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Reference for MCP definition linter rules. Explains rule IDs, severity, and fixes for errors from `bun run lint:mcp` or `bun run devcheck`.
npx claudepluginhub cyanheads/cyanheads --plugin libofcongress-mcp-serverHow this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/libofcongress-mcp-server:api-linterThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
The linter validates tool, resource, and prompt definitions against the MCP spec and framework conventions. **It is build-time only — not invoked at server startup.** It runs in two places:
Reference for MCP definition linter rules. Explains rule IDs, severity, and fixes for errors from `bun run lint:mcp` or `bun run devcheck`.
Reference for MCP definition linter rules. Explains rule IDs, severities, and fixes when `bun run lint:mcp` or `bun run devcheck` reports lint errors/warnings.
Audits MCP tool/resource/prompt definitions for LLM-facing language quality across 12 categories including voice, leaks, defaults, and recovery hints. Produces grouped findings with file:line citations. Use during polish, after refactors, or before releases.
Share bugs, ideas, or general feedback.
The linter validates tool, resource, and prompt definitions against the MCP spec and framework conventions. It is build-time only — not invoked at server startup. It runs in two places:
| Entry point | When | On failure |
|---|---|---|
bun run lint:mcp | Manual or CI | Prints errors + warnings, exits non-zero on errors. |
bun run devcheck | Pre-commit workflow | Wraps lint:mcp alongside typecheck, format, bun audit, bun outdated. |
Both surface the same LintReport from validateDefinitions() (exported from @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/linter). Each diagnostic has a stable rule ID — that's the anchor you land on via the See: skills/api-linter/SKILL.md#<rule> breadcrumb appended to every message.
Severity:
devcheck.devcheck continues.Imports (if you need to run the linter programmatically):
import { validateDefinitions } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/linter';
import type { LintReport, LintDiagnostic } from '@cyanheads/mcp-ts-core/linter';
const report = validateDefinitions({ tools, resources, prompts, serverJson, packageJson });
if (!report.passed) process.exit(1);
Grouped by family. Jump to any rule ID via its anchor.
| Family | Rules | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Format parity | format-parity, format-parity-threw, format-parity-walk-failed | Format parity |
| Schema | schema-is-object, describe-on-fields, schema-serializable | Schema rules |
| Portability | schema-format-portability, schema-anyof-needs-type, schema-no-discriminator-keyword, schema-no-defs, schema-dialect-tag | Portability rules |
| Names | name-required, name-format, name-unique | Name rules |
| Tools | description-required, handler-required, auth-type, auth-scope-format, annotation-type, annotation-coherence, meta-ui-type, meta-ui-resource-uri-required, meta-ui-resource-uri-scheme, app-tool-resource-pairing | Tool rules |
| Resources | uri-template-required, uri-template-valid, resource-name-not-uri, template-params-align | Resource rules |
| Landing | landing-* (23 rules — shape, tagline, logo, links, repo, envExample, connectSnippets, theme) | Landing config rules |
| Prompts | generate-required | Prompt rules |
| Handler body | prefer-mcp-error-in-handler, prefer-error-factory, preserve-cause-on-rethrow, no-stringify-upstream-error | Handler body rules |
| Error contract (structural) | error-contract-type, error-contract-empty, error-contract-entry-type, error-contract-code-type, error-contract-code-unknown, error-contract-code-unknown-error, error-contract-reason-required, error-contract-reason-format, error-contract-reason-unique, error-contract-when-required, error-contract-retryable-type, error-contract-recovery-required, error-contract-recovery-empty, error-contract-recovery-min-words | Error contract rules |
| Error contract (conformance) | error-contract-conformance, error-contract-prefer-fail | Error contract rules |
| server.json | ~40 rules prefixed server-json-* | server.json rules |
Why this family exists: different MCP clients forward different surfaces of a tool response to the model. Claude Code reads structuredContent (from your handler's return value, typed by output). Claude Desktop reads content[] (from your format() function). Every field must be visible on both surfaces or one class of client sees less than another. The linter enforces this by synthesizing a sample value where every leaf is a uniquely identifiable sentinel, calling format() once, then verifying each sentinel (or its key name, for permissive types like booleans) appears in the rendered text.
