Charles-mcp

Overview

Charles MCP Server provides a structured interface for AI agents to interact with Charles Proxy, enabling both live traffic monitoring and historical packet analysis. The server implements a summary-first approach where agents can initially get traffic overviews before drilling down into specific requests. Version 3.0 extends capabilities to support reverse engineering workflows, including request replay, signature analysis, and live reverse analysis sessions. The implementation focuses on optimizing token usage by filtering null values, reducing payload sizes, and providing compact previews by default.

Try asking AI

After installing, here are 5 things you can ask your AI assistant:

• start_live_capture

  Start or take over current live capture, returning a capture_id

  Try:Start capturing network traffic in real-timeTry:Begin live session to monitor network requests
• read_live_capture

  Incrementally read live capture returning only compact route summaries

  Try:Show me new network traffic since last timeTry:Get latest HTTP requests in the live session
• peek_live_capture

  Preview new traffic without advancing cursor, returning only compact route summaries

  Try:Check what new requests have arrived without marking as readTry:Preview latest traffic without consuming it
• stop_live_capture

  End capture and optionally persist snapshot

  Try:Stop the current live capture sessionTry:Finish capturing and save the session
• query_live_capture_entries

  Structure summary of live capture without advancing cursor

  Try:Find all POST requests in the live captureTry:Show me all API calls with 404 status
• group_capture_analysis

  Aggregate and group live or history results by host/path/status

  Try:Group traffic by most accessed hostsTry:Show me requests grouped by HTTP status codes
• get_traffic_entry_detail

  Read single entry's detail with warnings for large responses

  Try:Show me the full details of entry 12345Try:Get complete information about this specific request
• analyze_recorded_traffic

  Analyze specified recording or latest recording with structured summary

  Try:Analyze the recorded session from yesterdayTry:Give me a summary of this .chlsj file
• list_recordings

  List currently saved recording files

  Try:Show me all saved recordingsTry:What capture files are available?
• charles_status

  Check Charles connection status and current live capture state

  Try:Is Charles proxy running?Try:Check status of the current capture session
• reverse_import_session

  Import official Charles XML/native session into canonical reverse store

  Try:Import this Charles session for reverse analysisTry:Load saved session for detailed analysis
• reverse_replay_entry

  Replay single imported request with optional parameter variations

  Try:Replay this request with modified headersTry:Test if this API call can be replayed successfully

Comparable tools

Installation

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

claude mcp add-json charles '{
  "type": "stdio",
  "command": "uvx",
  "args": ["charles-mcp"],
  "env": {
    "CHARLES_USER": "admin",
    "CHARLES_PASS": "123456",
    "CHARLES_MANAGE_LIFECYCLE": "false"
  }
}'

FAQ

Does this require Charles Proxy to be installed?

Yes, you need to have Charles Proxy installed and running with the Web Interface enabled.

Can this be used for automated testing?

Yes, the server provides tools for automated traffic analysis, request replay, and signature analysis suitable for testing workflows.

Compare Charles-mcp with