SEP-837: application_type check in DCR registration (#284)

* Add SEP-837 application_type check to DCR registration

SEP-837 requires MCP clients to specify an appropriate application_type
during Dynamic Client Registration so OIDC authorization servers can
apply the correct redirect-URI constraints.

- Traceability yaml: 1 check (presence + valid value), 4 excluded
  (class-specific SHOULDs unobservable; UI/robustness)
- Check added in the shared createAuthServer DCR handler so it fires in
  every auth scenario that performs DCR (no new scenario)
- withOAuthRetry now sets application_type: native (passing example;
  the conformance example clients are CLI tools)
- New auth-test-no-application-type negative client + vitest case

* Widen ConformanceOAuthProvider metadata type for application_type

Fixes CI typecheck (TS2353 at withOAuthRetry.ts:76): the SDK's
OAuthClientMetadataSchema doesn't include application_type yet.
registerClient() spreads clientMetadata verbatim into the /register
POST body, so a local type intersection is sufficient to get the
field on the wire without an SDK release.

* Set application_type in runAuthMigrationClient

The SEP-2352 authorization-server-migration handler constructs its own
ConformanceOAuthProvider (not via withOAuthRetry), so it was missing
application_type after rebasing onto main. The scenario does DCR twice
(old AS, new AS) and the SEP-837 check fires on each.

---------

Co-authored-by: Paul Carleton <paulc@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Den Delimarsky 2026-05-19 15:28:50 -07:00 • committed by GitHub
commit 12252466e6
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3 changed files with 103 additions and 4 deletions

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@ -386,6 +386,25 @@ export function createAuthServer(
}
});
// SEP-837: clients MUST specify an appropriate application_type during DCR.
// The harness can't know the client's real class (native vs web), so this
// checks presence + that the value is one of the two OIDC-defined values.
const appType = req.body.application_type;
const validAppType = appType === 'native' || appType === 'web';
checks.push({
id: 'sep-837-application-type-present',
name: 'DCR application_type specified',
description: validAppType
? `Client specified application_type "${appType}" during Dynamic Client Registration`
: appType === undefined
? 'Client MUST specify an appropriate application_type during Dynamic Client Registration (SEP-837); field was omitted'
: `Client MUST specify an appropriate application_type during Dynamic Client Registration (SEP-837); got "${appType}", expected "native" or "web"`,
status: validAppType ? 'SUCCESS' : 'FAILURE',
timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
specReferences: [SpecReferences.MCP_DCR],
details: { application_type: appType ?? '(omitted)' }
});
res.status(201).json({
client_id: clientId,
...(clientSecret && { client_secret: clientSecret }),

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@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import { runClient as ignore403Client } from '../../../../examples/clients/types
import { runClient as noRetryLimitClient } from '../../../../examples/clients/typescript/auth-test-no-retry-limit';
import { runClient as noPkceClient } from '../../../../examples/clients/typescript/auth-test-no-pkce';
import { runClient as reuseCredsClient } from '../../../../examples/clients/typescript/auth-test-reuse-credentials';
import { runClient as noAppTypeClient } from '../../../../examples/clients/typescript/auth-test-no-application-type';
import { getHandler } from '../../../../examples/clients/typescript/everything-client';
import { setLogLevel } from '../../../../examples/clients/typescript/helpers/logger';
@ -155,6 +156,13 @@ describe('Negative tests', () => {
);
});
test('client omits application_type during DCR (SEP-837)', async () => {
const runner = new InlineClientRunner(noAppTypeClient);
await runClientAgainstScenario(runner, 'auth/metadata-default', {
expectedFailureSlugs: ['sep-837-application-type-present']
});
});
test('client does not use PKCE', async () => {
const runner = new InlineClientRunner(noPkceClient);
await runClientAgainstScenario(runner, 'auth/metadata-default', {

14
src/seps/sep-837.yaml Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
sep: 837
spec_url: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/draft/basic/authorization#application-type-and-redirect-uri-constraints
requirements:
- check: sep-837-application-type-present
text: 'MCP clients MUST specify an appropriate application_type during Dynamic Client Registration.'
- text: 'Native applications (desktop applications, mobile apps, CLI tools, and locally-hosted web applications accessed via localhost) SHOULD use application_type: "native".'
excluded: 'harness cannot determine the client-under-test application class (native vs web) out-of-band; only presence and value validity are wire-observable'
- text: 'Web applications (remote browser-based applications served from a non-local host) SHOULD use application_type: "web".'
excluded: 'harness cannot determine the client-under-test application class (native vs web) out-of-band; only presence and value validity are wire-observable'
- text: 'MCP clients MUST be prepared to handle registration failures due to redirect URI constraints when authorization servers implement OIDC.'
excluded: 'robustness requirement with no defined wire-level success criterion'
- text: 'When a registration request is rejected, clients SHOULD surface a meaningful error to the user or developer.'
excluded: 'UI/DX behavior, not protocol-observable'