CLI (v2.13.0): server command placed after --tool-arg flags fails with "Invalid parameter format: node" — make positional parsing order-tolerant or fix the error message #2860

Environment

• @modelcontextprotocol/inspector 2.13.0, CLI mode (--cli)
• Linux (WSL2), Node v26.12.1; reproduced 2026-10-30 against a local stdio MCP server

Problem

With --tool-arg present, the server command must precede the flags. Placing it after the options — a common CLI convention — fails with Invalid parameter format: node: the first token of the server command is apparently consumed as a parameter value.

Minimal repro (works — command first, per our docs)

inspector --cli node dist/server.mjs --format json --method tools/call \
  --tool-name code-search --tool-arg action=dirs --tool-arg project=web-fms \
  --tool-arg path=src --tool-arg depth=1
# ✓ exit 0, JSON result

Minimal repro (fails — command last)

inspector --cli --format json --method tools/call \
  --tool-name code-search --tool-arg action=dirs node dist/server.mjs
# ✗ Invalid parameter format: node

Expected

1. Order tolerance: treat the first non-flag token(s) as the server command regardless of position; or
2. If strict ordering is intended, the error should say so, e.g. "Server command must be the first positional argument, before options such as --tool-arg" — Invalid parameter format: node reads like a data-format error in the tool arguments and misdirects debugging.

Notes

• Searched issues for "Invalid parameter format" and "--tool-arg"; no existing match found for command-position parsing (CLI --prompt-args rewrites string values ("1.50" sent as "1.5") #2859 covers value rewriting, not placement).
• Any generated script that appends the server command last hits this.