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Migration Guide: v1 to v2

This guide covers the breaking changes introduced in v2 of the MCP Python SDK and how to update your code.

Overview

Version 2 of the MCP Python SDK introduces several breaking changes to improve the API, align with the MCP specification, and provide better type safety.

Breaking Changes

streamablehttp_client removed

The deprecated streamablehttp_client function has been removed. Use streamable_http_client instead.

Before (v1):

from mcp.client.streamable_http import streamablehttp_client

async with streamablehttp_client(
    url="http://localhost:8000/mcp",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer token"},
    timeout=30,
    sse_read_timeout=300,
    auth=my_auth,
) as (read_stream, write_stream, get_session_id):
    ...

After (v2):

import httpx
from mcp.client.streamable_http import streamable_http_client

# Configure headers, timeout, and auth on the httpx.AsyncClient
http_client = httpx.AsyncClient(
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer token"},
    timeout=httpx.Timeout(30, read=300),
    auth=my_auth,
    follow_redirects=True,
)

async with http_client:
    async with streamable_http_client(
        url="http://localhost:8000/mcp",
        http_client=http_client,
    ) as (read_stream, write_stream):
        ...

v1's internal client set follow_redirects=True; set it explicitly when supplying your own httpx.AsyncClient to preserve that behavior.

get_session_id callback removed from streamable_http_client

The get_session_id callback (third element of the returned tuple) has been removed from streamable_http_client. The function now returns a 2-tuple (read_stream, write_stream) instead of a 3-tuple.

If you need to capture the session ID (e.g., for session resumption testing), you can use httpx event hooks to capture it from the response headers:

Before (v1):

from mcp.client.streamable_http import streamable_http_client

async with streamable_http_client(url) as (read_stream, write_stream, get_session_id):
    async with ClientSession(read_stream, write_stream) as session:
        await session.initialize()
        session_id = get_session_id()  # Get session ID via callback

After (v2):

import httpx
from mcp.client.streamable_http import streamable_http_client

# Option 1: Simply ignore if you don't need the session ID
async with streamable_http_client(url) as (read_stream, write_stream):
    async with ClientSession(read_stream, write_stream) as session:
        await session.initialize()

# Option 2: Capture session ID via httpx event hooks if needed
captured_session_ids: list[str] = []

async def capture_session_id(response: httpx.Response) -> None:
    session_id = response.headers.get("mcp-session-id")
    if session_id:
        captured_session_ids.append(session_id)

http_client = httpx.AsyncClient(
    event_hooks={"response": [capture_session_id]},
    follow_redirects=True,
)

async with http_client:
    async with streamable_http_client(url, http_client=http_client) as (read_stream, write_stream):
        async with ClientSession(read_stream, write_stream) as session:
            await session.initialize()
            session_id = captured_session_ids[0] if captured_session_ids else None

StreamableHTTPTransport parameters removed

The headers, timeout, sse_read_timeout, and auth parameters have been removed from StreamableHTTPTransport. Configure these on the httpx.AsyncClient instead (see example above).

Note: sse_client retains its headers, timeout, sse_read_timeout, and auth parameters — only the streamable HTTP transport changed.

Removed type aliases and classes

The following deprecated type aliases and classes have been removed from mcp.types:

Removed Replacement
Content ContentBlock
ResourceReference ResourceTemplateReference
Cursor Use str directly
MethodT Internal TypeVar, not intended for public use
RequestParamsT Internal TypeVar, not intended for public use
NotificationParamsT Internal TypeVar, not intended for public use

Before (v1):

from mcp.types import Content, ResourceReference, Cursor

After (v2):

from mcp.types import ContentBlock, ResourceTemplateReference
# Use `str` instead of `Cursor` for pagination cursors

Field names changed from camelCase to snake_case

All Pydantic model fields in mcp.types now use snake_case names for Python attribute access. The JSON wire format is unchanged — serialization still uses camelCase via Pydantic aliases.

