modelcontextprotocol / modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk
Bug: anyio.Lock in async_auth_flow causes RuntimeError under concurrent OAuth MCP connections
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Description
Summary
Confirmed production occurrence of the bug described in #2644 (self-closed by the original reporter before they could follow through). Filing to provide a second validated repro and draw attention to the existing draft fix in #2660.
Environment
mcp==1.26.0anyio==4.13.0httpx==0.28.1- Python 3.11.14, macOS
What happens
When a gateway session starts and connects to multiple OAuth-authenticated MCP servers concurrently (Notion + TinyFish, both OAuth 2.1 PKCE), Notion fails intermittently:
ERROR asyncio: Task exception was never retrieved
RuntimeError: The current task is not holding this lock
File ".../mcp/client/auth/oauth2.py", line 503, in async_auth_flow
File ".../mcp/client/auth/oauth2.py", line 484, in async_auth_flow
raise RuntimeError("The current task is not holding this lock")
WARNING tools.mcp_tool: MCP server 'notion' connection lost (attempt 1/5), reconnecting in 1s
WARNING tools.mcp_tool: Failed to connect to MCP server 'notion': CancelledError
INFO tools.mcp_tool: MCP: registered 114 tool(s) from 4 server(s) (1 failed)
Notion is affected more often than TinyFish because its OAuth token refreshes frequently (~every 15–60 min), consistently triggering the refresh yield path in async_auth_flow. TinyFish tokens expire less often and typically take the happy path (add header, yield once).
Root cause
OAuthContext.lock is anyio.Lock, which records task identity at acquire() and enforces same-task release(). async_auth_flow is an async generator that holds this lock across yield points. When httpx drives the generator from a different task during concurrent connections, anyio.Lock.release() throws.
Existing draft fix
PR #2660 addresses this correctly by narrowing lock scope so no lock is held across yields — GET SSE long-polls and token refresh yields both run outside any lock. It has full test coverage (100% on oauth2.py, 1177 passed) and no breaking changes, but has been sitting as a draft without maintainer review since May 22.
Workaround applied locally
Replacing anyio.Lock with asyncio.Lock in OAuthContext stops the error since asyncio.Lock does not enforce task identity on release. This is a bandaid — it loses trio portability — but unblocks asyncio deployments. Note: this is a mechanical fix and has not been load-tested to exhaustion; the intermittent nature of the bug means full verification requires sustained concurrent load.
Request
Could a maintainer review and merge PR #2660? The fix is principled and well-tested.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Review PR #2660 alongside mcp/client/auth/oauth2.py, focusing on OAuthContext.lock and async_auth_flow. Run the existing OAuth tests and verify that the concurrent OAuth repro no longer fails when GET SSE and token-refresh paths cross yield points. Done means maintainer validation of the fix and review of the draft PR.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- api, authentication
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 4/5
- Estimated time
- 3-5 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 20/100