pi-mono/apps/p2/docs/mcp-durable.md

MCP for Durable and p2: work plan

This file is the brief for agents implementing MCP (Model Context Protocol) support for p2, the Durable-based app in apps/p2. Every work package (WP) below is self-contained: it says where the work happens, what to build, how to test it, and when it is done. Read sections 1 to 4 before any work package, then only the package you are given.

The human-readable plan with background lives at https://radius.earendil.com/artifact/01m6em2r8gercbx2rn2y8mwwpq (revision 4). Where it and this file differ, this file wins.

---

1. Repository and rules

Everything is in earendil-works/pi (local checkout ~/Development/pi-mono, branch main): the packages under packages/ (env, mcp, durable, coding-agent, chord, ...) and p2 at apps/p2. Until p2 moved there (commit 05dc8d239), it lived in the private repository earendil-works/pi-private, which is no longer used.

Rules (the repository's AGENTS.md overrides anything here):

• Packages and p2 change together. A fix to packages/env or packages/mcp found during p2 work is part of the same tree; it still gets its own commit and changelog entry.
• Several agents may work in the same checkout. Stage explicit paths only; never git add -A, git stash, git reset --hard or git checkout ..
• After code changes: npm run check from the repository root (formatting, lint, types), and after p2 changes also cd apps/p2 && npm run check (p2 is outside the root check). It must be clean except for errors you can show are unrelated and pre-existing. If it fails on missing modules or stale generated model data, run npm install --ignore-scripts and npm run hydrate:model-data first (this does not change tracked files).
• Tests: run the package's own tests, never the whole suite. From the package directory: node "$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)/node_modules/vitest/dist/cli.js" --run test/<file>.test.ts. p2's tests use node --test (see apps/p2/package.json).
• The pi-env daemon is Rust: cd packages/env/daemon && cargo fmt --check && cargo clippy --locked --all-targets -- -D warnings && cargo test --locked. Also lint for Windows: cargo clippy --locked --all-targets --target x86_64-pc-windows-msvc -- -D warnings. Rebuild the debug daemon (npm run build:daemon in packages/env) before running pi-env's TypeScript tests.
• Public packages get a CHANGELOG.md entry under ## [Unreleased] (### Added, ### Changed, ### Fixed).
• Commit only when asked, one commit per work package, message feat(<scope>): ... / fix(<scope>): ....
• No any, no inline imports, erasable TypeScript only, no runtime checks of values TypeScript already guarantees; validate only at trust boundaries (wire input, configuration files, data from another process).

---

2. What we are building

p2 gets MCP servers. The design, in short:

• One manager on the p2 server owns every MCP connection and process. Session workers never spawn an MCP server or hold a credential. They talk to the manager through one Chord object per worker principal.
• Placement. A stdio server runs on the p2 host or on an execution environment from p2's envs.json (an SSH machine with the pi-env daemon). On an environment, the manager starts it through the daemon's process operation (WP1, done).
• Instances. Stdio servers run once per session and location by default; "shared": true in the owner's configuration makes one process for everybody. Streamable HTTP servers are shared by default.
• Configuration. The owner's <P2_DATA_DIR>/mcp.json (trusted) plus a project's <cwd>/.pi/mcp.json, which the worker reads at its location and sends to the manager (untrusted, restricted, see WP7).
• Tools. Workers turn the servers' tools into Durable tools named mcp__<server>__<tool>, deferred (found through tool_search) or callable only from code mode.
• OAuth. Only HTTP servers use MCP OAuth. Sign-in links point at p2 (/mcp/sign-in/<id>); when one is opened, p2 picks the redirect from the request's principal: loopback (http://127.0.0.1:<port>/callback) for a browser on the p2 host, p2's /mcp/callback on the Radius or public origin otherwise, and pasting the final redirect URL always works.

  worker host (session s1)                      server host
 ┌──────────────────────────────────┐          ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
 │ MCP worker object                │  hold as │ p2.mcp: remote view, one per principal               │
 │  · reads .pi/mcp.json per        ├─────────►│  worker variant ──┐                                  │
 │    location via its ExecutionEnv │  worker  │                   ▼                                  │
 │  · contributes Durable tools     │  {s1}    │ p2.mcp.manager: local, host lifetime                 │
 └──────────────────────────────────┘          │  instances, leases, OAuth, pi-env connections        │
                                               │  owner variant ◄── web panel, TUI                     │
                                               └───────┬──────────────────┬──────────────────┬────────┘
                                         stdio on the p2 host   stdio on env "gpu"   Streamable HTTP

