diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 176b0d4cd..a7eee74a1 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -17,3 +17,4 @@ client/results.json
 client/test-results/
 client/e2e/test-results/
 mcp.json
+.claude/settings.local.json
diff --git a/cli/package.json b/cli/package.json
index e274bbdfe..c7d37fd85 100644
--- a/cli/package.json
+++ b/cli/package.json
@@ -17,9 +17,10 @@
   "scripts": {
     "build": "tsc",
     "postbuild": "node scripts/make-executable.js",
-    "test": "node scripts/cli-tests.js && node scripts/cli-tool-tests.js",
+    "test": "node scripts/cli-tests.js && node scripts/cli-tool-tests.js && node scripts/cli-header-tests.js",
     "test:cli": "node scripts/cli-tests.js",
-    "test:cli-tools": "node scripts/cli-tool-tests.js"
+    "test:cli-tools": "node scripts/cli-tool-tests.js",
+    "test:cli-headers": "node scripts/cli-header-tests.js"
   },
   "devDependencies": {},
   "dependencies": {
diff --git a/cli/scripts/cli-header-tests.js b/cli/scripts/cli-header-tests.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0f1d22a93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/scripts/cli-header-tests.js
@@ -0,0 +1,252 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env node
+
+/**
+ * Integration tests for header functionality
+ * Tests the CLI header parsing end-to-end
+ */
+
+import { spawn } from "node:child_process";
+import { resolve, dirname } from "node:path";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+
+const __dirname = dirname(fileURLToPath(import.meta.url));
+const CLI_PATH = resolve(__dirname, "..", "build", "index.js");
+
+// ANSI colors for output
+const colors = {
+  GREEN: "\x1b[32m",
+  RED: "\x1b[31m",
+  YELLOW: "\x1b[33m",
+  BLUE: "\x1b[34m",
+  NC: "\x1b[0m", // No Color
+};
+
+let testsPassed = 0;
+let testsFailed = 0;
+
+/**
+ * Run a CLI test with given arguments and check for expected behavior
+ */
+function runHeaderTest(
+  testName,
+  args,
+  expectSuccess = false,
+  expectedInOutput = null,
+) {
+  return new Promise((resolve) => {
+    console.log(`\n${colors.BLUE}Testing: ${testName}${colors.NC}`);
+    console.log(
+      `${colors.BLUE}Command: node ${CLI_PATH} ${args.join(" ")}${colors.NC}`,
+    );
+
+    const child = spawn("node", [CLI_PATH, ...args], {
+      stdio: ["pipe", "pipe", "pipe"],
+      timeout: 10000,
+    });
+
+    let stdout = "";
+    let stderr = "";
+
+    child.stdout.on("data", (data) => {
+      stdout += data.toString();
+    });
+
+    child.stderr.on("data", (data) => {
+      stderr += data.toString();
+    });
+
+    child.on("close", (code) => {
+      const output = stdout + stderr;
+      let passed = true;
+      let reason = "";
+
+      // Check exit code expectation
+      if (expectSuccess && code !== 0) {
+        passed = false;
+        reason = `Expected success (exit code 0) but got ${code}`;
+      } else if (!expectSuccess && code === 0) {
+        passed = false;
+        reason = `Expected failure (non-zero exit code) but got success`;
+      }
+
+      // Check expected output
+      if (passed && expectedInOutput && !output.includes(expectedInOutput)) {
+        passed = false;
+        reason = `Expected output to contain "${expectedInOutput}"`;
+      }
+
+      if (passed) {
+        console.log(`${colors.GREEN}PASS: ${testName}${colors.NC}`);
+        testsPassed++;
+      } else {
+        console.log(`${colors.RED}FAIL: ${testName}${colors.NC}`);
+        console.log(`${colors.RED}Reason: ${reason}${colors.NC}`);
+        console.log(`${colors.RED}Exit code: ${code}${colors.NC}`);
+        console.log(`${colors.RED}Output: ${output}${colors.NC}`);
+        testsFailed++;
+      }
+
+      resolve();
+    });
+
+    child.on("error", (error) => {
+      console.log(
+        `${colors.RED}ERROR: ${testName} - ${error.message}${colors.NC}`,
+      );
+      testsFailed++;
+      resolve();
+    });
+  });
+}
+
+async function runHeaderIntegrationTests() {
+  console.log(
