## Motivation and Context
Companion to the stateless lifecycle work (SEP-2575, modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol#2575) for
the 2026-07-28 MCP spec release. The modern lifecycle removed the HTTP GET listening stream;
`subscriptions/listen` replaces it as a long-lived POST that opts in to server change notifications.
The Python SDK ships the server side of this as its SEP-2575 event-bus work (python-sdk PR /modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk#3035);
the TypeScript SDK landed it in PR modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk#2321.
Wire behavior, per the draft schema:
- The request carries a REQUIRED `notifications` filter (`SubscriptionFilter`): `toolsListChanged`,
`promptsListChanged`, `resourcesListChanged`, and `resourceSubscriptions` (URI list, replacing
the legacy `resources/subscribe` RPC). Every type is opt-in; the server MUST NOT send types
the client did not request.
- The first stream message is `notifications/subscriptions/acknowledged`, reporting the subset of
requested types the server agreed to honor. Honoring reads the capability FLAGS that promise delivery
(`listChanged`, `subscribe`), the same derivation `server/discover` uses for its era-aware capability stripping;
the mere presence of a primitive's capability is not enough.
- Every notification delivered on the stream carries the correlating `io.modelcontextprotocol/subscriptionId`
(the listen request id) in `_meta`.
- A graceful teardown (transport `close`) sends a `SubscriptionsListenResult` response before closing the stream,
stamped with the REQUIRED 2026-07-28 `resultType` at its construction site (it never passes through the dispatch path);
an abrupt disconnect sends nothing.
Implementation:
- `StreamableHTTPTransport` intercepts `subscriptions/listen` on the modern path (after header and envelope validation)
and serves it as a long-lived SSE stream, using the same register-and-return body proc pattern as the legacy GET stream.
Subscriptions live in an in-process registry keyed by the listen request id; fan-out hooks into `send_notification` ahead of
the legacy delivery, so a resource updated by one session's tool call also reaches modern subscribers.
The matching snapshot is taken under the transport mutex, but stream writes happen outside it,
matching the legacy delivery paths: a slow or stalled subscriber must not block the transport.
Duplicate subscription ids close the new stream instead of double-registering.
- Concurrent listen streams are capped (`max_listen_subscriptions:`, default 1000, `nil` to opt out);
a listen request past the cap is rejected with HTTP 503, like the `max_sessions` guard against session floods.
Each stream holds an open connection for its lifetime, so without a bound an unauthenticated client can retain
unbounded connections.
- Each stream is kept alive by an SSE comment frame written every `listen_keepalive_interval:` seconds
(default 15, matching the TypeScript SDK; `nil` to opt out when an upstream proxy pings the stream).
A silently dropped connection would otherwise hold its capped slot until the next fan-out write failed,
so on a quiet server the cap would ratchet down permanently; the periodic write detects the dead peer
and frees the slot. A comment frame cannot corrupt an interleaved notification's JSON, and the write
happens outside the transport mutex, reusing the legacy GET stream's keepalive mechanism.
- Every SSE response now carries `x-accel-buffering: no`, which the spec asks of SSE streams and both
reference SDKs send: a buffering reverse proxy would hold events back instead of delivering them as
they are written, and on a listen stream it would also swallow the keepalive frames a dropped peer
is detected by. The header rides the shared `SSE_HEADERS`, so the legacy streams gain it too.
- stdio does not serve the stream, matching the Python SDK's stream-pair behavior: no server handler is registered,
so the method answers `-32601`.
- `Server#discover` becomes era-aware about notification delivery: `listChanged`/`subscribe` capability flags
promise delivery over `subscriptions/listen` streams in the modern lifecycle, so they are stripped when
the transport does not serve that RPC (the new `Transport#serves_subscriptions_listen?` seam, true for `StreamableHTTPTransport`).
- The conformance fixture defines the diagnostic triggers the `server-stateless` scenario calls
(`test_trigger_tool_change` / `test_trigger_prompt_change`): each broadcasts its list-changed notification
to the listen streams and returns, mirroring the suite's TypeScript reference fixture, which mutates nothing either.
Out of scope, noted for follow-ups: an external event bus for multi-worker deployments, and the client-side listen driver
(the Python reference is python-sdk PR modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk#3047).
Refs #389.
