modelcontextprotocol / modelcontextprotocol/typescript-sdk

Add ways for server processes to self-terminate when host is gone

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#208 2 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

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enhancement help wanted needs decision P3
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Description

While working on VS Code and LSP we have learned that it is quite hard to prevent leaking processes, e.g stdio servers might be lingering around long after the host is gone. This can be due to various reasons and an effective way we have found is to start a server with the PID of its host. With that the server periodically checks for the PID and terminates if it is gone, like so https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-languageserver-node/blob/main/server/src/node/main.ts#L51

Having something like this in the SDK would benefit MCP servers and help to keep process-bleed in check

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First steps

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reading the linked VS Code example at server/src/node/main.ts around the host-PID handling, then inspect the TypeScript SDK's server startup paths for stdio servers. Define how the SDK should receive and monitor a host PID, and verify that an MCP server terminates when its host process is gone without affecting normal operation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
backend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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