Before (v1):

result = await session.call_tool("my_tool", {"x": 1})
if result.isError:
    ...

tools = await session.list_tools()
cursor = tools.nextCursor
schema = tools.tools[0].inputSchema

After (v2):

result = await session.call_tool("my_tool", {"x": 1})
if result.is_error:
    ...

tools = await session.list_tools()
cursor = tools.next_cursor
schema = tools.tools[0].input_schema

Common renames:

v1 (camelCase) v2 (snake_case)
inputSchema input_schema
outputSchema output_schema
isError is_error
nextCursor next_cursor
mimeType mime_type
structuredContent structured_content
serverInfo server_info
protocolVersion protocol_version
uriTemplate uri_template
listChanged list_changed
progressToken progress_token

Because populate_by_name=True is set, the old camelCase names still work as constructor kwargs (e.g., Tool(inputSchema={...}) is accepted), but attribute access must use snake_case (tool.input_schema).

args parameter removed from ClientSessionGroup.call_tool()

The deprecated args parameter has been removed from ClientSessionGroup.call_tool(). Use arguments instead.

Before (v1):

result = await session_group.call_tool("my_tool", args={"key": "value"})

After (v2):

result = await session_group.call_tool("my_tool", arguments={"key": "value"})

cursor parameter removed from ClientSession list methods

The deprecated cursor parameter has been removed from the following ClientSession methods:

  • list_resources()
  • list_resource_templates()
  • list_prompts()
  • list_tools()

Use params=PaginatedRequestParams(cursor=...) instead.

Before (v1):

result = await session.list_resources(cursor="next_page_token")
result = await session.list_tools(cursor="next_page_token")

After (v2):

from mcp.types import PaginatedRequestParams

result = await session.list_resources(params=PaginatedRequestParams(cursor="next_page_token"))
result = await session.list_tools(params=PaginatedRequestParams(cursor="next_page_token"))

ClientSession.get_server_capabilities() replaced by initialize_result property

ClientSession now stores the full InitializeResult via an initialize_result property. This provides access to server_info, capabilities, instructions, and the negotiated protocol_version through a single property. The get_server_capabilities() method has been removed.

Before (v1):

capabilities = session.get_server_capabilities()
# server_info, instructions, protocol_version were not stored — had to capture initialize() return value

After (v2):

result = session.initialize_result
if result is not None:
    capabilities = result.capabilities
    server_info = result.server_info
    instructions = result.instructions
    version = result.protocol_version

The high-level Client.initialize_result returns the same InitializeResult but is non-nullable — initialization is guaranteed inside the context manager, so no None check is needed. This replaces v1's Client.server_capabilities; use client.initialize_result.capabilities instead.

McpError renamed to MCPError

The McpError exception class has been renamed to MCPError for consistent naming with the MCP acronym style used throughout the SDK.

Before (v1):

from mcp.shared.exceptions import McpError

try:
    result = await session.call_tool("my_tool")
except McpError as e:
    print(f"Error: {e.error.message}")

After (v2):

from mcp.shared.exceptions import MCPError

try:
    result = await session.call_tool("my_tool")
except MCPError as e:
    print(f"Error: {e.message}")

MCPError is also exported from the top-level mcp package:

from mcp import MCPError

The constructor signature also changed — it now takes code, message, and optional data directly instead of wrapping an ErrorData:

Before (v1):

from mcp.shared.exceptions import McpError
from mcp.types import ErrorData, INVALID_REQUEST

raise McpError(ErrorData(code=INVALID_REQUEST, message="bad input"))

After (v2):

from mcp.shared.exceptions import MCPError
from mcp.types import INVALID_REQUEST

raise MCPError(INVALID_REQUEST, "bad input")
# or, if you already have an ErrorData:
raise MCPError.from_error_data(error_data)

FastMCP renamed to MCPServer

The FastMCP class has been renamed to MCPServer to better reflect its role as the main server class in the SDK. This is a simple rename with no functional changes to the class itself.

Before (v1):

from mcp.server.fastmcp import FastMCP

mcp = FastMCP("Demo")

After (v2):

from mcp.server.mcpserver import MCPServer, Context

mcp = MCPServer("Demo")

Context is the type annotation for the ctx parameter injected into tools, resources, and prompts (see get_context() removed below).

All submodules under mcp.server.fastmcp.* are now under mcp.server.mcpserver.* with the same structure. Common imports:

  • Image, Audio — from mcp.server.mcpserver (or .utilities.types)
  • UserMessage, AssistantMessage — from mcp.server.mcpserver.prompts.base
  • ToolError, ResourceError — from mcp.server.mcpserver.exceptions

mount_path parameter removed from MCPServer

The mount_path parameter has been removed from MCPServer.__init__(), MCPServer.run(), MCPServer.run_sse_async(), and MCPServer.sse_app(). It was also removed from the Settings class.