Severity: error
Fires when format() does not render a field present in output. Emitted once per missing field; large schemas can produce many format-parity diagnostics from a single tool.
Primary fix: render the missing field in format(). For tools that return either a summary list or a detail view, use z.discriminatedUnion so each branch is walked separately:
output: z.discriminatedUnion('mode', [
z.object({ mode: z.literal('list'), items: z.array(ItemSchema) }),
z.object({ mode: z.literal('detail'), item: ItemSchema, history: z.array(HistoryEntry) }),
]),
format: (result) => {
if (result.mode === 'list') return renderList(result.items);
return renderDetail(result.item, result.history);
}
Escape hatch: if the output schema was over-typed for a genuinely dynamic upstream API (e.g., a third-party JSON blob whose shape you can't nail down), relax it:
output: z.object({}).passthrough()
passthrough() still flows the full payload to structuredContent without declaring each field, so the linter has nothing to check against and you're not maintaining aspirational typing.
Anti-pattern: summary-only format() like return [{ type: 'text', text: \Found ${n} items` }]. The sentinel walk will flag every field in the items array. Don't "fix" this by removing fields from output— that makesstructuredContent` clients blind too.
Severity: warning
Fires when format() throws while being called with a synthetic sample. The linter cannot verify parity because your formatter crashed before producing output.
Fix: format() must be total — render any valid value of the output schema without throwing. Common causes:
result.items.map(...) when items could be undefined)toFixed() or toISOString() on a value that could legitimately be any number/stringAdd narrow guards. The linter feeds a synthetic but schema-valid value; if your formatter can't handle it, real inputs will eventually hit the same path.
Severity: warning
Fires when the linter cannot walk the output schema to build a synthetic sample (usually because the schema uses an unusual composition the walker doesn't recognize). Parity is not verified for that tool — nothing is broken at runtime, but the check is silently disabled.
Fix: inspect the walker error message in the diagnostic. Usually caused by very deep recursion, custom Zod extensions, or mixing Zod 3 and 4 schema internals. File an issue against @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core with the schema shape — this is a linter gap, not user error.
Severity: error
Tool input/output and prompt args must be z.object({...}) at the top level (not z.string(), z.array(...), etc.). The MCP spec requires a keyed structure at the schema root.
Fix: wrap whatever you had in a single-key object:
// Wrong
input: z.array(z.string())
// Right
input: z.object({ items: z.array(z.string()).describe('List of items') })
Severity: warning
Every field in input, output, params, or args needs a .describe('...') call. Descriptions ship to the client and the LLM — missing ones make tools harder to use correctly.
Fix: add .describe('...') to the paths the linter flags. The diagnostic names which path is missing a description (e.g., input.filters.status).
Recursion rules — the linter walks selectively; primitive array elements are intentionally skipped. Knowing what's walked prevents over-application of describes that end up as noise in the generated JSON Schema.
| Schema position | Walked? | Describe required on inner? |
|---|---|---|
z.object({ ... }) field | Yes | Yes, on each field |
z.array(compound) element — object, array, or union | Yes | Yes, on the element |
z.array(primitive) element — string, number, enum, regex-branded primitive, etc. | No | No — outer array describe is sufficient |
z.union([a, b, ...]) non-literal option | Yes | Yes, on each option |
z.union([..., z.literal(X), ...]) literal option | No | No — outer union describe is sufficient |
The asymmetry that catches agents: inside z.union([z.string(), z.array(z.string())]), the outer z.string() option does need a describe (unions walk non-literal options), but the z.string() inside the inner array does not (arrays don't walk primitive elements). If the linter didn't flag a path, don't add a describe there — the redundant describe ships to the JSON Schema as clutter.
