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McpServer.layerStdio: native EOF cancellation policy for active tool handlers #10412
Description
Summary
In Effect 4.1.2, closing stdin while a McpServer.layerStdio tool handler is active keeps the Node server alive until that handler completes. An app-free tool that sleeps for one hour still keeps the server alive 3502 ms after stdin EOF.
I understand that #8714 intentionally fixed lost responses by draining after EOF. This report does not ask to restore response loss. I could not find a public option or documented scope pattern for the other valid policy: interrupt local in-flight handlers and exit promptly when the client closes stdin. Is there a supported native way to select that policy? If not, could the API expose one?
Our client treats an accepted remote operation as uncertain after transport closure. It must close its local MCP process promptly without issuing a remote cancellation. We want to use the native lifecycle rather than add a second stdin watcher, transport wrapper or process-exit timer.
Environment
- effect 4.1.2 and @effect/platform-node 4.1.2
- Node v24.22.1; Bun 1.4.4 on macOS arm64
- Both npm artifacts identify source commit 506eef1.
- Bun compiles the isolated server and drives stdin. The MCP server itself runs in a real Node child process.
Reproduction
Create an empty directory with this package.json, then run bun install --ignore-scripts and bun repro.ts. This uses only the two public packages. It sends normal initialize, initialized and tools/call messages, waits until the handler starts, then closes stdin. It sends no private RPC EOF message.
{"private":true,"type":"module","dependencies":{"effect":"4.1.2","@effect/platform-node":"4.1.2"}}import { writeFile, mkdtemp, rm } from "node:fs/promises"
import { tmpdir } from "node:os"
import path from "node:path"
const root = process.cwd()
const dir = await mkdtemp(path.join(tmpdir(), "effect-native-eof-"))
try {
const source = path.join(dir, "server.ts")
await writeFile(source, `import { Effect, Layer, Schema, Console } from ${JSON.stringify(root + "/node_modules/effect/src/index.ts")}
import { McpProtocol, McpServer, Tool, Toolkit } from ${JSON.stringify(root + "/node_modules/effect/src/ai/index.ts")}
import { NodeServices } from ${JSON.stringify(root + "/node_modules/@effect/platform-node/src/index.ts")}
const tools = Toolkit.make(Tool.make("hold", { success: Schema.String }))
const handlers = tools.toLayer({ hold: () => Console.error("REQUEST_STARTED").pipe(Effect.andThen(Effect.sleep("1 hour")), Effect.as("done")) })
const server = McpServer.layerStdio({ name: "native-eof", version: "1", protocols: [McpProtocol.v2025_06_18, McpProtocol.v2025_11_25], registrations: McpServer.toolkit(tools).pipe(Layer.provide(handlers)) })
Effect.runFork(Layer.launch(server.pipe(Layer.provide(NodeServices.layer))))
`)
const result = await Bun.build({ entrypoints: [source], target: "node", outdir: dir })
if (!result.success) throw new Error(String(result.logs))
const child = Bun.spawn(["node", path.join(dir, "server.js")], { stdin: "pipe", stdout: "pipe", stderr: "pipe" })
const stdout = new Response(child.stdout).text()
const reader = child.stderr.getReader()
const decoder = new TextDecoder()
let err = ""
const seen = Promise.withResolvers<void>()
const stderr = (async () => { while (true) { const { done, value } = await reader.read(); if (done) break; err += decoder.decode(value); if (err.includes("REQUEST_STARTED")) seen.resolve() } return err })()
await child.stdin.write(JSON.stringify({jsonrpc:"2.0",id:1,method:"initialize",params:{protocolVersion:"2025-06-18",capabilities:{},clientInfo:{name:"repro",version:"1"}}})+"\n")
await child.stdin.write(JSON.stringify({jsonrpc:"2.0",method:"notifications/initialized"})+"\n")
await child.stdin.write(JSON.stringify({jsonrpc:"2.0",id:2,method:"tools/call",params:{name:"hold",arguments:{}}})+"\n")
await Promise.race([seen.promise, Bun.sleep(5000).then(() => { throw Error("No active request") })])
const started = performance.now()
await child.stdin.end()
const outcome = await Promise.race([child.exited.then(exit => ({ exited:true, exit })), Bun.sleep(3500).then(() => ({ exited:false }))])
console.log(JSON.stringify({ kind:"native-layerStdio-only", effect:"4.1.2", activeRequest:true, stdinClosed:true, ...outcome, elapsedMs:performance.now()-started }))
if (!outcome.exited) { child.kill(); await child.exited }
console.log("stdout="+await stdout)
console.log("stderr="+await stderr)
console.log("cleanup=child-exited-and-temp-removed")
} finally { await rm(dir, { recursive:true, force:true }) }Actual result
{"kind":"native-layerStdio-only","effect":"4.1.2","activeRequest":true,"stdinClosed":true,"exited":false,"elapsedMs":3502.192083}
stdout={"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"result":{"protocolVersion":"2025-06-18","capabilities":{"logging":{},"tools":{"listChanged":true},"completions":{}},"serverInfo":{"name":"native-eof","version":"1"}}}
stderr=REQUEST_STARTED
cleanup=child-exited-and-temp-removed
The driver reports exited:false, kills its own child and removes its temporary directory. Driver exit 0 means the diagnostic and cleanup completed; it does not mean prompt EOF shutdown passed.
Expected / requested policy
A supported opt-in or documented native scope pattern should close the local request scopes and let the server exit promptly after stdin EOF. Applications can then preserve uncertain remote-operation receipts without sending remote cancellation. The existing drain policy can remain available for clients that deliberately half-close input and keep reading responses.
Source observations
- McpServer.layerStdio exposes no EOF policy option and forwards EOF to RPC.
- RpcServer marks the client ended and waits while active fibers remain. Its stdio output ends after ClientEnd. The public onDisconnect hook excludes normal input completion.
- I found no matching open report. McpServer.layerStdio drops in-flight responses when stdin closes #8710 and Fix RPC stdio response draining after stdin EOF #8714 describe the complementary response-draining requirement.
No application services, custom context capture, production credentials or network services are involved in this reproduction.
AI disclosure
An AI coding assistant prepared this report and ran the public-package-only reproduction. The output above comes from the actual run. No human review of the report is claimed.
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