Mcp Lab

🧪 MCP Lab

A focused testing environment for MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers with multiple LLM providers. Compare how different models handle tool calling, track metrics, and analyze performance.

Features

• Multi-Provider Support: Test with Groq, OpenAI, and Anthropic models
• MCP Server Integration: Connect to multiple MCP servers simultaneously
• Smart Media Rendering: Automatically embed plots, images, and iframes from tool outputs
• Detailed Metrics: Track tokens, latency, tool calls, and iterations
• Debug Mode: Toggle detailed tool execution visibility
• Analytics Dashboard: Built-in database viewer with filtering and export
• SQLite Storage: All conversations saved with full metadata for analysis

Quick Start

1. Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

2. Configure Environment

cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your API keys

Required: At least one LLM provider API key:

• GROQ_API_KEY - Get from console.groq.com
• OPENAI_API_KEY - Get from platform.openai.com
• ANTHROPIC_API_KEY - Get from console.anthropic.com

3. Configure MCP Servers

Edit config/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rosbag_reader": {
      "command": "/path_to_venv/bin/python",
      "args": [
        "/path_to_ws/mcp-rosbags/src/server.py"
      ],
    }
  }
}

5. Run the Application

python run.py

Open your browser to:

• Main Lab: http://localhost:8000

Project Structure

mcp-lab/
├── app.py                  # FastAPI backend
├── config.py              # Configuration
├── run.py                 # Application launcher
├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
├── .env                   # Your API keys (create from .env.example)
├── mcp_lab.db            # SQLite database (created automatically)
│
├── config/
│   └── mcp_config.json   # MCP server configurations
│
├── services/
│   ├── llm_service.py    # Multi-provider LLM management
│   ├── mcp_service.py    # MCP server management
│   ├── mcp_tools_bridge.py # Tool conversion bridge
│   └── db_service.py     # Database operations
│
├── handlers/
│   ├── chat_handler.py   # Chat message processing
│   └── websocket_manager.py # WebSocket connections
│
└── frontend/
    ├── index.html        # Main chat interface
    ├── analytics.html    # Analytics dashboard
    └── style.css        # Styling

Usage Guide

Testing MCP Tools

1. Start a conversation - The AI will automatically discover available tools
2. Toggle Debug Mode - See detailed tool execution, arguments, and results
3. Compare Providers - Switch between providers/models to compare behavior

Understanding Metrics

• Tokens: Approximate token count for the exchange
• Latency: Total time from request to response
• Tools Called: Number of MCP tool invocations
• Iterations: Number of reasoning cycles (simple agent in a loop)

Media Rendering

The system automatically detects and renders:

• file:///path/to/plot.html → Embedded iframe
• Image files → Inline images
• Plotly/chart URLs → Embedded visualizations

Analytics Dashboard

• View all conversations with filtering
• Compare provider/model performance
• Export data as JSON or CSV
• Track average metrics per provider

Adding MCP Servers

Add to config/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "your-server": {
      "command": "path-to-executable",
      "args": ["arg1", "arg2"],
      "env": {
        "ENV_VAR": "value"
      }
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

MCP Servers Not Connecting

• Verify MCP server packages are installed
• Check the command paths in mcp_config.json
• Look at console logs for specific error messages

No Models Available

• Verify at least one API key is set in .env
• Check that the API key is valid
• Ensure you have access to the models

Database Issues

• Delete mcp_lab.db to start fresh
• Check write permissions in the directory

Debug Mode

Set DEBUG=True in .env for:

• Auto-reload on code changes
• Detailed logging
• Error stack traces

License

Apache 2

Acknowledgments

Built for testing MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers with various LLM providers. MCP is originally developed by Anthropic.

Source & license

This open-source MCP server is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: binabik-ai
• Source: binabik-ai/mcp-lab
• License: Apache-2.0

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.