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Charles Proxy

v1.0.0•Developer Tools•stable

Charles Proxy MCP server for AI agents with live capture, structured traffic analysis, and agent-friendly tool contracts

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What is Charles Proxy?

Charles Proxy is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to charles proxy mcp server for ai agents with live capture, structured traffic analysis, and agent-friendly tool contracts

Charles Proxy MCP server for AI agents with live capture, structured traffic analysis, and agent-friendly tool contracts

This server falls under the Developer Tools category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.

Features

  • Charles Proxy MCP server for AI agents with live capture, st

Use Cases

Capture and analyze live network traffic.
Debug API interactions with structured traffic analysis.
Monitor HTTP/HTTPS communications for AI agents.
heizaheiza

Maintainer

LicenseMIT
Languagepython
Versionv1.0.0
UpdatedMay 20, 2026
Statushealthy
Maintenanceactive

Works with

ClaudeOpenAIwindowsmacoslinux
View SourceBrowse All Servers

Installation

Manual Installation

npx charles

Configuration

Configuration Details

Config File

claude_desktop_config.json

Performance

Response Metrics

Response Time< 200ms
ThroughputMedium

Resource Usage

Memory UsageLow
CPU UsageLow

How to Set Up and Use Charles Proxy

The Charles MCP server connects AI agents to Charles Proxy — a popular HTTP/HTTPS traffic inspector — enabling live network capture, structured traffic analysis, and replay directly from an LLM session. It exposes tools for starting and stopping captures, querying entries by URL or method, reading detailed request/response bodies, and running reverse-engineering analysis on recorded sessions. Developers and QA engineers use it to debug API integrations, analyze third-party traffic, and let AI assistants reason about network behavior without manually exporting HAR files.

Prerequisites

  • Charles Proxy installed and running (version 4+, with Web Interface enabled on port 8083 by default)
  • Python 3.10 or later and uv package manager installed (`pip install uv` or `brew install uv`)
  • Claude Desktop, Claude Code, or another MCP-compatible client
  • Charles Web Interface credentials (default: admin / 123456)
1

Enable Charles Web Interface

In Charles Proxy, go to Help > SSL Proxying > Install Charles Root Certificate, then Proxy > Proxy Settings and verify the HTTP Proxy is on port 8888. Enable the Web Interface under Help > Web Interface.

2

Install uv if not already present

The charles-mcp package is distributed via PyPI and run with uvx, which requires uv.

pip install uv
3

Add the Charles MCP server to your client config

Add the server entry to your Claude Desktop or Claude Code configuration file, providing your Charles Web Interface credentials as environment variables.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "charles": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["charles-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CHARLES_USER": "admin",
        "CHARLES_PASS": "123456",
        "CHARLES_PROXY_HOST": "127.0.0.1",
        "CHARLES_PROXY_PORT": "8888",
        "CHARLES_MANAGE_LIFECYCLE": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}
4

Restart your MCP client

Restart Claude Desktop (or reload the MCP server in Claude Code) so it picks up the new server configuration.

5

Start a live capture session

With Charles running and your app generating traffic, ask the AI to start a capture. Use summary tools first, then drill into specific entries.

6

Analyze captured traffic

Use group_capture_analysis to get a high-level summary grouped by host or path, then get_traffic_entry_detail for the specific request/response you want to inspect.

Charles Proxy Examples

Client configuration

Claude Desktop config with all Charles connection environment variables. Change CHARLES_USER and CHARLES_PASS to match your actual Charles Web Interface settings.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "charles": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["charles-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "CHARLES_USER": "admin",
        "CHARLES_PASS": "123456",
        "CHARLES_PROXY_HOST": "127.0.0.1",
        "CHARLES_PROXY_PORT": "8888",
        "CHARLES_REQUEST_TIMEOUT": "10",
        "CHARLES_MANAGE_LIFECYCLE": "false"
      }
    }
  }
}

Prompts to try

These prompts exercise the live capture, analysis, and history tools exposed by the Charles MCP server.

- "Start a live capture, then tell me which API endpoints my app is hitting"
- "Show me the grouped traffic summary from the last capture session"
- "Get the full request and response body for the POST to /api/auth/login"
- "List all recordings from today and open the most recent one"
- "Analyze the recorded traffic and identify any endpoints returning 5xx errors"

Troubleshooting Charles Proxy

Connection refused or charles_status returns unhealthy

Verify Charles is running and the Web Interface is enabled (Help > Web Interface in Charles). Check that CHARLES_PROXY_HOST and CHARLES_PROXY_PORT match your Charles settings. The Web Interface defaults to port 8083, not 8888.

Authentication errors when connecting

The CHARLES_USER and CHARLES_PASS env vars must match the credentials set in Charles under Help > Web Interface > Change Password. The defaults are admin/123456 but these are often changed.

uvx command not found

Install uv with `pip install uv` or `brew install uv` on macOS. After installation, verify with `uvx --version`. If the shell cannot find uvx, add `~/.local/bin` to your PATH.

Frequently Asked Questions about Charles Proxy

What is Charles Proxy?

Charles Proxy is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that charles proxy mcp server for ai agents with live capture, structured traffic analysis, and agent-friendly tool contracts It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.

How do I install Charles Proxy?

Follow the installation instructions on the Charles Proxy GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.

Which AI clients work with Charles Proxy?

Charles Proxy works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.

Is Charles Proxy free to use?

Yes, Charles Proxy is open source and available under the MIT license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.

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Quick Config Preview

{ "mcpServers": { "charles": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "charles"] } } }

Add this to your claude_desktop_config.json or .cursor/mcp.json

Read the full setup guide →

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