## Motivation and Context
The MCP specification defines cursor-based pagination for list operations that
may return large result sets:
https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25/server/utilities/pagination
Pagination allows servers to yield results in smaller chunks rather than all at once,
which is especially important when connecting to external services over the internet.
The Ruby SDK previously returned complete arrays for all list endpoints
(`tools/list`, `resources/list`, `prompts/list`, `resources/templates/list`)
without pagination support. This adds cursor-based pagination.
### Server-side
A new `MCP::Server::Pagination` module is introduced (mixed into `MCP::Server`)
that provides the `paginate` helper for slicing a collection by cursor and
a `cursor_from` helper that extracts the cursor from the request params
while rejecting non-Hash inputs with `-32602 Invalid params` per the specification.
`MCP::Server.new` accepts a new `page_size:` keyword argument.
When `nil` (the default), all items are returned in a single response,
preserving the existing behavior. When set to a positive integer,
list responses include a `nextCursor` field if more pages are available.
`Server#page_size=` is a validating setter that rejects anything other than
`nil` or a positive `Integer`, raising `ArgumentError` on invalid inputs.
The constructor routes through the setter, so both `Server.new(page_size: 0)`
and `server.page_size = -1` raise.
Cursors are string tokens carrying a zero-based offset, treated as opaque by
clients. Cursor inputs are validated to be strings per the MCP spec;
invalid cursors (non-string, non-numeric, negative, or out-of-range) raise
`RequestHandlerError` with error code `-32602 (Invalid params)` per the spec.
### Client-side: two complementary APIs
The SDK exposes two API shapes for listing, each serving a different use case:
1. **Single-page with cursor** (`client.list_tools(cursor:)`,
`list_resources`, `list_resource_templates`, `list_prompts`): each call issues
one JSON-RPC request and returns a result object (`MCP::Client::ListToolsResult` etc.)
carrying the page items and an optional `next_cursor`.
These methods match the single-page-with-cursor convention used by the Python SDK
(`session.list_tools(params=PaginatedRequestParams(cursor=...))`)
and the TypeScript SDK (`client.listTools({ cursor })`). The method name and
the `cursor` parameter name are identical across the three SDKs,
so pagination code translates directly between languages.
2. **Whole-collection** (`client.tools`, `client.resources`, `client.resource_templates`,
`client.prompts`): auto-iterates through all pages and returns a plain array of items,
guaranteeing the full collection regardless of the server's `page_size` setting.
The auto-pagination loop tracks previously seen cursors in a set and exits if the server
revisits any of them, guarding against both immediate repeats and multi-cursor cycles
(e.g. `A -> B -> A`). This mirrors Rust SDK's `list_all_*` convenience methods,
though the Ruby names are preserved from the pre-pagination 0.13.0 API for backward compatibility.
Future rename to `list_all_*` is left as a TODO in the source.
Result classes are `Struct`s named to mirror Python SDK's `ListToolsResult` /
`ListPromptsResult` / etc. to align naming with other SDKs. Each struct exposes
its page items (e.g. `result.tools`), an optional `next_cursor` for continuation,
and an optional `meta` field mirroring the MCP `Result` type's `_meta` response field
so servers that decorate list responses do not lose metadata through the client.
### Ruby-specific ergonomics
`Server.new(page_size:)` and the `Pagination` module are Ruby-specific.
The Python and TypeScript SDKs do not expose a built-in `page_size` helper;
developers there re-implement cursor slicing inside each handler.
In Ruby, setting `page_size:` on the server is enough for the SDK to handle
the slicing across the four built-in list endpoints.
### README
A Pagination section documents both the server-side `page_size:` option and
the client-side iteration patterns, including an explicit note that each `list_*` call
is a single JSON-RPC round trip whose response size depends on the server's `page_size`,
and that `client.tools` / `.resources` / `.resource_templates` / `.prompts` return
the complete collection when needed.
## How Has This Been Tested?
- Added tests for the `Pagination` module (`test/mcp/server/pagination_test.rb`),
server-side pagination (`test/mcp/server_test.rb`), and client-side pagination
(`test/mcp/client_test.rb`).
- Added and existing tests pass. `rake rubocop` is clean and `rake conformance` passes.
## Breaking Changes
None. This is a new feature addition. Existing code continues to work unchanged:
`page_size` defaults to `nil` on the server (returns all items, no `nextCursor`),
and the client's existing `tools` / `resources` / `resource_templates` / `prompts` methods
continue to return complete arrays by transparently iterating through pages.
