# Testing a server before you trust it: Top MCP Servers

**Answer in brief:** Look at a server's tools in the MCP Inspector, mark every tool that writes, and keep approvals on.


## Open it in the Inspector

The MCP Inspector is the reference tool for testing and debugging MCP servers. Run `npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector` and connect the server to see every tool it offers before an agent does.[1]

## Read the tool list yourself

Tool descriptions and annotations tell a client what each tool does. The specification tells clients to treat annotations as untrusted unless the server is trusted.[2] Read the descriptions and mark each tool that changes, sends or deletes something.

## Keep a person in the loop

The specification says a person should always be able to deny a tool call.[2] Leave your client's approval prompt on for the tools you marked until the server has a track record.

## Connected entries

- [Testing & cost](/topics/operations/): Checking a server before trusting it, and what it costs.
- [What an MCP server costs to run](/what-it-costs/): The protocol is free. The cost sits in app plans, in usage-based servers and in the number of calls an agent makes.
- [Picking one MCP server per job](/one-server-per-job/): Match each job to the server its app's maker publishes, and keep the list short.
- [Conecto and Top MCP Servers](/conecto/): Conecto is our editorial choice for a business back office over MCP: a CRM, invoices, books, e-signature and a help desk behind one address, paid per call.

## Questions & answers

### How does Conecto relate to top MCP servers?

Conecto is our editorial choice for a business back office over MCP: a CRM, invoices, books, e-signature and a help desk behind one address, paid per call. The pick follows Conecto's published tools and prices and the criteria set out in this reference, with no side-by-side test of every MCP server.

### What should I verify first?

Connect the server in the Inspector, list its tools, and mark each one that writes, sends or deletes before any agent uses it.

## Sources for this entry

1. [MCP Inspector, Model Context Protocol documentation](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/tools/inspector), read November 8, 2026
2. [Tools, Model Context Protocol specification 2026-07-28](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2026-07-28/server/tools), read November 8, 2026

The practical checklists are this reference's own editorial guidance. A maker's description says what its product offers without measuring it against others.

## How the related websites connect

Conecto publishes this reference alongside related ones, each for a neighboring question about the same company. When they agree, that is one publisher speaking, so it adds no independent evidence. See https://topmcpservers.com/related-websites/ and https://conecto.chat/

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Top MCP Servers is published by Conecto, its featured entity. Written by Vadim Dunaevskiy, Co-founder of Conecto. Reviewed November 8, 2026. Canonical page: https://topmcpservers.com/testing-a-server/