This parameter was redundant because the SSE transport already handles sub-path mounting via ASGI's standard root_path mechanism. When using Starlette's Mount("/path", app=mcp.sse_app()), Starlette automatically sets root_path in the ASGI scope, and the SseServerTransport uses this to construct the correct message endpoint path.

Transport-specific parameters moved from MCPServer constructor to run()/app methods

Transport-specific parameters have been moved from the MCPServer constructor to the run(), sse_app(), and streamable_http_app() methods. This provides better separation of concerns - the constructor now only handles server identity and authentication, while transport configuration is passed when starting the server.

Parameters moved:

  • host, port - HTTP server binding
  • sse_path, message_path - SSE transport paths
  • streamable_http_path - StreamableHTTP endpoint path
  • json_response, stateless_http - StreamableHTTP behavior
  • event_store, retry_interval - StreamableHTTP event handling
  • transport_security - DNS rebinding protection

Before (v1):

from mcp.server.fastmcp import FastMCP

# Transport params in constructor
mcp = FastMCP("Demo", json_response=True, stateless_http=True)
mcp.run(transport="streamable-http")

# Or for SSE
mcp = FastMCP("Server", host="0.0.0.0", port=9000, sse_path="/events")
mcp.run(transport="sse")

After (v2):

from mcp.server.mcpserver import MCPServer

# Transport params passed to run()
mcp = MCPServer("Demo")
mcp.run(transport="streamable-http", json_response=True, stateless_http=True)

# Or for SSE
mcp = MCPServer("Server")
mcp.run(transport="sse", host="0.0.0.0", port=9000, sse_path="/events")

For mounted apps:

When mounting in a Starlette app, pass transport params to the app methods:

# Before (v1)
from mcp.server.fastmcp import FastMCP

mcp = FastMCP("App", json_response=True)
app = Starlette(routes=[Mount("/", app=mcp.streamable_http_app())])

# After (v2)
from mcp.server.mcpserver import MCPServer

mcp = MCPServer("App")
app = Starlette(routes=[Mount("/", app=mcp.streamable_http_app(json_response=True))])

Note: DNS rebinding protection is automatically enabled when host is 127.0.0.1, localhost, or ::1. This now happens in sse_app() and streamable_http_app() instead of the constructor.

If you were mutating these via mcp.settings after construction (e.g., mcp.settings.port = 9000), pass them to run() / sse_app() / streamable_http_app() instead — these fields no longer exist on Settings. The debug and log_level parameters remain on the constructor.

MCPServer.get_context() removed

MCPServer.get_context() has been removed. Context is now injected by the framework and passed explicitly — there is no ambient ContextVar to read from.

If you were calling get_context() from inside a tool/resource/prompt: use the ctx: Context parameter injection instead.

Before (v1):

@mcp.tool()
async def my_tool(x: int) -> str:
    ctx = mcp.get_context()
    await ctx.info("Processing...")
    return str(x)

After (v2):

from mcp.server.mcpserver import Context

@mcp.tool()
async def my_tool(x: int, ctx: Context) -> str:
    await ctx.info("Processing...")
    return str(x)

MCPServer.call_tool(), read_resource(), get_prompt() now accept a context parameter

MCPServer.call_tool(), MCPServer.read_resource(), and MCPServer.get_prompt() now accept an optional context: Context | None = None parameter. The framework passes this automatically during normal request handling. If you call these methods directly and omit context, a Context with no active request is constructed for you — tools that don't use ctx work normally, but any attempt to use ctx.session, ctx.request_id, etc. will raise.

The internal layers (ToolManager.call_tool, Tool.run, Prompt.render, ResourceTemplate.create_resource, etc.) now require context as a positional argument.

Tool registration now accepts prebuilt Tool objects

MCPServer.add_tool() and ToolManager.add_tool() now expect a fully constructed Tool instance, matching the resource registration pattern. Build tools with Tool.from_function(...) or register them through the @mcp.tool() decorator, which still handles construction for you.

Before (v1):

def add(a: int, b: int) -> int:
    return a + b

mcp.add_tool(add)

After (v2):

from mcp.server.mcpserver.tools import Tool


def add(a: int, b: int) -> int:
    return a + b


mcp.add_tool(Tool.from_function(add))

If you need to customize the tool metadata before registration, build the Tool first and then pass it to add_tool().

