Make ClientTransportClosedException public and unify transport exception handling

src/ModelContextProtocol.Core/Client/McpClient.Methods.cs

@@ -52,20 +52,48 @@ public static async Task<McpClient> CreateAsync(
         {
             await clientSession.ConnectAsync(cancellationToken).ConfigureAwait(false);
         }
-        catch
+        catch (Exception ex) when (ex is not OperationCanceledException and not TransportClosedException)
         {
-            try
+            // ConnectAsync already disposed the session (which includes awaiting Completion).
+            // Check if the transport provided structured completion details indicating
+            // why the transport closed that aren't already in the original exception chain.
+            var completionDetails = await clientSession.Completion.ConfigureAwait(false);
+
+            // If the transport closed with a non-graceful error (e.g., server process exited)
+            // and the completion details carry an exception that's NOT already in the original
+            // exception chain, throw a TransportClosedException with the structured details so
+            // callers can programmatically inspect the closure reason (exit code, stderr, etc.).
+            // When the same exception is already in the chain (e.g., HttpRequestException from
+            // an HTTP transport), the original exception is more appropriate to re-throw.
+            if (completionDetails.Exception is { } detailsException &&
+                !ExceptionChainContains(ex, detailsException))
             {
-                await clientSession.DisposeAsync().ConfigureAwait(false);
+                throw new TransportClosedException(completionDetails);
             }
-            catch { } // allow the original exception to propagate
 
             throw;
         }
 
         return clientSession;
     }
 
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Returns <see langword="true"/> if <paramref name="target"/> is the same object as
+    /// <paramref name="exception"/> or any exception in its <see cref="Exception.InnerException"/> chain.
+    /// </summary>
+    private static bool ExceptionChainContains(Exception exception, Exception target)
+    {
+        for (Exception? current = exception; current is not null; current = current.InnerException)
+        {
+            if (ReferenceEquals(current, target))
+            {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+
+        return false;
+    }
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Recreates an <see cref="McpClient"/> using an existing transport session without sending a new initialize request.
     /// </summary>

src/ModelContextProtocol.Core/Client/TransportClosedException.cs

@@ -4,16 +4,37 @@
 namespace ModelContextProtocol.Client;
 
 /// <summary>
-/// <see cref="IOException"/> used to smuggle <see cref="ClientCompletionDetails"/> through
-/// the <see cref="ChannelWriter{T}.TryComplete(Exception?)"/> mechanism.
+/// An <see cref="IOException"/> that indicates the transport was closed, carrying
+/// structured <see cref="ClientCompletionDetails"/> about why the closure occurred.
 /// </summary>
 /// <remarks>
-/// This could be made public in the future to allow custom <see cref="ITransport"/>
-/// implementations to provide their own <see cref="ClientCompletionDetails"/>-derived types
-/// by completing their channel with this exception.
+/// <para>
+/// This exception is thrown when an MCP transport closes, either during initialization
+/// (e.g., from <see cref="McpClient.CreateAsync"/>) or during an active session.
+/// Callers can catch this exception to access the <see cref="Details"/> property
+/// for structured information about the closure.
+/// </para>
+/// <para>
+/// For stdio-based transports, the <see cref="Details"/> will be a
+/// <see cref="StdioClientCompletionDetails"/> instance providing access to the
+/// server process exit code, process ID, and standard error output.
+/// </para>
+/// <para>
+/// Custom <see cref="ITransport"/> implementations can provide their own
+/// <see cref="ClientCompletionDetails"/>-derived types by completing their
+/// <see cref="ChannelWriter{T}"/> with this exception.
+/// </para>
 /// </remarks>
-internal sealed class TransportClosedException(ClientCompletionDetails details) :
-    IOException(details.Exception?.Message, details.Exception)
+public sealed class TransportClosedException(ClientCompletionDetails details) :
+    IOException(details.Exception?.Message ?? "The transport was closed.", details.Exception)
 {
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Gets the structured details about why the transport was closed.
+    /// </summary>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// The concrete type of the returned <see cref="ClientCompletionDetails"/> depends on
+    /// the transport that was used. For example, <see cref="StdioClientCompletionDetails"/>
+    /// for stdio-based transports and <see cref="HttpClientCompletionDetails"/> for HTTP-based transports.
+    /// </remarks>
     public ClientCompletionDetails Details { get; } = details;
 }

src/ModelContextProtocol.Core/McpSessionHandler.cs

@@ -325,9 +325,16 @@ ex is OperationCanceledException &&
             }
 
             // Fail any pending requests, as they'll never be satisfied.
+            // If the transport's channel was completed with a TransportClosedException,
+            // propagate it so callers can access the structured completion details.
+            Exception pendingException =
+                _transport.MessageReader.Completion is { IsCompleted: true, IsFaulted: true } completion &&
+                    completion.Exception?.InnerException is { } innerException
+                    ? innerException
+                    : new IOException("The server shut down unexpectedly.");
             foreach (var entry in _pendingRequests)
             {
-                entry.Value.TrySetException(new IOException("The server shut down unexpectedly."));
+                entry.Value.TrySetException(pendingException);
             }
         }
     }

