MCP Error Handling, Retries, and Structured Failures (SOLVED)
Agents waste tokens and cause incidents when errors are opaque strings.
TL;DR — Quick Answer
Return structured errors with code, message, retryable flag, and optional remediation hints. Hosts apply exponential backoff for retryable downstream failures; models should not blindly retry validation or auth errors.
The Interview Question
How should MCP servers return errors so agents can recover? Design retry policies for transient vs permanent failures.
Deep Explanation
Agents waste tokens and cause incidents when errors are opaque strings.
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MCPErrorsRetriesReliabilityAnthropicStripe