The Model Context Protocol includes an optional ping mechanism that allows either party to verify that their counterpart is still responsive and the connection is alive.

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Overview

The ping functionality is implemented through a simple request/response pattern. Either the client or server can initiate a ping by sending a ping request.

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Message Format

A ping request is a standard JSON-RPC request with no parameters:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": "123",
  "method": "ping"
}

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Behavior Requirements

1. The receiver MUST respond promptly with an empty response:

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": "123",
  "result": {}
}

2. If no response is received within a reasonable timeout period, the sender MAY:
   • Consider the connection stale
   • Terminate the connection
   • Attempt reconnection procedures

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Usage Patterns

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Implementation Considerations

• Implementations SHOULD periodically issue pings to detect connection health
• The frequency of pings SHOULD be configurable
• Timeouts SHOULD be appropriate for the network environment
• Excessive pinging SHOULD be avoided to reduce network overhead

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Error Handling

• Timeouts SHOULD be treated as connection failures
• Multiple failed pings MAY trigger connection reset
• Implementations SHOULD log ping failures for diagnostics