Registering lowlevel handlers on MCPServer (workaround)

MCPServer does not expose public APIs for subscribe_resource, unsubscribe_resource, or set_logging_level handlers. In v1, the workaround was to reach into the private lowlevel server and use its decorator methods:

Before (v1):

@mcp._mcp_server.set_logging_level()  # pyright: ignore[reportPrivateUsage]
async def handle_set_logging_level(level: str) -> None:
    ...

mcp._mcp_server.subscribe_resource()(handle_subscribe)  # pyright: ignore[reportPrivateUsage]

In v2, the lowlevel Server no longer has decorator methods (handlers are constructor-only), so the equivalent workaround is _add_request_handler:

After (v2):

from mcp.server import ServerRequestContext
from mcp.types import EmptyResult, SetLevelRequestParams, SubscribeRequestParams


async def handle_set_logging_level(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: SetLevelRequestParams) -> EmptyResult:
    ...
    return EmptyResult()


async def handle_subscribe(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: SubscribeRequestParams) -> EmptyResult:
    ...
    return EmptyResult()


mcp._lowlevel_server._add_request_handler("logging/setLevel", handle_set_logging_level)  # pyright: ignore[reportPrivateUsage]
mcp._lowlevel_server._add_request_handler("resources/subscribe", handle_subscribe)  # pyright: ignore[reportPrivateUsage]

This is a private API and may change. A public way to register these handlers on MCPServer is planned; until then, use this workaround or use the lowlevel Server directly.

Replace RootModel by union types with TypeAdapter validation

The following union types are no longer RootModel subclasses:

  • ClientRequest
  • ServerRequest
  • ClientNotification
  • ServerNotification
  • ClientResult
  • ServerResult
  • JSONRPCMessage

This means you can no longer access .root on these types or use model_validate() directly on them. Instead, use the provided TypeAdapter instances for validation.

Before (v1):

from mcp.types import ClientRequest, ServerNotification

# Using RootModel.model_validate()
request = ClientRequest.model_validate(data)
actual_request = request.root  # Accessing the wrapped value

notification = ServerNotification.model_validate(data)
actual_notification = notification.root

After (v2):

from mcp.types import client_request_adapter, server_notification_adapter

# Using TypeAdapter.validate_python()
request = client_request_adapter.validate_python(data)
# No .root access needed - request is the actual type

notification = server_notification_adapter.validate_python(data)
# No .root access needed - notification is the actual type

The same applies when constructing values — the wrapper call is no longer needed:

Before (v1):

await session.send_notification(ClientNotification(InitializedNotification()))
await session.send_request(ClientRequest(PingRequest()), EmptyResult)

After (v2):

await session.send_notification(InitializedNotification())
await session.send_request(PingRequest(), EmptyResult)

Available adapters:

Union Type Adapter
ClientRequest client_request_adapter
ServerRequest server_request_adapter
ClientNotification client_notification_adapter
ServerNotification server_notification_adapter
ClientResult client_result_adapter
ServerResult server_result_adapter
JSONRPCMessage jsonrpc_message_adapter

All adapters are exported from mcp.types.

RequestParams.Meta replaced with RequestParamsMeta TypedDict

The nested RequestParams.Meta Pydantic model class has been replaced with a top-level RequestParamsMeta TypedDict. This affects the ctx.meta field in request handlers and any code that imports or references this type.

Key changes:

  • RequestParams.Meta (Pydantic model) → RequestParamsMeta (TypedDict)
  • Attribute access (meta.progress_token) → Dictionary access (meta.get("progress_token"))
  • progress_token field changed from ProgressToken | None = None to NotRequired[ProgressToken]

In request context handlers:

# Before (v1)
@server.call_tool()
async def handle_tool(name: str, arguments: dict) -> list[TextContent]:
    ctx = server.request_context
    if ctx.meta and ctx.meta.progress_token:
        await ctx.session.send_progress_notification(ctx.meta.progress_token, 0.5, 100)

# After (v2)
async def handle_call_tool(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: CallToolRequestParams) -> CallToolResult:
    if ctx.meta and "progress_token" in ctx.meta:
        await ctx.session.send_progress_notification(ctx.meta["progress_token"], 0.5, 100)
    ...

server = Server("my-server", on_call_tool=handle_call_tool)

RequestContext type parameters simplified

The mcp.shared.context module has been removed. RequestContext is now split into ClientRequestContext (in mcp.client.context) and ServerRequestContext (in mcp.server.context).

