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StreamableHTTP: a client disconnect while reading the POST body is logged as an exception and answered 500 #3469
Description
Initial Checks
- I confirm that I'm using the newest release of my line (the latest 2.x, or the latest 1.x if I'm still on v1)
- I confirm that I searched for my issue in https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk/issues before opening this issue
Release line
2.x (current stable), and the same on 1.28.1
Description
StreamableHTTPServerTransport._handle_post_request reads the request body inside its blanket except Exception. When the client goes away before the body arrives, await request.body() raises starlette.requests.ClientDisconnect, the transport logs it with logger.exception("Error handling POST request") and answers 500. That is a normal network event on a public MCP endpoint (mobile clients, proxies with short timeouts, health probes), and it lands as an unhandled server error with a stack trace in every log aggregator. #2064 / #2257 handled the disconnect in _handle_message; this is the earlier point, in streamable_http.py (the body = await request.body() line and the except Exception as err below it). The SSE transport has no handling for it either.
Example Code
import asyncio
import importlib.metadata as md
import logging
from mcp.server.streamable_http import StreamableHTTPServerTransport
records = []
class Capture(logging.Handler):
def emit(self, record):
records.append(record)
logging.getLogger("mcp").addHandler(Capture())
logging.getLogger("mcp").setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
async def main():
transport = StreamableHTTPServerTransport(mcp_session_id=None)
scope = {
"type": "http", "method": "POST", "path": "/mcp", "query_string": b"", "headers": [
(b"content-type", b"application/json"),
(b"accept", b"application/json, text/event-stream"),
(b"content-length", b"58"),
],
}
async def receive(): # the client went away before sending its body
return {"type": "http.disconnect"}
sent = []
async def send(message):
sent.append(message)
async with transport.connect():
try:
await asyncio.wait_for(transport.handle_request(scope, receive, send), timeout=5)
except asyncio.TimeoutError:
print("handle_request did not return within 5s")
status = next((m["status"] for m in sent if m["type"] == "http.response.start"), None)
print(f"mcp {md.version('mcp')}: response status = {status}")
for r in records:
if r.levelno >= logging.ERROR:
print(f" logged {r.levelname} by {r.name}: {r.getMessage()} | exc: {type(r.exc_info[1]).__name__ if r.exc_info else None}")
try:
asyncio.run(asyncio.wait_for(main(), timeout=15))
except asyncio.TimeoutError:
print("main did not finish within 15s")Output on 1.28.1 and 2.1.1:
mcp 2.1.1: response status = 500
logged ERROR by mcp.server.streamable_http: Error handling POST request | exc: ClientDisconnect
(The script caps handle_request at 5 s because the stub send / receive is not a real ASGI server; the 500 and the log line are sent before that.)
Expected: ClientDisconnect caught before the generic handler, logged at debug or info, and no response attempted, since there is nobody to answer.
Python & MCP Python SDK
Python 3.12.13, mcp 1.28.1 and 2.1.1, starlette 1.3.1, macOS
Activity
jagadeepmamidi commentedon Sep 7, 2026
Hi, I’d like to work on this issue. I’ll handle
ClientDisconnectduring POST body reads separately from the generic exception handler, avoiding error-level logging and response attempts after disconnect. I’ll also check the SSE path and add regression tests covering this behavior. Could you please assign this to me?HardMax71 commentedon Sep 7, 2026
@jagadeepmamidi I'll add a PR in a couple of minutes, no worries
===
Approach: catch
ClientDisconnectaround therequest.body()read in_handle_post_request(and the same spot inSseServerTransport.handle_post_message, which currently lets it propagate), log at debug and return without a response. Two ASGI-level tests with areceivethat answershttp.disconnect, one per transport; both fail on main. Branch: https://github.com/HardMax71/python-sdk/tree/fix/client-disconnect-before-body. Will open the PR once the issue qualifies.HardMax71 commentedon Oct 2, 2026
I never opened the PR I mentioned above: outside PRs here need an assigned issue or the
help wantedlabel, so I held it. I also missed that this overlaps #1648 (ready for work), which covers the streamable HTTP side; this issue adds the same gap inSseServerTransport.handle_post_message. It still reproduces on mcp 2.2.0 and on main (19e4f2a): the script above gets a 500 and logsError handling POST requestwithClientDisconnect.The fix branch (https://github.com/HardMax71/python-sdk/tree/fix/client-disconnect-before-body) still applies to main without conflicts, and its two tests fail on main and pass with the fix. As the reporter I'd like to open the PR if a maintainer assigns this or adds
help wanted; if you'd rather fix it under #1648, feel free to take the branch and close this one as a duplicate.