fix(apps): bind app elicitations to the connection that made them

Two of the three findings; the third is answered in the PR thread.

**A replaced client could still enqueue.** The one-shot sweep only rejected what
was already queued, but the outgoing `InspectorClient` disconnects
asynchronously and can enqueue during its own teardown — and that late entry
would be rendered by a factory bound to the REPLACEMENT client, reading its
resource and answering through a different server. Requests now belong to a
session: each constructed client gets one, closing it rejects that session's
entries AND refuses anything it queues afterwards, and another session's
entries are untouched.

**The advertisement no longer has to guess.** Whether a sandbox exists is only
known once `/api/config` resolves, and the answer is baked into the client at
construction — guessing "available" over-claims, guessing "unavailable" strands
the whole session on the native form despite having a sandbox. The connect path
now awaits that fetch (already in flight since mount, so no human ever waits;
it only orders a deep-link auto-connect racing the same page load), after which
an absent `sandboxUrl` means confirmed-absent.

Signed-off-by: cliffhall <cliff@futurescale.com>

clients/web/src/App.tsx

@@ -142,7 +142,10 @@ import { clearScrollMemory } from "./hooks/useScrollMemory";
 import type { AppRendererHandle } from "./components/elements/AppRenderer/AppRenderer";
 import { createAppBridgeFactory } from "./components/elements/AppRenderer/createAppBridgeFactory";
 import { AppElicitationHost } from "./components/elements/AppElicitation/AppElicitationHost";
-import { AppElicitationController } from "./lib/appElicitationController";
+import {
+  AppElicitationController,
+  type AppElicitationSession,
+} from "./lib/appElicitationController";
 import type { LogEntryData } from "./components/elements/LogEntry/LogEntry";
 import {
   ServerConfigModal,
@@ -750,6 +753,7 @@ function App() {
     sandboxUrl,
     writable: serverListWritable,
     version: inspectorVersion,
+    loading: initialConfigLoading,
   } = useInitialConfig({
     baseUrl: configBaseUrl,
     authToken: getAuthToken(),
@@ -808,6 +812,31 @@ function App() {
   const appElicitationControllerRef = useRef<AppElicitationController>(null);
   appElicitationControllerRef.current ??= new AppElicitationController();
   const appElicitationController = appElicitationControllerRef.current;
+  // The window onto the controller for the CURRENT client. Closing it when the
+  // client is replaced both rejects that connection's queued requests and
+  // refuses any it enqueues during its own (asynchronous) teardown — a late
+  // entry would otherwise be rendered by a factory bound to the replacement
+  // client, i.e. read and answered through a different server.
+  const appElicitationSessionRef = useRef<AppElicitationSession>(null);
+  // Whether the sandbox exists is only known once `/api/config` resolves, and
+  // the answer is baked into the client at construction (it decides whether the
+  // nested MCP Apps `elicitation` capability is advertised). So a connect waits
+  // for it rather than guessing: guessing "available" over-claims a capability
+  // we may not have, and guessing "unavailable" strands the whole session on
+  // the native form despite having a sandbox. The wait is a local fetch already
+  // in flight since mount.
+  const initialConfigSettledRef = useRef<{
+    promise: Promise<void>;
+    resolve: () => void;
+  }>(null);
+  initialConfigSettledRef.current ??= (() => {
+    let resolve!: () => void;
+    const promise = new Promise<void>((r) => (resolve = r));
+    return { promise, resolve };
+  })();
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!initialConfigLoading) initialConfigSettledRef.current?.resolve();
+  }, [initialConfigLoading]);
   const appElicitations = useSyncExternalStore(
     appElicitationController.subscribe,
     appElicitationController.getEntries,
@@ -838,6 +867,19 @@ function App() {
       }),
     [inspectorClient],
   );
+  /**
+   * Close the previous client's session and open one for the client being
+   * constructed. Synchronous, and called at construction, so the swap itself is
+   * the moment ownership changes hands.
+   */
+  const newAppElicitationSession = useCallback(() => {
+    appElicitationSessionRef.current?.close(
+      new Error("Connection replaced before the app answered"),
+    );
+    const session = appElicitationController.openSession();
+    appElicitationSessionRef.current = session;
+    return session;
+  }, [appElicitationController]);
   const handleAppElicitationSettle = useCallback(
     (requestId: string, result: ElicitResult) => {
       appElicitationController.settle(requestId, result);
@@ -850,20 +892,6 @@ function App() {
     },
     [appElicitationController],
   );
-  // Request ownership must not cross connections. `elicitationBridgeFactory`
-  // resolves its client at call time, so an entry queued by a previous
-  // InspectorClient would otherwise be able to rebuild against the NEXT one and
-  // read (or answer) through a different server. Core aborts its own pending
-  // app requests during teardown, but that teardown is awaited asynchronously
-  // while the swap here is synchronous — so drop them on the swap instead of
-  // racing it. The one client alive at a time owns every live entry.
-  useEffect(() => {
-    return () => {
-      appElicitationController.failAll(
-        new Error("Connection replaced before the app answered"),
-      );
-    };
-  }, [appElicitationController, inspectorClient]);
 