---

3. Status and order

WP	Where	What	State	Depends on
1	packages/env	daemon process operation, openProcess()	done: 9c9ce8547, fix 032656b6c	none
2	packages/mcp	transport over a byte pipe	done: c158fa2ee	none
3	packages/mcp, packages/coding-agent	OAuth sign-in split into start/complete, moved out of coding-agent	done: bb266bf35, fix 797e122cb	none
4	packages/mcp, packages/coding-agent	shared naming and config helpers (optional)	done: 76c040a2a	3
5	p2	gate: p2's Chord v2 port has landed; WP1-3 present	done: p2 imported at 05dc8d239, deps in "feat(p2): MCP servers on the host, on environments and from projects"	1-3, the port
6	apps/p2/plugins/mcp	manager, view, worker object; owner config; host stdio and HTTP	done: "feat(p2): MCP servers on the host, on environments and from projects"	2, 5
7	apps/p2/plugins/mcp	environment placement; project mcp.json	done: "feat(p2): MCP servers on the host, on environments and from projects"	1, 6
8	apps/p2/plugins/mcp	OAuth: flows, routes, loopback, pasting; web and TUI	done: see section 4.7	3, 6
9	apps/p2/plugins/mcp, plugins/codemode	code mode namespaces, progress, first-turn admission	open	6

Section 4.5 lists where the built APIs of WP2-4 differ from sections 5-7, section 4.6 where WP6-7 differ from sections 9-10, section 4.7 where WP8 differs from section 11.

---

4. Facts every package relies on

4.1 WP1 (done): the daemon's process operation

In packages/env (commit 9c9ce8547):

• Daemon: packages/env/daemon/src/process.rs; protocol in packages/env/docs/protocol.md (section on process).
• Client: packages/env/src/process.ts, exported from @earendil-works/pi-env:

export function openProcess(connection: Connection, options: ProcessOptions): Promise<RemoteProcess>;
export interface ProcessOptions {
	cwd: string;
	argv: readonly string[];           // run directly, no shell
	env?: Record<string, string>;      // added to the daemon's environment
	inheritEnv?: boolean;              // false: env is the whole environment
	onStdout: (bytes: Uint8Array) => void;
	onStderr?: (bytes: Uint8Array) => void;
}
export class RemoteProcess {
	readonly pid: number;
	readonly exited: Promise<number>;  // exit code; rejects (code "aborted") after close(), or on a lost connection
	write(data: Uint8Array | string): void;   // stdin, in order; dropped once stdin is closed or the program ended
	closeStdin(): void;                // after the input written before it
	close(): void;                     // kills the process group
}

• A daemon released before WP1 fails openProcess with RemoteError code not_supported (hello.features lacks "process").
• A lost connection kills the program (the daemon kills everything it started).
• When the program exits on its own, the daemon kills what it left running in its process group (Unix) or its job object (Windows) before reporting the exit (7367bc823). Known gap on Windows: a child started before the daemon assigns the program to its job can escape (documented in packages/env/docs/protocol.md).
• Windows: like exec argv commands, batch files (npx.cmd, uvx.cmd) are refused; callers must start them through cmd.exe (WP7).

4.2 Durable pieces (public, packages/durable)

• ToolRegistration (packages/durable/src/harness/types.ts): name, description, parameters (JSON Schema object), deferred?: true, callers?: ("model" | "tools")[], replay?: "safe" | "unsafe" (default unsafe), structuredOutputSchema?, outputLimits?, execute(args, api, context) returning ToolExecutionResult (output, structuredOutput, isError, details). api.conversationId and api.env identify the calling conversation and its execution environment.
• createToolSearchExtension() from @earendil-works/pi-durable/tool-search (packages/durable/src/tool-search/tool-search.ts): the tool_search tool that loads deferred tools.
• createCodemodeExtension({ sandbox, namespaces }) from @earendil-works/pi-durable/codemode; namespaces are { name, description?, instructions?, prefix } (packages/durable/src/codemode/describe.ts).
• A tool call whose tool is not registered right now waits until it is (packages/durable/src/harness/agent.ts, addTools), so a reconnecting MCP server does not fail a replayed call.

4.3 pi-mcp today (public, packages/mcp)

• McpClient (src/client.ts), transports in src/transports/ (stdio.ts, streamable-http.ts, in-memory.ts, the McpTransport interface and TransportEvents in transport.ts), toLlmContent() (src/protocol/content.ts).
• OAuth in src/oauth/: McpOAuthProvider and McpOAuthStateStore (provider.ts; the state persists codeVerifier and oauthState, so a sign-in can complete in another request with the same store), authorizeMcp (flow.ts), OAuthCallbackServer (callback.ts), discovery and errors.
• No dependency on other pi packages, and only cross-spawn at runtime. Keep it that way.

4.4 p2 today and after the port

• p2 runs on Chord v2; Chord v1 is deleted.
• Chord v2 design: packages/chord/docs/design.md. The parts MCP uses: local objects with empty params (host lifetime, §5, §6), shared store with per-principal remote views (§6 "Pattern"), natives self.open (§13), routines self.on/self.onLive (§14), changing registry contributions with self.writable (§17; the design's own example is MCP tools), flows kept by their owner (§20), ctx.incarnation (§4), Chord calls from Durable code (§24).
• p2 code style for Chord v2 code: AGENTS.md, section "Chord v2 Code Style". Use the names the port introduces (harness extension registry, host addresses, principals, HTTP routing, login flow); do not invent parallel ones.
• Existing p2 precedents to copy: apps/p2/plugins/ports (a local store plus a remote view with owner and worker variants), apps/p2/plugins/locations/server.ts (worker-only methods fenced by the worker's generation), apps/p2/plugins/terminals/main.ts (the server opening its own pi-env connections per environment), apps/p2/plugins/envs (environment configuration, SSH options, host keys), apps/p2/plugins/login (provider OAuth with remote: principal.access !== "local"), apps/p2/plugins/radius/relay-access.ts (requests relayed through Radius), apps/p2/plugins/powershell/worker.ts (a deferred tool offered per conversation), apps/p2/src/runtime/principals.ts (OwnerPrincipal.access is "local" | "relay" | "device"). After the port these files move or change; find their v2 equivalents.

