fix(daemon): keep stdio list requests warm

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 ### CLI
 
 - Reconcile keep-alive daemon metadata with the responding process and serialize daemon startup across parallel clients, preventing duplicate orphaned daemons. (Issue #191, thanks @dtmsyi)
+- Keep daemon-managed stdio servers warm across repeated `mcporter list` requests instead of treating non-interactive tool listing as a throwaway process. (Issue #188, thanks @robertoronderosjr)
 
 ## [0.11.3] - 2026-05-21
 

src/daemon/host.ts

@@ -343,6 +343,7 @@ async function processRequest(
       case 'listTools': {
         const params = request.params as ListToolsParams;
         ensureManaged(params.server, managedServers);
+        const definition = managedServers.get(params.server)!;
         const loggable = shouldLogServer(logContext, params.server);
         if (loggable) {
           logEvent(logContext, `listTools start server=${params.server}`);
@@ -350,7 +351,7 @@ async function processRequest(
         try {
           const result = await runtime.listTools(params.server, {
             includeSchema: params.includeSchema,
-            autoAuthorize: params.autoAuthorize,
+            autoAuthorize: resolveDaemonListToolsAutoAuthorize(params, definition),
             allowCachedAuth: params.allowCachedAuth ?? true,
           });
           markActivity(params.server, activity);
@@ -476,6 +477,16 @@ async function processRequest(
   }
 }
 
+function resolveDaemonListToolsAutoAuthorize(
+  params: ListToolsParams,
+  definition: ServerDefinition
+): boolean | undefined {
+  if (params.autoAuthorize === false && definition.command.kind === 'stdio') {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+  return params.autoAuthorize;
+}
+
 export async function __testProcessRequest(
   rawPayload: string,
   runtime: Runtime,

tests/daemon-host.test.ts

@@ -59,6 +59,40 @@ describe('daemon host request handling', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('keeps stdio keep-alive listTools requests reusable when callers disable auto auth', async () => {
+    const runtime = createRuntimeDouble();
+    const managedServers = createManagedServers();
+
+    await __testProcessRequest('', runtime as unknown as Runtime, managedServers, new Map(), metadata, logContext, {
+      id: 'list',
+      method: 'listTools',
+      params: { server: 'local', includeSchema: true, autoAuthorize: false, allowCachedAuth: true },
+    });
+
+    expect(runtime.listTools).toHaveBeenCalledWith('local', {
+      includeSchema: true,
+      autoAuthorize: undefined,
+      allowCachedAuth: true,
+    });
+  });
+
+  it('preserves HTTP listTools auto-auth opt out on daemon requests', async () => {
+    const runtime = createRuntimeDouble();
+    const managedServers = createManagedServers();
+
+    await __testProcessRequest('', runtime as unknown as Runtime, managedServers, new Map(), metadata, logContext, {
+      id: 'list',
+      method: 'listTools',
+      params: { server: 'oauth', includeSchema: true, autoAuthorize: false, allowCachedAuth: true },
+    });
+
+    expect(runtime.listTools).toHaveBeenCalledWith('oauth', {
+      includeSchema: true,
+      autoAuthorize: false,
+      allowCachedAuth: true,
+    });
+  });
+
   it('preserves explicit listTools cached-auth opt out on daemon requests', async () => {
     const runtime = createRuntimeDouble();
     const managedServers = createManagedServers();
@@ -86,6 +120,14 @@ function createRuntimeDouble(): Pick<Runtime, 'callTool' | 'listTools'> {
 
 function createManagedServers(): Map<string, ServerDefinition> {
   return new Map([
+    [
+      'local',
+      {
+        name: 'local',
+        command: { kind: 'stdio', command: 'node', args: ['server.js'], cwd: '/tmp' },
+        lifecycle: { mode: 'keep-alive' },
+      },
+    ],
     [
       'oauth',
       {

tests/daemon.integration.test.ts

@@ -77,8 +77,10 @@ describeDaemon('daemon keep-alive integration', () => {
     const tempDir = await fs.mkdtemp(path.join(os.tmpdir(), 'mcporter-daemon-e2e-'));
     const scriptPath = path.join(tempDir, 'daemon-server.mjs');
     const configPath = path.join(tempDir, 'mcporter.daemon.json');
+    const launchLogPath = path.join(tempDir, 'launches.log');
 
     const stdioServerSource = `import { randomUUID } from 'node:crypto';
+import fs from 'node:fs/promises';
 import { McpServer } from '${MCP_SERVER_MODULE}';
 import { StdioServerTransport } from '${STDIO_SERVER_MODULE}';
 import { z } from '${ZOD_MODULE}';
@@ -86,6 +88,10 @@ import { z } from '${ZOD_MODULE}';
 const instanceId = randomUUID();
 let counter = 0;
 
+if (process.env.MCPORTER_TEST_LAUNCH_LOG) {
+  await fs.appendFile(process.env.MCPORTER_TEST_LAUNCH_LOG, instanceId + '\\n', 'utf8');
+}
+
 const server = new McpServer({ name: 'daemon-e2e', version: '1.0.0' });
 server.registerTool('next_value', {
   title: 'Next value',
@@ -135,12 +141,16 @@ await new Promise((resolve) => {
       MCPORTER_DAEMON_LOG: '1',
       MCPORTER_DAEMON_LOG_PATH: logPath,
       MCPORTER_DAEMON_LOG_SERVERS: 'daemon-e2e',
+      MCPORTER_TEST_LAUNCH_LOG: launchLogPath,
     };
     const cli = (args: string[]) => runCli(args, configPath, cliEnv);
 
     try {
       await cli(['daemon', 'stop']);
 
+      await cli(['list', 'daemon-e2e', '--json']);
+      await cli(['list', 'daemon-e2e', '--json']);
+
       const first = await cli(['call', 'daemon-e2e.next_value', '--output', 'json']);
       const firstResult = parseCliJson(first.stdout);
       expect(firstResult.count).toBe(1);
@@ -150,7 +160,12 @@ await new Promise((resolve) => {
       expect(secondResult.count).toBe(2);
       expect(secondResult.instanceId).toBe(firstResult.instanceId);
 
+      const launchLog = await readFileWithRetries(launchLogPath);
+      expect(launchLog.trim().split('\n')).toEqual([firstResult.instanceId]);
+
       const logContents = await readFileWithRetries(logPath);
+      expect(logContents).toContain('listTools start server=daemon-e2e');
+      expect(logContents).toContain('listTools success server=daemon-e2e');
       expect(logContents).toContain('callTool start server=daemon-e2e tool=next_value');
       expect(logContents).toContain('callTool success server=daemon-e2e tool=next_value');
     } finally {