fix: implement proper MCP protocol (ping + initialize + session ID + tools/list) in check_mcp_servers.sh by Copilot · Pull Request #17419 · github/gh-aw

Copilot · 2026-02-21T08:06:05Z

The MCP gateway handles ping requests directly at the proxy layer without forwarding to backend containers, causing check_mcp_servers.sh to pass in ~6s even when slow-starting backends (Serena takes ~22s) aren't ready. Additionally, sending tools/list directly without the required MCP initialize handshake violates the MCP protocol — the gateway requires initialize to establish a session before accepting subsequent requests, and the Mcp-Session-Id returned must be passed to tools/list.

Changes

check_mcp_servers.sh: Implement the full MCP protocol sequence for each server check:
1. Send ping to verify basic connectivity
2. Send initialize (with protocolVersion, clientInfo, and capabilities) to establish a session
3. Extract Mcp-Session-Id from the initialize response headers
4. Send tools/list with the Mcp-Session-Id header when present
Since tools/list must be forwarded to the backend container (unlike ping, which the gateway handles itself), this also ensures the backend is truly ready before the check passes. Curl arguments are built in an array to avoid duplication across requests.
check_mcp_servers_test.sh: Add assertions that verify ping, initialize, and Mcp-Session-Id handling exist in the script.

The gateway startup step will now correctly wait until all backends (including Serena) are ready and have completed the full MCP handshake before the agent starts.

Warning

Custom agent used: agentic-workflows
GitHub Agentic Workflows (gh-aw) - Create, debug, and upgrade AI-powered workflows with intelligent prompt routing

Original prompt

Reference: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/22247376918/job/64364158609#step:45:1
Debug why Serena is not working

Custom agent used: agentic-workflows
GitHub Agentic Workflows (gh-aw) - Create, debug, and upgrade AI-powered workflows with intelligent prompt routing

💡 You can make Copilot smarter by setting up custom instructions, customizing its development environment and configuring Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Learn more Copilot coding agent tips in the docs.

Changeset

Type: patch
Description: Ensure check_mcp_servers.sh uses tools/list instead of ping so the MCP readiness probe truly waits for backend containers to respond.

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… backends are ready Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

github-actions · 2026-02-21T11:25:38Z

📰 BREAKING: Smoke Copilot is now investigating this pull request. Sources say the story is developing...

github-actions · 2026-02-21T11:25:41Z

🎬 THE END — Smoke ClaudeMISSION: ACCOMPLISHED! The hero saves the day! ✨

github-actions · 2026-02-21T11:25:46Z

✨ The prophecy is fulfilled... Smoke Codex has completed its mystical journey. The stars align. 🌟

Copilot

Pull request overview

This PR fixes a critical issue where the MCP gateway readiness check was incorrectly passing before backend containers were fully ready. The ping method was being handled by the gateway proxy layer without forwarding to backends, causing the Copilot CLI to start too early and fail to access tools from slow-starting servers like Serena (which takes ~22s to start).

Changes:

Replace ping with tools/list as the readiness probe method in check_mcp_servers.sh
Update test assertions in check_mcp_servers_test.sh to verify the new tools/list probe method
Add explanatory comments documenting why tools/list is used instead of ping

Reviewed changes

Copilot reviewed 2 out of 2 changed files in this pull request and generated 1 comment.

File	Description
actions/setup/sh/check_mcp_servers.sh	Changes the JSON-RPC method from `ping` to `tools/list` in the payload, updates comments to explain the rationale, ensuring the gateway waits for backend containers to be truly ready
actions/setup/sh/check_mcp_servers_test.sh	Updates test validation to check for `tools/list` method instead of `ping` in the script logic

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github-actions · 2026-02-21T11:30:15Z

🤖 Smoke test results for @pelikhan:

Test	Status
GitHub MCP	✅
safeinputs-gh CLI	✅
Serena MCP	❌
Playwright	✅
File Writing	✅
Bash Tool	✅
Discussion	✅
Build gh-aw	✅
Workflow Dispatch	✅
PR Review	✅

Overall: ⚠️ PARTIAL PASS — Serena MCP tools not accessible.

