feat: add support for custom requests (#590)

#580 and #556 introduced support for custom notifications,
so this PR takes the next logical step and adds support for custom requests:

- Introduces `CustomRequest` and `CustomResult` model types, wires them into the client/server
  request and result unions, and allows `ClientRequest::method()` to return the dynamic method
  name.
- Implements serde and meta handling for `CustomRequest` so `_meta` is carried through
  extensions; adds default `on_custom_request` handlers that return `METHOD_NOT_FOUND` unless
  overridden.
- Updates JSON schema fixtures to include the new request/result shapes and `EmptyObject`
  strictness.
- Adds tests for custom request roundtrips and end-to-end client↔server handling.
- Focused integration test in `crates/rmcp/tests/test_custom_request.rs`.

For additional testing, I used this locally to update Codex to use a custom
request instead of a custom notification so that it gets an "ack" from the MCP
server to ensure it has processed the update before sending more messages:
https://github.com/openai/codex/pull/8142.

crates/rmcp/src/handler/client.rs

@@ -26,6 +26,10 @@ impl<H: ClientHandler> Service<RoleClient> for H {
                 .create_elicitation(request.params, context)
                 .await
                 .map(ClientResult::CreateElicitationResult),
+            ServerRequest::CustomRequest(request) => self
+                .on_custom_request(request, context)
+                .await
+                .map(ClientResult::CustomResult),
         }
     }
 
@@ -123,6 +127,20 @@ pub trait ClientHandler: Sized + Send + Sync + 'static {
         }))
     }
 
+    fn on_custom_request(
+        &self,
+        request: CustomRequest,
+        context: RequestContext<RoleClient>,
+    ) -> impl Future<Output = Result<CustomResult, McpError>> + Send + '_ {
+        let CustomRequest { method, .. } = request;
+        let _ = context;
+        std::future::ready(Err(McpError::new(
+            ErrorCode::METHOD_NOT_FOUND,
+            method,
+            None,
+        )))
+    }
+
     fn on_cancelled(
         &self,
         params: CancelledNotificationParam,

crates/rmcp/src/handler/server.rs

@@ -69,6 +69,10 @@ impl<H: ServerHandler> Service<RoleServer> for H {
                 .list_tools(request.params, context)
                 .await
                 .map(ServerResult::ListToolsResult),
+            ClientRequest::CustomRequest(request) => self
+                .on_custom_request(request, context)
+                .await
+                .map(ServerResult::CustomResult),
         }
     }
 
@@ -200,6 +204,19 @@ pub trait ServerHandler: Sized + Send + Sync + 'static {
     ) -> impl Future<Output = Result<ListToolsResult, McpError>> + Send + '_ {
         std::future::ready(Ok(ListToolsResult::default()))
     }
+    fn on_custom_request(
+        &self,
+        request: CustomRequest,
+        context: RequestContext<RoleServer>,
+    ) -> impl Future<Output = Result<CustomResult, McpError>> + Send + '_ {
+        let CustomRequest { method, .. } = request;
+        let _ = context;
+        std::future::ready(Err(McpError::new(
+            ErrorCode::METHOD_NOT_FOUND,
+            method,
+            None,
+        )))
+    }
 
     fn on_cancelled(
         &self,

crates/rmcp/src/model.rs

@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ macro_rules! object {
 ///
 /// without returning any specific data.
 #[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, Clone, PartialEq, Copy, Eq)]
+#[serde(deny_unknown_fields)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "server", derive(schemars::JsonSchema))]
 pub struct EmptyObject {}
 
@@ -606,6 +607,23 @@ impl From<EmptyResult> for () {
     fn from(_value: EmptyResult) {}
 }
 
+/// A catch-all response either side can use for custom requests.
+#[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, Clone, PartialEq)]
+#[serde(transparent)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "schemars", derive(schemars::JsonSchema))]
+pub struct CustomResult(pub Value);
+
+impl CustomResult {
+    pub fn new(result: Value) -> Self {
+        Self(result)
+    }
+
+    /// Deserialize the result into a strongly-typed structure.
+    pub fn result_as<T: DeserializeOwned>(&self) -> Result<T, serde_json::Error> {
+        serde_json::from_value(self.0.clone())
+    }
+}
+
 #[derive(Debug, Serialize, Deserialize, Clone, PartialEq)]
 #[serde(rename_all = "camelCase")]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "schemars", derive(schemars::JsonSchema))]
@@ -661,6 +679,40 @@ impl CustomNotification {
     }
 }
 
