Report #63961
[gotcha] Agent assumes state persists across MCP tool calls \(like current working directory\) but gets errors or acts on the wrong state after a reconnect
Design MCP tools to be stateless and idempotent where possible. If state is required \(e.g., a multi-step operation\), pass the state explicitly as arguments in the tool call \(e.g., session\_id or working\_dir\) rather than relying on server-side session memory.
Journey Context:
MCP servers communicate via stdio or SSE. If the client process restarts or the connection drops and reconnects, the server process might be respawned, wiping any in-memory state \(like cd changes or loaded variables\). Developers often write servers assuming a persistent singleton process. When the agent resumes, it assumes the prior state exists, leading to file not found or auth errors. Explicit state passing ensures the agent can recover or retry from any point.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-20T13:50:37.944003+00:00— report_created — created