The RequestContext class has been split to separate shared fields from server-specific fields. The shared RequestContext now only takes 1 type parameter (the session type) instead of 3.

RequestContext changes:

  • Type parameters reduced from RequestContext[SessionT, LifespanContextT, RequestT] to RequestContext[SessionT]
  • Server-specific fields (lifespan_context, experimental, request, close_sse_stream, close_standalone_sse_stream) moved to new ServerRequestContext class in mcp.server.context

Before (v1):

from mcp.client.session import ClientSession
from mcp.shared.context import RequestContext, LifespanContextT, RequestT

# RequestContext with 3 type parameters
ctx: RequestContext[ClientSession, LifespanContextT, RequestT]

After (v2):

from mcp.client.context import ClientRequestContext
from mcp.server.context import ServerRequestContext, LifespanContextT, RequestT

# For client-side context (sampling, elicitation, list_roots callbacks)
ctx: ClientRequestContext

# For server-specific context with lifespan and request types
server_ctx: ServerRequestContext[LifespanContextT, RequestT]

The high-level Context class (injected into @mcp.tool() etc.) similarly dropped its ServerSessionT parameter: Context[ServerSessionT, LifespanContextT, RequestT] → Context[LifespanContextT, RequestT]. Both remaining parameters have defaults, so bare Context is usually sufficient:

Before (v1):

async def my_tool(ctx: Context[ServerSession, None]) -> str: ...

After (v2):

async def my_tool(ctx: Context) -> str: ...
# or, with an explicit lifespan type:
async def my_tool(ctx: Context[MyLifespanState]) -> str: ...

ProgressContext and progress() context manager removed

The mcp.shared.progress module (ProgressContext, Progress, and the progress() context manager) has been removed. This module had no real-world adoption — all users send progress notifications via Context.report_progress() or session.send_progress_notification() directly.

Before (v1):

from mcp.shared.progress import progress

with progress(ctx, total=100) as p:
    await p.progress(25)

After — use Context.report_progress() (recommended):

@server.tool()
async def my_tool(x: int, ctx: Context) -> str:
    await ctx.report_progress(25, 100)
    return "done"

After — use session.send_progress_notification() (low-level):

await session.send_progress_notification(
    progress_token=progress_token,
    progress=25,
    total=100,
)

create_connected_server_and_client_session removed

The create_connected_server_and_client_session helper in mcp.shared.memory has been removed. Use mcp.client.Client instead — it accepts a Server or MCPServer instance directly and handles the in-memory transport and session setup for you.

Before (v1):

from mcp.shared.memory import create_connected_server_and_client_session

async with create_connected_server_and_client_session(server) as session:
    result = await session.call_tool("my_tool", {"x": 1})

After (v2):

from mcp.client import Client

async with Client(server) as client:
    result = await client.call_tool("my_tool", {"x": 1})

Client accepts the same callback parameters the old helper did (sampling_callback, list_roots_callback, logging_callback, message_handler, elicitation_callback, client_info) plus raise_exceptions to surface server-side errors.

If you need direct access to the underlying ClientSession and memory streams (e.g., for low-level transport testing), create_client_server_memory_streams is still available in mcp.shared.memory:

import anyio
from mcp.client.session import ClientSession
from mcp.shared.memory import create_client_server_memory_streams

async with create_client_server_memory_streams() as (client_streams, server_streams):
    async with anyio.create_task_group() as tg:
        tg.start_soon(lambda: server.run(*server_streams, server.create_initialization_options()))
        async with ClientSession(*client_streams) as session:
            await session.initialize()
            ...
        tg.cancel_scope.cancel()

Resource URI type changed from AnyUrl to str

The uri field on resource-related types now uses str instead of Pydantic's AnyUrl. This aligns with the MCP specification schema which defines URIs as plain strings (uri: string) without strict URL validation. This change allows relative paths like users/me that were previously rejected.

