Files
coyote/docs/testing/plans/05-mcp-lifecycle.md
T

6.1 KiB

Test Plan: MCP Server Lifecycle

Feature description

MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers are external tools that run as subprocesses communicating via stdio. Loki manages their lifecycle through McpFactory (start/share via Weak dedup) and McpRuntime (per-scope active server handles). Servers are started/stopped during scope transitions (role/session/agent enter/exit).

Behaviors to test

MCP config loading

  • mcp.json parsed correctly from functions directory
  • Server specs include command, args, env, cwd
  • Vault secrets interpolated in mcp.json
  • Missing secrets reported as warnings
  • McpServersConfig stored on AppState.mcp_config

McpFactory

  • acquire() spawns new server when none active (requires real subprocess)
  • acquire() returns existing handle via Weak upgrade (requires real subprocess)
  • acquire() spawns fresh when Weak is dead (requires real subprocess)
  • Multiple acquire() calls for same spec share handle (requires real subprocess)
  • Different specs get different handles (via key inequality)
  • McpServerKey built correctly from spec (sorted args/env)

McpRuntime

  • insert() adds server handle by name (requires Arc)
  • get() retrieves handle by name (requires Arc)
  • server_names() returns all active names
  • is_empty() correct for empty/non-empty
  • search() finds tools by keyword (BM25 ranking) (requires live server)
  • describe() returns tool input schema (requires live server)
  • invoke() calls tool on server and returns result (requires live server)

spawn_mcp_server

  • Builds Command from spec (command, args, env, cwd) (integration test)
  • Creates TokioChildProcess transport (integration test)
  • Completes rmcp handshake (serve) (integration test)
  • Returns Arc (integration test)
  • Log file created when log_path provided (integration test)

rebuild_tool_scope (MCP integration)

  • Empty enabled_mcp_servers → no servers acquired
  • "all" → all configured servers acquired (requires real subprocess)
  • Comma-separated list → only listed servers acquired (requires real subprocess)
  • Mapping resolution: alias → actual server key(s) (requires real subprocess)
  • MCP meta functions appended for each started server (requires real subprocess)
  • Old ToolScope dropped (releasing old server handles) (requires real subprocess)
  • Loading spinner shown during acquisition (UI test)
  • AbortSignal properly threaded through (integration test)

Server lifecycle during scope transitions

  • Enter role with MCP: servers start (integration test)
  • Exit role: servers stop (handle dropped) (integration test)
  • Enter role A (MCP-X) → exit → enter role B (MCP-Y): X stops, Y starts (integration test)
  • Enter role with MCP → exit to no MCP: servers stop, global MCP restored (integration test)
  • Start REPL with global MCP → enter agent with different MCP: agent MCP takes over (integration test)
  • Exit agent: agent MCP stops, global MCP restored (integration test)

MCP tool invocation chain

  • LLM calls mcp__search_ → search results returned (integration test)
  • LLM calls mcp__describe_ tool_name → schema returned (integration test)
  • LLM calls mcp__invoke_ tool args → tool executed (integration test)
  • Server not found → "MCP server not found in runtime" error (tested via McpRuntime.get)
  • Tool not found → appropriate error (requires live server)

MCP support flag

  • mcp_server_support=false → no MCP servers started
  • mcp_server_support=false + agent with MCP → error (blocks) (requires agent init)
  • mcp_server_support=false + role with MCP → warning, continues (requires role init)
  • .set mcp_server_support true → MCP servers start (requires live server)

MCP in child agents

  • Child agent MCP servers acquired via factory (integration test)
  • Child agent MCP runtime populated (integration test)
  • Child agent MCP tool invocations work (integration test)
  • Child agent exit drops MCP handles (integration test)

Context switching scenarios (comprehensive)

  • No MCP → role with MCP → exit role → no MCP (integration test)
  • Global MCP-A → role MCP-B → exit role → global MCP-A (integration test)
  • Global MCP-A → agent MCP-B → exit agent → global MCP-A (integration test)
  • Role MCP-A → session MCP-B (overrides) → exit session (integration test)
  • Agent MCP → child agent MCP → child exits → parent MCP intact (integration test)
  • .set enabled_mcp_servers X → .set enabled_mcp_servers Y: X released, Y acquired (integration test)
  • .set enabled_mcp_servers null → all released (integration test)

Additional behaviors tested (not in original plan)

  • McpServerKey equality: same spec → equal keys
  • McpServerKey inequality: different names → different keys
  • McpServerKey inequality: different commands → different keys
  • McpServerKey env coercion: Bool/Int → String
  • McpFactory default has empty active map
  • McpServer::is_remote() true for Http/Sse, false for Stdio
  • McpServer::validate() all cross-field conflicts (6 cases)
  • McpServersConfig: empty servers map, multiple servers, cwd field
  • McpRegistry: default state, config accessor
  • McpRegistry: resolve with whitespace trimming
  • McpRegistry: resolve all-nonexistent returns empty
  • rebuild_tool_scope: no mcp_config yields empty runtime
  • rebuild_tool_scope: preserves tool_tracker across rebuild
  • rebuild_tool_scope: REPL mode appends user interaction functions
  • rebuild_tool_scope: CMD mode excludes user interaction functions
  • MCP meta function name prefix constants are correct
  • ToolScope default: empty functions, runtime, tracker

Old code reference

  • src/mcp/mod.rs — McpRegistry, init, reinit, start/stop
  • src/config/mcp_factory.rs — McpFactory, acquire, McpServerKey
  • src/config/tool_scope.rs — ToolScope, McpRuntime
  • src/config/request_context.rs — rebuild_tool_scope, bootstrap_tools