Inspect a workspace through MCP

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workspace consumer 0.1.0-alpha.10 · Source

Inspect the session you loaded with the C++ workspace CLI by pointing its MCP server at the same tmux socket. The loaded windows and panes are ordinary tmux objects; discovery returns their existing IDs.

This guide uses development workspace-cli source. Continue the installation walkthrough through its detached load, keeping that shell and WORKSPACE_TMP available. Leave the workspace-guide session running. Build both executables from the same native repository checkout; released package instructions may describe different MCP contracts.

Build the MCP serverLink to section

Run from the native repository root with the installation walkthrough’s toolchain and dependencies.

$ cmake --preset cxx-dev \
    -DLIBTMUX_BUILD_WORKSPACE_CLI=ON \
    -DLIBTMUX_BUILD_MCP_SERVER=ON

Build the MCP executable; the target also copies its minimal configuration:

$ cmake --build --preset cxx-dev \
    --target libtmux_mcp_server \
    --parallel 2

Select the same socketLink to section

Configure an MCP client to launch the following command with the shown environment. The client owns the process’s standard input and output for JSON-RPC messages.

$ LIBTMUX_TOOLSETS=inspect \
    build/cxx-dev/apps/mcp/libtmux-mcp-server \
    --socket-path "$WORKSPACE_TMP/tmux.sock"

In a client’s configuration file, use absolute executable or script paths and expand WORKSPACE_TMP to its actual value. Configuration files do not perform shell variable expansion. Retain the environment used to build and run the native executable.

For a workspace loaded with -L NAME, use MCP’s --socket-name NAME instead. Keep the same tmux executable on PATH for both processes.

Inspect and waitLink to section

1. Discover tools with tools/list and read the tmux://capabilities resource. Confirm that its resolved endpoint matches the loaded socket.
2. Call list_sessions, then list_windows with session: "workspace-guide", and list_panes. Retain the returned session, window and pane IDs.
3. Select one returned pane ID for capture or a bounded text wait. Use the argument names below; discover the full schema before adding options.

Set "timeout_ms" to 10000 for a ten-second wait. A pending wait permits other inspection calls on the same connection. To check that behavior, start a wait for text absent from the pane, then request list_panes before its deadline. Client cancellation uses notifications/cancelled with the outstanding request ID; the connection remains usable for inspection.

capture_pane returns visible text. Use snapshot_pane for structured screen state and capture_since for incremental observation.

If discovery does not show workspace-guide, compare the resolved socket in capabilities with the CLI’s -S path. A different socket selects a different daemon even when session names match.

Close the connectionLink to section

Close the MCP connection’s standard input to stop the server and release pending work. This separately loaded workspace remains running. When you finish the walkthrough, remove only its session on the same socket:

$ tmux \
    -S "$WORKSPACE_TMP/tmux.sock" \
    kill-session \
    -t '=workspace-guide'

The configuration remains in the temporary directory until you remove it.

See the verified native workspace workflow and development MCP reference for this source contract. The site’s released MCP pages retain their version-pinned contracts.