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docs: clarify when Client(raise_exceptions=True) actually raises

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Assessment

Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Newbie friendliness
72/100
Issue type
Documentation
Clarity
Mostly clear
Activity status
Quiet
Tech stack
python
Domain
documentation

Research direction

Start with the raise_exceptions TODO in src/mcp/client/client.py and trace current behavior for in-memory and HTTP clients, including ExceptionGroup handling from async with Client(...). Compare this with the guidance in docs/troubleshooting.md, then document the confirmed semantics in docs/client/ and/or docs/troubleshooting.md. Done means users can identify affected failures and choose between the recommended patterns and catching MCPError inside the context manager.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Description

P3 v1 v2
Description

Client exposes raise_exceptions: bool = False with a code TODO asking when raise_exceptions=True actually raises:

https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk/blob/main/src/mcp/client/client.py (around the raise_exceptions field)

What's missing

There is no clear user-facing documentation of:

  1. Which failure modes are affected (in-process server exceptions vs transport/protocol errors)
  2. How this interacts with ExceptionGroup wrapping from async with Client(...)
  3. Recommended patterns vs catching MCPError inside the context manager (as docs/troubleshooting.md already teaches)
Proposed work
  • Trace current behavior on main for in-memory and HTTP clients
  • Document the real semantics in docs/client/ and/or docs/troubleshooting.md
  • Add a small docs_src example and/or regression test if behavior is surprising
  • Only change runtime behavior if docs reveal a clear bug; prefer docs-first
Related
  • TODO(Marcelo) on Client.raise_exceptions in src/mcp/client/client.py
  • #1401 ClientSession Error Handling (different surface; has an open PR)
  • troubleshooting ExceptionGroup guidance
Dominant language
Python
Stars
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Forks
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Avg merge
1d 11h
Merged PRs (30d)
30

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