When starting an MCP server in Claude Code with `protocol_version` set to `DRAFT-2025-v3`,
it fails with the following error:
```console
2025-12-04T02:58:01.548Z [DEBUG] MCP server "example": Connection failed after 2093ms: Server's protocol version is not supported: DRAFT-2025-v3
2025-12-04T02:58:01.548Z [ERROR] MCP server "example" Connection failed: Server's protocol version is not supported: DRAFT-2025-v3
```
This PR changes the default behavior so that if `protocol_version` is not specified,
it uses the latest stable protocol version instead of the draft version.
This PR also updates the README to note that the latest stable protocol version includes
new features from the draft version.
For example, the `title` introduced in #109 is not supported in the latest stable protocol version "2025-06-18":
https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-06-18
It is supported in the Draft of the next version:
https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/draft
In other words, the fact that the Ruby SDK treats "2025-06-18" as the default protocol version while `title` is
only supported in the Draft results in an inconsistency.
Because of this, a new version `"Draft"` has been added to the list of supported versions.
Its value follows the schema below and is defined as `DRAFT-2025-v3`:
14ec41c/schema/draft/schema.ts (L15)
It was also considered to continue using the latest stable version "2025-06-18" as the Ruby SDK default instead of the Draft.
However, in that case, users would need to explicitly specify `MCP::Server.new(protocol_version: 'DRAFT-2025-v3')`,
which adds extra burden. In this PR, Draft is made the default in order to provide the following benefits:
- Users are likely to prefer using the Draft version over the latest stable version
- No need to specify the `protocol_version` option when initializing `MCP::Server`
- Users generally do not need to know the internal development value `DRAFT-2025-v3`
The primary case for specifying `protocol_version` explicitly is when strict adherence to a particular version is required.
However, it seems more practical to prioritize use cases where backward-compatible features, including those from the Draft,
are desirable. This is the rationale behind making the Draft version the default.
In addition, making the Draft version the default protocol version preserves backward compatibility for `MCP::Server`.
NOTE: `DRAFT-2025-v3` is a development code, so its value cannot be set externally.
It is applied either when `protocol_version` is omitted or when `nil` is set explicitly,
such as with `MCP::Configuration.new(protocol_version: nil)`.
This prevents users from creating implementations that depend on development codes like `DRAFT-2025-v3`.
I noticed through the existing tests that `MCP::Configuration#protocol_version=`
allows setting an arbitrary protocol version.
Since the official MCP Ruby SDK is an implementation of the MCP specification,
it should not support arbitrary protocol versions. This change adds validation
to the setter, consistent with `Configuration#initialize`.
The same validation has also been added to `MCP::Configuration#validate_tool_call_arguments=`.
Currently, MCP has three versions: 2024-11-05, 2025-03-26, and 2025-06-18.
- https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2024-11-05/basic/transports (stdio and HTTP with SSE)
- https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-03-26/basic/transports (stdio and Streamable HTTP)
- https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-06-18/basic/transports (stdio and Streamable HTTP)
The newer specification supports stdio and Streamable HTTP as transport mechanisms.
Only the oldest version, 2024-11-05, supports stdin and HTTP with SSE,
but that version is now considered legacy.
Given the current behavior of the Ruby SDK, it likely makes more sense to set
the default protocol version to the latest one, 2025-06-18, rather than the oldest, 2024-11-05.
Ideally, the implementation should adjust its behavior based on the version,
but this PR is limited to updating the default protocol version only.
## Motivation and Context
Currently, MCP supports the following three protocol versions:
"2025-06-18", "2025-03-26", and "2024-11-05".
https://modelcontextprotocol.io/introduction
As shown in the changes to `test/mcp/configuration_test.rb`,
the `protocol_version` value is not currently being validated,
which allows unexpected `protocol_version` values to be accepted.
This PR ensures that only supported protocol versions are accepted.
## How Has This Been Tested?
Existing tests have been updated and new tests have been added.
## Breaking Changes
None. If it becomes an issue, it means a value that was not originally intended has been used.
## Additional context
While one possible approach might be to fall back to a default protocol version
when an invalid `protocol_version` value is provided,
this PR opts to reject invalid `protocol_version` values explicitly.
The reasoning is that encouraging users to provide intentional,
valid input is preferable to silently falling back to a default,
which could lead to unexpected behavior.
