Forbin is an interactive CLI tool designed to test and explore remote MCP servers and their tools. It connects to a configured MCP endpoint, wakes the server if needed using an optional health URL, and presents a two-level browser to browse available tools, inspect their schemas, and execute them with interactive parameter entry. This makes it easy to verify tool schemas, run ad-hoc queries, and validate connectivity in development or CI scenarios. You can also run a lightweight connectivity check without starting the interactive browser to ensure the server is reachable and the authentication flow is functioning.

Once started, Forbin lists all available tools and lets you drill into a specific tool to view its full schema, including parameter types and descriptions. You can then enter parameter values, run the tool, and review the structured JSON responses. Verbose logging can be toggled for debugging connection issues, and you can use the connectivity test mode to validate health endpoints and authentication without invoking tools.

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.13 or higher
• pip (bundled with Python)

Install and run locally:

1. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/chris-colinsky/Forbin.git cd Forbin
2. Install in editable mode (recommended for development): pip install -e .
3. Install optional dependencies for full functionality (if not installed by setup): pip install -r requirements.txt
4. Run Forbin against your MCP server:

   Example (uses the mcp_config below, or run directly via python -m forbin):

   python -m forbin

Tips:

• Create a .env file in the project root and populate MCP_SERVER_URL, MCP_TOKEN, and optionally MCP_HEALTH_URL before running.
• You can also specify environment variables in your shell for a quick test, e.g. export MCP_SERVER_URL=https://...; export MCP_TOKEN=...

Tips and common considerations:

• Ensure MCP_SERVER_URL points to the MCP endpoint path (e.g., https://your-server/mcp).
• If your server requires a bearer token, provide MCP_TOKEN in your environment; Forbin will use it for authentication when calling tools.
• If you are running on a suspended service (e.g., Fly.io), configure MCP_HEALTH_URL so Forbin can wake the service automatically.
• The CLI supports verbose mode (toggle with v) to assist with debugging connection issues.
• For debugging tool schemas, use the detailed schema view option within a tool to inspect parameter types and constraints.
• This project is Python-based; if you prefer using uv or npm equivalents, refer to the respective environment configuration, but the Forbin README concentrates on Python usage.