php-sdk/docs/client/connecting.md

Connecting to a server

A client is configured once through its builder, then connected to a transport. Connecting performs the MCP initialization handshake, after which the server's capabilities are known and its elements can be used. On protocol revision 2026-07-28 there is no handshake to perform — see Clients on this revision.

Client Builder

The Client\Builder provides fluent configuration of client instances.

Basic Configuration

use Mcp\Client;

$client = Client::builder()
    ->setClientInfo('My Application', '1.0.0', 'Description of my client')
    ->setInitTimeout(30)      // Seconds to wait for initialization
    ->setRequestTimeout(120)  // Seconds to wait for request responses
    ->setMaxRetries(3)        // Retries for failed connections
    ->build();

Connection Retries

setMaxRetries() controls how often connect() retries a failed connection. It counts retries rather than attempts, so the default of 3 means one initial attempt plus up to three retries — four in total — before the ConnectionException of the last attempt is rethrown:

$client = Client::builder()
    ->setMaxRetries(0)  // Fail on the first failed attempt
    ->build();

Between two attempts the transport is closed, so a retry never reuses a half-established connection: a StdioTransport spawns a fresh server process and an HttpTransport discards the session ID of the failed attempt. Each retry is preceded by a short, linearly growing delay (100ms, 200ms, 300ms, …).

Only the connection handshake is retried. Individual requests such as callTool() are always sent once — retrying them is unsafe as tool calls are not necessarily idempotent.

Client Information

Set the client's identity reported to servers during initialization:

$client = Client::builder()
    ->setClientInfo(
        name: 'AI Assistant Client',
        version: '2.1.0',
        description: 'Client for automated AI workflows'
    )
    ->build();

Protocol Version

Specify the MCP protocol version to offer during the handshake (defaults to V2025_11_25, the latest handshake revision — the modern 2026-07-28 revision must be chosen explicitly):

use Mcp\Schema\Enum\ProtocolVersion;

$client = Client::builder()
    ->setProtocolVersion(ProtocolVersion::V2025_11_25)
    ->build();

This is an offer, not a demand. A server that does not support the requested revision counter-offers one it does, as described in the specification's protocol version negotiation section. The client accepts any counter-offer it knows about and continues on that revision; a counter-offer the SDK cannot speak fails the handshake with a ConnectionException rather than continuing on a revision neither side agreed on. Use $client->getProtocolVersion() after connecting to read what was actually negotiated.

Setting a modern revision such as 2026-07-28 selects the other lifecycle rather than making an offer: there is no initialize to negotiate with, so connect() sends none and every request carries its own revision instead. Nothing else about the client API changes. See Clients on this revision for what happens underneath.

See Protocol versions for the server side of the exchange.

Capabilities

Declare client capabilities to enable server features:

use Mcp\Schema\ClientCapabilities;

$client = Client::builder()
    ->setCapabilities(new ClientCapabilities(
        sampling: true,  // Enable LLM sampling requests from server
        roots: true,     // Enable filesystem root listing
    ))
    ->build();

Notification Handlers

Register handlers for server-initiated notifications:

use Mcp\Client\Handler\Notification\LoggingNotificationHandler;
use Mcp\Schema\Notification\LoggingMessageNotification;

$loggingHandler = new LoggingNotificationHandler(
    static function (LoggingMessageNotification $notification) {
        echo "[{$notification->level->value}] {$notification->data}\n";
    }
);

$client = Client::builder()
    ->addNotificationHandler($loggingHandler)
    ->build();

Request Handlers

Register handlers for server-initiated requests (e.g., sampling). The same handlers answer a multi round-trip input_required result on a modern revision, where the server returns its ask instead of sending a request:

use Mcp\Client\Handler\Request\SamplingRequestHandler;
use Mcp\Client\Handler\Request\SamplingCallbackInterface;
use Mcp\Schema\Request\CreateSamplingMessageRequest;
use Mcp\Schema\Result\CreateSamplingMessageResult;

$samplingCallback = new class implements SamplingCallbackInterface {
    public function __invoke(CreateSamplingMessageRequest $request): CreateSamplingMessageResult
    {
        // Perform LLM sampling and return result
    }
};

$client = Client::builder()
    ->addRequestHandler(new SamplingRequestHandler($samplingCallback))
    ->build();

Logger

Configure PSR-3 logging for debugging:

use Monolog\Logger;
use Monolog\Handler\StreamHandler;

$logger = new Logger('mcp-client');
$logger->pushHandler(new StreamHandler('client.log', Logger::DEBUG));

$client = Client::builder()
    ->setLogger($logger)
    ->build();

Connecting to Servers

Establishing Connection

$client->connect($transport);

The connect() method performs the MCP initialization handshake:

1. Opens the transport connection
2. Sends InitializeRequest with client capabilities
3. Waits for InitializeResult from server
4. Sends InitializedNotification

On a modern revision it opens the transport and asks server/discover for the server's identity instead; a server that does not answer that optional method still yields a usable connection.

!!! warning Always wrap connection in try/catch to handle ConnectionException for failed connections.

Checking Connection State

if ($client->isConnected()) {
    // Client is connected and initialized
}

Disconnecting

$client->disconnect();

Always disconnect when finished to clean up resources:

try {
    $client->connect($transport);
    // ... use the client ...
} finally {
    $client->disconnect();
}

Server Information

After successful connection, retrieve server metadata:

// Get server implementation info
$serverInfo = $client->getServerInfo();
echo "Server: {$serverInfo->name} v{$serverInfo->version}\n";

// Get server instructions
$instructions = $client->getInstructions();
if ($instructions) {
    echo "Instructions: {$instructions}\n";
}