Literal variants are exempt because they carry no independent semantic content — they're structural markers. The canonical case is form-client blank tolerance, where a z.literal('') variant is threaded into a union alongside a validated string so empty submissions from MCP Inspector / web UIs round-trip without breaking schema-level validation:
variable: z
.union([
z.literal(''), // form-client sentinel — no describe needed
z.string().max(50).regex(/^[a-z_][a-z0-9_]*$/i)
.describe('Identifier matching [a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*, max 50 chars'),
])
.optional()
.describe('Variable name. Blank values from form-based clients are treated as omitted.'),
The outer describe on the union carries the semantic load; the non-literal variant still gets its own describe so the LLM sees the regex/length constraints in JSON Schema. Only the z.literal is skipped.
Severity: error
Input/output schemas must use JSON-Schema-serializable Zod types only. The MCP SDK converts schemas to JSON Schema for tools/list; non-serializable types cause a hard runtime failure.
Disallowed: z.custom(), z.date(), z.transform(), z.bigint(), z.symbol(), z.void(), z.map(), z.set(), z.function(), z.nan().
Fix: use structural equivalents. Most common swap:
// Wrong
z.date()
// Right
z.string().describe('ISO 8601 timestamp, e.g., 2026-04-20T12:00:00Z')
Parse the string to a Date inside the handler if you need one.
MCP pins JSON Schema 2020-12 as the default dialect (SEP-1613), but LLM vendors accept different subsets. A schema that passes schema-serializable can still hard-fail at OpenAI's tool validator or silently lose fields at Gemini's API surface. These rules walk the emitted JSON Schema for patterns that break cross-vendor.
Three default-on, two opt-in. Promote opt-ins via MCP_LINT_PORTABILITY=strict (env) or validateDefinitions({ portability: 'strict' }) when targeting multi-vendor deployments.
| Rule | Severity | Default-on? |
|---|---|---|
schema-format-portability | error | yes |
schema-anyof-needs-type | warning | yes |
schema-no-discriminator-keyword | warning | yes |
schema-no-defs | warning | only when portability: 'strict' |
schema-dialect-tag | warning | only when portability: 'strict' |
Severity: error
Fires when the emitted schema contains a format value outside the allowlist. Default = OpenAI's nine: date-time, time, date, duration, email, hostname, ipv4, ipv6, uuid — the strictest commonly-used target. OpenAI's tool validator hard-rejects unknown formats: the tool never registers and the model never sees it. Field report: cyanheads/git-mcp-server#47 (gpt-5-codex rejecting format: "uri" from z.url()).
Zod methods vs. the default allowlist:
| Zod call | Emitted format | Allowed? |
|---|---|---|
z.email(), z.uuid(), z.iso.datetime(), z.iso.date() | email / uuid / date-time / date | yes |
z.url() | uri | no — fires |
z.cuid(), z.cuid2(), z.ulid(), z.nanoid(), z.base64(), z.jwt() | various | no — fires |
Fix: drop the format method, move the constraint into .describe() text where the model reads it:
// Wrong // Right
homepage: z.url().describe('Homepage') homepage: z.string().describe('Homepage (absolute URL)')
Override: widen the allowlist when targeting only vendors that accept the format:
validateDefinitions({ formatAllowlist: ['email', 'uuid', 'date-time', 'uri'], tools, resources, prompts });
Severity: warning
Fires when an anyOf/oneOf branch lacks a top-level type. Gemini rejects with 400: reference to undefined schema. Triggered by patterns like z.union([z.object({...}).nullable(), z.object({...})]) — the inner nullable emits a typeless anyOf.
Fix: prefer optionality via required-omission, or use z.discriminatedUnion for tagged unions — both emit branches with explicit type: "object".
Severity: warning
Fires when a schema carries the OpenAPI discriminator keyword. OpenAI silently ignores it; Gemini doesn't recognize it. Zod 4's z.discriminatedUnion emits the portable shape (oneOf of typed branches with const-tagged literals), so this rule mainly catches hand-built schemas attached via .meta({...}) or third-party-generated JSON Schema.
Fix: drop the discriminator meta — the const literals on each branch are how clients tell variants apart.
Severity: warning (only when portability: 'strict')
Fires when emitted output contains $defs or $ref. Gemini rejects these (400: reference to undefined schema). Typically caused by reused or recursive types built with z.lazy(...). Opt-in because SEP-1576 (token-bloat mitigation) is moving the community toward more $defs.
