Implements outputSchema validation

[DaleSeo]

Fixes#532

Implements validation to enforce MCP specification requirement that tool outputSchema must have a root type of "object". Tools using structured output (Json<T>) where T is a primitive type will fail at compile time with clear error messages.

Motivation and Context

As reported in issue #532, the MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have a root type of "object" (see MCP Tool Schema). The Rust SDK did not validate this, allowing spec-violating schemas to be generated.

The latest spec published on Nov 25 states this more clearly:

How Has This Been Tested?

Noticed the sub tool in the calculator example in the repo doesn't comply with the MCP spec, which causes an issue with MCP Insepctor.

rust-sdk/examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs

Lines 46 to 49 in 94428d5

	#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]
	fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<i32>{
	Json(a - b)
	}

Now that the output schema validation is in place, the server panics during startup:

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.31s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T18:50:44.901451Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server
thread 'main' panicked at examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs:46:5:
Invalid output schema for Json<i32>: MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have root type'object', but found 'integer'.
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace

After fixing the calculator example code so that the sub tool returns unstructured output just like the sum tool, the server starts up without any issues and works well with the MCP Inspector.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> String{(a - b).to_string()}

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.41s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T19:05:00.312995Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server

As suggested in issue #532, wrapping the primitive type also works as expected.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<Wrapper<i32>>{Json(Wrapper::new(a - b))}

Breaking Changes

Existing valid code works unchanged:

• Code returning object types continues to work
• Unstructured output (eg. i32, String) with no output stream continues to work
• Only spec-violating code (e.g. <Json<i32>, <Json<String>) fails to compile

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Checklist

• I have read the MCP Documentation
• My code follows the repository's style guidelines
• New and existing tests pass locally
• I have added appropriate error handling
• I have added or updated documentation as needed

Additional context

The TypeScript SDK also enforces this requirement in the Tool schema definition here:

[DaleSeo]

Hi @jokemanfire, @4t145, @alexhancock, could one of you please review this PR? Thanks! 🙏

[alexhancock]

Good catch. LGTM other than the one recommendation!

[alexhancock]

I think I would just fold this caching logic into schema_for_output and only have the one public method

[DaleSeo]

Thanks for the suggestion, @alexhancock! I've consolidated the caching logic into schema_for_output.

[oriyadid]

Thank you for fixing this, much appreciated!

[DaleSeo]

Fixes#532

Implements validation to enforce MCP specification requirement that tool outputSchema must have a root type of "object". Tools using structured output (Json<T>) where T is a primitive type will fail at compile time with clear error messages.

Motivation and Context

As reported in issue #532, the MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have a root type of "object" (see MCP Tool Schema). The Rust SDK did not validate this, allowing spec-violating schemas to be generated.

The latest spec published on Nov 25 states this more clearly:

How Has This Been Tested?

Noticed the sub tool in the calculator example in the repo doesn't comply with the MCP spec, which causes an issue with MCP Insepctor.

rust-sdk/examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs

Lines 46 to 49 in 94428d5

	#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]
	fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<i32>{
	Json(a - b)
	}

Now that the output schema validation is in place, the server panics during startup:

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.31s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T18:50:44.901451Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server
thread 'main' panicked at examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs:46:5:
Invalid output schema for Json<i32>: MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have root type'object', but found 'integer'.
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace

After fixing the calculator example code so that the sub tool returns unstructured output just like the sum tool, the server starts up without any issues and works well with the MCP Inspector.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> String{(a - b).to_string()}

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.41s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T19:05:00.312995Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server

As suggested in issue #532, wrapping the primitive type also works as expected.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<Wrapper<i32>>{Json(Wrapper::new(a - b))}

Breaking Changes

Existing valid code works unchanged:

• Code returning object types continues to work
• Unstructured output (eg. i32, String) with no output stream continues to work
• Only spec-violating code (e.g. <Json<i32>, <Json<String>) fails to compile

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Checklist

• I have read the MCP Documentation
• My code follows the repository's style guidelines
• New and existing tests pass locally
• I have added appropriate error handling
• I have added or updated documentation as needed

Additional context

The TypeScript SDK also enforces this requirement in the Tool schema definition here:

[DaleSeo]

Hi @jokemanfire, @4t145, @alexhancock, could one of you please review this PR? Thanks! 🙏

[alexhancock]

Good catch. LGTM other than the one recommendation!

[alexhancock]

I think I would just fold this caching logic into schema_for_output and only have the one public method

[DaleSeo]

Thanks for the suggestion, @alexhancock! I've consolidated the caching logic into schema_for_output.

[oriyadid]

Thank you for fixing this, much appreciated!

[DaleSeo]

Fixes#532

Implements validation to enforce MCP specification requirement that tool outputSchema must have a root type of "object". Tools using structured output (Json<T>) where T is a primitive type will fail at compile time with clear error messages.

