code but no JSON-RPC result in the body""$body_file""$hdr"return 1
filocal got; got=$(printf'%s'"$reply" | grep -o '"protocolVersion":"[^"]*"' | head -1 | cut -d'"' -f4)
if [ -z "$got" ]; then
_mcp_init_fail "initialize result declares no protocolVersion""$body_file""$hdr"return 1
filocal sid; sid=$(grep -i '^mcp-session-id:'"$hdr" | awk '{print $2}' | tr -d '\r\n')
local init_headers=(-H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" -H "MCP-Protocol-Version: $got")
[ -n "$sid" ] && init_headers+=(-H "Mcp-Session-Id: $sid")
curl -sS -X POST "$url""${init_headers[@]}" \
-d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"notifications/initialized"}' >/dev/null
rm -f "$hdr""$body_file"echo"ready sid=$sid protocol=$got requested=$want (HTTP $code)"
}
# Usage: mcp_call <url> <sid> <method> [JSON_PARAMS] [protocol]# Prints the JSON-RPC response. SSE framing is stripped when present, and only# the reply is emitted (a single POST can also carry progress notifications, so# emitting every event would break `| jq .result`). A transport failure or an# HTTP >= 400 prints the details and returns non-zero — it never returns 0 with# empty output. Pipe to `jq`.# `sid` may be empty ('') for a stateless server; the session header is then# omitted. Pass the `protocol` mcp_init printed as the 5th arg — with no# session carrying the negotiation, MCP-Protocol-Version is what tells the# server which revision the request speaks.mcp_call() {
local url="$1"; local sid="$2"; local method="$3"; local params="${4:-}"; local protocol="${5:-}"
[ -z "$url" ] || [ -z "$method" ] && { echo"usage: mcp_call <url> <sid> <method> [params] [protocol]" >&2; return 1; }
local body
if [ -z "$params" ]; then
body=$(printf'{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%d,"method":"%s"}'"$RANDOM""$method")
else
body=$(printf'{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%d,"method":"%s","params":%s}'"$RANDOM""$method""$params")
filocal resp_file; resp_file=$(mktemp)
local code curl_rc
local headers=(-H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream")
[ -n "$sid" ] && headers+=(-H "Mcp-Session-Id: $sid")
[ -n "$protocol" ] && headers+=(-H "MCP-Protocol-Version: $protocol")
code=$(curl -sS -o "$resp_file" -w '%{http_code}' -X POST "$url""${headers[@]}" -d "$body")
curl_rc=$?
if [ "$curl_rc" -ne 0 ] || [ -z "$code" ] || [ "$code" = "000" ]; thenecho"TRANSPORT FAILURE calling $method — curl exit $curl_rc, http_code '${code:-none}'." >&2
echo"Server not reachable at $url (check it is still running: mcp_log <log>)." >&2
rm -f "$resp_file"return 1
fiif [ "$code" -ge 400 ]; thenecho"HTTP $code from $method — response:" >&2
cat"$resp_file" >&2
rm -f "$resp_file"return 1
filocal sse; sse=$(sed -n 's/^data: //p'"$resp_file")
if [ -n "$sse" ]; thenlocal reply; reply=$(printf'%s\n'"$sse" | grep -E '"(result|error)"')
printf'%s\n'"${reply:-$sse}"elsecat"$resp_file"firm -f "$resp_file"
}
# Usage: mcp_log <server-log-path> [N] (default: 50 lines)# Tail the per-server log printed by mcp_start. Useful when a call surprises# you — pino startup banner, definition lint diagnostics, request handler# errors, upstream calls, and rate-limit warnings all land here.mcp_log() {
locallog="$1"; local n="${2:-50}"
[ -z "$log" ] && { echo"usage: mcp_log <log-path> [n]" >&2; return 1; }
tail -n "$n""$log"
}
# Usage: mcp_stop <pid> [server-log-path] [port]# Kills the background server and the `bun run` child that actually holds the# port (SIGKILL is not forwarded, so the child must be signalled directly or it# survives as an orphaned listener). Pass the port from mcp_start to have the# stop confirmed against the socket rather than against the wrapper PID.# Removes the server log if a path is given.mcp_stop() {
local pid="$1"; locallog="${2:-}"; local port="${3:-}"
[ -z "$pid" ] && { echo"usage: mcp_stop <pid> [log-path] [port]" >&2; return 1; }
local kids; kids=$(pgrep -P "$pid" 2>/dev/null)
kill"$pid"$kids 2>/dev/null
for _ in $(seq 1 12); dokill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null || breaksleep 0.25
doneifkill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null; thenecho"PID $pid didn't exit on SIGTERM — sending SIGKILL"kill -9 "$pid"$kids 2>/dev/null