📰 BREAKING: Report filed by Smoke Copilot

github-actions

PR switches MCP health check from ping to tools/list — a smart fix ensuring the backend container is truly ready (not just the gateway proxy). Changes are clean, comments are clear, and the test is properly updated.

📰 BREAKING: Report filed by Smoke Copilot

github-actions · 2026-02-21T11:30:30Z

📰 VERDICT: Smoke Copilot has concluded. All systems operational. This is a developing story. 🎤

github-actions · 2026-02-21T11:30:45Z

PRs: #17435 Increase scout timeout for deep research
PRs: #17429 Enhance scout command with additional inputs
GitHub MCP (2 merged PRs) ✅
Serena MCP (activate + find_symbol) ✅
Playwright (GitHub title) ✅
File write ✅
Bash cat ✅
Build gh-aw ✅
Overall: PASS

🔮 The oracle has spoken through Smoke Codex

pelikhan · 2026-02-21T11:34:26Z

Debug this run that was missing Serena

https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/22255965556/job/64386874977

MCP has a protocol and you need to call initialize first before tools/list . Also maintain the session id.

github-actions · 2026-02-21T11:35:06Z

Smoke Test Results — Run §22255965551

Test	Status
1 GitHub MCP	✅
2 SafeInputs GH CLI	✅
3 Serena MCP	✅
4 Make Build	✅
5 Playwright	✅
6 Tavily Search	✅
7 File Writing	✅
8 Bash Verification	✅
9 Discussion Interaction	✅
10 Agentic Workflows MCP	✅
11 Update PR Body	✅
12 PR Review Comments	✅
13 Submit PR Review	✅
14 Resolve Review Thread	✅
15 Add Reviewer	✅
16 Push to PR Branch	✅
17 Close Test PR	⚠️ Skipped

Overall: PARTIAL (16 pass, 1 skipped, 0 fail)

💥 [THE END] — Illustrated by Smoke Claude

github-actions

💥 Automated smoke test review - all systems nominal!

💥 [THE END] — Illustrated by Smoke Claude

pelikhan · 2026-02-21T11:46:51Z

@copilot Debug this run that was missing Serena

https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/22255965556/job/64386874977

MCP has a protocol and you need to call initialize first before tools/list . Also maintain the session id.

Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-21T11:59:45Z

@copilot Debug this run that was missing Serena
https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/22255965556/job/64386874977...

Fixed in e73f270. The script now follows the full MCP protocol:

Sends initialize first with proper params (protocol version, client info)
Extracts Mcp-Session-Id from the response headers (when present)
Sends tools/list with the Mcp-Session-Id header included

The curl args are built in an array to avoid duplication, so the session ID is conditionally appended cleanly.

pelikhan · 2026-02-21T12:02:15Z

@copilot make sure to ping first

…ze → tools/list) Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

Copilot · 2026-02-21T12:07:28Z

@copilot make sure to ping first

Done in 88da7ae. The script now follows the full sequence: ping → initialize → tools/list. Ping is step 1 (basic connectivity), initialize is step 2 (establishes session + captures Mcp-Session-Id), and tools/list is step 3 (confirms the backend container is truly ready).

github-actions · 2026-02-21T12:11:00Z

✨ The prophecy is fulfilled... Smoke Codex has completed its mystical journey. The stars align. 🌟

github-actions · 2026-02-21T12:11:02Z

🎬 THE END — Smoke ClaudeMISSION: ACCOMPLISHED! The hero saves the day! ✨

github-actions · 2026-02-21T12:11:02Z

📰 BREAKING: Smoke Copilot is now investigating this pull request. Sources say the story is developing...

github-actions · 2026-02-21T12:16:38Z

PR titles:

fix(cli-version-checker): add go ecosystem to network allowlist for toolchain downloads
Relax brittle description assertion in live MCP registry integration test
Tests: GitHub MCP ✅, Serena ✅, Playwright ✅, File write ✅, Bash cat ✅, Build ✅
Overall status: PASS