Motivation and Context

As reported in issue #532, the MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have a root type of "object" (see MCP Tool Schema). The Rust SDK did not validate this, allowing spec-violating schemas to be generated.

The latest spec published on Nov 25 states this more clearly:

How Has This Been Tested?

Noticed the sub tool in the calculator example in the repo doesn't comply with the MCP spec, which causes an issue with MCP Insepctor.

rust-sdk/examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs

Lines 46 to 49 in 94428d5

	#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]
	fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<i32>{
	Json(a - b)
	}

Now that the output schema validation is in place, the server panics during startup:

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.31s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T18:50:44.901451Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server
thread 'main' panicked at examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs:46:5:
Invalid output schema for Json<i32>: MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have root type'object', but found 'integer'.
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace

After fixing the calculator example code so that the sub tool returns unstructured output just like the sum tool, the server starts up without any issues and works well with the MCP Inspector.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> String{(a - b).to_string()}

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.41s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T19:05:00.312995Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server

As suggested in issue #532, wrapping the primitive type also works as expected.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<Wrapper<i32>>{Json(Wrapper::new(a - b))}

Breaking Changes

Existing valid code works unchanged:

• Code returning object types continues to work
• Unstructured output (eg. i32, String) with no output stream continues to work
• Only spec-violating code (e.g. <Json<i32>, <Json<String>) fails to compile

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Checklist

• I have read the MCP Documentation
• My code follows the repository's style guidelines
• New and existing tests pass locally
• I have added appropriate error handling
• I have added or updated documentation as needed

Additional context

The TypeScript SDK also enforces this requirement in the Tool schema definition here:

[DaleSeo]

Hi @jokemanfire, @4t145, @alexhancock, could one of you please review this PR? Thanks! 🙏

[alexhancock]

Good catch. LGTM other than the one recommendation!

[alexhancock]

I think I would just fold this caching logic into schema_for_output and only have the one public method

[DaleSeo]

Thanks for the suggestion, @alexhancock! I've consolidated the caching logic into schema_for_output.

[oriyadid]

Thank you for fixing this, much appreciated!

[DaleSeo]

Fixes#532

Implements validation to enforce MCP specification requirement that tool outputSchema must have a root type of "object". Tools using structured output (Json<T>) where T is a primitive type will fail at compile time with clear error messages.

Motivation and Context

As reported in issue #532, the MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have a root type of "object" (see MCP Tool Schema). The Rust SDK did not validate this, allowing spec-violating schemas to be generated.

The latest spec published on Nov 25 states this more clearly:

How Has This Been Tested?

Noticed the sub tool in the calculator example in the repo doesn't comply with the MCP spec, which causes an issue with MCP Insepctor.

rust-sdk/examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs

Lines 46 to 49 in 94428d5

	#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]
	fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<i32>{
	Json(a - b)
	}

Now that the output schema validation is in place, the server panics during startup:

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.31s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T18:50:44.901451Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server
thread 'main' panicked at examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs:46:5:
Invalid output schema for Json<i32>: MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have root type'object', but found 'integer'.
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace

After fixing the calculator example code so that the sub tool returns unstructured output just like the sum tool, the server starts up without any issues and works well with the MCP Inspector.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> String{(a - b).to_string()}

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.41s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T19:05:00.312995Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server

As suggested in issue #532, wrapping the primitive type also works as expected.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<Wrapper<i32>>{Json(Wrapper::new(a - b))}

Breaking Changes

Existing valid code works unchanged:

• Code returning object types continues to work
• Unstructured output (eg. i32, String) with no output stream continues to work
• Only spec-violating code (e.g. <Json<i32>, <Json<String>) fails to compile

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Checklist

• I have read the MCP Documentation
• My code follows the repository's style guidelines
• New and existing tests pass locally
• I have added appropriate error handling
• I have added or updated documentation as needed

Additional context

The TypeScript SDK also enforces this requirement in the Tool schema definition here:

[DaleSeo]

Hi @jokemanfire, @4t145, @alexhancock, could one of you please review this PR? Thanks! 🙏

[alexhancock]

Good catch. LGTM other than the one recommendation!

[alexhancock]

I think I would just fold this caching logic into schema_for_output and only have the one public method

[DaleSeo]

Thanks for the suggestion, @alexhancock! I've consolidated the caching logic into schema_for_output.

[oriyadid]

Thank you for fixing this, much appreciated!

[DaleSeo]

Fixes#532

Implements validation to enforce MCP specification requirement that tool outputSchema must have a root type of "object". Tools using structured output (Json<T>) where T is a primitive type will fail at compile time with clear error messages.

Motivation and Context

As reported in issue #532, the MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have a root type of "object" (see MCP Tool Schema). The Rust SDK did not validate this, allowing spec-violating schemas to be generated.