sleep 0.5
filocal held=""
[ -n "$port" ] && held=$(lsof -ti tcp:"$port" 2>/dev/null | tr'\n'' ')
if [ -n "$held" ]; thenecho"WARNING: port $port still held by PID(s) $held after stopping $pid — kill those before re-running"elifkill -0 "$pid" 2>/dev/null; thenecho"WARNING: PID $pid still alive after SIGKILL"elseecho"stopped pid=$pid${port:+ (port $port free)}"fi
[ -n "$log" ] && rm -f "$log"return 0
}
HELPER_EOF
. /tmp/<project-name>-field-test-9DJ73-K103L.sh
mcp_start /absolute/path/to/server # replace with the target server
Capture pid, url, port, log from the mcp_start output — every later call takes them as positional args. Two agents running concurrently in the same project tree each pick their own ID, so their helper paths, server logs, and call scratch never share a name.
Notes
MCP_HTTP_PORT is a starting port — the server auto-increments if taken. Helper parses the real URL from the log (HTTP transport listening at ...).
If bun run rebuild fails, stop. Don't field-test broken code — fix the build first.
Startup wait defaults to 30s. A server that builds or loads a local index at boot can need more — pass a second arg (mcp_start /path 90) rather than reading the timeout as a real startup failure.
pid is the bun run wrapper; the process that actually holds the port is its child. mcp_stop signals both — that's why it takes the port.
If a server is already listening on the project's port (lsof -i :<port>), confirm with the user before killing it; it may be their own session. If the user isn't available to confirm, abort the field test and surface the port conflict in your response.
Runs initialize, sends notifications/initialized, prints the sid and protocol to capture for mcp_call. Success is decided by the initialize result, so a transport failure, a non-2xx status, a JSON-RPC error, a malformed body, or a result with no protocolVersion all fail loudly with the raw exchange.
The helper requests the newest initialize-negotiated revision the SDK supports (2025-11-25). If protocol= comes back older than requested=, the server capped it — every call after that exercises an older protocol than a current client would negotiate. Note it as a bug finding and check the pinned @modelcontextprotocol/server version; don't quietly test the downgraded surface. To deliberately test an older version, set MCP_FIELD_TEST_PROTOCOL.
sid= may come back empty — that is a pass, not a failure. Under MCP_SESSION_MODE=stateless the server mints no Mcp-Session-Id, and the helper then omits the session header from every later request. Thread the empty value through positionally and pass the negotiated protocol, which is what identifies the revision when no session carries it:
To exercise both session modes, start the server twice — once with the project's default, once with MCP_SESSION_MODE=stateless — and run the same calls against each.
Both modes exercise the 2025-era arm: initialize negotiates the revision, and the session (when there is one) carries it. The 2026-07-28 revision is a different thing from a sessionless 2025 handshake — it does not initialize at all, and is selected per request by the io.modelcontextprotocol/protocolVersion key in the request's own _meta envelope. This helper does not reach it; exercise the per-request leg from a real 2026-era client or an integration test.
Present a compact catalog to the user: each definition's name + 1-line description. Flag vague or missing descriptions as you go — those feed into the report. Use this to build the test plan.
Audit every description for leaks — tool description, every parameter .describe() in inputSchema, and every field .describe() in outputSchema (the outputSchema projection above is what surfaces these; don't skim past it). Three categories:
Implementation details — endpoint paths, API call counts, internal parameter mappings, routing logic. Describe what the tool does, not how it's wired up.
Meta-coaching — directives about how to use the output. "Treat X as the canonical Y", "callers should…", "the LLM should…". The description sells the tool; it doesn't coach the reader.