4.5 As built (WP2-4): differences from sections 5-7

• WP2: PipeTransport, McpPipe, McpPipeHandlers, PipeTransportOptions from @earendil-works/pi-mcp; pi-env's RemoteProcess is an McpPipe without an adapter. Shared framing in src/transports/lines.ts.
• WP3: @earendil-works/pi-mcp/oauth exports startMcpSignIn, completeMcpSignIn, listenForLoopbackSignIn, waitForLoopbackSignIn, responseFromRedirectUrl, createMcpAuthProvider, McpSignInCancelledError; files sign-in.ts, loopback.ts, auth-provider.ts, client-settings.ts. Differences:
  • store is an McpOAuthServerStore (with withRefreshLock); start and the auth provider take the lock, never call them while holding it.
  • startMcpSignIn returns { kind: "authorized" } or a plain-data McpSignInRedirect (authorizationUrl, redirectUrl, state, scope?, all strings): store it with the flow.
  • completeMcpSignIn({ ...sameOptionsAsStart, authorization, response }): pass start's redirectUrl (not authorization.redirectUrl), the kept start result, and a response with state (checked). A sign-in replaced by a newer one is refused.
  • clientMetadataDocuments: { baseUrl, listsRedirectUrl(url) }; without it, dynamic registration only (p2 remote).
  • Start refreshes with the stored client first, whatever the redirect URI; authorizeMcp has refreshOnly, so a failed refresh never disturbs a pending sign-in (3ffb210d9: the refresh uses the app's redirectUrl when the documents list it; pass redirectUrl to createMcpAuthProvider too).
  • The store's withRefreshLock throws McpRefreshLockBusyError when the lock stays held (start then goes to the browser step); other lock errors fail the sign-in. Aborting ends the wait for the lock.
• WP4: from @earendil-works/pi-mcp: createMcpToolName, mcpNamespace, normalizeMcpInputSchema, limitMcpContent(content, saveOutput?), MCP_OUTPUT_MAX_BYTES, validateMcpServerConfig(name, raw, options?) returning { kind: "stdio" | "http", config } (unknown fields kept as unknown) or { kind: "invalid", error }, isMcpServerOverride. Apps validate their own fields (p2: shared, runOn, project rules) on the result. "cimd" is refused unless checkMetadataDocumentCallback is passed (p2 should not pass it).

4.6 As built (WP6-7): differences from sections 9-10

• Leases, not load/unload: the worker variant has setLocations({ locations, projects? }) (every location the session's conversations work at; leases elsewhere end) and call({ location, server, tool, args }); the manager has setLocations and releaseLeases with the caller's session, generation and incarnation. Worker state: servers and errors (the session's leases' project refusals).
• Project files as text: the worker sends <cwd>/.pi/mcp.json as read ({ location, text }, at most 256 KiB, or { location, error } when unreadable; absent: none); the manager parses and checks it (project.ts) at each placement. A project override may also turn on an owner server that is "enabled": false.
• Where sessions work: a lease gets servers only on an environment its session works on as the server records it (the catalog's session, the subagent store's own locations). This fences stale or confused workers to their machines, not a compromised worker (see McpManager's doc comment).
• Environments: connections through the envs plugin's SSH manager (EnvManager.connection), one per environment and revision; an instance on an environment that is its location's machine gets the location's cwd as its base and root, otherwise the remote home. Windows: the cmd.exe command line goes in P2_MCP_COMMAND (the daemon quotes argv itself and has no verbatim mode).
• Not watched: a changed project mcp.json is read again at the worker's next setLocations (a commit, a move, the view re-activating), not when the file changes.

