Merge pull request #324 from docker/slim/long-running-remote-client

Remote Clients should be long-lived

Author: slimslenderslacks

pkg/catalog/types.go

@@ -163,3 +163,8 @@ type ServerConfig struct {
 	Config  map[string]any
 	Secrets map[string]string
 }
+
+// IsRemote returns true if this server is a remote MCP server (not a Docker container)
+func (sc *ServerConfig) IsRemote() bool {
+	return sc.Spec.SSEEndpoint != "" || sc.Spec.Remote.URL != ""
+}

pkg/gateway/clientpool.go

@@ -69,8 +69,18 @@ func (cp *clientPool) UpdateRoots(ss *mcp.ServerSession, roots []*mcp.Root) {
 }
 
 func (cp *clientPool) longLived(serverConfig *catalog.ServerConfig, config *clientConfig) bool {
-	keep := config != nil && config.serverSession != nil && (serverConfig.Spec.LongLived || cp.LongLived)
-	return keep
+	// Must have a valid session to cache clients
+	if config == nil || config.serverSession == nil {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	// Remote servers are always treated as long-lived since no container is involved
+	if serverConfig.IsRemote() {
+		return true
+	}
+
+	// For Docker-based servers, respect the LongLived flag
+	return serverConfig.Spec.LongLived || cp.LongLived
 }
 
 func (cp *clientPool) AcquireClient(ctx context.Context, serverConfig *catalog.ServerConfig, config *clientConfig) (mcpclient.Client, error) {