Tighten draft protocol negotiation boundaries (modelcontextprotocol#1692)

Co-authored-by: Copilot App <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Tarek Mahmoud Sayed <tarekms@ntdev.microsoft.com>

Author: 3 people

docs/concepts/elicitation/elicitation.md

@@ -175,7 +175,7 @@ Here's an example implementation of how a console application might handle elici
 [MRTR](xref:mrtr) is the SEP-2322 mechanism for server-driven input requests, finalized in protocol revision `2026-07-28`. In that revision, the server-to-client `elicitation/create` request method is removed; the recommended way to ask the user for input from a server handler is to throw <xref:ModelContextProtocol.Protocol.InputRequiredException> and let the SDK emit an <xref:ModelContextProtocol.Protocol.InputRequiredResult> on the wire.
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]
-> `ElicitAsync` throws `InvalidOperationException("Elicitation is not supported in stateless mode.")` whenever the server is running stateless — which includes every Streamable HTTP server under `2026-07-28` once that revision is forced to stateless-only in a future PR. Stdio servers and current-protocol stateful Streamable HTTP servers continue to work via the legacy server-to-client `elicitation/create` request flow. For code that needs to run on stateless servers — including all `2026-07-28` Streamable HTTP servers going forward — throw `InputRequiredException` from your handler instead. It works under both protocols and both session modes.
+> `ElicitAsync` throws `InvalidOperationException("Elicitation is not supported in stateless mode.")` whenever the server is running stateless — including Streamable HTTP requests served under `2026-07-28` with `Stateless = true`. Stdio servers and initialize-handshake stateful Streamable HTTP sessions continue to work via the initialize-era server-to-client `elicitation/create` request flow; an HTTP server set to `Stateless = false` refuses `2026-07-28` so dual-path clients can fall back before using that flow. For code that needs to run on stateless servers — including `2026-07-28` Streamable HTTP — throw `InputRequiredException` from your handler instead. It works under both protocols and both session modes.
 
 For example:
 

docs/concepts/mrtr/mrtr.md

@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ MRTR is useful when:
 