## How Has This Been Tested?
New tests in `test/mcp/server/transports/streamable_http_transport_test.rb` cover:
the SSE response with the acknowledgement as the first event (including the honored-subset reduction for unsupported types and
for capability entries lacking the delivery flag), the `notifications` filter and envelope requirements (400 responses),
opt-in-only delivery with the correlating `subscriptionId`, URI-scoped `resources/updated` delivery, per-subscription ids across
concurrent streams, the graceful close result carrying `resultType: "complete"`, duplicate-id rejection, the 503 past
the concurrent stream cap, the keepalive (writing the comment frame outside the mutex, freeing a dead peer's slot,
no thread when the interval is `nil`, and the positive-or-nil interval validation), and `x-accel-buffering: no`
on both the listen stream and the legacy GET stream.
`test/mcp/server/transports/stdio_transport_test.rb` asserts `-32601` over stdio,
and `test/mcp/server_test.rb` covers the era-aware capability stripping in `server/discover` for both transport kinds.
`bundle exec rake` (tests, RuboCop, and conformance baseline) passes.
Against the conformance fixture server at `--spec-version 2026-07-28`, the `server-stateless` subscription checks
all report SUCCESS: the acknowledgement, `subscriptionId` tagging, and filter-containment MUSTs, plus both
list-changed SHOULD checks driven by the new trigger tools. The `--requirements 2025-11-25` server leg
passes 78/78, unchanged.
## Breaking Changes
None. The method was previously unhandled (`-32601` everywhere); the only observable change to existing responses is that
`server/discover` no longer advertises `listChanged`/`subscribe` flags on transports that cannot deliver those notifications in
the modern lifecycle, which `server/discover` has not shipped in a gem release with anyway.
## Motivation and Context
Two deviations from the finalized 2026-07-28 specification in the SEP-2575 envelope validation,
both introduced against the frozen SEP text and overtaken by post-final spec changes:
1. `clientInfo` was treated as required. Spec PR modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol#3002 made it
optional (clients SHOULD include it unless configured not to), and the TypeScript and Python SDKs validate only
the `protocolVersion` + `clientCapabilities` pair.
A conformant client configured not to identify itself was rejected.
2. A missing or mistyped envelope answered `-32600` Invalid Request.
The spec maps missing required envelope fields to `-32602` Invalid params, and both reference SDKs answer
with `-32602` naming the offending keys.
Fixing these also corrects the era classification to match the reference SDKs: a request claims
the modern lifecycle when `_meta` carries `io.modelcontextprotocol/protocolVersion`
(the TypeScript envelope claim and the Python `_has_modern_envelope` are both single-key checks),
and a claimed-but-incomplete envelope is now validated and rejected with `-32602` naming
the missing keys instead of silently flowing through the legacy path. Legacy `_meta` usage without
the claim key (`progressToken`, trace context) is classified exactly as before.
Unchanged on purpose: the era-lock violations keep their codes (`-32600` for a modern envelope on
a legacy-locked session, `-32022` for `initialize` on a modern-locked one), matching the Python SDK.
## How Has This Been Tested?
`test/mcp/request_envelope_test.rb` now covers: classification by the claim key alone,
a claimed-but-incomplete envelope staying modern, parsing without the optional `clientInfo`
(reader returns `nil`), `-32602` with the offending key names for a missing `clientCapabilities`
and for mistyped required and optional fields.
`test/mcp/server_test.rb` covers the dispatch-level behavior: a claimed
but incomplete envelope answers `-32602` naming the missing key, an envelope without `clientInfo` is
served with `server_context.client_info` reading `nil`, and a claim-less request on
a modern-locked session answers `-32602` naming the required keys.
The stdio and Streamable HTTP transport tests assert the new code on their envelope-requirement paths.
## Breaking Changes
None for conforming clients. Requests that were already rejected change error code
(`-32600` to `-32602`, HTTP status 400 unchanged), and requests carrying the `protocolVersion` claim key
with an incomplete envelope are now rejected as the spec mandates instead of being served as legacy requests.
Envelopes without `clientInfo`, previously rejected, now succeed.
## Motivation and Context
Final step of the stateless lifecycle (SEP-2575, modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol#2575) for
the 2026-07-28 MCP spec release, now that the server core and both server transports can serve modern traffic.
Server side, `Server#discover` reaches its spec-final shape:
- `supportedVersions` advertises modern versions only, matching the TypeScript and Python SDKs:
legacy versions are negotiated via `initialize`, not selected from discovery. This also closes
an interop hazard of the interim response: auto-negotiating TS and Python clients treat
any `DiscoverResult` as proof of a modern server and do not fall back to `initialize`,
so advertising only legacy versions made them fail outright.
- The `ttlMs`/`cacheScope` cache hints are REQUIRED on `DiscoverResult` (unlike the opt-in SEP-2549 hints
on list and read results), so the spec defaults (`0`, `"private"`) fill in when the server was not configured with
`ttl_ms`/`cache_scope`, and the configured SEP-2549 values are reused otherwise.