New features and changes have landed, making it a good time to cut a release.
Further feature proposals can be incorporated in future releases.
In particular, releasing "Make `StreamableHTTPTransport` a Rack application"
soon would help keep it consistent with the README.md for Rails integration.
Follow-up to https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/ruby-sdk/pull/181.
The landing page at https://ruby.sdk.modelcontextprotocol.io previously only listed version links
to RubyDoc.info. Add multi-page documentation using the just-the-docs Jekyll theme with
sidebar navigation, search, and code highlighting.
Pages: Introduction, Installation, Building Servers, and Building Clients.
This PR introduces a basic set of pages. Additional content can be added incrementally in future updates.
Group the Rails (mount) and Rails (controller) examples under a new
`Streamable HTTP Transport` heading so they sit one level below the
transport-type headings instead of alongside `Stdio Transport`.
Also move the single-process and sticky-sessions caveat up to the
`Streamable HTTP Transport` section since it applies to both Rails
integration styles rather than only the controller approach.
## Motivation and Context
MCP spec (2025-11-25) defines Roots as a mechanism for clients to expose filesystem boundaries
(directories and files) to servers:
https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25/client/roots
This enables servers to understand which parts of the filesystem they can operate on.
This adds support for the two roots protocol interactions:
- `roots/list` -- server-to-client request to retrieve the client's filesystem roots
- `notifications/roots/list_changed` -- client-to-server notification when roots change
`roots/list` is a one-to-one request between a server and a specific client,
so `list_roots` is exposed only at the session level
(`ServerSession#list_roots`), matching the Python SDK approach and aligning with PR #311 for sampling.
`Server#on_roots_list_changed` registers a callback for the client notification,
which is server-wide and does not require session scoping.
Also fixes `notifications/roots/list_changed` capability checking: as a client-originated notification,
it should not require server-side capability declaration.
## How Has This Been Tested?
New test file `test/mcp/server_roots_test.rb` with 8 test cases covering session-scoped `list_roots`,
capability validation and fallback, `on_roots_list_changed` callback registration, and client capability storage.
Updated `test/mcp/methods_test.rb` to reflect the corrected capability checks. All tests pass (`rake test`),
RuboCop is clean.
## Breaking Changes
None.
## Motivation and Context
The stream object always responds to flush, so the conditional check is unnecessary.
## How Has This Been Tested?
All existing tests are passing.
## Breaking Changes
None.
## Motivation and Context
The MCP specification (2025-11-25) defines elicitation as a server-to-client
request mechanism that allows servers to request user input during tool execution:
https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25/client/elicitation
This aligns with the Python SDK, which also exposes separate methods for form and URL mode elicitation.
Three methods are added following the Python SDK's API design:
- `create_form_elicitation`: collects structured data via JSON Schema
- `create_url_elicitation`: directs users to external URLs for sensitive
interactions (OAuth, credentials, etc.)
- `notify_elicitation_complete`: notifies the client that a URL mode
interaction has completed
`URLElicitationRequiredError` (error code `-32042`) is defined as a subclass of `RequestHandlerError`
with its own `error_code` and `error_data` attributes. `JsonRpcHandler#handle_request_error` is
extended to check for these attributes so that MCP-specific error codes can be propagated without
embedding MCP knowledge in the generic JSON-RPC layer.
## How Has This Been Tested?
- Unit tests for `ServerSession` form/URL mode, capability checks, nil
capabilities, notification, and `URLElicitationRequiredError`
- `ServerContext` delegation tests for all three elicitation methods
- `JsonRpcHandler` tests for custom error code and fallback behavior
- `Methods` capability test for `NOTIFICATIONS_ELICITATION_COMPLETE`
- Conformance tests pass (40/40), including `tools-call-elicitation`,
`elicitation-sep1034-defaults`, and `elicitation-sep1330-enums`
- All tests pass (`rake test`), RuboCop is clean
- Verified form mode elicitation end-to-end with a sample MCP server
running in Claude Code
## Breaking Changes
None. This is a new feature addition.
## Motivation and Context
Sampling is a one-to-one request/response interaction between a server and a specific client.
`Server#create_sampling_message` does not scope requests to a specific session, which could
lead to unintended broadcasts on multi-client transports. `ServerSession#create_sampling_message`
should be used instead, as it routes the request to the correct client session.
This aligns with the Python SDK, which also exposes sampling only at the session level.