Consumer-aware phrasing — references to "LLM", "agent", "Claude", or any specific reader. The description shouldn't name who's reading it.
Treat any hit as a ux finding in the report. The authoring rule lives under Tool descriptions in design-mcp-server/SKILL.md — same categories, applied at review time.
4. Plan the test pass
Budget. Don't run every category against every definition — the cross-product is infeasible. Apply the universal battery to everything; apply situational categories only when the definition triggers them.
Universal battery — run on every tool
Category
What to verify
Happy path
One realistic input. Output shape matches schema. content[] text reads clearly to a human.
structuredContent ↔ content[] parity
Dump the whole array (jq '.result.content') and check every structuredContent field is surfaced somewhere in it — enrichment lands in its own trailing block, not in content[0]. Parity gap = client-specific blindness.
Input error
One invalid input (wrong type or missing required). Error text says what, why, how to fix.
Situational — add only when triggered
Trigger (look in input schema or annotations)
Add category
include / fields / expand / view / projection parameter
Field selection: non-default value renders requested fields
Array return with query / filter inputs
Empty result: does response explain why (echo criteria, suggest broadening)?
Batch / bulk input (arrays of IDs, multi-item ops)
Partial success: mix valid + invalid items
annotations.readOnlyHint: true
Confirm no mutation happened
annotations.idempotentHint: true
Call twice with same input — safe?
Hits external API / live upstream
One call that exercises upstream; note rate-limit / timeout / transient-failure behavior
Chained with other tools (search → detail → act)
Run one representative chain end-to-end; does each step return the IDs/cursors the next needs?
cursor / offset / limit params
Pagination: second page, end-of-list
Output can be truncated, capped, or spilled (maxLength-style caps, outline-on-overflow, canvas/dataframe spill, "showing N of M")
Truncation retrievability: force a response that truncates, then confirm the response both discloses the truncation and hands back the means to reach the rest — a cursor, an offset, a document/section selector, a canvas handle. Truncated data with no retrieval path is a bug, not a nit.
Tool declared an errors: [...] contract
Error contract (tool): trigger ≥1 declared failure mode. Verify result.structuredContent.error.code matches the contract entry, result.structuredContent.error.data.reason is the declared reason (only present when the handler threw an McpError — ctx.fail always does, plain throw new Error(...) does not), and content[0].text is actionable. Reasons declared but unreachable from any input are dead contract entries.
Resource declared an errors: [...] contract
Error contract (resource): trigger ≥1 declared failure mode by reading a URI that exercises it. Resources re-throw errors at the JSON-RPC level — verify error.code matches the contract entry and error.data.reason is the declared reason. (Resources don't use the result.isError envelope — they fail the request itself.)
Mutator (write/update/delete/append/patch verbs, or destructiveHint: true)
Mutator response observability: run an intentionally-ambiguous input (typo path, wrong ID, already-deleted target). Confirm the response carries enough state (pre/post values, state-change discriminator) for the agent to detect intent-effect divergence without re-fetching.
Resources. Happy path, not-found URI (use a syntactically valid but non-existent ID — e.g., substitute a fake ID into the URI template), list if defined, pagination if used.
Prompts. Happy path, defaults omitted, skim message quality.
Sampling for large servers. If more than 15 tools, run the universal battery on all, but pick roughly 30–40% for situational testing. Weight toward: write-shaped tools, complex schemas, external deps. List which ones you skipped in the report.
Auth & external state.
If a tool needs real API keys and they're not set, note skipped — requires $VAR and move on. Don't fabricate inputs.
Tools that write to real external systems (third-party APIs, shared DBs): confirm with the user before running, or use a dry-run input if one exists.
5. Execute
Use TaskCreate — one task per definition. Mark complete as you go. Don't batch.
For each call, capture: input sent, response (trim huge payloads to files), whether isError: true appeared, anything surprising (slow response, parity drift, unhelpful text, crash).
When a call surprises you — slow, hangs, returns terse output, surfaces an unhelpful error — run . /tmp/<project-name>-field-test-<ID>.sh && mcp_log <log> to tail the server log. The pino startup banner, request handler errors, upstream API call traces, and rate-limit warnings all land in the per-server log (read via mcp_log) rather than coming back through mcp_call. Don't guess at runtime behavior from response text alone.