Before (v1):

from pydantic import AnyUrl
from mcp.types import Resource

# Required wrapping in AnyUrl
resource = Resource(name="test", uri=AnyUrl("users/me"))  # Would fail validation

After (v2):

from mcp.types import Resource

# Plain strings accepted
resource = Resource(name="test", uri="users/me")  # Works
resource = Resource(name="test", uri="custom://scheme")  # Works
resource = Resource(name="test", uri="https://example.com")  # Works

If your code passes AnyUrl objects to URI fields, convert them to strings:

# If you have an AnyUrl from elsewhere
uri = str(my_any_url)  # Convert to string

Affected types:

  • Resource.uri
  • ReadResourceRequestParams.uri
  • ResourceContents.uri (and subclasses TextResourceContents, BlobResourceContents)
  • SubscribeRequestParams.uri
  • UnsubscribeRequestParams.uri
  • ResourceUpdatedNotificationParams.uri

The Client and ClientSession methods read_resource(), subscribe_resource(), and unsubscribe_resource() now only accept str for the uri parameter. If you were passing AnyUrl objects, convert them to strings:

# Before (v1)
from pydantic import AnyUrl

await client.read_resource(AnyUrl("test://resource"))

# After (v2)
await client.read_resource("test://resource")
# Or if you have an AnyUrl from elsewhere:
await client.read_resource(str(my_any_url))

Lowlevel Server: constructor parameters are now keyword-only

All parameters after name are now keyword-only. If you were passing version or other parameters positionally, use keyword arguments instead:

# Before (v1)
server = Server("my-server", "1.0")

# After (v2)
server = Server("my-server", version="1.0")

Lowlevel Server: type parameter reduced from 2 to 1

The Server class previously had two type parameters: Server[LifespanResultT, RequestT]. The RequestT parameter has been removed — handlers now receive typed params directly rather than a generic request type.

# Before (v1)
from typing import Any

from mcp.server.lowlevel.server import Server

server: Server[dict[str, Any], Any] = Server(...)

# After (v2)
from typing import Any

from mcp.server import Server

server: Server[dict[str, Any]] = Server(...)

Lowlevel Server: request_handlers and notification_handlers attributes removed

The public server.request_handlers and server.notification_handlers dictionaries have been removed. Handler registration is now done exclusively through constructor on_* keyword arguments. There is no public API to register handlers after construction.

# Before (v1) — direct dict access
from mcp.types import ListToolsRequest

if ListToolsRequest in server.request_handlers:
    ...

# After (v2) — no public access to handler dicts
# Use the on_* constructor params to register handlers
server = Server("my-server", on_list_tools=handle_list_tools)

If you need to check whether a handler is registered, track this yourself — there is currently no public introspection API.

Lowlevel Server: decorator-based handlers replaced with constructor on_* params

The lowlevel Server class no longer uses decorator methods for handler registration. Instead, handlers are passed as on_* keyword arguments to the constructor.

Before (v1):

from mcp.server.lowlevel.server import Server

server = Server("my-server")

@server.list_tools()
async def handle_list_tools():
    return [types.Tool(name="my_tool", description="A tool", inputSchema={})]

@server.call_tool()
async def handle_call_tool(name: str, arguments: dict):
    return [types.TextContent(type="text", text=f"Called {name}")]

After (v2):

from mcp.server import Server, ServerRequestContext
from mcp.types import (
    CallToolRequestParams,
    CallToolResult,
    ListToolsResult,
    PaginatedRequestParams,
    TextContent,
    Tool,
)

async def handle_list_tools(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: PaginatedRequestParams | None) -> ListToolsResult:
    return ListToolsResult(tools=[Tool(name="my_tool", description="A tool", input_schema={})])


async def handle_call_tool(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: CallToolRequestParams) -> CallToolResult:
    return CallToolResult(
        content=[TextContent(type="text", text=f"Called {params.name}")],
        is_error=False,
    )

server = Server("my-server", on_list_tools=handle_list_tools, on_call_tool=handle_call_tool)

Key differences:

  • Handlers receive (ctx, params) instead of the full request object or unpacked arguments. ctx is a ServerRequestContext with session, lifespan_context, and experimental fields (plus request_id, meta, etc. for request handlers). params is the typed request params object.
  • Handlers return the full result type (e.g. ListToolsResult) rather than unwrapped values (e.g. list[Tool]).
  • The automatic jsonschema input/output validation that the old call_tool() decorator performed has been removed. There is no built-in replacement — if you relied on schema validation in the lowlevel server, you will need to validate inputs yourself in your handler.