## How Has This Been Tested?
Existing tests updated to call `ServerSession#create_sampling_message` instead of
`Server#create_sampling_message`. All tests pass (`rake test`), RuboCop is clean,
and conformance tests pass.
## Breaking Changes
`Server#create_sampling_message` is removed without a deprecation warning.
The sampling feature was released recently and the method was not intended
to be the primary API for this feature.
## Motivation and Context
MCP 2025-11-25 spec defines a `_meta` general field on many types,
but the Ruby SDK only exposed it on `Tool` and `Prompt`.
To attach metadata (e.g. MCP Apps CSP hints on resource contents),
consumers had to subclass existing classes and override `to_h`.
Add a `meta:` keyword argument and `_meta` serialization to:
- `Resource::Contents`, `Resource::TextContents`, `Resource::BlobContents`
- `Resource`, `ResourceTemplate`
- `Content::Text`, `Content::Image`, `Content::Audio`, `Content::EmbeddedResource`
- `Tool::Response` (`CallToolResult`)
- `Prompt::Result` (`GetPromptResult`)
This aligns the Ruby SDK with the Python and TypeScript SDKs, which both expose `_meta` on these types.
Resolves#308.
## How Has This Been Tested?
Added unit tests for each updated class covering two patterns: `_meta` present
(asserts the value is reflected in `to_h[:_meta]`) and `_meta` omitted
(asserts no `:_meta` key in `to_h`, i.e., `.compact` behavior).
All existing tests continue to pass, and `rake rubocop` is clean.
## Breaking Changes
None. All new `meta:` parameters are optional keyword arguments defaulting to `nil`.
The `to_h` output stays backward-compatible because `nil` values are removed by the existing `.compact` call,
so existing callers require no changes.
## Motivation and Context
`instrumentation_callback` fires after request execution, making it impossible to wrap
requests with Application Performance Monitoring (APM) spans (e.g. Datadog tracing).
This adds `around_request`, which wraps request handling and allows executing code
before and after each request.
For example, to wrap requests with a Datadog trace:
```ruby
MCP.configure do |config|
config.around_request = ->(data, &request_handler) {
Datadog::Tracing.trace("mcp.#{data[:method]}") do
request_handler.call
end
}
end
```
`instrumentation_callback` is soft-deprecated in favor of `around_request`.
## How Has This Been Tested?
Added tests for `around_request` in configuration, instrumentation,
and server test files. All existing tests continue to pass.
## Breaking Changes
`around_request` itself is optional and defaults to a pass-through,
and `instrumentation_callback` continues to work as before.
However, `instrument_call` now accepts a `server_context:` keyword and its block is invoked
without arguments (previously `yield block` passed the block Proc as an argument).
This affects anyone mixing `MCP::Instrumentation` into their own classes,
though the public `Server` API is unchanged.
Resolves#302.
## Motivation and Context
Add `call(env)` to `StreamableHTTPTransport`, making it a Rack application
that works with `mount`, `run`, and Rack middleware.
Refactor examples to use Rack middleware classes for MCP logging instead of proc wrappers,
demonstrating idiomatic Rack composition with the new `run(transport)` pattern.
Update README.md with mount and controller integration patterns.
Closes#59, #60
## How Has This Been Tested?
Added tests for `call(env)` as a Rack app. All tests pass.
## Breaking Change
No breaking changes. All existing APIs are preserved:
- `StreamableHTTPTransport.new(server)` continues to work as before.
- `handle_request(request)` is unchanged. The new `call(env)` is a purely additive public method.
## Motivation and Context
Transport subclasses (StreamableHTTPTransport, StdioTransport) already
receive the server in their constructor, but users must manually call
`server.transport = transport` after creating a transport instance.
This is boilerplate that can be eliminated by setting the connection
automatically in `Transport#initialize`.
## How Has This Been Tested?
All existing tests pass. Redundant `server.transport = transport` lines
were removed from tests, examples, README.md, and conformance server.
## Breaking Changes
None. Existing code that manually sets `server.transport = transport`
continues to work (idempotent assignment).
## Motivation and Context
`MCP::Client::HTTP` builds its Faraday connection internally in a private `client` method
with no way to customize the middleware stack or adapter.
Users who need observability (request/response recording, failure logging) or
a different HTTP adapter must override a private method, coupling to an internal API.
This accepts an optional block in `MCP::Client::HTTP.new` that yields the Faraday builder
after default middleware is configured, allowing users to add custom middleware or swap
the HTTP adapter.