4.7 As built (WP8): differences from section 11

• Which servers sign in: as in pi, an owner HTTP server without an Authorization header (oauthServerOf in placement.ts); its instances list auth: "oauth". Only those wait for a sign-in on a 401 (McpAuthRequiredError or McpOAuthAuthorizationRequiredError), also when a call's tokens are refused for good; a server refusing its configured headers fails and retries instead.
• Credentials: credentials.ts, <P2_DATA_DIR>/mcp-auth.json through p2's LockedFile (0600), keyed like pi's (mcpNamespace(name)|url). The refresh lock is a promise chain per server in the process, not proper-lockfile: one p2 server owns a data directory (process lock), and nothing else reads this file.
• Flows: sign-in.ts (SignIns, a native of the manager), in memory, one per server (a new one replaces it), 10 minutes each; listed (signIns: id, server, via: "loopback" | "route", waiting | failed, error) in the manager's Listed document. Not a Chord flow object: the manager's methods are beginSignIn, completeSignIn (callback route), pasteSignIn, cancelSignIn, signOut, probe. A done flow disappears; the instances of its server restart (Instances.reconnect). A pre-registered client (oauth.clientId) always uses loopback.
• Links by server, not flow: GET /mcp/sign-in/<server> begins (or replaces) the server's flow, so the link is stable (the mcp_servers section and call errors name it). The owner view has no signIn returning a link: its signIn({ server }) begins a loopback flow and returns the authorization URL (the TUI opens it); the web opens the route.
• Where the browser runs (owner addition): the device owner (access: "local" on loopback) always returns to loopback. Any other owner (Radius relay, an allowed public host) first gets a probe page (pages.ts): it fetches http://127.0.0.1:<port>/<nonce> from a listener on the p2 host (probe.ts), which answers 204 with CORS only for the page's origin and a nonce only this p2 issued. Answered: the browser runs on the p2 host, so ?via=loopback; refused or blocked: ?via=callback, the route on the origin p2 is reached through. While the answer takes more than 1.5 s (a browser asking for local network access), the page offers both. A wrong guess only means pasting.
• Callback route: GET /mcp/callback completes the route flow whose state matches, for owners only; a browser without p2's sign-in there (a cookie not sent) gets a page saying to paste its address.
• Model: the mcp_servers section marks servers waiting for a sign-in; a call of one says to sign in from the MCP panel or at /mcp/sign-in/<server>. Plain text: p2's Markdown renders relative links as text.
• UI: web plugins/mcp/web.tsx (sidebar footer "MCP": instances, restart, sign in, sign out, paste, cancel); TUI /mcp (Ctrl+R restart, Ctrl+S sign in through the launcher's openUrl, Ctrl+O sign out) and /mcp paste <url>.
• Not verified by hand: whether Radius sends its cookie on the redirect back to the cortex origin (section 14).

---

5. WP2: pi-mcp transport over a byte pipe

Where: packages/mcp.

Why: p2 runs stdio MCP servers on remote machines through openProcess() (WP1). pi-mcp must not depend on pi-env, so it gets a transport over an abstract pipe that RemoteProcess satisfies without an adapter class.

Build:

1. src/transports/lines.ts (new): the newline-delimited JSON-RPC framing now inside StdioTransport.handleStdout (src/transports/stdio.ts): accumulate bytes, split at \n, strip a trailing \r, skip blank lines, enforce maxMessageBytes (default DEFAULT_MAX_MESSAGE_BYTES), parse with parseJsonRpcMessage, report errors. Plus the bounded stderr tail (maxStderrBytes, default 64 KiB). One class, used by both transports.

2. src/transports/stdio.ts: use lines.ts. Behavior must not change; test/stdio.test.ts must pass unmodified.

3. src/transports/pipe.ts (new), exported from src/index.ts:

   /** A running program's stdio, as `@earendil-works/pi-env`'s `RemoteProcess` provides it. */
   export interface McpPipe {
   	write(data: Uint8Array | string): void;
   	closeStdin(): void;
   	/** Kill the program (and what it started). */
   	close(): void;
   	/** Settles when the program has ended, whatever the reason. */
   	readonly exited: Promise<unknown>;
   }
   export interface PipeTransportOptions {
   	/** Start the program; `onStdout`/`onStderr` receive its output from then on. */
   	open(handlers: { onStdout(bytes: Uint8Array): void; onStderr(bytes: Uint8Array): void }): Promise<McpPipe>;
   	maxMessageBytes?: number;
   	maxStderrBytes?: number;
   	onStderr?: (chunk: string) => void;
   	/** After closing stdin, how long the program may take to exit before `close()` kills it. Default 2000. */
   	closeTimeoutMs?: number;
   }
   export class PipeTransport extends TransportEvents implements McpTransport { ... }
   

   • start() calls open; a rejection rejects start(). Once exited settles, an incomplete trailing message is an error (as in StdioTransport), then emitClose().
   • send() writes JSON.stringify(message) + "\n"; after close() or the program's end it throws McpConnectionClosedError.
   • close(): MCP's stdio shutdown: closeStdin(), wait for exited up to closeTimeoutMs, then close().
   • stderr getter with the tail, like StdioTransport.

4. README (packages/mcp/README.md): a short section with the pi-env example:

   const transport = new PipeTransport({
   	open: (handlers) => openProcess(connection, { cwd, argv, ...handlers }),
   });
   

5. CHANGELOG.md: ### Added entry.

Tests: test/pipe.test.ts (new):

• with an in-memory fake McpPipe: framing (split chunks, several messages in one chunk, \r\n, blank lines), the size limit, an incomplete message at exit, send after close, the shutdown order (stdin closed first; close() only after the timeout; not at all when the program exits in time), start rejecting when open rejects;
• end to end: a McpClient over PipeTransport whose open spawns test/fixtures/stdio-server.mjs with node:child_process (a 20-line adapter in the test) completes initialize, tools/list and tools/call.

Done when: tests pass, test/stdio.test.ts unchanged and green, npm run check clean, README and changelog updated. pi-mcp still has no dependency on pi-env.

---

6. WP3: OAuth sign-in split into start and complete, moved into pi-mcp

Where: packages/mcp/src/oauth (new code) and packages/coding-agent/src/extensions/mcp (callers).

