CLI: Progress notifications not captured, preventing timeout reset functionality

[olaservo]

Inspector Version

• 0.17.1 (current main branch)

Describe the bug

The CLI mode accepts --reset-timeout-on-progress flag but it doesn't actually reset timeouts on progress notifications because the CLI doesn't capture or handle progress notifications from MCP servers. This causes long-running operations to timeout even when progress notifications are being sent and --reset-timeout-on-progress true is specified.

The web UI correctly displays progress notifications and handles timeout resets, but the CLI mode does not yet implement this functionality.

To Reproduce

1. Run a long-running operation with tight timeout values:

   node build/cli.js npx @modelcontextprotocol/server-everything --cli --method tools/call --tool-name longRunningOperation --tool-arg duration=3 steps=2 --request-timeout 2000 --reset-timeout-on-progress true

2. Observe that the operation times out even though:
   • The server is sending progress notifications (verified in web UI)
   • --reset-timeout-on-progress true is set
   • The timeout should be reset on each progress update

Expected behavior

When --reset-timeout-on-progress true is set, the CLI should:

1. Listen for progress notifications from the MCP server
2. Reset the request timeout each time a progress notification is received
3. Display or log progress notifications (similar to how the web UI shows them)
4. Allow long-running operations to complete successfully as long as progress is being reported

Environment:

• OS: All platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• CLI mode (not browser-based)

Additional context

• PR feat - incorporated mcp server request configs for cli mode #373 adds the --request-timeout, --reset-timeout-on-progress, and --max-total-timeout flags to CLI mode
• The flags are parsed and passed to the SDK correctly
• However, the CLI code in cli/src/client/connection.ts and related files doesn't set up listeners for progress notifications
• This limitation means that --reset-timeout-on-progress and --max-total-timeout don't provide the full intended functionality for managing long-running operations in CLI mode

Related Issues/PRs:

• Add support for Inspector configuration settings in CLI mode #330 - Original request to add timeout configuration to CLI mode (addressed by PR feat - incorporated mcp server request configs for cli mode #373)
• feat - incorporated mcp server request configs for cli mode #373 - PR that added the timeout flags but with the limitation documented
• Add MCP server logs to --cli mode #408, [CLI mode] expose server stderr logging #452 - Related to displaying server logs/stderr in CLI mode

Suggested Implementation:

The CLI should implement progress notification handling similar to the web UI:

1. Set up notification listeners after connecting to the server
2. Handle notifications/progress messages
3. Optionally display progress updates to stderr (so they don't interfere with JSON output on stdout)
4. Ensure the SDK's timeout reset mechanism is triggered on progress notifications

[cliffhall]

When I run the command you listed above (note: I had to changenode build/cli.js to node build/cli.js):

node build/cli.js npx @modelcontextprotocol/server-everything --cli --method tools/call --tool-name longRunningOperation --tool-arg duration=3 steps=2 --request-timeout 2000 --reset-timeout-on-progress true

I get:

On main

On Kavyapriya-1804/feat-cli-server-request-configs (from #373)

[scottschreckengaust]

I would like a way to access the notifications/message also.