The latest spec published on Nov 25 states this more clearly:

How Has This Been Tested?

Noticed the sub tool in the calculator example in the repo doesn't comply with the MCP spec, which causes an issue with MCP Insepctor.

rust-sdk/examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs

Lines 46 to 49 in 94428d5

	#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]
	fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<i32>{
	Json(a - b)
	}

Now that the output schema validation is in place, the server panics during startup:

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.31s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T18:50:44.901451Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server
thread 'main' panicked at examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs:46:5:
Invalid output schema for Json<i32>: MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have root type'object', but found 'integer'.
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace

After fixing the calculator example code so that the sub tool returns unstructured output just like the sum tool, the server starts up without any issues and works well with the MCP Inspector.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> String{(a - b).to_string()}

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.41s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T19:05:00.312995Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server

As suggested in issue #532, wrapping the primitive type also works as expected.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<Wrapper<i32>>{Json(Wrapper::new(a - b))}

Breaking Changes

Existing valid code works unchanged:

• Code returning object types continues to work
• Unstructured output (eg. i32, String) with no output stream continues to work
• Only spec-violating code (e.g. <Json<i32>, <Json<String>) fails to compile

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Checklist

• I have read the MCP Documentation
• My code follows the repository's style guidelines
• New and existing tests pass locally
• I have added appropriate error handling
• I have added or updated documentation as needed

Additional context

The TypeScript SDK also enforces this requirement in the Tool schema definition here:

[DaleSeo]

Hi @jokemanfire, @4t145, @alexhancock, could one of you please review this PR? Thanks! 🙏

[alexhancock]

Good catch. LGTM other than the one recommendation!

[alexhancock]

I think I would just fold this caching logic into schema_for_output and only have the one public method

[DaleSeo]

Thanks for the suggestion, @alexhancock! I've consolidated the caching logic into schema_for_output.

[oriyadid]

Thank you for fixing this, much appreciated!

[DaleSeo]

Fixes#532

Implements validation to enforce MCP specification requirement that tool outputSchema must have a root type of "object". Tools using structured output (Json<T>) where T is a primitive type will fail at compile time with clear error messages.

Motivation and Context

As reported in issue #532, the MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have a root type of "object" (see MCP Tool Schema). The Rust SDK did not validate this, allowing spec-violating schemas to be generated.

The latest spec published on Nov 25 states this more clearly:

How Has This Been Tested?

Noticed the sub tool in the calculator example in the repo doesn't comply with the MCP spec, which causes an issue with MCP Insepctor.

rust-sdk/examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs

Lines 46 to 49 in 94428d5

	#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]
	fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<i32>{
	Json(a - b)
	}

Now that the output schema validation is in place, the server panics during startup:

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.31s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T18:50:44.901451Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server
thread 'main' panicked at examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs:46:5:
Invalid output schema for Json<i32>: MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have root type'object', but found 'integer'.
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace

After fixing the calculator example code so that the sub tool returns unstructured output just like the sum tool, the server starts up without any issues and works well with the MCP Inspector.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> String{(a - b).to_string()}

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.41s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T19:05:00.312995Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server

As suggested in issue #532, wrapping the primitive type also works as expected.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<Wrapper<i32>>{Json(Wrapper::new(a - b))}

Breaking Changes

Existing valid code works unchanged:

• Code returning object types continues to work
• Unstructured output (eg. i32, String) with no output stream continues to work
• Only spec-violating code (e.g. <Json<i32>, <Json<String>) fails to compile

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Checklist

• I have read the MCP Documentation
• My code follows the repository's style guidelines
• New and existing tests pass locally
• I have added appropriate error handling
• I have added or updated documentation as needed

Additional context

The TypeScript SDK also enforces this requirement in the Tool schema definition here:

[DaleSeo]

Hi @jokemanfire, @4t145, @alexhancock, could one of you please review this PR? Thanks! 🙏

[alexhancock]

Good catch. LGTM other than the one recommendation!

[alexhancock]

I think I would just fold this caching logic into schema_for_output and only have the one public method

[DaleSeo]

Thanks for the suggestion, @alexhancock! I've consolidated the caching logic into schema_for_output.

[oriyadid]

Thank you for fixing this, much appreciated!

[DaleSeo]

Fixes#532

Implements validation to enforce MCP specification requirement that tool outputSchema must have a root type of "object". Tools using structured output (Json<T>) where T is a primitive type will fail at compile time with clear error messages.

Motivation and Context

As reported in issue #532, the MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have a root type of "object" (see MCP Tool Schema). The Rust SDK did not validate this, allowing spec-violating schemas to be generated.

The latest spec published on Nov 25 states this more clearly:

How Has This Been Tested?