Complete handler reference:

All handlers receive ctx: ServerRequestContext as the first argument. The second argument and return type are:

v1 decorator v2 constructor kwarg params type return type
@server.list_tools() on_list_tools PaginatedRequestParams | None ListToolsResult
@server.call_tool() on_call_tool CallToolRequestParams CallToolResult | CreateTaskResult
@server.list_resources() on_list_resources PaginatedRequestParams | None ListResourcesResult
@server.list_resource_templates() on_list_resource_templates PaginatedRequestParams | None ListResourceTemplatesResult
@server.read_resource() on_read_resource ReadResourceRequestParams ReadResourceResult
@server.subscribe_resource() on_subscribe_resource SubscribeRequestParams EmptyResult
@server.unsubscribe_resource() on_unsubscribe_resource UnsubscribeRequestParams EmptyResult
@server.list_prompts() on_list_prompts PaginatedRequestParams | None ListPromptsResult
@server.get_prompt() on_get_prompt GetPromptRequestParams GetPromptResult
@server.completion() on_completion CompleteRequestParams CompleteResult
@server.set_logging_level() on_set_logging_level SetLevelRequestParams EmptyResult
— on_ping RequestParams | None EmptyResult
@server.progress_notification() on_progress ProgressNotificationParams None
— on_roots_list_changed NotificationParams | None None

All params and return types are importable from mcp.types.

Notification handlers:

from mcp.server import Server, ServerRequestContext
from mcp.types import ProgressNotificationParams


async def handle_progress(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: ProgressNotificationParams) -> None:
    print(f"Progress: {params.progress}/{params.total}")

server = Server("my-server", on_progress=handle_progress)

Lowlevel Server: automatic return value wrapping removed

The old decorator-based handlers performed significant automatic wrapping of return values. This magic has been removed — handlers now return fully constructed result types. If you want these conveniences, use MCPServer (previously FastMCP) instead of the lowlevel Server.

call_tool() — structured output wrapping removed:

The old decorator accepted several return types and auto-wrapped them into CallToolResult:

# Before (v1) — returning a dict auto-wrapped into structured_content + JSON TextContent
@server.call_tool()
async def handle(name: str, arguments: dict) -> dict:
    return {"temperature": 22.5, "city": "London"}

# Before (v1) — returning a list auto-wrapped into CallToolResult.content
@server.call_tool()
async def handle(name: str, arguments: dict) -> list[TextContent]:
    return [TextContent(type="text", text="Done")]
# After (v2) — construct the full result yourself
import json

async def handle(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: CallToolRequestParams) -> CallToolResult:
    data = {"temperature": 22.5, "city": "London"}
    return CallToolResult(
        content=[TextContent(type="text", text=json.dumps(data, indent=2))],
        structured_content=data,
    )

Note: params.arguments can be None (the old decorator defaulted it to {}). Use params.arguments or {} to preserve the old behavior.

read_resource() — content type wrapping removed:

The old decorator auto-wrapped Iterable[ReadResourceContents] (and the deprecated str/bytes shorthand) into TextResourceContents/BlobResourceContents, handling base64 encoding and mime-type defaulting:

# Before (v1) — Iterable[ReadResourceContents] auto-wrapped
from mcp.server.lowlevel.helper_types import ReadResourceContents

@server.read_resource()
async def handle(uri: AnyUrl) -> Iterable[ReadResourceContents]:
    return [ReadResourceContents(content="file contents", mime_type="text/plain")]

# Before (v1) — str/bytes shorthand (already deprecated in v1)
@server.read_resource()
async def handle(uri: str) -> str:
    return "file contents"

@server.read_resource()
async def handle(uri: str) -> bytes:
    return b"\x89PNG..."
# After (v2) — construct TextResourceContents or BlobResourceContents yourself
import base64

async def handle_read(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: ReadResourceRequestParams) -> ReadResourceResult:
    # Text content
    return ReadResourceResult(
        contents=[TextResourceContents(uri=str(params.uri), text="file contents", mime_type="text/plain")]
    )

async def handle_read(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: ReadResourceRequestParams) -> ReadResourceResult:
    # Binary content — you must base64-encode it yourself
    return ReadResourceResult(
        contents=[BlobResourceContents(
            uri=str(params.uri),
            blob=base64.b64encode(b"\x89PNG...").decode("utf-8"),
            mime_type="image/png",
        )]
    )

list_tools(), list_resources(), list_prompts() — list wrapping removed:

The old decorators accepted bare lists and wrapped them into the result type:

# Before (v1)
@server.list_tools()
async def handle() -> list[Tool]:
    return [Tool(name="my_tool", ...)]

# After (v2)
async def handle(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: PaginatedRequestParams | None) -> ListToolsResult:
    return ListToolsResult(tools=[Tool(name="my_tool", ...)])