Why: p2 must run the same sign-in as pi mcp login, but the authorization code reaches p2 later and in another request (its /mcp/callback route, a pasted URL, or a loopback server it runs). Today signInMcpServer in packages/coding-agent/src/extensions/mcp/oauth.ts opens its own loopback server and waits.

Read first: packages/coding-agent/src/extensions/mcp/oauth.ts in full, packages/coding-agent/src/core/mcp-servers.ts (McpOAuthConfig, isLoopbackRedirectUri, isClientMetadataDocumentCallback), its callers packages/coding-agent/src/extensions/mcp/index.ts (signIn, around runtime.signInMcpServer) and runtime.ts, and packages/mcp/src/oauth/*.

Move into packages/mcp/src/oauth/sign-in.ts (new; export from src/oauth/index.ts):

Today in coding-agent oauth.ts	In pi-mcp	Change
McpOAuthSettings, callbackSettings, mergeScopes, timedFetch	same names	none
offersClientMetadataDocument, clientMetadataDocument, callbackId	same	the document base URL (today https://pi.dev/oauth) and the application name (today APP_NAME) become options
responseFromRedirectUrl	exported	none
createMcpAuthProvider	exported	McpOAuthServerStore.withRefreshLock stays an interface; pi-mcp gets no lockfile dependency
signInMcpServer	split	see below

The split:

/** First half: refresh if possible, else prepare the browser step. */
export async function startMcpSignIn(options: {
	serverUrl: string;
	store: McpOAuthStateStore;
	settings: McpOAuthSettings;
	redirectUrl: string;                       // chosen by the caller: loopback, or an https callback route
	clientMetadataDocuments?: { baseUrl: string };   // omitted: dynamic registration only
	clientName: string;
	challenge?: OAuthChallenge;
	signal?: AbortSignal;
}): Promise<{ kind: "authorized" } | { kind: "redirect"; authorizationUrl: URL; redirectUrl: URL; state: string }>;

/** Second half: exchange the code. `response` from a callback server, a route, or `responseFromRedirectUrl`. */
export async function completeMcpSignIn(options: {
	serverUrl: string;
	store: McpOAuthStateStore;
	settings: McpOAuthSettings;
	redirectUrl: string;                       // the one passed to start (the flow may have made it server-specific)
	response: { code: string; iss?: string };
	clientMetadataDocuments?: { baseUrl: string };
	clientName: string;
	signal?: AbortSignal;
}): Promise<void>;

• Keep every rule of today's function: a fresh state per sign-in; keep or drop the registered client depending on its redirect URI and clientRegistration; step-up scope (stepUpScope, mergeScopes); the server-specific redirect path for Client ID Metadata Documents (/callback/<callbackId>); timeouts through timedFetch; cancellation via signal reported as McpSignInCancelledError (move that class too).
• OAuthCallbackServer stays in pi-mcp; the loopback-listening part of today's function (listenForCallback, waitForAuthorizationResponse) becomes a small helper in pi-mcp, waitForLoopbackSignIn(...), or stays in coding-agent if only it uses it. Decide by whether p2 needs it: p2 does (loopback for local browsers), so move it.
• coding-agent keeps: McpOAuthCredentialStore (mcp-auth.json, proper-lockfile, AuthStorageBackend, legacy keys), the callback page HTML, pi mcp login//mcp UI. signInMcpServer in coding-agent becomes a thin wrapper: start, show the URL, wait for loopback or pasted URL, complete.

Tests:

• pi-mcp: test/sign-in.test.ts (new) with an authorization server built on test/helpers.ts (listen, readBody, closeServers) the way test/oauth.test.ts builds its servers, or on coding-agent's packages/coding-agent/test/suite/mcp-oauth-server.ts moved into pi-mcp's tests: start then complete in two calls with one store; complete with a pasted URL; refresh path returns authorized; metadata document chosen only when the server supports it and the redirect is one the documents list; a mismatched state or redirect path is rejected; cancellation.
• coding-agent: unchanged and green: test/mcp-oauth-refresh.test.ts, test/suite/agent-session-mcp-oauth.test.ts, test/mcp-command.test.ts, test/mcp-extension.test.ts.

Done when: pi-mcp exports the functions above; coding-agent's behavior is unchanged (its tests pass without edits beyond imports); both changelogs updated (packages/mcp/CHANGELOG.md Added, packages/coding-agent/CHANGELOG.md nothing user-visible, so no entry unless behavior changed).

---

7. WP4 (optional): shared naming and config helpers

Where: packages/mcp (new src/naming.ts, src/config.ts), callers in packages/coding-agent/src/core/mcp-servers.ts and src/extensions/mcp/tools.ts.

Why: p2 must name tools exactly like pi, so tool_search ranking and code mode namespaces behave the same.

Build:

• createMcpToolName(server, tool, isTaken) and mcpNamespace(server) (today in coding-agent extensions/mcp/tools.ts and core/mcp-servers.ts), the input-schema normalization (object type, properties present) and the result size limit (MCP_OUTPUT_MAX_BYTES, limitMcpContent) without pi-tui rendering.
• Parsing and validation of the standard mcpServers shape: stdio (command, args, env, cwd), HTTP (url, headers), oauth, enabled. pi-only fields (exposure, toolExposure, auth.provider, autoEnableCodemode) stay in coding-agent, which extends the shared parser.