🔮 The oracle has spoken through Smoke Codex

github-actions · 2026-02-21T12:16:41Z

🤖 Smoke test §22256569880 results for @Copilot:

Test
GitHub MCP	✅
Safe Inputs GH CLI	✅
Serena MCP	❌
Playwright	✅
File Writing	✅
Bash Tool	✅
Discussion Interaction	✅
Build gh-aw	✅
Discussion Creation	✅
Workflow Dispatch	✅
PR Review	✅

Overall: ❌ FAIL (Serena MCP not available)

📰 BREAKING: Report filed by Smoke Copilot

github-actions

Smoke test review of PR #17419. The full MCP handshake implementation (ping → initialize → tools/list with session ID) is correct and well-structured. Two minor observations: hardcoded protocol version and test ordering assertions. Overall this is a solid fix for the Serena readiness timing issue.

📰 BREAKING: Report filed by Smoke Copilot

github-actions · 2026-02-21T12:17:00Z

📰 VERDICT: Smoke Copilot has concluded. All systems operational. This is a developing story. 🎤

github-actions · 2026-02-21T12:21:47Z

Smoke Test Results — Run §22256569852

Overall: PARTIAL (17 tests, 16 ✅, 1 ⚠️)

#	Test
1	GitHub MCP (merged PRs)	✅
2	safeinputs-gh CLI	✅
3	Serena MCP (activate + find_symbol)	✅
4	Make build	✅
5	Playwright (GitHub title)	✅
6	Tavily web search	✅
7	File writing	✅
8	Bash verification	✅
9	Discussion comment	✅
10	Agentic workflows status	✅
11	Update PR body	✅
12	PR review comments	✅
13	Submit PR review	✅
14	Resolve review thread	✅
15	Add reviewer	✅
16	Push to PR branch	✅
17	Close PR	⚠️ skipped

💥 [THE END] — Illustrated by Smoke Claude

github-actions

💥 Automated smoke test review - all systems nominal!

💥 [THE END] — Illustrated by Smoke Claude

Initial plan
3537626

CopilotAI assigned Copilot and pelikhan Feb 21, 2026

Copilotstarted work on behalf of pelikhan February 21, 2026 08:06 View session

fix: use tools/list instead of ping in check_mcp_servers.sh to ensure…
1e761d2
… backends are ready Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

CopilotAI changed the title ~~[WIP] Debug why Serena is not working~~fix: use tools/list instead of ping to verify MCP backend readinessFeb 21, 2026

Copilotfinished work on behalf of pelikhan February 21, 2026 08:33

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[Daily Report] Daily Status Report — 2026-02-21 #17433
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pelikhan marked this pull request as ready for review February 21, 2026 11:24

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Comment threadactions/setup/sh/check_mcp_servers_test.sh

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Copilotstarted work on behalf of pelikhan February 21, 2026 11:46 View session

fix: implement MCP initialize+session protocol in check_mcp_servers.sh
e73f270
Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

CopilotAI changed the title ~~fix: use tools/list instead of ping to verify MCP backend readiness~~fix: implement proper MCP protocol (initialize + session ID) in check_mcp_servers.shFeb 21, 2026

Copilotfinished work on behalf of pelikhan February 21, 2026 12:00

Copilotstarted work on behalf of pelikhan February 21, 2026 12:02 View session

fix: add ping as first step in MCP protocol sequence (ping → initiali…
88da7ae
…ze → tools/list) Co-authored-by: pelikhan <4175913+pelikhan@users.noreply.github.com>

CopilotAI changed the title ~~fix: implement proper MCP protocol (initialize + session ID) in check_mcp_servers.sh~~fix: implement proper MCP protocol (ping + initialize + session ID + tools/list) in check_mcp_servers.shFeb 21, 2026

Copilotfinished work on behalf of pelikhan February 21, 2026 12:08

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Comment threadactions/setup/sh/check_mcp_servers_test.sh

pelikhan approved these changes Feb 21, 2026
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pelikhan merged commit a90de1b into mainFeb 21, 2026
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pelikhan deleted the copilot/debug-serena-issue branch February 21, 2026 12:19

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