Interpreting responses
content[] is an array of blocks — read all of them, never just content[0]. A success result is assembled as [...ctx.content media blocks, ...the format()/JSON domain render, ...the enrichment trailer]. Everything the handler put on ctx.enrich — empty-result notices, totals, query echoes, truncation disclosure — renders in that trailer, a separate trailing block, not inside the format() block. Quoting content[0].text and reporting those fields as absent from content[] is a false parity gap; the suggested fix (render them in format() too) would double-render them. Dump .result.content in full before claiming drift.
Tool domain errors return {result: {content: [...], isError: true}} — they live in result, not error. Check isError, not the JSON-RPC error field.
Tool error code/reason rides on result.structuredContent.error.{code, message, data?.reason} — inspect that, not just the text. data is only spread when the handler threw an McpError (or ZodError); plain throw new Error(...) won't populate data.reason. Use ctx.fail-thrown errors when the contract reason matters. The text in result.content[0].text mirrors the message and includes Recovery: <hint> when data.recovery.hint is present.
Resource errors are JSON-RPC-level — they appear in the top-level error.{code, data.reason} field, not inside result. Resource handlers re-throw rather than producing an isError envelope.
JSON-RPC error only appears for protocol issues (bad session, malformed envelope, unknown method).
mcp_call already strips SSE framing. Pipe to jq for readability.
Kills the background server and its port-holding child, removes the server log, then removes the helper script itself. Do this before writing the report so nothing leaks into the next session. Pass the port — it's what turns "the wrapper PID is gone" into "the socket is actually free." If mcp_stop warns the port is still held or the PID survived SIGKILL, note it in the report and proceed — don't block on a zombie process, but do say which PID to kill.
7. Report
Three sections. Tight. The user should be able to skim the summary, read details only for what matters, and act on numbered options.
Summary (1 paragraph)
One paragraph. How many definitions exercised, how many passed clean, how many have issues, and the single most important finding. No tables, no lists.
Findings
Only include definitions with issues. Group by severity. Each finding is 2–4 lines unless it genuinely needs more. A parity finding cites the full content[] dump as its evidence — a quote from one index doesn't establish drift.
Severity
Meaning
bug
Broken: crash, wrong output, isError: true on valid input, data loss, schema violation
ux
Works but degrades the user/LLM experience: vague description, leaky description (implementation details, meta-coaching, consumer-aware phrasing), unhelpful error text, missing format(), parity drift, annotation mismatches behavior
nit
Polish: phrasing, inconsistent tone, minor doc gaps
Numbered, actionable, cherry-pickable. Each item maps to a concrete change.
1. Fix empty-result message in `pubmed_search_articles` — echo criteria (finding #2)
2. Add `format()` to `pubmed_lookup_mesh` — currently returns raw JSON (finding #5)
3. Tighten `ids` description in `pubmed_fetch_articles` — silent on PMID vs DOI (finding #8)
End with:
Pick by number (e.g. "do 1, 3, 5" or "expand on 2").
Checklist
Stdio boot check completed — bun run rebuild && bun run start:stdio shows clean startup (banner, expected counts, no errors)
HTTP server built and started; real port parsed from log
Session initialized (a stateless server returns an empty sid — still a pass); notifications/initialized sent; negotiated protocol version matches the requested one (a downgrade is a finding)
Catalog surfaced and presented; descriptions audited for leaks (implementation details, meta-coaching, consumer-aware phrasing)
Universal battery run on every definition (happy path, parity against the full content[] array, input error)
Situational categories applied only when triggered
If >15 tools: sampled 30–40% for situational testing; skipped definitions listed in report
If a tool declared an errors: [...] contract: ≥1 declared failure mode triggered; result.structuredContent.error.code and data.reason verified against the contract entry
If a resource declared an errors: [...] contract: ≥1 declared failure mode triggered; top-level JSON-RPC error.code and error.data.reason verified against the contract entry
If any tool truncates, caps, or spills its output: truncation forced; disclosure + a retrieval path (cursor, offset, selector, canvas handle) verified
External-state / auth-gated tools handled explicitly (run, skip, or confirm)
Server stopped (port confirmed free); server log and helper script removed