- The server identity rides in the result `_meta` as the optional `io.modelcontextprotocol/serverInfo` stamp
instead of a top-level `serverInfo` field, following spec PR modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol#3002
(the TypeScript SDK stamps `_meta` the same way and the Python `DiscoverResult` carries no top-level
`serverInfo`, so the top-level placement was invisible to both). `Client#discover` and
the `server_implementation` reader read the `_meta` stamp with a top-level fallback for servers built
against the frozen SEP text, and the key is exposed as `RequestEnvelope::SERVER_INFO_META_KEY`.
Client side, both bundled transports learn the modern lifecycle, and `MCP::Client` negotiates it automatically by default:
- `MCP::Client#discover` sends `server/discover` and returns a `DiscoverResult` struct
(`supported_versions`, `capabilities`, `server_info`, `instructions`, `ttl_ms`, `cache_scope`).
It works before `connect`; the stdio transport's connect guard exempts `server/discover`
and spawns the subprocess on demand.
- `connect` gains `mode:` and defaults to automatic negotiation, joining the Python, Go, and C# SDKs
(the TypeScript SDK keeps a legacy default): transports whose `connect` declares `mode:`
(the bundled HTTP and stdio transports) receive `:auto`, which probes `server/discover`
and falls back to the legacy handshake on any discovery failure, including a successful discovery
without a mutually supported modern version (rollout tolerance for servers that answer discovery
while only serving legacy versions). Custom transports whose `connect` does not declare `mode:`
keep receiving the historical legacy call shape, detected by keyword introspection;
a bare `**kwargs` deliberately does not count, so wrappers and test doubles that absorb arbitrary keywords
stay on the legacy shape. An explicit `:modern`/`:auto` against such a transport raises `ArgumentError`
instead of silently downgrading.
- The mode vocabulary is `:legacy`/`:auto` (shared with the Python and TypeScript SDKs) plus an explicit `:modern`,
instead of folding a version-string pin into `mode` as Python and TypeScript do: this client has carried
the scalar `protocol_version:` keyword since the handshake landed, so a second version-bearing input would make
the API ambiguous about which one wins. `mode:` stays the strategy and `protocol_version:` stays the version,
the same orthogonal split as the Go and C# scalar version pins; Python's `mode="2026-07-28"` is expressed here
as `mode: :modern` with `protocol_version: "2026-07-28"`.
- An explicit legacy-generation `protocol_version` (e.g. `"2025-11-25"`) pins the legacy handshake without a probe,
so an explicitly requested version is never overridden by the default negotiation adopting the modern lifecycle.
`mode: :legacy` forces the classic handshake unconditionally; prefer it for spawn-per-invocation CLI tools
and when using server-initiated requests, which exist only on the legacy lifecycle.
- Because the raw `connect` return value and `server_info` mirror the wire result, their shape depends
on the negotiated era (`InitializeResult` vs `DiscoverResult`). New era-independent readers absorb that difference:
`MCP::Client#protocol_version` (negotiated or adopted version; backed by a new stdio transport reader and the existing HTTP one),
`#server_capabilities`, `#instructions`, and `#server_implementation`, which reads the spec-final `_meta`
`io.modelcontextprotocol/serverInfo` stamp with a top-level fallback and returns `nil` when a modern server
does not identify itself. `server_info` remains the permanent raw window to everything the readers do not cover.
- The stdio `server/discover` probe is bounded by a new `DEFAULT_DISCOVER_PROBE_TIMEOUT` (5 seconds, matching the C# SDK)
when no `read_timeout` was configured: a compliant legacy server answers the probe with `-32601` immediately,
but a non-compliant one that silently drops unknown methods must read as legacy evidence for the auto fallback
instead of blocking `connect` forever. Regular requests keep the unbounded default.
- In modern mode, the new shared `MCP::Client::ModernEnvelope` stamps the SEP-2575 `_meta` triple onto
every request (never onto notifications, whose `_meta` carries no envelope), reusing the reserved key names
from `MCP::RequestEnvelope`. The HTTP transport sends the matching `MCP-Protocol-Version` header and
keeps the existing `Mcp-Method`/`Mcp-Name` mirror headers; no `Mcp-Session-Id` is ever attached because `initialize`
is never sent.
- The conformance client pins `mode: :legacy`: the referee validates the legacy `initialize` handshake
and its scenario servers do not expect a preceding probe.
Resolves#389.
