Glossary · Agents & tools
Stateless MCP
The MCP 2026-07-28 request model in which every request carries the protocol version and client capabilities in `params._meta`, while results carry an explicit `resultType`; no protocol state is keyed by an initialization handshake, connection, or `Mcp-Session-Id`.
Why it matters
Any worker can validate and process a request from its contents and authorization context, which avoids hidden connection affinity and makes horizontal routing easier to reason about.
In practice
Implement `server/discover`, rebuild request metadata on every call, validate transport headers against the JSON-RPC body, and pass server-minted application handles as ordinary tool arguments when continuity is required.
Common confusion
Stateless MCP removes protocol sessions, not application state, transport connections, streaming responses, tasks, or explicit handles.
Related terms
Sources
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