CLI Reference

Global Options

--help, -h     Show help information
--version, -V  Show version

Commands

mcp-scanner scan

Scan MCP servers for security vulnerabilities.

mcp-scanner scan [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --client <NAME> - Only scan servers from this client (claude, cursor, windsurf, etc.)
• --server <COMMAND> - Scan a specific server command
• --config <PATH> - Load servers from a config file
• --output <FORMAT> - Output format: table (default), json, sarif
• --timeout <SECONDS> - Per-server timeout (default: 30)

Examples:

mcp-scanner scan
mcp-scanner scan --client claude
mcp-scanner scan --server "npx server.js"
mcp-scanner scan --output sarif > results.sarif

mcp-scanner list

List discovered MCP servers.

mcp-scanner list [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --client <NAME> - Only list servers from this client

Examples:

mcp-scanner list
mcp-scanner list --client cursor

mcp-scanner serve

Start the web dashboard and API server.

mcp-scanner serve [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --port <PORT> - Port to listen on (default: 9191)
• --headless - Don’t open browser automatically

Examples:

mcp-scanner serve
mcp-scanner serve --port 8080
mcp-scanner serve --headless

mcp-scanner proxy

Proxy an MCP server with filtering and audit logging.

mcp-scanner proxy --server <COMMAND>

Options:

• --server <COMMAND> - Server command to proxy (required)

Examples:

mcp-scanner proxy --server "npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem /"

mcp-scanner init

Create default configuration file.

mcp-scanner init [OPTIONS]

Options:

• --force - Overwrite existing configuration

Examples:

mcp-scanner init
mcp-scanner init --force

mcp-scanner completions

Generate shell completions.

mcp-scanner completions --shell <SHELL>

Options:

• --shell <SHELL> - Shell to generate for: bash, zsh, fish, powershell

Examples:

mcp-scanner completions --shell bash
mcp-scanner completions --shell zsh