   const [managedToolsState, setManagedToolsState] =
     useState<ManagedToolsState | null>(null);
@@ -2486,12 +2514,12 @@ function App() {
         // Web only, and only when the sandbox renderer is actually available:
         // supplying this advertises the nested MCP Apps `elicitation`
         // capability, and a client that cannot host an app must not claim it
-        // (#1854). `sandboxUrl` is undefined while `/api/config` is in flight
-        // and when the sandbox controller could not start, so this connection
-        // simply behaves like the CLI/TUI: the native elicitation queue, with
-        // no claim made to the server.
+        // (#1854). Callers await `initialConfigSettled` first, so `sandboxUrl`
+        // here means "confirmed absent" rather than "not known yet" — a
+        // connection that reaches this with no sandbox behaves like the
+        // CLI/TUI: native elicitation queue, no claim made to the server.
         ...(sandboxUrl && {
-          appElicitation: appElicitationController.render,
+          appElicitation: newAppElicitationSession().render,
         }),
         // Always advertise the roots capability (even with no configured
         // roots) so the server can issue roots/list and receive
@@ -2594,7 +2622,7 @@ function App() {
       sessionStorageAdapter,
       onBeforeOAuthRedirect,
       clientConfig,
-      appElicitationController.render,
+      newAppElicitationSession,
       sandboxUrl,
     ],
   );
@@ -2815,6 +2843,12 @@ function App() {
 
   const onToggleConnection = useCallback(
     async (id: string) => {
+      // Whether this client may advertise app-rendered elicitation is decided
+      // at construction and cannot be revised afterwards, so wait for the fact
+      // rather than guess it (see `initialConfigSettledRef`). Already resolved
+      // by the time any human clicks; this only orders a deep-link auto-connect
+      // that races the same page load.
+      await initialConfigSettledRef.current?.promise;
       // Same server, already connected → disconnect.
       if (
         id === activeServerId &&

clients/web/src/components/elements/AppElicitation/AppElicitationHost.stories.tsx

@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ function entry(
 ): AppElicitationEntry {
   return {
     requestId,
+    sessionId: 0,
     resourceUri,
     params,
     signal: new AbortController().signal,

clients/web/src/components/elements/AppElicitation/AppElicitationHost.test.tsx

@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ function makeEntry(
 ): AppElicitationEntry {
   return {
     requestId,
+    sessionId: 0,
     resourceUri,
     params,
     signal: new AbortController().signal,

clients/web/src/components/elements/AppElicitation/AppElicitationHost.tsx

@@ -236,6 +236,9 @@ function AppElicitationFrame({
 
   return (
     <ElicitationModal
+      // `opened` stays at the call site: it is REQUIRED by `ModalRootProps`,
+      // and `.withProps()` supplies defaults without relaxing a required prop,
+      // so baking it in leaves every call site failing TS2741.
       opened
       onClose={dismiss}
       trapFocus={isTop}

clients/web/src/lib/appElicitationController.test.ts

@@ -1,19 +1,40 @@
 import { describe, it, expect, vi } from "vitest";
 import type { ElicitRequest } from "@modelcontextprotocol/client";
-import { AppElicitationController } from "./appElicitationController";
+import {
+  AppElicitationController,
+  type AppElicitationSession,
+} from "./appElicitationController";
 
 const params: ElicitRequest["params"] = {
   message: "Choose an option",
   requestedSchema: { type: "object", properties: {} },
 };
 
