spring-projects / spring-projects/spring-ai

Spring AI MCP Server does not properly work when using spring.main.lazy-initialization=true

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Description

Bug description
I'm using spring-ai-starter-mcp-server-webmvc in my project to expose tools. I recognized that it gives me a 500 error when I set the property spring.main.lazy-initialization=false and I try to access the /sse endpoint.

Error

Caused by: jakarta.servlet.ServletException: java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "io.modelcontextprotocol.spec.McpServerSession$Factory.create(io.modelcontextprotocol.spec.McpServerTransport)" because "this.sessionFactory" is null
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.function.ErrorHandlingServerResponse.handleError(ErrorHandlingServerResponse.java:70)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.function.AbstractServerResponse.writeTo(AbstractServerResponse.java:105)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.function.support.HandlerFunctionAdapter.handle(HandlerFunctionAdapter.java:112)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:1089)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:979)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:1014)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doGet(FrameworkServlet.java:903)
	at jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:564)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.service(FrameworkServlet.java:885)
	at jakarta.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:658)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:195)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:140)
	at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:51)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:164)
	at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:140)
	at org.springframework.web.filter.CompositeFilter$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(CompositeFilter.java:108)
	at org.springframework.security.web.FilterChainProxy.lambda$doFilterInternal$3(FilterChainProxy.java:231)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator$FilterObservation$SimpleFilterObservation.lambda$wrap$1(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:479)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator$AroundFilterObservation$SimpleAroundFilterObservation.lambda$wrap$1(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:340)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator.lambda$wrapSecured$0(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:82)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:128)
	at org.springframework.security.web.access.intercept.AuthorizationFilter.doFilter(AuthorizationFilter.java:101)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator$ObservationFilter.wrapFilter(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:240)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator$ObservationFilter.doFilter(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:227)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:137)
	at org.springframework.security.web.access.ExceptionTranslationFilter.doFilter(ExceptionTranslationFilter.java:126)
	at org.springframework.security.web.access.ExceptionTranslationFilter.doFilter(ExceptionTranslationFilter.java:120)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator$ObservationFilter.wrapFilter(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:240)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator$ObservationFilter.doFilter(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:227)
	at org.springframework.security.web.ObservationFilterChainDecorator$VirtualFilterChain.doFilter(ObservationFilterChainDecorator.java:137)
	at com.cumulocity.microservice.security.filter.PostAuthenticateServletFilter$1.run(PostAuthenticateServletFilter.java:44)
	... 94 common frames omitted
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: Cannot invoke "io.modelcontextprotocol.spec.McpServerSession$Factory.create(io.modelcontextprotocol.spec.McpServerTransport)" because "this.sessionFactory" is null
	at io.modelcontextprotocol.server.transport.WebMvcSseServerTransportProvider.lambda$handleSseConnection$6(WebMvcSseServerTransportProvider.java:265)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.function.SseServerResponse.writeToInternal(SseServerResponse.java:95)
	at org.springframework.web.servlet.function.AbstractServerResponse.writeTo(AbstractServerResponse.java:101)
	... 123 common frames omitted

Steps to reproduce

  1. Clone the example repo: https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-ai-examples/tree/main/model-context-protocol/weather/starter-webmvc-server
  2. Add spring.main.lazy-initialization=true to application.properties
  3. Start the service
  4. Try to access /sse endpoint

Expected behavior
The MCP server should be started and be accessible even when lazy Loading it set to true.

Minimal Complete Reproducible example
see above

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the starter-webmvc-server example linked in the reproduction steps and its application.properties, then inspect the WebMvcSseServerTransportProvider stack-trace entry. Reproduce the failure with lazy initialization enabled and verify that accessing /sse no longer produces the sessionFactory NullPointerException.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java, spring-boot
Domain
api, backend
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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