MCP Workspace

September 1, 2026 · View on GitHub

Each test below is self-contained and can be run independently. Execute the steps by calling the MCP tools listed.

If you find any issues — wrong results, confusing errors, broken output formatting — report them.

Section 1: Local file & search tools

Test 1.1: Save / read / append / search / delete

  1. save_file("_test.txt", "line one\nline two\n")
  2. read_file("_test.txt") — expect "line one\nline two\n"
  3. append_file("_test.txt", "line three\n")
  4. read_file("_test.txt") — expect all three lines
  5. search_files(glob="_test.txt") — expect one match
  6. delete_this_file("_test.txt")
  7. search_files(glob="_test.txt") — expect zero matches

Test 1.2: Basic text replacement + already-applied path

  1. save_file("_test.txt", "Hello world\nThis is a test\n")
  2. edit_file("_test.txt", old_string="Hello world", new_string="Greetings earth")
  3. read_file("_test.txt") — expect "Greetings earth\nThis is a test\n"
  4. edit_file("_test.txt", old_string="Hello world", new_string="Greetings earth") — expect "No changes needed - edit already applied"
  5. delete_this_file("_test.txt")

Test 1.3: Two sequential edits

  1. save_file("_test.txt", "First section\nSecond section\nThird section\nFourth section\n")
  2. edit_file("_test.txt", old_string="First section", new_string="Section one")
  3. edit_file("_test.txt", old_string="Third section", new_string="Section three")
  4. read_file("_test.txt") — expect both replacements present
  5. delete_this_file("_test.txt")

Test 1.4: Indentation preserved

  1. save_file("_test.py", "def example():\n # comment\n x = 5\n return x\n")
  2. edit_file("_test.py", old_string="# comment", new_string="# returns five")
  3. read_file("_test.py") — expect 4-space indentation preserved
  4. delete_this_file("_test.py")

Test 1.5: Failed match

  1. save_file("_test.txt", "Some content\n")
  2. edit_file("_test.txt", old_string="does not exist", new_string="x") — expect clean error
  3. read_file("_test.txt") — expect unchanged
  4. delete_this_file("_test.txt")

Test 1.6: Regex special chars treated as literal

  1. save_file("_test.txt", "(parens) [brackets] *stars* ^anchors$\n")
  2. edit_file("_test.txt", old_string="(parens) [brackets]", new_string="<angle>")
  3. read_file("_test.txt") — expect literal replacement (no regex interpretation)
  4. delete_this_file("_test.txt")

Test 1.7: Multi-line edit

  1. save_file("_test.txt", "L1\nL2\nL3\nL4\nL5\n")
  2. edit_file("_test.txt", old_string="L2\nL3\nL4", new_string="X\nY\nZ")
  3. read_file("_test.txt") — expect "L1\nX\nY\nZ\nL5\n"
  4. delete_this_file("_test.txt")

Test 1.8: Markdown bullet indentation

  1. save_file("_test.md", "- top\n- options:\n- a: 1\n- b: 2\n")
  2. edit_file("_test.md", old_string="- options:\n- a: 1\n- b: 2", new_string="- options:\n - a: 1\n - b: 2")
  3. read_file("_test.md") — expect nested bullets indented
  4. delete_this_file("_test.md")

Test 1.9: Multi-match safety + replace_all

  1. save_file("_test.txt", "foo bar foo baz foo\n")
  2. edit_file("_test.txt", old_string="foo", new_string="FOO") — expect error containing "Multiple matches (3) found for foo" and the hint "Use replace_all=True"
  3. edit_file("_test.txt", old_string="foo", new_string="FOO", replace_all=True)
  4. read_file("_test.txt") — expect "FOO bar FOO baz FOO\n"
  5. delete_this_file("_test.txt")

Test 1.10: move_file

  1. save_file("_a.txt", "content\n")
  2. move_file("_a.txt", "_b.txt")
  3. read_file("_b.txt") — expect "content\n"
  4. search_files(glob="_a.txt") — expect zero matches
  5. save_file("_target.txt", "exists\n")
  6. move_file("_b.txt", "_target.txt") — expect error message exactly "Destination already exists"
  7. move_file("_does_not_exist.txt", "_x.txt") — expect error message exactly "File not found"
  8. Cleanup both remaining files

Test 1.11: Search, listing, sliced reads, file-size check

  1. list_directory() — expect file list scoped to project, gitignored paths excluded
  2. list_directory(dirs_only=True) — expect only directory entries, each with trailing /
  3. search_files(pattern="def main", glob="**/*.py") — expect content matches with file paths and line numbers
  4. search_files(pattern="[unclosed") — invalid regex; expect literal-text fallback with note containing "Pattern treated as literal text (invalid regex)"
  5. save_file("_slice.txt", "line one\nline two\nline three\nline four\nline five\n")
  6. read_file("_slice.txt", start_line=2, end_line=4) — expect lines 2-4 with line-number prefixes using the Unicode arrow → (U+2192), not : or | (e.g. "2→line two\n3→line three\n4→line four\n")
  7. delete_this_file("_slice.txt")
  8. check_file_size(max_lines=10000) — expect output starting with "File size check passed" and mentioning the total file count. May also surface a "Stale allowlist entries" section — both are normal.

Test 1.12: Reference-project tools

Skip the whole test if get_reference_projects() returns count: 0.