Done when: coding-agent imports these from pi-mcp with no behavior change (its MCP tests pass); pi-mcp tests cover the moved functions.

If skipped, WP6 copies createMcpToolName and mcpNamespace into p2 and notes the duplication.

---

8. WP5 (gate): p2 on Chord v2, packages present

Not MCP work, done. Before WP6:

1. p2 imports Chord v2 (rg -l "@earendil-works/chord/old" apps/p2 finds nothing).
2. WP1-3 (and 4) are in the tree p2 builds against.
3. Add "@earendil-works/pi-mcp": "<current version>" and "@earendil-works/pi-env" (if p2 does not have it yet) to apps/p2/package.json; refresh the lockfile with npm install --package-lock-only --ignore-scripts; commit lockfile changes with PI_ALLOW_LOCKFILE_CHANGE=1.

---

9. WP6: manager, view and worker object (host stdio and HTTP)

Where: apps/p2/plugins/mcp/ (new plugin; register it where the port registers built-in plugins). Tests in apps/p2/test/p2/mcp*.test.ts.

Files (one concept per file, per "Chord v2 Code Style"):

File	Content
contract.ts	the p2.mcp.manager local contract, the p2.mcp remote contract, schemas (Location, Instance, Tool, ProjectConfig, CallResult, SignInFlow)
config.ts	reading and validating <P2_DATA_DIR>/mcp.json (trust boundary), following changes
instances.ts	the supervisor native: instances keyed per section 9.2, leases, connect, reconnect with backoff, tool-list changes
server.ts	the facet: serves the manager and the view
worker.ts	the worker object: holds the view, loads locations, contributes the Durable extension
tools.ts	MCP tool → Durable ToolRegistration

9.1 Contracts

const Location = obj({ env: union([str(), nul()]), cwd: str() });   // p2's location; env null: the p2 host
const Instance = obj({
	id: str(),
	server: str(),
	source: oneOf("owner", "project"),
	location: union([Location, nul()]),          // null: shared, or HTTP
	runsOn: union([literal("host"), obj({ env: str() })]),
	status: oneOf("starting", "connected", "sign-in", "failed"),
	error: opt(str()),
	tools: arr(Tool),                             // name, title, description, inputSchema, annotations
});

export const McpManager = local("p2.mcp.manager", {
	version: 1,
	params: {},
	members: {
		instances: arr(Instance),
		load: method(obj({ session: str(), location: Location, project: union([ProjectConfig, nul()]) }), Loaded),
		unload: method(obj({ session: str(), location: Location })),
		release: method(obj({ session: str() })),
		call: method(obj({ session: str(), instance: str(), tool: str(), args: JsonObject }), CallResult),
		restart: method(obj({ instance: str() })),
		// sign-in members: WP8
	},
});

export const Mcp = remote("p2.mcp", {
	version: 1,
	hostAddress: /* the server, as the port addresses it */,
	params: {},
	variants: {
		worker: {
			state: { servers: arr(Instance) },
			methods: { load, unload, call },        // session filled in by the view from the principal
		},
		owner: {
			state: { instances: arr(Instance) },
			methods: { restart },
		},
	},
});

• The view's factory returns the worker variant for a worker principal, the owner variant for an owner. Guests and other principals get no access: authority checks live in the view's methods (design §7).
• Worker calls carry the caller's incarnation (ctx.incarnation); the manager records the incarnation that loaded each lease and refuses calls from an older one.
• servers is a derive over the manager's instances filtered to the principal's session plus the shared instances the session uses.

9.2 Instances

Kind	Default	Key	Notes
stdio, shared unset	per session	(session, location, server, config hash)	roots: the location's cwd
stdio, "shared": true	opt-in, owner config only	(server, runsOn, config hash)	configured roots; state shared by all sessions
Streamable HTTP	shared	(server, config hash)	"shared": false: one per session, still in the server

• The configuration hash covers command, args, env, cwd and URL.
• Leases: each view holds leases on the instances it loaded. unload releases one location; when the view ends (its worker's reference went with the link, after linger), a native of the view releases all of them through release. Unshared instances close with their last lease; shared instances stay while any lease or owner entry needs them.
• Reconnect: a lost connection reconnects with exponential backoff (1 s doubling to 60 s); tools stay listed while reconnecting (status starting), calls fail with a clear error. A tool-list-changed notification refreshes tools.
• Shutdown: closing an instance closes its client; stdio follows MCP's shutdown (stdin closed, then kill), which StdioTransport and PipeTransport implement.

9.3 Host stdio and HTTP in this package

• Host stdio: StdioTransport from pi-mcp (runOn: "host", and "location" for local sessions).
• HTTP: StreamableHttpTransport with headers from the owner config (${VAR} from the p2 host's environment, owner config only). OAuth arrives in WP8; until then an HTTP server that answers 401 shows status sign-in.
• McpClient options: name: "p2", version from p2's package, roots from the instance's location cwd for unshared instances (file:// URL), none for shared ones.