+    `${colors.YELLOW}=== MCP Inspector CLI Header Integration Tests ===${colors.NC}`,
+  );
+  console.log(
+    `${colors.BLUE}Testing header parsing and validation${colors.NC}`,
+  );
+
+  // Test 1: Valid header format should parse successfully (connection will fail)
+  await runHeaderTest(
+    "Valid single header",
+    [
+      "https://example.com",
+      "--method",
+      "tools/list",
+      "--transport",
+      "http",
+      "--header",
+      "Authorization: Bearer token123",
+    ],
+    false,
+  );
+
+  // Test 2: Multiple headers should parse successfully
+  await runHeaderTest(
+    "Multiple headers",
+    [
+      "https://example.com",
+      "--method",
+      "tools/list",
+      "--transport",
+      "http",
+      "--header",
+      "Authorization: Bearer token123",
+      "--header",
+      "X-API-Key: secret123",
+    ],
+    false,
+  );
+
+  // Test 3: Invalid header format - no colon
+  await runHeaderTest(
+    "Invalid header format - no colon",
+    [
+      "https://example.com",
+      "--method",
+      "tools/list",
+      "--transport",
+      "http",
+      "--header",
+      "InvalidHeader",
+    ],
+    false,
+    "Invalid header format",
+  );
+
+  // Test 4: Invalid header format - empty name
+  await runHeaderTest(
+    "Invalid header format - empty name",
+    [
+      "https://example.com",
+      "--method",
+      "tools/list",
+      "--transport",
+      "http",
+      "--header",
+      ": value",
+    ],
+    false,
+    "Invalid header format",
+  );
+
+  // Test 5: Invalid header format - empty value
+  await runHeaderTest(
+    "Invalid header format - empty value",
+    [
+      "https://example.com",
+      "--method",
+      "tools/list",
+      "--transport",
+      "http",
+      "--header",
+      "Header:",
+    ],
+    false,
+    "Invalid header format",
+  );
+
+  // Test 6: Header with colons in value
+  await runHeaderTest(
+    "Header with colons in value",
+    [
+      "https://example.com",
+      "--method",
+      "tools/list",
+      "--transport",
+      "http",
+      "--header",
+      "X-Time: 2023:12:25:10:30:45",
+    ],
+    false,
+  );
+
+  // Test 7: Whitespace handling
+  await runHeaderTest(
+    "Whitespace handling in headers",
+    [
+      "https://example.com",
+      "--method",
+      "tools/list",
+      "--transport",
+      "http",
+      "--header",
+      "  X-Header  :  value with spaces  ",
+    ],
+    false,
+  );
+
+  console.log(`\n${colors.YELLOW}=== Test Results ===${colors.NC}`);
+  console.log(`${colors.GREEN}Tests passed: ${testsPassed}${colors.NC}`);
+  console.log(`${colors.RED}Tests failed: ${testsFailed}${colors.NC}`);
+
+  if (testsFailed === 0) {
+    console.log(
+      `${colors.GREEN}All header integration tests passed!${colors.NC}`,
+    );
+    process.exit(0);
+  } else {
+    console.log(
+      `${colors.RED}Some header integration tests failed.${colors.NC}`,
+    );
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+}
+
+// Handle graceful shutdown
+process.on("SIGINT", () => {
+  console.log(`\n${colors.YELLOW}Test interrupted by user${colors.NC}`);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
+
+process.on("SIGTERM", () => {
+  console.log(`\n${colors.YELLOW}Test terminated${colors.NC}`);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
+
+// Run the tests
+runHeaderIntegrationTests().catch((error) => {
+  console.error(`${colors.RED}Test runner error: ${error.message}${colors.NC}`);
+  process.exit(1);
+});
diff --git a/cli/src/index.ts b/cli/src/index.ts
index 2e8811ac6..8e219e451 100644
--- a/cli/src/index.ts
+++ b/cli/src/index.ts
@@ -352,8 +352,8 @@ async function main(): Promise<void> {
     const args = parseArgs();
     await callMethod(args);
 
-    // Let Node.js naturally exit instead of force-exiting
-    // process.exit(0) was causing stdout truncation
+    // Explicitly exit to ensure process terminates in CI
+    process.exit(0);
   } catch (error) {
     handleError(error);
   }