Fix: inline the recursive type with bounded depth, or accept the Gemini limitation if you target only Anthropic clients.
Severity: warning (only when portability: 'strict')
Fires when the top-level schema is missing $schema. SEP-1613 makes JSON Schema 2020-12 the default dialect, but explicit tagging ("$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema") is forward-compatible — older SDK clients default to draft-07. Zod 4's toJSONSchema always emits $schema, so this rule is a no-op for Zod-only servers; it exists as forward-compat for hand-built schemas (see SEP-834).
Severity: error
Every tool, resource, and prompt definition needs a non-empty name string. For resources, an empty name also falls back to the URI template (see resource-name-not-uri).
Severity: error
Scope: tools only — resources and prompts are checked by name-required only.
Tool names must match ^[A-Za-z0-9._-]{1,128}$ (alphanumerics, dots, hyphens, underscores; 1–128 chars). Tools conventionally use snake_case.
Fix: rename to a valid identifier. If the legacy name is user-facing, keep title as the display string and use a valid name internally.
Severity: error
Tool names, resource names, and prompt names must each be unique within their type. Duplicates would cause the client to see only one.
Fix: rename one, or consolidate into a single definition if they're actually the same tool.
Severity: warning
Every tool, resource, and prompt needs a non-empty description. This is what the client shows the LLM to decide whether to call the definition. A missing description dramatically hurts selection accuracy.
Also applies to resources and prompts (same rule ID, different definitionType).
Fix: write a single cohesive paragraph. Prose, not bullet lists. Descriptions render inline in most clients.
Severity: error
Every tool must have a handler function (or taskHandlers object for task tools). Every resource must have a handler. Definitions without handlers can't do anything at runtime.
Also applies to resources (same rule ID, different definitionType).
Severity: error
auth must be an array of strings. A single string or other shape is rejected.
// Wrong
auth: 'tool:my_tool:read'
// Right
auth: ['tool:my_tool:read']
Severity: error
Every element in auth must be a non-empty string. Empty strings in the array are rejected — they'd match anything.
Severity: warning
annotations hints (readOnlyHint, destructiveHint, idempotentHint, openWorldHint) must be booleans. Strings like 'yes' or numbers are rejected — the MCP spec defines these as booleans and clients may type-check.
Severity: warning
Catches readOnlyHint: true with any explicit destructiveHint value (even false) — the destructive hint is meaningless on a read-only tool, so its presence signals authoring confusion. Drop destructiveHint entirely when the tool is read-only.
Severity: error (MCP Apps tools only)
When a tool declares _meta.ui, that field must be an object. null, arrays, or primitives are rejected.
Severity: error (MCP Apps tools only)
_meta.ui.resourceUri must be a non-empty string. This is the URI the client resolves to load the app UI.
Severity: warning (MCP Apps tools only)
_meta.ui.resourceUri should use the ui:// scheme. Other schemes (like https://) work but are discouraged — the ui:// convention signals the resource is meant to be hosted by the MCP server, not fetched externally.
Severity: warning (MCP Apps tools only)
An app tool's _meta.ui.resourceUri must match the uriTemplate of a registered resource. This catches the common mistake of renaming one side of the pair and forgetting the other.
Fix: either correct the resourceUri to match an existing resource, or register the resource it references. Use the add-app-tool skill's paired scaffold to avoid this.
Severity: error
Every resource needs a non-empty uriTemplate string. The URI template is the resource's primary identifier.
Severity: error
uriTemplate must be syntactically valid per RFC 6570: balanced braces, non-empty variable names. test://{id/data (unbalanced) and test://{}/data (empty variable) are rejected.
Severity: warning
Warns when the resource's name defaults to the URI template because no explicit name was provided. URIs make poor display names — clients often show them verbatim.
Fix: add a short name field:
resource('myscheme://{id}/data', {
name: 'Item data', // <-- add this
// ...
})
Severity: error
Every variable in the URI template must appear as a key in the params schema. test://{itemId}/data with params: z.object({ item_id: ... }) is rejected — casing mismatches count. The check is template → schema only; extra schema keys not referenced by the template are not flagged.