## How Has This Been Tested?
Added a test that verifies custom headers set via the block are included in requests.
All existing tests continue to pass.
## Breaking Changes
None. The block argument is optional, so existing code is unaffected.
Resolves#303
## Motivation and Context
The MCP Streamable HTTP specification requires POST request bodies to
be JSON-RPC messages with `Content-Type: application/json`. The Ruby
SDK did not validate Content-Type, accepting requests with any or no
Content-Type. The Python SDK validates this and returns 415
Unsupported Media Type for non-JSON Content-Types.
## How Has This Been Tested?
Added tests for Content-Type validation:
- POST without Content-Type returns 415
- POST with `Content-Type: text/plain` returns 415
- POST with `Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8` succeeds
## Breaking Changes
POST requests without `Content-Type: application/json` now return
415 Unsupported Media Type. This is a spec compliance fix.
The following two points have been updated:
## 1. Use ActionController::API in README controller example
`ActionController::Base` includes CSRF protection which rejects POST requests
without an authenticity token. MCP clients do not send CSRF tokens,
so the controller example should inherit from `ActionController::API` instead.
## 2. Use `stateless: true` for `StreamableHTTPTransport.new`
The controller creates a new transport per request,
so the session stored on the previous transport is lost.
Without `stateless: true`, the second request with `Mcp-Session-Id`
returns 404 because the new transport has an empty session map.
To share sessions via `Mcp-Session-Id` across requests, there are two approaches.
One is persisting the transport in a class variable. The other is mounting
the transport as a Rack app via https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/ruby-sdk/pull/263.
Both approaches maintain sessions, so features that depend on `server_context`
within the SDK (Progress, Sampling) work correctly. However, per-request
user-specific context such as `server_context: { user_id: current_user.id }`
cannot be passed since the server is shared across all requests.
## Motivation and Context
PR #290 documented that `StreamableHTTPTransport` requires a single-process server.
However, when running multiple server instances behind a load balancer, requests for
the same session must be routed to the same instance since session state is stored in memory.
This adds a note about using sticky sessions (session affinity) based on the `Mcp-Session-Id` header.
## How Has This Been Tested?
Documentation-only change.
## Breaking Changes
None.
Sampling is primarily used within tool execution via `server_context.create_sampling_message`,
but the documentation led with the less common direct `Server#create_sampling_message` usage.
This ordering could mislead readers into thinking direct usage is the recommended approach.
New features and fixes have been added, and it seems like a good time to cut a release.
Subsequent feature proposals can continue to be incorporated into future releases.
For Usage, stdio is easier to try first than a Rails controller.
Moved stdio to the top and placed Rails Controller after it.
Only sections were moved. No content was changed.
Users are more likely to want to see Usage first, rather than a feature introduction like Sampling.
Sampling has been moved below Resource Templates so that Usage appears at the top.
Only sections were moved. No content was changed.
Custom methods are an advanced feature and may not be appropriate for the top of the README.md.
Move them to the bottom of the page.
Only sections were reorganized with headings. No content was changed.
Follow-up to #294.
The generic `:stream` key does not convey that it refers to the GET SSE stream,
making it harder to distinguish from `session[:post_request_streams]` introduced in #294.
## Motivation and Context
The MCP Streamable HTTP specification defines that servers can return POST responses
as SSE streams and send server-to-client JSON-RPC requests and notifications through them:
> If the input is a JSON-RPC request, the server MUST either return
> `Content-Type: text/event-stream`, to initiate an SSE stream, or
> `Content-Type: application/json`, to return one JSON object.
If the server initiates an SSE stream:
> The server MAY send JSON-RPC requests and notifications before
> sending the JSON-RPC response. These messages SHOULD relate to the
> originating client request.
See: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25/basic/transports#sending-messages-to-the-server
Previously, when a GET SSE stream was connected, the Ruby SDK sent POST response bodies through
the GET stream and returned a 202 HTTP status for the POST itself. When no GET SSE stream was
connected, the SDK correctly returned `application/json` responses. The 202 behavior with GET SSE
was non-compliant with the specification, which requires POST requests to return `text/event-stream`
or `application/json`. Additionally, since GET SSE is optional per the specification, clients that
did not establish a GET SSE connection could not receive server-to-client messages (e.g.,
`sampling/createMessage`, log notifications) during request processing.
With this change, `handle_regular_request` always returns the POST response as an SSE stream for stateful sessions.
