## Motivation and Context
MCP 2025-11-25 (SEP-1613) establishes JSON Schema 2020-12 as the default dialect
for MCP schema definitions.
https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/modelcontextprotocol/issues/1613
The Ruby SDK was emitting tool input and output schemas with no `$schema` field,
leaving the dialect implicit and inconsistent with the TypeScript SDK
(`packages/core/src/util/standardSchema.ts`, which emits with `target: 'draft-2020-12'`)
and the Python SDK (which preserves `$schema` in its types and conformance fixtures).
`Tool::Schema#to_h` now includes `"$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"`
unless the user supplied a different `$schema` value, so clients see the canonical dialect URI
on the wire.
Runtime metaschema and argument validation remain on draft-04 because the `json-schema` gem
does not yet support 2020-12. Switching the runtime validator is left as a separate change
because it requires either replacing the gem or waiting for upstream 2020-12 support.
## How Has This Been Tested?
Updated `Tool::Schema#to_h` expectations across `input_schema_test`, `output_schema_test`,
`tool_test`, and the `tools/list` server tests to reflect the new `$schema` field.
Added focused regression tests:
- `to_h` preserves a user-supplied `$schema` URI rather than overwriting it
(covered for both symbol-keyed input and the string-keyed Hash form that
goes through the initializer's `symbolize_names` normalization)
- `validate_arguments` / `validate_result` continue to work when the user supplies
a 2020-12 `$schema` URI on the schema (the validator strips the unknown top-level
dialect URI before invoking the draft-04 validator, instead of raising `JSON::Schema::SchemaError`)
- `tools/list` JSON-RPC response includes the 2020-12 `$schema` on both `inputSchema`
and `outputSchema` (transport-boundary assertion)
`bundle exec rake test` and `bundle exec rake rubocop` both pass.
## Breaking Changes
Additive change. Tolerant consumers of the `tools/list` payload are unaffected.
Consumers that strictly assert hash equality on the emitted `inputSchema` / `outputSchema`
need to account for the new `$schema` key, but no schema semantics change.
Schemas using 2020-12-only keywords (e.g. `prefixItems`, nested `$schema` on subschemas)
are still rejected by the draft-04 metaschema validator, as before.
Lifting that restriction depends on adopting a 2020-12-capable validator and is out of scope
for this change.
## 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.
Replace custom `deep_transform_keys` in `Tool::Schema` and
string key access in `StreamableHTTPTransport` with
the `symbolize_names: true` option of `JSON.parse`.
This aligns `StreamableHTTPTransport` with `StdioTransport`,
which already uses `symbolize_names: true`.
## Summary
Unlike applications, libraries provide value by remaining usable for a broad range of users,
even when that means supporting older Ruby versions beyond Ruby's own EOL timeline.
I maintain RuboCop, a Ruby linter. Because linters need to work across the ecosystem,
they often need to keep compatibility with older Ruby versions to some extent.
The trade-off is that the MCP Ruby SDK must remain compatible with Ruby 2.7.
However, given the ecosystem impact, supporting Ruby 2.7 is still worthwhile.
For example, bundled gems such as `csv` (Ruby >= 2.5), `bigdecimal` (Ruby >= 2.5), `json` (Ruby >= 2.7),
and `language_server-protocol` (Ruby >= 2.5) tend to keep compatibility with older Ruby versions.
Unlike dropping support, which imposes restrictions on users,
this change broadens compatibility and does not introduce breaking changes.
## Development Note
`rubocop-shopify` (2.18) supports Ruby 3.1+, and this PR does not change that.
Since RuboCop can configure the runtime Ruby version and the target Ruby version for analysis independently,
CI continues to run RuboCop on Ruby 4.0, while analyzing code with `TargetRubyVersion: 2.7`.
When setting `TargetRubyVersion: 2.7`, several RuboCop offenses were resolved.
Additionally, Sorbet-related libraries support Ruby 3.0+. Since these are not dependencies of the MCP Ruby SDK itself,
they are versioned and tested in the development Gemfile.
This refactoring extracts common schema validation logic into a base Schema
class, eliminating ~100 lines of duplicate code between InputSchema and
OutputSchema. It also adds support for the JSON Schema `additionalProperties`
keyword to allow fine-grained control over extra properties in tool arguments.
Previously `additionalParameters` could be set only on OutputSchema.
Key changes:
- Created MCP::Tool::Schema base class consolidating:
- Schema validation against JSON Schema Draft 4 metaschema
- Deep key transformation (string to symbol conversion)
- $ref disallowance checking
- Common validation methods
- Refactored InputSchema to inherit from Schema:
- Simplified constructor to accept full schema hash
- Changed required fields storage from symbols to strings
- Removed ~40 lines of duplicated validation logic
- Refactored OutputSchema to inherit from Schema:
- Removed ~54 lines of duplicated validation logic
- Now shares all common functionality with InputSchema
- Updated Tool.input_schema setter:
- Simplified to pass full hash directly to InputSchema
- Added additionalProperties support:
- By default, tools now allow additional properties (JSON Schema default)
- Can explicitly set `additionalProperties: false` to disallow extras
- Added comprehensive test coverage for both behaviors
Follow-up to https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/ruby-sdk/pull/147.
According to the specification schema, `content` is not optional and therefore cannot be omitted:
```typescript
interface CallToolResult {
_meta?: { [key: string]: unknown };
content: ContentBlock[];
isError?: boolean;
structuredContent?: { [key: string]: unknown };
[key: string]: unknown;
}
```
https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-06-18/schema#calltoolresult
Instead of `nil`, an empty array is set as the default value.
There may be a better value for `content`, but at the very least it should not be missing.
This commit implements optional JSON Schema validation for tool outputs according to the MCP specification:
- Add MCP::Tool::OutputSchema class mirroring InputSchema functionality
- Support output_schema in class definitions, Tool.define, and OutputSchema objects
- Include validate_result method for runtime validation
- Update MCP::Client::Tool to track output schemas
- Add comprehensive test coverage with 249 passing tests
- Update README with dedicated Tool Output Schemas section
- Follow MCP spec requirements for server/client validation
According to the specification, `destructive_hint`, `idempotent_hint`, `open_world_hint`,
and `read_only_hint` of `ToolAnnotations` are optional with default values:
https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-06-18/schema#toolannotations
This PR sets their default values in accordance with the specification.
Additionally, for readability, the hints have been reordered to follow the specification.
Both the combination of positional argument and naming does not feel
like Ruby.
This change makes `is_error` argument a keyword argument called `error`.
Thanks to this, the usage is more self-explanatory:
```ruby
response = Response.new([], error: true)
```
When defining a tool without any arguments taken, it should be allowed
to not have to define the `input_schema` at all, and the default value
for such a scenario should be `{ type: "object" }` as per the schema.
16d91abb68/schema/2025-06-18/schema.ts (L896-L900)