+/**
+ * Queue a request through a session. Defaults to one session per controller,
+ * which is what a single connection looks like; the session tests open their
+ * own to model a client swap.
+ */
 function request(
   controller: AppElicitationController,
   requestId: string,
   resourceUri = "ui://demo/pick.html",
   signal: AbortSignal = new AbortController().signal,
+  session: AppElicitationSession = defaultSession(controller),
 ) {
-  return controller.render({ requestId, resourceUri, params, signal });
+  return session.render({ requestId, resourceUri, params, signal });
+}
+
+const sessions = new WeakMap<AppElicitationController, AppElicitationSession>();
+function defaultSession(
+  controller: AppElicitationController,
+): AppElicitationSession {
+  let session = sessions.get(controller);
+  if (!session) {
+    session = controller.openSession();
+    sessions.set(controller, session);
+  }
+  return session;
 }
 
 describe("AppElicitationController (#1854)", () => {
@@ -108,18 +129,19 @@ describe("AppElicitationController (#1854)", () => {
     expect(controller.getEntries()).toHaveLength(0);
   });
 
-  it("failAll drops every entry so a renderer cannot outlive its connection", async () => {
-    // The host calls this when the InspectorClient is replaced: the bridge
-    // factory resolves its client at call time, so an entry left queued could
-    // otherwise rebuild against the NEXT connection and answer through a
+  it("closing a session drops the entries that session queued", async () => {
+    // The host closes the old session when the InspectorClient is replaced: the
+    // bridge factory resolves its client at call time, so an entry left queued
+    // could otherwise rebuild against the NEXT connection and answer through a
     // different server.
     const controller = new AppElicitationController();
+    const session = controller.openSession();
     const listener = vi.fn();
-    const first = request(controller, "a");
-    const second = request(controller, "b");
+    const first = request(controller, "a", "ui://a", undefined, session);
+    const second = request(controller, "b", "ui://b", undefined, session);
     controller.subscribe(listener);
 
-    controller.failAll(new Error("connection replaced"));
+    session.close(new Error("connection replaced"));
 
     await expect(first).rejects.toThrow(/connection replaced/);
     await expect(second).rejects.toThrow(/connection replaced/);
@@ -127,11 +149,40 @@ describe("AppElicitationController (#1854)", () => {
     expect(listener).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
   });
 
-  it("failAll on an empty queue notifies nobody", () => {
+  it("refuses a request a closed session makes during its own teardown", async () => {
+    // The half a one-shot sweep cannot provide: the replaced client
+    // disconnects asynchronously and can still enqueue, and that entry would be
+    // rendered by a factory bound to the REPLACEMENT client.
     const controller = new AppElicitationController();
+    const session = controller.openSession();
+    session.close(new Error("connection replaced"));
+    await expect(
+      request(controller, "late", "ui://a", undefined, session),
+    ).rejects.toThrow(/session is closed/);
+    expect(controller.getEntries()).toHaveLength(0);
+  });
+
+  it("leaves another session's entries alone", async () => {
+    const controller = new AppElicitationController();
+    const oldSession = controller.openSession();
+    const newSession = controller.openSession();
+    const stale = request(controller, "a", "ui://a", undefined, oldSession);
+    const live = request(controller, "b", "ui://b", undefined, newSession);
+
+    oldSession.close(new Error("connection replaced"));
+
+    await expect(stale).rejects.toThrow(/connection replaced/);
+    expect(controller.getEntries().map((e) => e.requestId)).toEqual(["b"]);
+    controller.settle("b", { action: "cancel" });
+    await expect(live).resolves.toEqual({ action: "cancel" });
+  });
+
+  it("closing a session with nothing queued notifies nobody", () => {
+    const controller = new AppElicitationController();
+    const session = controller.openSession();
     const listener = vi.fn();
     controller.subscribe(listener);
-    controller.failAll(new Error("nothing to drop"));
+    session.close(new Error("nothing to drop"));
     expect(listener).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
 

clients/web/src/lib/appElicitationController.ts

@@ -13,12 +13,31 @@ import type {
  * resolve through each other's.
  */
 export interface AppElicitationEntry extends AppElicitationRequest {
+  /** The session (one InspectorClient) this request belongs to. */
+  sessionId: number;
   /** Hands the app's standard `ElicitResult` back to the server. */
   resolve: (result: ElicitResult) => void;
   /** Asks `InspectorClient` to fall back to the native elicitation UI. */
   reject: (error: Error) => void;
 }
 