  1. get_reference_projects() — expect dict with count (int), projects (list of {name, url} objects), usage (str)
  2. Pick a project name from step 1's output.
  3. list_reference_directory(reference_name=<name>) — expect file/dir listing
  4. Pick a known file from step 3 (e.g. README.md).
  5. read_reference_file(reference_name=<name>, file_path=<file>) — expect file content
  6. search_reference_files(reference_name=<name>, glob="**/*.py") — expect matches (skip step if project has no Python)

Section 2: Local git tools

(No network. Read-only. Skip Test 2.1 step 8 if the repo has fewer than 2 commits.)

Test 2.1

  1. get_base_branch() — expect a non-empty string (may be the parent branch, not necessarily "main")
  2. git(command="status") — expect output containing "On branch" and a working-tree state line
  3. git(command="log", max_lines=100) — expect output starting with "commit " and containing "Author:"
  4. git(command="branch", args=["--show-current"]) — expect current branch name (non-empty)
  5. git(command="rev_parse", args=["HEAD"]) — expect a 40-char SHA
  6. git(command="ls_files", args=["src/"]) — expect tracked files under src/
  7. git(command="diff", args=["HEAD", "--stat"], compact=False) — on a clean tree expect literal "No changes found"; otherwise expect a file-change summary
  8. git(command="diff", args=["HEAD~1..HEAD", "--stat"], compact=False) — expect file-change summary for the latest commit (requires ≥2 commits)

Section 3: Network-bound tools (slow, rate-limited)

These hit live APIs. Run only when needed.

Test 3.1

  1. github_issue_list(state="open", max_results=3) — expect lines starting with # (e.g. "#200 [open] ...")
  2. github_search(query="bug", max_results=3) — expect issue results only (is:issue is the default), no auto-filter note
  3. Pick an issue number from step 1.
  4. github_issue_view(number=<from step 1>) — expect formatted issue body
  5. github_search(query="is:pr is:closed", max_results=3) — expect [PR] lines only; pick a closed PR number (or skip if none)
  6. github_pr_view(number=<from step 5>) — expect formatted PR body
  7. Pick a reference project <name> from get_reference_projects(). Skip steps 8-10 if it returns count: 0 or the chosen project has a null url.
  8. github_issue_list(reference_name=<name>, state="open", max_results=3) — expect lines starting with #, from the sibling repo
  9. github_issue_view(number=<from step 8>, reference_name=<name>) — expect formatted issue body
  10. github_issue_list(reference_name="does_not_exist") — expect exactly "Error: Reference project 'does_not_exist' not found"

Test 3.2

  1. check_branch_status(ci_timeout=0, pr_timeout=0) — with polling disabled, returns immediately. Expect output containing each of these line prefixes:

    • "Branch:"
    • "Branch Status:"
    • "GitHub Label:"
    • "Recommendations:"

    Additionally, when run on an issue-numbered branch (<number>-...), expect a "Linked Branch:" line; it is absent on main and other non-issue branches.

Section 4: GitHub write tools (MUTATING — opt-in)

These tools create and modify real GitHub objects. Run only when you intend to write to the repository. GitHub has no issue-delete API, so the test issue is closed rather than removed.

Test 4.1: Issue create → edit → comment → close

  1. github_label_list() — expect one line per label with name, #color and description
  2. github_label_list(search="bug") — expect the filtered subset
  3. github_issue_create(title="LLM test - safe to close", body="Created by tests/LLM_Test.md Section 4.") — expect Created issue #N — <url>, then Labels: (none) and Assignees: (none)
  4. github_issue_comment(number=<N from step 3>, body="Test comment.\nSecond line.") — expect Added comment to issue #N — <url>
  5. github_issue_edit(number=<N>, title="LLM test - edited", add_labels=["<a real label from step 1>"]) — expect Updated issue #N, then a Labels: line containing that label
  6. github_issue_edit(number=<N>, remove_labels=["<a label NOT on the issue>"]) — expect success, not an error: the no-op removal is filtered out
  7. github_issue_edit(number=<N>, add_labels=["status-01:created"]) — expect an error naming mcp-coder gh-tool set-status, and no change to the issue
  8. github_issue_edit(number=<N>, add_labels=["definitely-not-a-real-label"]) — expect an error naming the unknown label
  9. github_issue_edit(number=<N>, state="closed") — expect (state: closed)

Test 4.2: Cross-repo issue create → comment → edit → close

Writes to a sibling repository. Skip the whole test if get_reference_projects() returns count: 0 or no project has a non-null url.

  1. Pick a reference project <name> with a non-null url.
  2. github_label_list(reference_name=<name>) — expect that repo's labels, one per line
  3. github_issue_create(title="LLM test - safe to close", body="Created by tests/LLM_Test.md Section 4.", reference_name=<name>) — expect Created issue #N — <url>, with the URL pointing at the sibling repo
  4. github_issue_comment(number=<N from step 3>, body="Test comment.", reference_name=<name>) — expect Added comment to issue #N — <url>
  5. github_issue_edit(number=<N>, add_labels=["status-01:created"], reference_name=<name>) — expect an error naming mcp-coder gh-tool set-status and that project's own checkout, and no change to the issue
  6. github_issue_edit(number=<N>, state="closed", reference_name=<name>) — expect (state: closed)

Test 4.3: PR creation guards (no PR is created)

Only the rejection paths are scripted — creating a real PR needs a real branch.

  1. github_pr_create(title="") — expect an empty-title error
  2. github_pr_create(title="x", head="main", base="main") — expect a head/base error
  3. github_pr_create(title="x", head="bad~name") — expect an invalid-branch-name error