9.4 Worker side

• A local, host-lifetime object in the worker holds Mcp (the server sees it as worker{session}).
• At start and after every relocation of the session, and for every subagent with its own location: read <cwd>/.pi/mcp.json through that location's ExecutionEnv (readTextFile; absent file: project: null), call load. Call unload for locations nothing works at any more.
• Contribute one Durable Extension through the harness extension registry as a self.writable; self.on(view.servers, ...) rebuilds it. Tools:
  • name via createMcpToolName (WP4, else copied), description from the MCP tool, parameters normalized to an object schema;
  • exposed as pi's default ("exposure": "codemode"): deferred: true and callers: ["tools"], so only code mode scripts call them (searchTools() finds them; neither the codemode section nor tool_search lists them). While code mode is off or its plugin is not loaded (its ExtensionSwitches entry is not true), pi's fallback: deferred: true alone, loaded through tool_search;
  • the mcp_servers section, as pi's: each server's namespace and how its tools are reached (no summaries yet: p2 has no description field and does not pass on the servers' instructions);
  • execute: locate the calling conversation (api.conversationId, through the harness's environments), pick the instance for that location, call view.call from Durable code (design §24's helper), convert the result with toLlmContent(), pass structuredContent through as structuredOutput only if the tool declares an output schema, isError from the MCP result; replay stays unsafe.
• Install createToolSearchExtension() only while it reaches the MCP tools (code mode off, servers present), as pi activates tool_search only for deferred servers. Per-server exposure and toolExposure are not read yet.

9.5 Owner configuration (<P2_DATA_DIR>/mcp.json)

{
	"mcpServers": {
		"filesystem": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "."] },
		"browser": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@playwright/mcp"], "shared": true, "runOn": "host" },
		"tools-on-gpu": { "command": "/opt/tools/mcp", "runOn": { "env": "gpu" } },
		"docs": { "url": "https://example.com/mcp", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer ${DOCS_TOKEN}" } }
	}
}

runOn: "location" (default for unshared stdio: where the conversation works), "host" (default for shared), or { "env": "<name in envs.json>" }. Until WP7, "location" on a remote session and { env } show status failed with "environments arrive in WP7".

Tests (apps/p2/test/p2/mcp.test.ts, node --test), with test/fixtures/stdio-server.mjs-style fixture servers copied or referenced from pi-mcp:

• owner config loads; invalid entries are reported and skipped;
• a session loads; its worker gets the tools; a call returns the result; tool_search finds the tool;
• two sessions get two processes for an unshared server and one for a shared server;
• unload and view end close unshared instances; shared ones survive;
• an older worker incarnation's call is refused;
• a crashed server reconnects with backoff and its tools come back;
• a guest gets nothing.

Done when: the tests pass, npm run check clean, and a manual run (throwaway session under /tmp, separate data dir and port, per "No hand tests on real sessions" in apps/p2/docs/handoff.md) shows an MCP tool used by the agent.

---

10. WP7: environment placement and project configuration

Where: apps/p2/plugins/mcp/ (instances.ts, new placement.ts, config.ts).

10.1 Placement on environments

• For runOn: "location" on a remote session and for { env }, the manager opens one pi-env Connection per environment, built from the envs plugin's configuration, SSH options and known hosts, as apps/p2/plugins/terminals/main.ts does with sshConnection(...). One connection per environment, shared by all instances there; closed when no instance uses it.
• Start the server with openProcess(connection, { cwd, argv, env, onStdout, onStderr }) behind pi-mcp's PipeTransport (WP2).
• openProcess failing with not_supported: status failed, error "the pi-env daemon on is too old; update it" (pi-env deploys its packaged daemon by hash, so a p2 update usually fixes it).
• Windows environments (nodePlatform(await connection.info()).platform === "win32"): resolve the program; if it is not an .exe/.com (for example npx, which is npx.cmd), run it as ["cmd.exe", "/d", "/s", "/c", <quoted command line>]. Quote like cross-spawn does for cmd (escape ^&|<>()%!" meta characters). Unit-test the quoting.
• runOn: "location" on a local session uses the host path (WP6).

10.2 Project configuration

The worker sends <cwd>/.pi/mcp.json with load; the manager validates it at that boundary. Project entries are untrusted (a repository wrote them, and the agent can edit them). Rules:

Rule	Why
stdio runs at its location only; runOn and shared are refused	the agent can already run commands there; anywhere else a repository would gain code execution on the p2 host or another machine
no ${VAR} from the p2 host's environment	a project could otherwise put the host's secrets in a header or argument; variables in env resolve at the location
no auth.provider, no reuse of another server's OAuth client	as in pi: a repository does not choose where a credential goes
an entry without command/url/type only overrides enabled of the owner entry with the same name	as in pi (packages/coding-agent/src/extensions/mcp/config.ts)
HTTP entries: refused in this WP	open decision (section 14); the p2 host would make the requests, so a project could reach addresses only the host can see

Tests: placement on a local "environment" through the local daemon (localDaemon(), as pi-env's tests do) so no SSH is needed: a server on an environment starts, its tools appear, calls work, the connection is shared by two instances, closing the last instance closes the connection; project rules each refuse what they should; Windows quoting unit tests.

