🦉 Hoot

MCP Testing Tool — Like Postman, but for the Model Context Protocol.

Test, debug, and explore MCP servers with a beautiful interface. No AI chat needed.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e3add38e-9636-4f40-99d8-f4a2b8f0f056

⚠️ Beta Software — Hoot is in active development. Found a bug? Open an issue. Want to contribute? PRs welcome!

Quick Start

🌐 Try instantly (no install):

👉 hoot.run — Opens in your browser, ready to test.

Or run locally:

hljs language-bash

npx -y @portkey-ai/hoot

Opens on localhost:8009. One command, zero config.

npx-hoot

Features

Core Testing

Connect to any MCP server — HTTP and SSE transport support
Auto-detection — Just paste a URL, Hoot figures out the rest
Execute tools — Test tools with parameters and view responses
Copy-paste friendly — Everything is clipboard-ready

Authentication & Security

OAuth 2.1 with automatic discovery and compliance testing (docs)
JWT-based sessions — Secure local authentication
Rate limiting & audit logs — Built-in security features
Localhost-only by default — Safe for local development

Smart Features

Intelligent tool filtering — Context-aware tool selection powered by AI
Chat interface — Test tools conversationally with LLM assistance
Keyboard shortcuts — Lightning-fast navigation (docs)
8 beautiful themes — Light & dark modes for every preference (docs)

Sharing & Collaboration

🦉 "Try in Hoot" links — Share servers with a single URL (docs)
Persistent state — Your servers and tools stay configured between sessions

How It Works

Hoot runs a Node.js backend that acts as the MCP client, eliminating CORS issues when connecting to MCP servers from your browser.

hljs language-scss

Browser (React) → Backend (Node.js/Express) → MCP Servers

Architecture highlights:

No CORS headaches — Backend handles all MCP connections
Persistent OAuth tokens — Stored securely in SQLite (~/.hoot/hoot-mcp.db)
Session-based auth — JWT tokens for secure frontend-backend communication
Edge-ready — Deploy to Cloudflare Workers for global hosting (guide)

Data Persistence

On hoot.run:

Server configs & tools — Saved in browser localStorage
OAuth tokens — Managed by the hosted backend
Chat history — Preserved in localStorage

On local (npx/npm):

Server configs & tools — Saved in browser localStorage
OAuth tokens — Stored in ~/.hoot/hoot-mcp.db (persists across npx runs)
Chat history — Preserved in localStorage

Your servers stay configured between sessions!

Development

Run from source:

hljs language-bash

git clone https://github.com/Portkey-AI/hoot
cd hoot
npm install
npm run dev:full

Backend runs on localhost:8008
Frontend runs on localhost:8009

Available scripts:

npm run dev:full — Run both frontend and backend
npm run backend — Backend only
npm run dev — Frontend only
npm run build — Build for npm distribution
npm run build:cloudflare — Build for Cloudflare Workers

Debugging

Hoot includes a client-side logger accessible from the browser console:

hljs language-javascript

hootLogger.download()  // Download logs as JSON
hootLogger.clear()     // Clear logs

Backend logs are written to backend.log. See logging docs for details.

Documentation

Quick Start Guide — Get up and running in 5 minutes
Try in Hoot — Share servers with one-click links
Authentication — OAuth 2.1 and API key setup
Themes — Customize your interface
Keyboard Shortcuts — Work faster
Architecture — How Hoot is built
Security — Security features and best practices
Cloudflare Deployment — Deploy to the edge

📚 Full Documentation

Why Hoot?

Feature	Hoot	Manual curl/testing
OAuth 2.1 support	✅ Automatic discovery & flow	❌ Manual token management
Transport auto-detection	✅ HTTP/SSE auto-detected	❌ Manual configuration
Visual interface	✅ Beautiful UI	❌ Terminal only
Tool filtering	✅ AI-powered context-aware	❌ None
Session persistence	✅ Configs & tokens saved	❌ Reauth every time
Share configurations	✅ One-click "Try in Hoot" links	❌ Copy-paste configs

FAQ

Does Hoot work with all MCP servers?

Yes! Hoot supports both HTTP and SSE transports, OAuth 2.1, and API key authentication. We auto-detect server configurations to make connection as seamless as possible.

Is my data secure?

Yes. Hoot runs entirely on your local machine. OAuth tokens are stored in a local SQLite database (~/.hoot/hoot-mcp.db), and all communication happens over localhost. No data is sent to external servers.

Can I use Hoot in production?

Hoot is designed for development and testing. For production deployments, you can deploy Hoot to Cloudflare Workers for your team. See our deployment guide.

How do I test servers that require OAuth?

Just add the server URL. Hoot automatically detects OAuth requirements and guides you through the authorization flow. Tokens are stored securely and refreshed automatically.

Can I test multiple servers at once?

Absolutely! Connect to as many servers as you need. Hoot manages all connections simultaneously and lets you switch between them instantly.

Does Hoot support resources and prompts?

Not yet, but they're coming soon! Currently, Hoot focuses on tool testing. Resources and prompts are on our roadmap.

Roadmap

We're working towards full MCP specification support. Coming soon:

Resources — MCP resource listing and reading
Prompts — MCP prompt testing and execution
Electron desktop app — Native app with stdio transport support
Collaborative workspaces — Share server configs with teams

Want to contribute? Check out CONTRIBUTING.md or open an issue with feature requests!

Technology Stack

Frontend — React 19, TypeScript, Vite, Zustand
Backend — Node.js, Express, MCP SDK
Database — SQLite (better-sqlite3)
Deployment — npm, Cloudflare Workers + Durable Objects
AI — Workers AI for semantic tool filtering

Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.

Ways to contribute:

🐛 Report bugs and issues
💡 Suggest new features
📝 Improve documentation
🔧 Submit pull requests

License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.

Built by Portkey — Making AI development easier, one tool at a time.

Made this because we were tired of curl-ing MCP servers. Hope it helps! 🦉

hoot