Using MCPServer instead:

If you prefer the convenience of automatic wrapping, use MCPServer which still provides these features through its @mcp.tool(), @mcp.resource(), and @mcp.prompt() decorators. The lowlevel Server is intentionally minimal — it provides no magic and gives you full control over the MCP protocol types.

Lowlevel Server: request_context property removed

The server.request_context property has been removed. Request context is now passed directly to handlers as the first argument (ctx). The request_ctx module-level contextvar has been removed entirely.

Before (v1):

from mcp.server.lowlevel.server import request_ctx

@server.call_tool()
async def handle_call_tool(name: str, arguments: dict):
    ctx = server.request_context  # or request_ctx.get()
    await ctx.session.send_log_message(level="info", data="Processing...")
    return [types.TextContent(type="text", text="Done")]

After (v2):

from mcp.server import ServerRequestContext
from mcp.types import CallToolRequestParams, CallToolResult, TextContent


async def handle_call_tool(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: CallToolRequestParams) -> CallToolResult:
    await ctx.session.send_log_message(level="info", data="Processing...")
    return CallToolResult(
        content=[TextContent(type="text", text="Done")],
        is_error=False,
    )

RequestContext: request-specific fields are now optional

The RequestContext class now uses optional fields for request-specific data (request_id, meta, etc.) so it can be used for both request and notification handlers. In notification handlers, these fields are None.

from mcp.server import ServerRequestContext

# request_id, meta, etc. are available in request handlers
# but None in notification handlers

Experimental: task handler decorators removed

The experimental decorator methods on ExperimentalHandlers (@server.experimental.list_tasks(), @server.experimental.get_task(), etc.) have been removed.

Default task handlers are still registered automatically via server.experimental.enable_tasks(). Custom handlers can be passed as on_* kwargs to override specific defaults.

Before (v1):

server = Server("my-server")
server.experimental.enable_tasks()

@server.experimental.get_task()
async def custom_get_task(request: GetTaskRequest) -> GetTaskResult:
    ...

After (v2):

from mcp.server import Server, ServerRequestContext
from mcp.types import GetTaskRequestParams, GetTaskResult


async def custom_get_task(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: GetTaskRequestParams) -> GetTaskResult:
    ...


server = Server("my-server")
server.experimental.enable_tasks(on_get_task=custom_get_task)

Deprecations

Bug Fixes

Lowlevel Server: subscribe capability now correctly reported

Previously, the lowlevel Server hardcoded subscribe=False in resource capabilities even when a subscribe_resource() handler was registered. The subscribe capability is now dynamically set to True when an on_subscribe_resource handler is provided. Clients that previously didn't see subscribe: true in capabilities will now see it when a handler is registered, which may change client behavior.

Extra fields no longer allowed on top-level MCP types

MCP protocol types no longer accept arbitrary extra fields at the top level. This matches the MCP specification which only allows extra fields within _meta objects, not on the types themselves.

# This will now raise a validation error
from mcp.types import CallToolRequestParams

params = CallToolRequestParams(
    name="my_tool",
    arguments={},
    unknown_field="value",  # ValidationError: extra fields not permitted
)

# Extra fields are still allowed in _meta
params = CallToolRequestParams(
    name="my_tool",
    arguments={},
    _meta={"my_custom_key": "value", "another": 123},  # OK
)

New Features

streamable_http_app() available on lowlevel Server

The streamable_http_app() method is now available directly on the lowlevel Server class, not just MCPServer. This allows using the streamable HTTP transport without the MCPServer wrapper.

from mcp.server import Server, ServerRequestContext
from mcp.types import ListToolsResult, PaginatedRequestParams


async def handle_list_tools(ctx: ServerRequestContext, params: PaginatedRequestParams | None) -> ListToolsResult:
    return ListToolsResult(tools=[...])


server = Server("my-server", on_list_tools=handle_list_tools)

app = server.streamable_http_app(
    streamable_http_path="/mcp",
    json_response=False,
    stateless_http=False,
)

The lowlevel Server also now exposes a session_manager property to access the StreamableHTTPSessionManager after calling streamable_http_app().

Need Help?

If you encounter issues during migration:

  1. Check the API Reference for updated method signatures
  2. Review the examples for updated usage patterns
  3. Open an issue on GitHub if you find a bug or need further assistance