Noticed the sub tool in the calculator example in the repo doesn't comply with the MCP spec, which causes an issue with MCP Insepctor.

rust-sdk/examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs

Lines 46 to 49 in 94428d5

	#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]
	fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<i32>{
	Json(a - b)
	}

Now that the output schema validation is in place, the server panics during startup:

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.31s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T18:50:44.901451Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server
thread 'main' panicked at examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs:46:5:
Invalid output schema for Json<i32>: MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have root type'object', but found 'integer'.
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace

After fixing the calculator example code so that the sub tool returns unstructured output just like the sum tool, the server starts up without any issues and works well with the MCP Inspector.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> String{(a - b).to_string()}

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.41s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T19:05:00.312995Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server

As suggested in issue #532, wrapping the primitive type also works as expected.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<Wrapper<i32>>{Json(Wrapper::new(a - b))}

Breaking Changes

Existing valid code works unchanged:

• Code returning object types continues to work
• Unstructured output (eg. i32, String) with no output stream continues to work
• Only spec-violating code (e.g. <Json<i32>, <Json<String>) fails to compile

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Checklist

• I have read the MCP Documentation
• My code follows the repository's style guidelines
• New and existing tests pass locally
• I have added appropriate error handling
• I have added or updated documentation as needed

Additional context

The TypeScript SDK also enforces this requirement in the Tool schema definition here:

[DaleSeo]

Hi @jokemanfire, @4t145, @alexhancock, could one of you please review this PR? Thanks! 🙏

[alexhancock]

Good catch. LGTM other than the one recommendation!

[alexhancock]

I think I would just fold this caching logic into schema_for_output and only have the one public method

[DaleSeo]

Thanks for the suggestion, @alexhancock! I've consolidated the caching logic into schema_for_output.

[oriyadid]

Thank you for fixing this, much appreciated!

[DaleSeo]

Fixes#532

Implements validation to enforce MCP specification requirement that tool outputSchema must have a root type of "object". Tools using structured output (Json<T>) where T is a primitive type will fail at compile time with clear error messages.

Motivation and Context

As reported in issue #532, the MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have a root type of "object" (see MCP Tool Schema). The Rust SDK did not validate this, allowing spec-violating schemas to be generated.

The latest spec published on Nov 25 states this more clearly:

How Has This Been Tested?

Noticed the sub tool in the calculator example in the repo doesn't comply with the MCP spec, which causes an issue with MCP Insepctor.

rust-sdk/examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs

Lines 46 to 49 in 94428d5

	#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]
	fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<i32>{
	Json(a - b)
	}

Now that the output schema validation is in place, the server panics during startup:

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.31s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T18:50:44.901451Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server
thread 'main' panicked at examples/servers/src/common/calculator.rs:46:5:
Invalid output schema for Json<i32>: MCP specification requires tool outputSchema to have root type'object', but found 'integer'.
note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace

After fixing the calculator example code so that the sub tool returns unstructured output just like the sum tool, the server starts up without any issues and works well with the MCP Inspector.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> String{(a - b).to_string()}

➜ servers git:(outputschema-validation) ✗ cargo run -p mcp-server-examples --example servers_calculator_stdio
Compiling mcp-server-examples v0.1.5 (/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/examples/servers)
Finished `dev` profile [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.41s
Running `/Users/dale/work/rust-sdk/target/debug/examples/servers_calculator_stdio`
2025-11-29T19:05:00.312995Z INFO servers_calculator_stdio: Starting Calculator MCP server

As suggested in issue #532, wrapping the primitive type also works as expected.

#[tool(description = "Calculate the difference of two numbers")]fnsub(&self,Parameters(SubRequest{ a, b }):Parameters<SubRequest>) -> Json<Wrapper<i32>>{Json(Wrapper::new(a - b))}

Breaking Changes

Existing valid code works unchanged:

• Code returning object types continues to work
• Unstructured output (eg. i32, String) with no output stream continues to work
• Only spec-violating code (e.g. <Json<i32>, <Json<String>) fails to compile

Types of changes

• Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)
• New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)
• Breaking change (fix or feature that would cause existing functionality to change)
• Documentation update

Checklist

• I have read the MCP Documentation
• My code follows the repository's style guidelines
• New and existing tests pass locally
• I have added appropriate error handling
• I have added or updated documentation as needed

Additional context

The TypeScript SDK also enforces this requirement in the Tool schema definition here:

[DaleSeo]

Hi @jokemanfire, @4t145, @alexhancock, could one of you please review this PR? Thanks! 🙏

[alexhancock]

Good catch. LGTM other than the one recommendation!

[alexhancock]

I think I would just fold this caching logic into schema_for_output and only have the one public method

[DaleSeo]

Thanks for the suggestion, @alexhancock! I've consolidated the caching logic into schema_for_output.

[oriyadid]

Thank you for fixing this, much appreciated!