CLI

Bridgent ships four commands:

Command	What it does	Most common use
bridgent init [file]	Create a starter MCP server file	first-run onboarding
bridgent dev <file>	Spawn node <file>, with TS support	local IDE-agent integration over stdio
bridgent serve <file>	Spawn node <file>, with TS support	shared HTTP server (when the file calls createHttpServer)
bridgent inspect <file>	Open the official MCP Inspector against your server	debugging tool calls without an LLM

A common point of confusion

bridgent dev and bridgent serve are the same implementation. They both spawn Node on your file with stdio inherited. The transport is determined by what your file does, not by which CLI command runs it:

• File calls createStdioServer → speaks stdio
• File calls createHttpServer → listens on HTTP
• File calls createWebHandler and adapts to a Node listener → also HTTP

dev and serve exist as separate names purely to match user intent (local hacking vs. running a process). They produce the same child process. If bridgent serve foo.ts doesn't bind a port, the server file never called createHttpServer.

TypeScript without a build step

For .ts, .tsx, .mts files, dev, serve, and inspect pass these flags to Node:

--experimental-strip-types --no-warnings=ExperimentalWarning

This requires Node ≥ 22.18. Lower versions fail at install (the workspace has engines-strict=true). No tsx, no ts-node, no compile step — Bridgent uses Node's built-in stripper.

If you hit a project that doesn't yet have Node 22.18, switch with nvm use 22.18 or volta install node@22.18.

init

bridgent init ./server.ts
# overwrite an existing target:
bridgent init ./server.ts --force

Creates a small editable server file using @bridgent/core, Zod, and createStdioServer. It does not install packages or create a hidden config file; the generated server.ts is the runtime entrypoint you can edit directly.

dev

bridgent dev ./server.ts
# or
bridgent dev ./server.js

• Inherits stdio (your console.log shows up in the host's logs)
• Forwards SIGINT / SIGTERM to the child
• Exits with the child's exit code

Use this from the IDE's command config — Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI all support spawning a binary.

serve

bridgent serve ./server.ts

Identical to dev — see the confusion note above. The name exists so launchd / systemd / pm2 / Docker units can use the more conventional verb.

inspect

bridgent inspect ./server.ts

Wraps the official @modelcontextprotocol/inspector and connects it to your server file over stdio. It opens a browser window letting you list tools, send tools/call payloads, and view traces — no LLM in the loop.

Under the hood:

# pnpm shells:
pnpm dlx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node --experimental-strip-types --no-warnings=ExperimentalWarning ./server.ts

# fallback:
npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/inspector node --experimental-strip-types --no-warnings=ExperimentalWarning ./server.ts

So bridgent inspect is the same as those commands; it just saves you the typing. See Inspect for usage walkthrough.