+/**
+ * One client's window onto the controller.
+ *
+ * Requests are bound to the connection that made them. A closed session
+ * rejects immediately, which is what a one-shot sweep cannot do: an
+ * `InspectorClient` being replaced disconnects asynchronously and can still
+ * enqueue during its own teardown, and that late entry would otherwise be
+ * rendered by a factory bound to the *replacement* client — reading its
+ * resource, and answering, through a different server.
+ */
+export interface AppElicitationSession {
+  /** The renderer handed to this client's `InspectorClient`. */
+  render: AppElicitationRenderer;
+  /** Reject everything from this session and refuse anything later. */
+  close: (error: Error) => void;
+}
+
 /**
  * Bridges `InspectorClient`'s renderer callback — supplied at construction,
  * long before any React tree exists — to the React component that actually
@@ -32,6 +51,9 @@ export interface AppElicitationEntry extends AppElicitationRequest {
 export class AppElicitationController {
   private entries: AppElicitationEntry[] = [];
   private listeners = new Set<() => void>();
+  private nextSessionId = 0;
+  /** Sessions still accepting requests. A closed one is removed. */
+  private openSessions = new Set<number>();
 
   /** Current queue. Stable identity between changes, for `useSyncExternalStore`. */
   getEntries = (): AppElicitationEntry[] => this.entries;
@@ -48,16 +70,38 @@ export class AppElicitationController {
   }
 
   /**
-   * The {@link AppElicitationRenderer} handed to `InspectorClient`. Queues the
-   * request for the UI and resolves when {@link settle} or {@link fail} is
-   * called for it.
+   * Open a window for one `InspectorClient`. Its `render` is what that client
+   * is constructed with; `close` ends it when the client is replaced.
+   */
+  openSession(): AppElicitationSession {
+    const sessionId = this.nextSessionId++;
+    this.openSessions.add(sessionId);
+    return {
+      render: (request) => this.render(sessionId, request),
+      close: (error) => this.closeSession(sessionId, error),
+    };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Queue a request for the UI and resolve when {@link settle} or {@link fail}
+   * is called for it.
    *
    * An abort of the originating request (cancelled tool call, disconnect) drops
    * the entry and rejects, so a modal can never outlive the request behind it.
+   * A request from a closed session is rejected without ever being queued.
    */
-  render: AppElicitationRenderer = (request: AppElicitationRequest) =>
+  private render = (sessionId: number, request: AppElicitationRequest) =>
     new Promise<ElicitResult>((resolve, reject) => {
-      const entry: AppElicitationEntry = { ...request, resolve, reject };
+      if (!this.openSessions.has(sessionId)) {
+        reject(new Error("App elicitation session is closed"));
+        return;
+      }
+      const entry: AppElicitationEntry = {
+        ...request,
+        sessionId,
+        resolve,
+        reject,
+      };
       const onAbort = () => {
         this.remove(entry.requestId);
         reject(new Error("App-rendered elicitation aborted"));
@@ -98,17 +142,15 @@ export class AppElicitationController {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Drop every queued request at once.
-   *
-   * For the host's "these entries no longer belong to the live connection"
-   * moment (a replaced `InspectorClient`): a renderer that outlived its client
-   * would rebuild against the *next* one and could read or answer through a
-   * different server.
+   * End a session: reject everything it queued, and refuse anything it queues
+   * later. The refusal is the half a one-shot sweep cannot provide — see
+   * {@link AppElicitationSession}.
    */
-  failAll(error: Error): void {
-    const dropped = this.entries;
+  private closeSession(sessionId: number, error: Error): void {
+    this.openSessions.delete(sessionId);
+    const dropped = this.entries.filter((e) => e.sessionId === sessionId);
     if (dropped.length === 0) return;
-    this.entries = [];
+    this.entries = this.entries.filter((e) => e.sessionId !== sessionId);
     this.emit();
     for (const entry of dropped) entry.reject(error);
   }