Fix: rename one side so they match exactly. The error message names which variables are on which side.
Severity: error
Every prompt needs a generate function that returns the message array. Prompts without generate have nothing to produce.
(Prompts also share name-* and description-required rules from their respective families.)
Validates the server.json manifest at project root against the MCP server manifest spec. Every rule below fires only when a server.json is present.
| Rule ID | Severity | What it checks |
|---|---|---|
server-json-type | error | server.json must be a JSON object, not an array or primitive |
server-json-name-required | error | name must be present and non-empty |
server-json-name-length | error | name length 3–200 characters |
server-json-name-format | error | name must match reverse-DNS pattern owner/project |
server-json-description-required | error | description must be present and non-empty |
server-json-description-length | warning | description > 100 chars — some registries truncate |
server-json-version-required | error | version must be present |
server-json-version-length | error | version length ≤ 255 |
server-json-version-no-range | error | version must be a specific version, not a range (^, ~, >=, etc.) |
server-json-version-semver | warning | version should be valid semver (major.minor.patch) |
server-json-version-sync | warning | server.json version should match package.json version |
server-json-repository-type | error | repository must be an object |
server-json-repository-url | error | repository.url is required when repository is present |
server-json-repository-source | error | repository.source is required when repository is present |
server-json-packages-type | error | packages must be an array |
server-json-package-type | error | Each packages[i] must be an object |
server-json-package-registry | error | packages[i].registryType is required |
server-json-package-identifier | error | packages[i].identifier is required |
server-json-package-transport | error | packages[i].transport is required |
server-json-package-no-latest | error | packages[i].version must not be "latest" — pin a specific version |
server-json-package-version-sync | warning | packages[i].version should match root version |
server-json-package-args-type | error | packages[i].packageArguments must be an array |
server-json-runtime-args-type | error | packages[i].runtimeArguments must be an array |
server-json-env-vars-type | error | packages[i].environmentVariables must be an array |
server-json-remotes-type | error | remotes must be an array |
server-json-remote-type | error | Each remotes[i] must be an object |
server-json-remote-transport-type | error | remotes[i].type is required |
server-json-remote-no-stdio | error | remotes[i].type must be streamable-http or sse — stdio is not valid for remotes |
server-json-transport-type | error | transport must be an object |
server-json-transport-type-value | error | transport.type must be one of stdio, streamable-http, sse |
server-json-transport-url-required | error | transport.url required for streamable-http and sse |
server-json-transport-url-format | warning | transport.url should be http:// or https:// |
server-json-argument-type | error | Each argument must be an object |
server-json-argument-type-value | error | argument.type must be positional or named |
server-json-argument-name | error | Named arguments require name |
server-json-argument-value | error | Positional arguments require value or valueHint |
server-json-input-format | warning | format should be string, number, boolean, or filepath |
server-json-env-var-type | error | Each environment variable must be an object |
server-json-env-var-name | error | Environment variable name is required |
server-json-env-var-description | warning | Environment variables should have a description |
Most of these are mechanical — fix the manifest field named in the diagnostic's message. The registry spec is the source of truth; this linter just surfaces violations before you submit.
Validate the landing config passed to createApp() (the config object that drives the framework's landing page). Run only when input.landing is provided to validateDefinitions. All errors — landing config that's structurally broken would render incorrectly on the public page.
