HttpClient resource leak causes thread accumulation and memory exhaustion

Start by reading HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport#build() and the corresponding HttpClientSseClientTransport builder, then trace how client.closeGracefully() reaches transport shutdown. Compare the lifecycle of each created HttpClient with the observed SelectorManager threads. Done means repeated transport creation and closure no longer accumulates those threads or exhausts memory.

Bug description

When using HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport and HttpClientSseClientTransport, the application experiences continuous accumulation of HttpClient-xxxx-SelectorManager threads that are never cleaned up, eventually leading to memory exhaustion and application instability.

The root cause is that each transport builder creates a new HttpClient instance via HttpClient.Builder.build(), but these HttpClient instances are never properly closed when the transport shuts down. Each HttpClient spawns dedicated SelectorManager threads for network I/O operations, and since OpenJDK's HttpClient lacks public APIs for resource cleanup, these threads remain active indefinitely.

Technical Details: Tracing through HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport#build() reveals that each HttpClient instantiation triggers the creation of a SelectorManager thread in the OpenJDK 17 source code:

SelectorManager(HttpClientImpl ref) throws IOException {
    super(null, null,
          "HttpClient-" + ref.id + "-SelectorManager",
          0, false);
    owner = ref;
    debug = ref.debug;
    debugtimeout = ref.debugtimeout;
    pool = ref.connectionPool();
    registrations = new ArrayList<>();
    deregistrations = new ArrayList<>();
    selector = Selector.open();
}

Source: OpenJDK 17 HttpClientImpl.java

This constructor shows how each HttpClient creates a uniquely named SelectorManager thread ("HttpClient-" + ref.id + "-SelectorManager"), which explains the observed thread naming pattern in production environments.

Environment

• Spring MCP Version: Latest (current main branch)
• Java Version: OpenJDK 17+ (tested on OpenJDK 17.0.14)
• Operating System: macOS 14.6.0 (also reproducible on Linux)
• Transport Types: HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport, HttpClientSseClientTransport
• Related OpenJDK Issue: JDK-8308364

Steps to reproduce

1. Create multiple HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport instances:

for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
    HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport transport = HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport
        .builder("http://localhost:8080")
        .build();
    
    McpSyncClient client = McpClient.sync(transport).build();
    client.initialize();
    client.closeGracefully(); // This doesn't clean up HttpClient threads
}

2. Monitor system threads using jstack or thread monitoring tools
3. Observe continuous growth of HttpClient-xxxx-SelectorManager threads
4. Repeat the process multiple times to see thread accumulation

Expected behavior

• When transport.closeGracefully() is called, all associated HttpClient resources should be cleaned up
• HttpClient-xxxx-SelectorManager threads should be terminated and not accumulate
• Memory usage should remain stable across multiple transport creation/destruction cycles
• No thread leakage should occur in long-running applications

Minimal Complete Reproducible example

import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpClient;
import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.McpSyncClient;
import io.modelcontextprotocol.client.transport.HttpClientStreamableHttpTransport;

public class HttpClientLeakDemo {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws InterruptedException {
        System.out.println("Initial thread count: " + Thread.activeCount());
        
        // Create and close multiple transports
        for (int i = 0; i < 20; i++) {
            System.out.println("\n=== Creating transport " + (i + 1) + " ===");
            
            var transport = HttpClientSseClientTransport
                .builder("http://127.0.0.1:8002") // your sse mcp server base url
                .build();
            
            McpSyncClient client = McpClient.sync(transport)
                .requestTimeout(Duration.ofSeconds(5))
                .build();
            
            try {
                // This will fail but still creates the HttpClient
                client.initialize();
            } catch (Exception e) {
                System.out.println("Expected initialization failure: " + e.getMessage());
            }
            
            // Close the client - this should clean up resources but doesn't
            client.closeGracefully();
            
            System.out.println("Thread count after closing transport " + (i + 1) + ": " + Thread.activeCount());
            
            // List HttpClient threads
            Thread.getAllStackTraces().keySet().stream()
                .filter(t -> t.getName().contains("HttpClient") && t.getName().contains("SelectorManager"))
                .forEach(t -> System.out.println("  - " + t.getName()));
        }
        
        System.out.println("\nFinal thread count: " + Thread.activeCount());
        System.out.println("HttpClient SelectorManager threads are still running and will never be cleaned up!");
        
        // Force GC to confirm threads are not cleaned up
        while (true) {
            Thread.getAllStackTraces().keySet().stream()
                    .filter(t -> t.getName().contains("HttpClient") && t.getName().contains("SelectorManager"))
                    .forEach(t -> System.out.println("  - " + t.getName()));
            System.gc();
            Thread.sleep(1000);
            System.out.println("Thread count after GC: " + Thread.activeCount());
        }
    }
}