StreamableHTTPServerTransport destroys sessions on TCP keepalive timeout (regression in 1.25+)

[cdunda-perchwell]

Description

MCP sessions served by StreamableHTTPServerTransport are destroyed when the underlying TCP connection closes due to the Node.js default keepAliveTimeout (5 seconds). Subsequent requests with a valid Mcp-Session-Id receive a 400 "Session not found" error.

This is a regression introduced between SDK versions 1.24.x and 1.27.x. Sessions should survive across independent HTTP requests — the Mcp-Session-Id header is the continuity mechanism, not a persistent TCP connection.

Reproduction

Using mcp-proxy (npm) as the server wrapper:

# Works — sessions survive 8s idle
npx -y mcp-proxy@6.4.3 --port 9999 -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-everything
# mcp-proxy 6.4.3 uses @modelcontextprotocol/sdk ^1.24.3

# Broken — sessions die after 5s idle
npx -y mcp-proxy@6.4.4 --port 9999 -- npx -y @modelcontextprotocol/server-everything
# mcp-proxy 6.4.4 uses @modelcontextprotocol/sdk ^1.27.1

Test sequence:

1. POST /mcp with initialize — 200, get Mcp-Session-Id
2. Wait 8 seconds (past Node.js default keepAliveTimeout of 5s)
3. POST /mcp with tools/list and the session ID — 400 "Session not found"

With SDK 1.24.x, step 3 succeeds. With SDK 1.27.x, it fails.

If a client keeps an SSE GET stream open to /mcp during the idle period, the session survives. This confirms the session is being destroyed when the TCP connection closes, not on an application-level timeout.

Impact

This breaks any proxy or gateway that uses HTTP/1.1 connection pooling to talk to a Streamable HTTP MCP server. The gateway opens a connection, sends initialize + tools/list, the connection goes idle, Node.js closes it after 5 seconds, and the session is destroyed. The next tools/call fails.

Affected setups:

• AgentGateway (agentgateway.dev) proxying to mcp-proxy-wrapped servers
• Any HTTP reverse proxy with connection pooling in front of an SDK-based MCP server

Expected behavior

Sessions should persist independently of TCP connection lifetime. The Mcp-Session-Id header identifies the session across requests. A session should only be destroyed by an explicit DELETE request or a server-side session timeout policy, not by TCP keepalive.

Environment

• @modelcontextprotocol/sdk: regression between 1.24.x and 1.27.x
• mcp-proxy: 6.4.3 (works) vs 6.4.4 (broken, only change was SDK bump)
• Node.js: tested on v22 and v25
• server.keepAliveTimeout: default 5000ms

Related

• StreamableHTTPClientTransport doesn't handle 404 per spec (no session clear + re-init) #1708 — client-side 404 handling for expired sessions
• Streamable HTTP examples use incorrect status code for invalid session IDs #389 — session expiry status codes

[claygeo]

I'd like to take this. The session destruction on TCP keepalive timeout looks like a lifecycle coupling issue in StreamableHTTPServerTransport. Will investigate and submit a fix.