| Rule | Severity | Catches |
|---|---|---|
landing-shape | error | landing is not a plain object |
landing-tagline-type | error | tagline is present but not a string |
landing-tagline-length | error | tagline exceeds the max length |
landing-logo-type | error | logo is present but not a string |
landing-logo-size | error | logo is too long for inline rendering |
landing-links-type | error | links is present but not an array |
landing-links-count | error | links exceeds the max count |
landing-link-shape | error | A links[] entry is not a plain object |
landing-link-href | error | A link entry's href is missing or not a non-empty string |
landing-link-label | error | A link entry's label is missing or not a non-empty string |
landing-repo-root-type | error | repoRoot is present but not a string |
landing-repo-root-shape | error | repoRoot is not a recognized GitHub URL shape |
landing-env-example-type | error | envExample is present but not a plain object |
landing-env-example-count | error | envExample has too many entries |
landing-env-example-key | error | An envExample key is empty or invalid |
landing-env-example-value | error | An envExample value is not a string |
landing-connect-snippets-type | error | connectSnippets is present but not a plain object |
landing-connect-snippets-key | error | A connectSnippets key is empty |
landing-connect-snippets-value | error | A connectSnippets value is not a string |
landing-connect-snippets-empty | error | A connectSnippets value is an empty string |
landing-theme-type | error | theme is present but not a plain object |
landing-theme-accent | error | theme.accent is present but not a string |
landing-theme-accent-format | error | theme.accent doesn't match the expected color format |
Diagnostic anchors for these rules are the rule ID — e.g. skills/api-linter/SKILL.md#landing-shape. Pass landing to validateDefinitions({ landing, tools, resources, prompts }) to opt in.
Heuristic source-text checks that scan handler.toString() for common error-handling anti-patterns. All warnings — false positives are possible because the rules can't see code reached through wrappers, factories assigned to variables, or service-layer throws. Each rule fires at most once per handler to keep reports quiet.
Severity: warning
Fires when a handler contains throw new Error(...). Plain Error doesn't carry a JSON-RPC code — the framework's auto-classifier degrades to InternalError, hiding the actual failure mode.
Plain Error is acceptable for "don't care" cases where the specific code doesn't matter (per CLAUDE.md: "plain Error for don't-care cases"). This rule targets domain-specific failures that deserve a concrete code — upgrade those to factories or ctx.fail, and accept the warning for the rest.
Fix: use McpError or a factory for domain-specific failures:
// instead of:
throw new Error('Item not found');
// use:
throw notFound('Item not found', { itemId });
Severity: warning
Fires when a handler builds an error via new McpError(JsonRpcErrorCode.X, ...) and a matching factory exists (notFound, rateLimited, serviceUnavailable, …). The factory form is shorter, self-documenting, and consistent with the rest of the codebase.
Fix: swap the constructor for the factory the diagnostic names:
// instead of:
throw new McpError(JsonRpcErrorCode.NotFound, 'Item missing');
// use:
throw notFound('Item missing');
Severity: warning
Fires when a catch (e) block throws a structured McpError (or factory) without passing { cause: e }. Dropping the cause loses the original stack trace — observability platforms and pino-pretty rely on it to render error chains.
Fix: thread the cause through the 4th McpError argument or factory options:
try {
await fetchUpstream();
} catch (e) {
throw serviceUnavailable('Upstream failed', { service: 'pubmed' }, { cause: e });
}
Severity: warning
Fires when a handler throws an error message containing JSON.stringify(...). Stringifying caught or upstream errors into the message risks leaking internal stack traces, AWS internal ARNs, or third-party trace IDs to clients.
Fix: sanitize first, or attach the raw blob to the error's data payload — never the message.
// instead of:
throw new Error(`Upstream failed: ${JSON.stringify(e)}`);
// use:
throw serviceUnavailable('Upstream failed', { upstreamError: e }, { cause: e });
Validate the optional errors[] declarative contract on tool/resource definitions. Structural rules check the shape of contract entries; conformance rules cross-check the handler body against the declared codes.
When a contract is declared, the handler receives a typed ctx.fail(reason, …) keyed by the declared reason union. See skills/api-errors/SKILL.md for runtime semantics.
Severity: error
Fires when errors is present but not an array. The contract must be a tuple of ErrorContract entries.
Severity: warning
Fires when errors: [] is declared. An empty contract is a no-op — nothing to surface in tools/list, no reason union for ctx.fail, no conformance to check.
Fix: drop the field, or declare actual failure modes.
Severity: error
Fires when an entry in errors[] isn't an object. Each entry must be { code, reason, when, recovery } (and optionally retryable).
Severity: error
Fires when an entry's code is missing or not a number. Use the JsonRpcErrorCode enum:
errors: [{ code: JsonRpcErrorCode.NotFound, reason: 'no_match', when: 'No items matched' }]
Severity: error
Fires when an entry's code is a number but not a known JsonRpcErrorCode value. Likely a typo or stale magic number — import the enum and use a member.