## How Has This Been Tested?
New tests in `test/mcp/server_test.rb` pin the required cache hints (spec defaults and configured SEP-2549 values);
the existing discover assertions across `server_test.rb` and both transport test files were updated to
the modern-only `supportedVersions`.
New tests in `test/mcp/client_test.rb` cover the `DiscoverResult` struct mapping, `ValidationError`/`ServerError`
on malformed and error responses, and the mode resolution contract: the `:auto` default on transports declaring `mode:`,
the unchanged legacy call shape for transports without it, the legacy pin for an explicit stable `protocol_version`,
`ArgumentError` for explicit non-legacy modes on transports without `mode:`, unknown-mode rejection,
and the era-independent readers against legacy results, modern results, the `_meta` `serverInfo` stamp, and absence.
New tests in `test/mcp/client/http_test.rb` cover modern adoption via discovery, envelope stamping with
the matching header on subsequent requests, the no-mutual-version failure, both auto-mode fallbacks,
and argument validation. New tests in `test/mcp/client/stdio_test.rb` cover pre-connect `server/discover`,
modern adoption with envelope stamping and no `initialize` frame, the auto-mode fallback, the probe timeout
default applying only while probing, and the fallback when a server never answers the probe.
## Breaking Changes
`server/discover` responses change shape (modern-only `supportedVersions` plus the required `ttlMs`/`cacheScope`);
this method has not shipped in a gem release yet, so no released behavior changes.
On the bundled HTTP and stdio transports, `MCP::Client#connect` without `mode:` now probes `server/discover` before
the legacy handshake: against legacy servers this adds one round trip and an unknown-method entry in their logs with
an unchanged final result, and once a server serves the modern lifecycle the connection adopts it, changing
the raw result shape from `InitializeResult` to `DiscoverResult`. Pass `mode: :legacy` or an explicit legacy-generation
`protocol_version` to keep the previous behavior unconditionally, or use the era-independent readers, which are stable
across both lifecycles. Custom transports without `mode:` and direct `transport.connect` calls are unaffected.
## Motivation and Context
SEP-2575 (modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol#2575, merged for the 2026-07-28 spec release) replaces
the `initialize` handshake with a stateless "modern" lifecycle: every request carries its protocol version,
client info, and client capabilities in reserved `_meta` keys, and the server validates each request independently.
This change lays the shared vocabulary for that lifecycle without changing any behavior:
- `MCP::Configuration` gains `LATEST_MODERN_PROTOCOL_VERSION` ("2026-07-28"), `SUPPORTED_MODERN_PROTOCOL_VERSIONS`,
and `Configuration.modern_protocol_version?`. Modern versions are deliberately kept out of `SUPPORTED_STABLE_PROTOCOL_VERSIONS`
so `initialize` can never negotiate them and `protocol_version=` keeps rejecting them.
- `MCP::ErrorCodes` gains `HEADER_MISMATCH` (-32020), completing the spec's stateless lifecycle error code block alongside
the existing -32021/-32022 constants.
- New `MCP::RequestEnvelope` parses and validates the per-request `_meta` triple (`io.modelcontextprotocol/protocolVersion`,
`clientInfo`, `clientCapabilities`, plus the optional deprecated `logLevel`). A request is classified as modern only
when the full triple is present, matching the TypeScript SDK's `RequestMetaEnvelopeSchema` and the Python SDK's `_has_modern_envelope`,
so partial or legacy `_meta` entries keep flowing through the legacy path untouched.
- New typed errors `Server::UnsupportedProtocolVersionError` (-32022 with `data: { supported:, requested: }`) and
`Server::MissingRequiredClientCapabilityError` (-32021 with `data: { requiredCapabilities: }`) reuse the established `RequestHandlerError`
`error_code`/`error_data` plumbing (the -32042 URL elicitation precedent).
Nothing dispatches through `RequestEnvelope` yet; the server-side modern handling, transport routing, and client support build on
this in follow-up changes.
Refs #389.
## How Has This Been Tested?
New `test/mcp/request_envelope_test.rb` covers the modern-triple classification (full triple, partial triple, string keys,
legacy `progressToken`), parsed field access, the -32022 error data shape, and invalid-request errors for incomplete or mistyped triples.
`test/mcp/configuration_test.rb` asserts the new constants, the predicate, and that modern versions stay rejected by `protocol_version=`.
`test/mcp/server_test.rb` asserts both typed errors surface on the wire with their SEP-2575 codes and data through `Server#handle`.
`test/mcp/error_codes_test.rb` pins -32020.
## Breaking Changes
None. Constants and classes are additive; no request path changes behavior.
Koichi ITO