---

11. WP8: OAuth flows, routes, loopback, pasting; web and TUI

Where: apps/p2/plugins/mcp/ (new sign-in.ts, routes in server.ts, web.tsx, tui.ts). The web UI is p2 code again (apps/p2/plugins/*/web.tsx, apps/p2/src/web), ported with p2.

Credential store: <P2_DATA_DIR>/mcp-auth.json, private (0600), keyed by server name and URL, with a refresh lock (proper-lockfile, already a p2 dependency) implementing pi-mcp's withRefreshLock. Tokens never leave the server.

Flow (a Chord flow kept by the manager, design §20: start → id; state with the current step; answer; cancel):

1. An HTTP instance gets McpOAuthAuthorizationRequiredError → status sign-in. The tool error tells the model to ask the user to sign in and gives the link from the worker's signIn.

2. signIn({ instance }) (worker and owner variants) starts a flow and returns { id, link: "/mcp/sign-in/<id>" }. The link is relative, so it opens on the origin the viewer uses.

3. Route GET /mcp/sign-in/<id> (owners only): read the request's principal and choose the redirect:

   Principal	Redirect URI	Code arrives through	Registration
   owner, access: "local"	http://127.0.0.1:<port>/callback (pi-mcp OAuthCallbackServer on the p2 host)	the loopback server	pi.dev Client ID Metadata Documents when supported, else dynamic registration
   owner, access: "relay"	https://<cortex origin>/mcp/callback (from radius/relay-access.ts)	route GET /mcp/callback	dynamic registration
   owner, access: "device" on an allowed public host	https://<P2_PUBLIC_URL host>/mcp/callback	route GET /mcp/callback	dynamic registration

   Then startMcpSignIn (WP3) and answer 302 to the authorization URL. authorized (a refresh worked): redirect back to p2 with a success page.

4. GET /mcp/callback?code&state&iss (owners only): find the flow by state, completeMcpSignIn, reconnect the instance, show a success page. The flow is done; its state shows it.

5. Pasting: the owner variant's answer({ id, step, redirectUrl }) uses responseFromRedirectUrl then completes. The UI always offers it (an ssh -L port forward looks local but the browser is elsewhere).

UI:

• Web (plugins/mcp/web.tsx): an MCP panel next to Providers: servers with status and errors, tools count, restart, sign in (opens the link), sign out, paste the redirect URL while a flow waits.
• TUI (plugins/mcp/tui.ts): the same as a command/overlay; opening the link uses the launcher's open-URL grant.
• Sign-in links in the transcript are ordinary relative links.

Tests: a fake authorization server and MCP HTTP server (the one WP3's tests use): a 401 makes status sign-in; the sign-in route as a local principal starts a loopback flow; as a relay/device principal it uses /mcp/callback; the callback completes and the tools appear; a wrong state is refused; pasting completes; guests are refused on both routes; tokens refresh without a browser. Verify by hand once through Radius that the cortex origin's cookie is sent on the redirect back (section 14).

---

12. WP9: code mode namespaces, progress, first-turn admission

Where: apps/p2/plugins/codemode/ (namespaces), apps/p2/plugins/mcp/.

• Namespaces: one CodemodeNamespace per server (name = server, prefix = mcpNamespace(server) + "__", description from the server's instructions in initialize, if any) fed into createCodemodeExtension from the servers state, through a registry the MCP plugin contributes to or a getter read at use (as codemode already does for its sandbox).
• Progress: Chord calls return one result. Default: no MCP progress in the first version. If wanted: the manager writes progress per call into a state document the worker follows and forwards through Durable's api.output() or details().
• First turn: decide whether p2's admission check waits for MCP servers still starting (default: wait up to 10 s for instances of the session's location, then go on; deferred tools appear later through tool_search).

---

13. Things that are easy to get wrong

• A fix to packages/env or packages/mcp found during p2 work is its own commit, with its package's changelog entry.
• Do not run MCP processes in session workers. Everything that spawns, connects or holds a token is in the manager.
• Do not trust project mcp.json: validate at the manager, apply section 10.2.
• Tool names must match pi's (createMcpToolName), including the hash suffix for long names.
• Windows: npx/uvx are batch files; host stdio uses cross-spawn through StdioTransport (fine), environments need the cmd.exe wrapping (WP7).
• The daemon kills a remote server when its connection drops; reconnect logic must expect that and restart it.
• Never print tokens, cookies or sign-in URLs with codes in logs.

---

14. Open decisions (defaults to use until decided)

Decision	Default in this plan
Per session or per agent	per session and location; one-shot agents share their session's instance
Project HTTP servers	refused
Remote client registration	dynamic registration; per-brain metadata documents from Radius only if needed later
Host stdio transport	StdioTransport (cross-spawn); the local daemon only if a reason appears
MCP progress	not in the first version
First-turn admission	wait up to 10 s for the session's starting instances
Radius cookie on the redirect back	verify by hand in WP8; if it is not sent, relayed browsers fall back to pasting