tests/ModelContextProtocol.Tests/Client/ClientCompletionDetailsTests.cs

@@ -4,6 +4,48 @@ namespace ModelContextProtocol.Tests.Client;
 
 public class ClientCompletionDetailsTests
 {
+    [Fact]
+    public void TransportClosedException_ExposesDetails()
+    {
+        var details = new StdioClientCompletionDetails
+        {
+            ExitCode = 42,
+            ProcessId = 12345,
+            StandardErrorTail = ["error line"],
+            Exception = new IOException("process exited"),
+        };
+
+        var exception = new TransportClosedException(details);
+
+        Assert.IsType<StdioClientCompletionDetails>(exception.Details);
+        var stdioDetails = (StdioClientCompletionDetails)exception.Details;
+        Assert.Equal(42, stdioDetails.ExitCode);
+        Assert.Equal(12345, stdioDetails.ProcessId);
+        Assert.Equal(["error line"], stdioDetails.StandardErrorTail);
+        Assert.Equal("process exited", exception.Message);
+        Assert.IsType<IOException>(exception.InnerException);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void TransportClosedException_WithNullException_HasDefaultMessage()
+    {
+        var details = new ClientCompletionDetails();
+
+        var exception = new TransportClosedException(details);
+
+        Assert.Equal("The transport was closed.", exception.Message);
+        Assert.Null(exception.InnerException);
+        Assert.Same(details, exception.Details);
+    }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void TransportClosedException_IsIOException()
+    {
+        var details = new ClientCompletionDetails();
+        IOException exception = new TransportClosedException(details);
+        Assert.IsType<TransportClosedException>(exception);
+    }
+
     [Fact]
     public void ClientCompletionDetails_PropertiesRoundtrip()
     {

tests/ModelContextProtocol.Tests/Client/McpClientCreationTests.cs

@@ -101,6 +101,24 @@ public async Task CreateAsync_WithCapabilitiesOptions(Type transportType)
         }        
     }
 
+    [Fact]
+    public async Task CreateAsync_TransportClosedDuringInit_ThrowsTransportClosedException()
+    {
+        // Arrange - a transport that completes its channel with a TransportClosedException
+        // when the client tries to send the initialize request (simulating a server process exit).
+        var transport = new TransportClosedDuringInitTransport();
+
+        // Act & Assert
+        var ex = await Assert.ThrowsAsync<TransportClosedException>(
+            () => McpClient.CreateAsync(transport, cancellationToken: TestContext.Current.CancellationToken));
+
+        var details = Assert.IsType<StdioClientCompletionDetails>(ex.Details);
+        Assert.Equal(42, details.ExitCode);
+        Assert.Equal(9999, details.ProcessId);
+        Assert.NotNull(details.StandardErrorTail);
+        Assert.Equal("Feature disabled", details.StandardErrorTail![0]);
+    }
+
     private class NopTransport : ITransport, IClientTransport
     {
         private readonly Channel<JsonRpcMessage> _channel = Channel.CreateUnbounded<JsonRpcMessage>();
@@ -155,4 +173,44 @@ public override Task SendMessageAsync(JsonRpcMessage message, CancellationToken
             throw new InvalidOperationException(ExpectedMessage);
         }
     }
+
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Simulates a transport that closes with structured completion details during initialization,
+    /// as would happen when a stdio server process exits before completing the handshake.
+    /// </summary>
+    private sealed class TransportClosedDuringInitTransport : ITransport, IClientTransport
+    {
+        private readonly Channel<JsonRpcMessage> _channel = Channel.CreateUnbounded<JsonRpcMessage>();
+
+        public bool IsConnected => true;
+        public string? SessionId => null;
+
+        public ChannelReader<JsonRpcMessage> MessageReader => _channel.Reader;
+
+        public Task<ITransport> ConnectAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default) => Task.FromResult<ITransport>(this);
+
+        public ValueTask DisposeAsync()
+        {
+            _channel.Writer.TryComplete();
+            return default;
+        }
+
+        public string Name => "Test TransportClosed Transport";
+
+        public Task SendMessageAsync(JsonRpcMessage message, CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
+        {
+            // Simulate the server process exiting: complete the channel with a TransportClosedException
+            // carrying structured completion details, then throw IOException like the real transport does.
+            var details = new StdioClientCompletionDetails
+            {
+                ExitCode = 42,
+                ProcessId = 9999,
+                StandardErrorTail = ["Feature disabled"],
+                Exception = new IOException("MCP server process exited unexpectedly (exit code: 42)"),
+            };
+
+            _channel.Writer.TryComplete(new TransportClosedException(details));
+            throw new IOException("Failed to send message.", new IOException("Broken pipe"));
+        }
+    }
 }