Automatic MCP Server Token Refresh
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描述
### Describe the bug
# Automatic MCP Server Token Refresh
## Problem
When using long-running autopilot workflows (e.g., multi-PR feature development via custom agents), MCP server OAuth tokens expire mid-workflow. This causes:
1. **Silent tool failures** — MCP tool calls return `AADSTS9010010` auth errors
2. **Workflow interruption** — the agent must stop and ask the user to manually run `/mcp reload`
3. **Lost autopilot momentum** — what should be a hands-off workflow becomes a babysitting exercise
### Real-world impact
During a unit test coverage feature delivered via a custom agent plugin (4 PRs, 258 tests), MCP auth expired multiple times. Each time:
- The agent retried 3× with 10s delays (workaround we built into the plugin)
- After 3 failures, it had to pause and ask the user to run `/mcp reload`
- The user had to switch context, reload, then tell the agent to continue
- Total disruption: ~2-5 minutes per occurrence, multiple occurrences per session
This completely undermines the value proposition of autopilot mode.
## Proposed Solution
**Proactive token refresh**: The CLI should detect when an MCP server's OAuth token is approaching expiry and refresh it automatically in the background, similar to how `az login` maintains a token cache with automatic refresh.
### Implementation suggestions
- Use the OAuth refresh token (if available) to obtain a new access token before expiry
- If using device code flow, detect the approaching expiry window (e.g., 5 minutes before) and initiate re-auth proactively
- Surface a non-blocking notification: "🔄 Refreshed MCP auth for [server-name]"
- If silent refresh is impossible (no refresh token), fall back to prompting — but only once, not on every tool call
## Environment
- Copilot CLI on Windows (PowerShell)
- MCP servers using Entra ID (Azure AD) OAuth
- Token lifetime: typically 1 hour
- Workflows: 2-6+ hours in autopilot mode
## Current Workaround
We built an "MCP Auth Recovery Gate" pattern into our plugin, but this requires manual intervention.
```text
Retry 3× with 10s delay → if all fail with AADSTS error → ask user to run /mcp reload
```
This works but defeats autopilot's purpose.
### Affected version
_No response_
### Steps to reproduce the behavior
_No response_
### Expected behavior
_No response_
### Additional context
_No response_
贡献指南
调研方向
首先跟踪 MCP 身份验证生命周期和 `/mcp reload` 路径,重点关注 Entra ID 服务器如何处理 OAuth 访问令牌和刷新令牌。定义过期时间窗口和后台刷新行为,然后验证静默刷新不会阻塞,并且没有刷新令牌的服务器只提示一次进行身份验证。
由索引模型根据 Issue 内容生成。
评估
- 技术栈
- azure, powershell
- 领域
- authentication, cli
- Issue 类型
- 功能
- 难度
- 5/5
- 预计耗时
- 一周以上
- 活跃度
- 冷清
- 描述清晰度
- 基本清楚
- 新手友好度
- 42/100