Severity: warning
Fires when an entry uses JsonRpcErrorCode.UnknownError (-32099). That code is the auto-classifier's giveup-fallback; declaring it in a contract conveys nothing useful to clients.
Fix: pick a more specific code (InternalError, ServiceUnavailable, etc.) or drop the entry.
Severity: error
Fires when an entry's reason is missing or empty. reason is the stable machine-readable identifier clients switch on; it must always be present.
Severity: warning
Fires when reason isn't snake_case (matched against ^[a-z][a-z0-9_]*$). Reasons are part of the public API — treat them like API constants. 'NotFound', 'no-match', '1bad' all warn.
Fix: rename to snake_case ('no_match', 'rate_limited', …).
Severity: error
Fires when two entries in the same contract share a reason. Reasons must be unique within a contract — they're how ctx.fail(reason, …) selects the entry.
Severity: error
Fires when an entry's when field is missing or empty. when is the human-readable explanation surfaced to LLMs and UI clients; without it, the contract is opaque.
Severity: warning
Fires when an entry's optional retryable field is present but isn't a boolean. Only true or false is meaningful — drop the field if you can't commit to either.
Severity: error
Fires when an entry's recovery field is missing or not a string. recovery is the agent's next-move guidance when this failure fires — it flows to the wire via ctx.recoveryFor.
Severity: error
Fires when recovery is an empty string. A blank recovery is worse than none — it suggests the field was considered and deliberately left empty.
Fix: write a concrete recovery hint (≥5 words).
Severity: warning
Fires when recovery has fewer than 5 words. Short recoveries like "Try again." are too vague to guide an agent's next action.
Fix: expand with specifics — what to try, what parameter to change, which tool to call instead.
Severity: warning
Cross-check rule. Fires when a handler throws a non-baseline code (via JsonRpcErrorCode.X or a factory like notFound()) that isn't declared in errors[].
Baseline codes (InternalError, ServiceUnavailable, Timeout, ValidationError, SerializationError) are auto-allowed because they bubble from anywhere — services, framework utilities, the auto-classifier — and are implicitly always-possible on any tool. Only domain-specific codes need declaring.
Fix: add the missing code to errors[] with a stable reason, or route through ctx.fail(reason, …) if it maps to an existing entry.
Heuristic limitations: the scan reads handler.toString() and only catches direct throw new McpError(JsonRpcErrorCode.X, …) and throw factory(…) patterns. Indirect throws (const e = notFound(); throw e;), throws from called services, and throws via runtime helpers like httpErrorFromResponse(...) are invisible.
Severity: warning
Fires when a handler throws a code that is declared in the contract directly (via factory or new McpError) instead of routing through ctx.fail(reason, …). Direct throws bypass the typed helper, leaving observers without a stable data.reason and disconnecting the throw site from the contract entry.
Fix: swap the direct throw for ctx.fail using the reason the diagnostic suggests:
// instead of:
throw notFound('No items match');
// use:
throw ctx.fail('no_match', 'No items match');
The diagnostic message includes the declared reason(s) for the code so you can copy-paste.
If output wraps a third-party API whose shape you can't pin down, prefer z.object({}).passthrough() over aspirational typing. The linter skips format-parity for passthrough schemas, and structuredContent still receives the full payload.
Warnings don't block startup, so you can ship with them logged. If one is genuinely wrong (rather than the rule being wrong for your case), file an issue against @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core with the repro — the linter rules are still maturing.
Don't remove fields from output to silence format-parity — that makes the data invisible to structuredContent clients too. Don't rename description to something else to silence describe-on-fields. The right fix is either to render the field (format-parity) or accept the warning (description-required).
If you're extending @cyanheads/mcp-ts-core with a new lint rule:
src/linter/rules/<family>-rules.ts. Return LintDiagnostic objects with a stable rule ID.validateDefinitions() in src/linter/validate.ts if it's a new family.tests/unit/linter/.metadata.version in the frontmatter.validateDefinitions() is family-prefix-based (server-json-* → #server-json-rules, etc.), so rules in existing families pick up the right anchor automatically.