+/// A catch-all request either side can use to send custom messages to its peer.
+///
+/// This preserves the raw `method` name and `params` payload so handlers can
+/// deserialize them into domain-specific types.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+#[cfg_attr(feature = "schemars", derive(schemars::JsonSchema))]
+pub struct CustomRequest {
+    pub method: String,
+    pub params: Option<Value>,
+    /// extensions will carry anything possible in the context, including [`Meta`]
+    ///
+    /// this is similar with the Extensions in `http` crate
+    #[cfg_attr(feature = "schemars", schemars(skip))]
+    pub extensions: Extensions,
+}
+
+impl CustomRequest {
+    pub fn new(method: impl Into<String>, params: Option<Value>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            method: method.into(),
+            params,
+            extensions: Extensions::default(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Deserialize `params` into a strongly-typed structure.
+    pub fn params_as<T: DeserializeOwned>(&self) -> Result<Option<T>, serde_json::Error> {
+        self.params
+            .as_ref()
+            .map(|params| serde_json::from_value(params.clone()))
+            .transpose()
+    }
+}
+
 const_string!(InitializeResultMethod = "initialize");
 /// # Initialization
 /// This request is sent from the client to the server when it first connects, asking it to begin initialization.
@@ -1757,11 +1809,12 @@ ts_union!(
     | SubscribeRequest
     | UnsubscribeRequest
     | CallToolRequest
-    | ListToolsRequest;
+    | ListToolsRequest
+    | CustomRequest;
 );
 
 impl ClientRequest {
-    pub fn method(&self) -> &'static str {
+    pub fn method(&self) -> &str {
         match &self {
             ClientRequest::PingRequest(r) => r.method.as_str(),
             ClientRequest::InitializeRequest(r) => r.method.as_str(),
@@ -1776,6 +1829,7 @@ impl ClientRequest {
             ClientRequest::UnsubscribeRequest(r) => r.method.as_str(),
             ClientRequest::CallToolRequest(r) => r.method.as_str(),
             ClientRequest::ListToolsRequest(r) => r.method.as_str(),
+            ClientRequest::CustomRequest(r) => r.method.as_str(),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -1790,7 +1844,12 @@ ts_union!(
 );
 
 ts_union!(
-    export type ClientResult = box CreateMessageResult | ListRootsResult | CreateElicitationResult | EmptyResult;
+    export type ClientResult =
+    box CreateMessageResult
+    | ListRootsResult
+    | CreateElicitationResult
+    | EmptyResult
+    | CustomResult;
 );
 
 impl ClientResult {
@@ -1806,7 +1865,8 @@ ts_union!(
     | PingRequest
     | CreateMessageRequest
     | ListRootsRequest
-    | CreateElicitationRequest;
+    | CreateElicitationRequest
+    | CustomRequest;
 );
 
 ts_union!(
@@ -1834,6 +1894,7 @@ ts_union!(
     | ListToolsResult
     | CreateElicitationResult
     | EmptyResult
+    | CustomResult
     ;
 );
 
@@ -1960,6 +2021,40 @@ mod tests {
         assert_eq!(json, raw);
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_custom_request_roundtrip() {
+        let raw = json!( {
+            "jsonrpc": JsonRpcVersion2_0,
+            "id": 42,
+            "method": "requests/custom",
+            "params": {"foo": "bar"},
+        });
+
+        let message: ClientJsonRpcMessage =
+            serde_json::from_value(raw.clone()).expect("invalid request");
+        match &message {
+            ClientJsonRpcMessage::Request(JsonRpcRequest { id, request, .. }) => {
+                assert_eq!(id, &RequestId::Number(42));
+                match request {
+                    ClientRequest::CustomRequest(custom) => {
+                        let expected_request = json!({
+                            "method": "requests/custom",
+                            "params": {"foo": "bar"},
+                        });
+                        let actual_request =
+                            serde_json::to_value(custom).expect("serialize custom request");
+                        assert_eq!(actual_request, expected_request);
+                    }
+                    other => panic!("Expected custom request, got: {other:?}"),
+                }
+            }
+            other => panic!("Expected request, got: {other:?}"),
+        }
+
+        let json = serde_json::to_value(message).expect("valid json");
+        assert_eq!(json, raw);
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_request_conversion() {
         let raw = json!( {

