Xdebug MCP server

Xdebug MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that provides PHP debugging capabilities through Xdebug's DBGp protocol. This allows AI assistants like Claude to directly debug PHP applications.

Features

Core Debugging

• Full Debug Control: Step into, step over, step out, continue, stop
• Breakpoints: Line breakpoints, conditional breakpoints, exception breakpoints, function call breakpoints
• Variable Inspection: View all variables, get specific variables, set variable values
• Expression Evaluation: Evaluate PHP expressions in the current context
• Stack Traces: View the full call stack
• Multiple Sessions: Debug multiple PHP scripts simultaneously
• Docker Support: Works with PHP running in Docker containers

Advanced Features

• Watch Expressions: Persistent watches that auto-evaluate on each break with change detection
• Logpoints: Log messages without stopping execution using {$var} placeholders
• Memory Profiling: Track memory usage and execution time between breakpoints
• Code Coverage: Track which lines were executed during debugging
• Request Context: Capture $GET, $POST, $SESSION, $COOKIE, headers automatically
• Step Filters: Skip vendor/library code during stepping
• Debug Profiles: Save and restore breakpoint configurations
• Session Export: Export debug sessions as JSON or HTML reports

Installation

From npm (Recommended)

npm install -g xdebug-mcp

From Source

git clone https://github.com/kpanuragh/xdebug-mcp.git
cd xdebug-mcp
npm install
npm run build

MCP Server Configuration

For Claude Code

Add the xdebug-mcp server to your MCP configuration (.mcp.json or Claude settings):

Using npm global install:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xdebug": {
      "command": "xdebug-mcp",
      "env": {
        "XDEBUG_PORT": "9003",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

Using npx:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xdebug": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "xdebug-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "XDEBUG_PORT": "9003",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

With Path Mappings (for Docker)

When debugging PHP in Docker containers, you need path mappings to translate container paths to host paths:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "xdebug": {
      "command": "xdebug-mcp",
      "env": {
        "XDEBUG_PORT": "9003",
        "PATH_MAPPINGS": "{\"/var/www/html\": \"/home/user/projects/myapp\"}",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    }
  }
}

With DBGp Proxy Registration

If you already use a DBGp proxy, keep mcp-config.example.json as the default direct-listener example and start from mcp-config.proxy.example.json for proxy registration.

Proxy mode requires:

• TCP listener mode for xdebug-mcp (not XDEBUGSOCKETPATH)
• a unique callback port such as 9006, 9007, or 9008 for XDEBUG_PORT
• DBGPPROXYHOST, DBGPPROXYPORT, and DBGP_IDEKEY

See the DBGp Proxy Registration Guide for the full setup, multi-agent examples, and PHP/Xdebug proxy configuration.

PHP/Xdebug Configuration

php.ini (or xdebug.ini)

[xdebug]
zend_extension=xdebug

; Enable step debugging
xdebug.mode=debug

; Start debugging on every request
xdebug.start_with_request=yes

; Host where MCP server is running
; For Docker: use host.docker.internal
; For local PHP: use 127.0.0.1
xdebug.client_host=host.docker.internal

; Port where MCP server listens
xdebug.client_port=9003

; IDE key (optional, for filtering)
xdebug.idekey=mcp

Docker Compose

version: '3.8'

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.