Simplify stdio cleanup: unified stream cleanup across platforms

cherry-pick of #555

Add regression tests for stdio cleanup hanging

**NOTE: These tests FAIL without the changes introduced in #559**

- test_stdio_client_universal_timeout
- test_stdio_client_immediate_completion

await read_stream.aclose()
await write_stream.aclose()
await read_stream_writer.aclose()
await write_stream_reader.aclose()

These tests verify that stdio_client completes cleanup within reasonable
time for both slow-terminating and fast-exiting processes, preventing
the hanging issues reported in #559.

**NOTE: This test FAILS without the changes introduced in #555**

- test_stdio_client_sigint_only_process

try:
    process.terminate()
    with anyio.fail_after(2.0):
        await process.wait()
except TimeoutError:
    # If process doesn't terminate in time, force kill it
    process.kill()

This test verifies that on UNIX systems MCP servers that don't respect
SIGTERM but e.g. SIGINT still get terminated after a grace period.

Author: felixweinberger

src/mcp/client/stdio/__init__.py

@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 from .win32 import (
     create_windows_process,
     get_windows_executable_command,
-    terminate_windows_process,
 )
 
 # Environment variables to inherit by default
@@ -180,10 +179,12 @@ async def stdin_writer():
         finally:
             # Clean up process to prevent any dangling orphaned processes
             try:
-                if sys.platform == "win32":
-                    await terminate_windows_process(process)
-                else:
-                    process.terminate()
+                process.terminate()
+                with anyio.fail_after(2.0):
+                    await process.wait()
+            except TimeoutError:
+                # If process doesn't terminate in time, force kill it
+                process.kill()
             except ProcessLookupError:
                 # Process already exited, which is fine
                 pass

src/mcp/client/stdio/win32.py

@@ -8,9 +8,7 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import BinaryIO, TextIO, cast
 
-import anyio
 from anyio import to_thread
-from anyio.abc import Process
 from anyio.streams.file import FileReadStream, FileWriteStream
 
 
@@ -159,24 +157,3 @@ async def create_windows_process(
             bufsize=0,
         )
         return FallbackProcess(popen_obj)
-
-
-async def terminate_windows_process(process: Process | FallbackProcess):
-    """
-    Terminate a Windows process.
-
-    Note: On Windows, terminating a process with process.terminate() doesn't
-    always guarantee immediate process termination.
-    So we give it 2s to exit, or we call process.kill()
-    which sends a SIGKILL equivalent signal.
-
-    Args:
-        process: The process to terminate
-    """
-    try:
-        process.terminate()
-        with anyio.fail_after(2.0):
-            await process.wait()
-    except TimeoutError:
-        # Force kill if it doesn't terminate
-        process.kill()

tests/client/test_stdio.py

@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 import shutil
+import sys
+import textwrap
+import time
 
+import anyio
 import pytest
 
 from mcp.client.session import ClientSession
@@ -90,3 +94,121 @@ async def test_stdio_client_nonexistent_command():
         or "not found" in error_message.lower()
         or "cannot find the file" in error_message.lower()  # Windows error message
     )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_stdio_client_universal_cleanup():
+    """
+    Test that stdio_client completes cleanup within reasonable time
+    even when connected to processes that exit slowly.
+    """
+
+    # Use a Python script that simulates a long-running process
+    # This ensures consistent behavior across platforms
+    long_running_script = textwrap.dedent(
+        """
+        import time
+        import sys
+        
+        # Simulate a long-running process
+        for i in range(100):
+            time.sleep(0.1)
+            # Flush to ensure output is visible
+            sys.stdout.flush()
+            sys.stderr.flush()
+        """
+    )
+
+    server_params = StdioServerParameters(
+        command=sys.executable,
+        args=["-c", long_running_script],
+    )
+
+    start_time = time.time()
+
+    with anyio.move_on_after(8.0) as cancel_scope:
+        async with stdio_client(server_params) as (read_stream, write_stream):
+            # Immediately exit - this triggers cleanup while process is still running
+            pass
+
+        end_time = time.time()
+        elapsed = end_time - start_time
+
+        # On Windows: 2s (stdin wait) + 2s (terminate wait) + overhead = ~5s expected
+        assert elapsed < 6.0, (
+            f"stdio_client cleanup took {elapsed:.1f} seconds, expected < 6.0 seconds. "
+            f"This suggests the timeout mechanism may not be working properly."
+        )
+
+    # Check if we timed out
+    if cancel_scope.cancelled_caught:
+        pytest.fail(
+            "stdio_client cleanup timed out after 8.0 seconds. "
+            "This indicates the cleanup mechanism is hanging and needs fixing."
+        )
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+@pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform == "win32", reason="Windows signal handling is different")
+async def test_stdio_client_sigint_only_process():
+    """
+    Test cleanup with a process that ignores SIGTERM but responds to SIGINT.
+    """
+    # Create a Python script that ignores SIGTERM but handles SIGINT
+    script_content = textwrap.dedent(
+        """
+        import signal
+        import sys
+        import time
+
+        # Ignore SIGTERM (what process.terminate() sends)
+        signal.signal(signal.SIGTERM, signal.SIG_IGN)
+
+        # Handle SIGINT (Ctrl+C signal) by exiting cleanly
+        def sigint_handler(signum, frame):
+            sys.exit(0)
+
+        signal.signal(signal.SIGINT, sigint_handler)
+
+        # Keep running until SIGINT received
+        while True:
+            time.sleep(0.1)
+        """
+    )
+
+    server_params = StdioServerParameters(
+        command="python",
+        args=["-c", script_content],
+    )
+
+    start_time = time.time()
+
+    try:
+        # Use anyio timeout to prevent test from hanging forever
+        with anyio.move_on_after(5.0) as cancel_scope:
+            async with stdio_client(server_params) as (read_stream, write_stream):
+                # Let the process start and begin ignoring SIGTERM
+                await anyio.sleep(0.5)
+                # Exit context triggers cleanup - this should not hang
+                pass
+
+        if cancel_scope.cancelled_caught:
+            raise TimeoutError("Test timed out")
+
+        end_time = time.time()
+        elapsed = end_time - start_time
+
+        # Should complete quickly even with SIGTERM-ignoring process
+        # This will fail if cleanup only uses process.terminate() without fallback
+        assert elapsed < 5.0, (
+            f"stdio_client cleanup took {elapsed:.1f} seconds with SIGTERM-ignoring process. "
+            f"Expected < 5.0 seconds. This suggests the cleanup needs SIGINT/SIGKILL fallback."
+        )
+    except (TimeoutError, Exception) as e:
+        if isinstance(e, TimeoutError) or "timed out" in str(e):
+            pytest.fail(
+                "stdio_client cleanup timed out after 5.0 seconds with SIGTERM-ignoring process. "
+                "This confirms the cleanup needs SIGINT/SIGKILL fallback for processes that ignore SIGTERM."
+            )
+        else:
+            raise