Each POST response stream is stored in `session[:post_request_streams]` keyed by `related_request_id` (the JSON-RPC request ID),
enabling correct routing when multiple POST requests are processed concurrently on the same session.
Server-to-client messages with a `related_request_id` are routed to the originating POST response stream only;
when `related_request_id` is nil, the GET SSE stream is used.
The TypeScript and Python SDKs already support this pattern.
### Internal Changes
`JsonRpcHandler.handle` and `JsonRpcHandler.handle_json` now pass both `method_name` and `request_id` to the method finder block.
This allows `Server#handle_request` to receive `related_request_id` directly from the protocol layer.
Without this, `related_request_id` would need to be relayed as a keyword argument through `Server#handle_json`,
`ServerSession#handle_json`, and `dispatch_handle_json`, unnecessarily exposing it on public method signatures.
This follows the same design as the TypeScript and Python SDKs, where the protocol layer extracts the request ID
and propagates it to the handler context.
## How Has This Been Tested?
Added tests for POST response stream:
- `send_request` via POST response stream (sampling with and without GET SSE)
- `send_notification` via POST response stream (logging without GET SSE)
- `progress` notification via POST response stream (without GET SSE)
- POST request returns SSE response even with GET SSE connected
- Session-scoped notifications (log, progress) are sent to POST
response stream, not GET SSE stream
- `active_stream` does not fall back to GET SSE when
`related_request_id` is given but request stream is missing
Updated existing tests to handle SSE response format where applicable.
## Breaking Changes (spec compliance fix)
POST responses for JSON-RPC requests in stateful sessions now return `Content-Type: text/event-stream`
instead of being sent through the GET SSE stream with a 202 HTTP status. Clients that relied on receiving responses
via the GET SSE stream will need to read the POST response body instead. This is a spec compliance fix:
the MCP specification requires POST requests to return `text/event-stream` or `application/json`,
not 202 with the response on a separate GET stream.
## Motivation and Context
The MCP specification defines `sampling/createMessage` to request LLM completions from the client.
The Ruby SDK did not yet support server-to-client requests,
so the server had no way to ask the client to sample an LLM.
This caused the `tools-call-sampling` conformance test to fail.
This adds `Server#create_sampling_message` to send a `sampling/createMessage` request
to the client via the transport layer. The method validates that the client declared
the `sampling` capability during initialization, and optionally checks the
`sampling.tools` capability when tools or tool_choice parameters are provided.
On the transport side, `Transport#send_request` is introduced as an abstract method,
with implementations in both `StdioTransport` and `StreamableHTTPTransport`.
Each transport assigns a unique request ID, sends the JSON-RPC request to the client,
and blocks until the client responds.
Client capabilities are stored per session via `ServerSession`, so validation is scoped
to the originating client. `ServerSession#create_sampling_message` uses
`build_sampling_params` for capability validation and sends the request directly through
the transport with the session ID, following the same pattern as `notify_progress`.
`Server#create_sampling_message` is the public API for single-client transports
(e.g., StdioTransport).
For multi-client transports (e.g., StreamableHTTPTransport),
`ServerSession#create_sampling_message` must be used to route requests to the correct client.
Tools using `server_context.create_sampling_message` automatically route to the correct session
regardless of transport.
`StreamableHTTPTransport#send_request` requires `session_id` to prevent broadcasting sampling requests
to all connected clients. Missing or invalid session IDs raise explicit errors instead of silently failing.
The `include_context` parameter is soft-deprecated in the MCP specification but is included
for compatibility with existing clients that declare the `sampling.context` capability.
Python and TypeScript SDKs also retain this parameter.
Ref: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/latest/server/utilities/sampling
## How Has This Been Tested?
Added comprehensive tests in `test/mcp/server_sampling_test.rb` covering required and optional parameters,
capability validation, error handling, nil-param omission, per-session capability isolation,
and HTTP init capability scoping.
Added transport tests in `test/mcp/server/transports/stdio_transport_test.rb` and
`test/mcp/server/transports/streamable_http_transport_test.rb` for `send_request` round-trip behavior,
error responses, stateless mode rejection, missing session_id, invalid session_id, and no-active-stream error.
Conformance: `tools-call-sampling` is removed from expected failures. The conformance server's `TestSampling`
tool now calls `server_context.create_sampling_message` instead of returning a stub error.
This aligns the Ruby SDK with the MCP specification and other SDK implementations.
## Breaking Changes
None for end users.
`Transport#send_request` is a new abstract method. `ServerSession#create_sampling_message` is a new method.