crates/rmcp/src/model/meta.rs

@@ -4,8 +4,8 @@ use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 use serde_json::Value;
 
 use super::{
-    ClientNotification, ClientRequest, CustomNotification, Extensions, JsonObject, JsonRpcMessage,
-    NumberOrString, ProgressToken, ServerNotification, ServerRequest,
+    ClientNotification, ClientRequest, CustomNotification, CustomRequest, Extensions, JsonObject,
+    JsonRpcMessage, NumberOrString, ProgressToken, ServerNotification, ServerRequest,
 };
 
 pub trait GetMeta {
@@ -38,6 +38,26 @@ impl GetMeta for CustomNotification {
     }
 }
 
+impl GetExtensions for CustomRequest {
+    fn extensions(&self) -> &Extensions {
+        &self.extensions
+    }
+    fn extensions_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Extensions {
+        &mut self.extensions
+    }
+}
+
+impl GetMeta for CustomRequest {
+    fn get_meta_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Meta {
+        self.extensions_mut().get_or_insert_default()
+    }
+    fn get_meta(&self) -> &Meta {
+        self.extensions()
+            .get::<Meta>()
+            .unwrap_or(Meta::static_empty())
+    }
+}
+
 macro_rules! variant_extension {
     (
         $Enum: ident {
@@ -86,6 +106,7 @@ variant_extension! {
         UnsubscribeRequest
         CallToolRequest
         ListToolsRequest
+        CustomRequest
     }
 }
 
@@ -95,6 +116,7 @@ variant_extension! {
         CreateMessageRequest
         ListRootsRequest
         CreateElicitationRequest
+        CustomRequest
     }
 }
 

crates/rmcp/src/model/serde_impl.rs

@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ use std::borrow::Cow;
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 use super::{
-    CustomNotification, Extensions, Meta, Notification, NotificationNoParam, Request,
-    RequestNoParam, RequestOptionalParam,
+    CustomNotification, CustomRequest, Extensions, Meta, Notification, NotificationNoParam,
+    Request, RequestNoParam, RequestOptionalParam,
 };
 #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)]
 struct WithMeta<'a, P> {
@@ -249,6 +249,59 @@ where
     }
 }
 
+impl Serialize for CustomRequest {
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+    where
+        S: serde::Serializer,
+    {
+        let extensions = &self.extensions;
+        let _meta = extensions.get::<Meta>().map(Cow::Borrowed);
+        let params = self.params.as_ref();
+
+        let params = if _meta.is_some() || params.is_some() {
+            Some(WithMeta {
+                _meta,
+                _rest: &self.params,
+            })
+        } else {
+            None
+        };
+
+        ProxyOptionalParam::serialize(
+            &ProxyOptionalParam {
+                method: &self.method,
+                params,
+            },
+            serializer,
+        )
+    }
+}
+
+impl<'de> Deserialize<'de> for CustomRequest {
+    fn deserialize<D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Self, D::Error>
+    where
+        D: serde::Deserializer<'de>,
+    {
+        let body =
+            ProxyOptionalParam::<'_, _, Option<serde_json::Value>>::deserialize(deserializer)?;
+        let mut params = None;
+        let mut _meta = None;
+        if let Some(body_params) = body.params {
+            params = body_params._rest;
+            _meta = body_params._meta.map(|m| m.into_owned());
+        }
+        let mut extensions = Extensions::new();
+        if let Some(meta) = _meta {
+            extensions.insert(meta);
+        }
+        Ok(CustomRequest {
+            extensions,
+            method: body.method,
+            params,
+        })
+    }
+}
+
 impl Serialize for CustomNotification {
     fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
     where