 ## Opting in
 
-MRTR activates when both peers negotiate protocol revision **`2026-07-28`**. The C# SDK client prefers `2026-07-28` by default — it probes with `server/discover` and falls back to a legacy `initialize` handshake only when the server doesn't support it. Servers accept `2026-07-28` automatically when a client offers it. No experimental flags are required; pinning `ProtocolVersion` to a legacy revision opts back out.
+MRTR activates when both peers negotiate protocol revision **`2026-07-28`**. The C# SDK client prefers `2026-07-28` by default — it probes with `server/discover` and falls back to an `initialize` handshake only when the server doesn't support it. Stateless HTTP servers accept `2026-07-28` automatically when a client offers it; HTTP servers configured with `Stateless = false` refuse that revision with `UnsupportedProtocolVersion` so dual-path clients can fall back to a session-capable revision. No experimental flags are required; pinning `ProtocolVersion` to an initialize-capable revision opts back out.
 
 ```csharp
 // Client — the SDK prefers 2026-07-28 (and therefore MRTR) by default.
@@ -283,4 +283,4 @@ The SDK supports `InputRequiredException` across two protocol revisions and two
 
 Under the current protocol revision (`2025-06-18` and earlier), stdio and stateful Streamable HTTP keep `ClientCapabilities` populated, so the legacy methods work normally and remain the recommended way to do one-shot client interactions. Under `2026-07-28`, the spec removes those request methods from Streamable HTTP entirely; the SDK still allows the legacy methods on `2026-07-28` stdio sessions because stdio is implicitly single-process / stateful and the client handler is wired up regardless of negotiated revision. `InputRequiredException` is the way to write tools that work on every supported configuration.
 
-Because `2026-07-28` removes `Mcp-Session-Id` (SEP-2567) and the `initialize` handshake (SEP-2575), Streamable HTTP runs statelessly whenever a client speaks `2026-07-28`. The `Stateful` row for `2026-07-28` in the compatibility matrix above therefore applies only to stdio — a server explicitly set to `Stateless = false` still serves `2026-07-28` requests without a session and creates a legacy session only when an older client falls back to `initialize`.
+Because `2026-07-28` removes `Mcp-Session-Id` (SEP-2567) and the `initialize` handshake (SEP-2575), Streamable HTTP can serve that revision only through the stateless path. The `Stateful` row for `2026-07-28` in the compatibility matrix above therefore applies to stdio and other non-HTTP stateful sessions; an HTTP server explicitly set to `Stateless = false` refuses `2026-07-28` with `UnsupportedProtocolVersion` and creates a session only when an older client falls back to `initialize`.

docs/concepts/roots/roots.md

@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ server.RegisterNotificationHandler(
 [MRTR](xref:mrtr) is the SEP-2322 mechanism for server-driven input requests, finalized in protocol revision `2026-07-28`. In that revision, the server-to-client `roots/list` request method is removed; the recommended way to ask the client for its roots from a server handler is to throw <xref:ModelContextProtocol.Protocol.InputRequiredException> and let the SDK emit an <xref:ModelContextProtocol.Protocol.InputRequiredResult> on the wire.
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]
-> `RequestRootsAsync` throws `InvalidOperationException("Roots are not supported in stateless mode.")` whenever the server is running stateless — which includes every Streamable HTTP server under `2026-07-28` once that revision is forced to stateless-only in a future PR. Stdio servers and current-protocol stateful Streamable HTTP servers continue to work via the legacy server-to-client `roots/list` request flow. For code that needs to run on stateless servers — including all `2026-07-28` Streamable HTTP servers going forward — throw `InputRequiredException` from your handler instead. It works under both protocols and both session modes.
+> `RequestRootsAsync` throws `InvalidOperationException("Roots are not supported in stateless mode.")` whenever the server is running stateless — including Streamable HTTP requests served under `2026-07-28` with `Stateless = true`. Stdio servers and initialize-handshake stateful Streamable HTTP sessions continue to work via the initialize-era server-to-client `roots/list` request flow; an HTTP server set to `Stateless = false` refuses `2026-07-28` so dual-path clients can fall back before using that flow. For code that needs to run on stateless servers — including `2026-07-28` Streamable HTTP — throw `InputRequiredException` from your handler instead. It works under both protocols and both session modes.
 
 For example:
 

docs/concepts/sampling/sampling.md

@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ Sampling requires the client to advertise the `sampling` capability. This is han
 [MRTR](xref:mrtr) is the SEP-2322 mechanism for server-driven input requests, finalized in protocol revision `2026-07-28`. In that revision, the server-to-client `sampling/createMessage` request method is removed; the recommended way to ask the client to sample from a server handler is to throw <xref:ModelContextProtocol.Protocol.InputRequiredException> and let the SDK emit an <xref:ModelContextProtocol.Protocol.InputRequiredResult> on the wire.
 
 > [!IMPORTANT]
-> `SampleAsync` and `AsSamplingChatClient` throw `InvalidOperationException("Sampling is not supported in stateless mode.")` whenever the server is running stateless — which includes every Streamable HTTP server under `2026-07-28` once that revision is forced to stateless-only in a future PR. Stdio servers and current-protocol stateful Streamable HTTP servers continue to work via the legacy server-to-client `sampling/createMessage` request flow. For code that needs to run on stateless servers — including all `2026-07-28` Streamable HTTP servers going forward — throw `InputRequiredException` from your handler instead. It works under both protocols and both session modes.
+> `SampleAsync` and `AsSamplingChatClient` throw `InvalidOperationException("Sampling is not supported in stateless mode.")` whenever the server is running stateless — including Streamable HTTP requests served under `2026-07-28` with `Stateless = true`. Stdio servers and initialize-handshake stateful Streamable HTTP sessions continue to work via the initialize-era server-to-client `sampling/createMessage` request flow; an HTTP server set to `Stateless = false` refuses `2026-07-28` so dual-path clients can fall back before using that flow. For code that needs to run on stateless servers — including `2026-07-28` Streamable HTTP — throw `InputRequiredException` from your handler instead. It works under both protocols and both session modes.
 
 For example: