Support notifications/cancelled per MCP specification

README.md

@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ It implements the Model Context Protocol specification, handling model context r
 - Supports roots (server-to-client filesystem boundary queries)
 - Supports sampling (server-to-client LLM completion requests)
 - Supports cursor-based pagination for list operations
+- Supports server-side cancellation of in-flight requests (notifications/cancelled)
 
 ### Supported Methods
 
@@ -1096,9 +1097,137 @@ Notifications follow the JSON-RPC 2.0 specification and use these method names:
 - `notifications/tools/list_changed`
 - `notifications/prompts/list_changed`
 - `notifications/resources/list_changed`
+- `notifications/cancelled`
 - `notifications/progress`
 - `notifications/message`
 
+### Cancellation
+
+The MCP Ruby SDK supports server-side handling of the
+[MCP `notifications/cancelled` utility](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2025-11-25/basic/utilities/cancellation).
+When a client sends `notifications/cancelled` for an in-flight request, the server stops
+processing cooperatively and suppresses the JSON-RPC response for that request.
+
+Cancellation is cooperative: the SDK does not forcibly terminate tool code. Instead,
+a `MCP::Cancellation` token is threaded through `server_context`, and long-running tools
+poll it to exit early. When a tool returns after cancellation has been observed,
+the server suppresses the JSON-RPC response, matching the spec. The `initialize` request
+is never cancellable per the spec.
+
+> [!NOTE]
+> Client-initiated cancellation (`Client#cancel` equivalent that would also abort
+> the calling thread's wait) is not yet implemented. Sending `notifications/cancelled`
+> from the client side can be done by constructing the notification payload and writing it
+> directly through the transport, but the calling thread does not yet unwind automatically.
+> This is tracked as a follow-up.
+
+#### Server-Side: Handlers that Check for Cancellation
+
+Any handler that opts in to `server_context:` - tools (`Tool.call`), prompt templates,
+`resources_read_handler`, `completion_handler`, `resources_subscribe_handler`,
+`resources_unsubscribe_handler`, and `define_custom_method` blocks - receives
+an `MCP::ServerContext` wired to the in-flight request's cancellation token.
+Handlers check `cancelled?` in their work loop, or call `raise_if_cancelled!` to raise
+`MCP::CancelledError` at a safe point:
+
+```ruby
+class LongRunningTool < MCP::Tool
+  description "A tool that supports cancellation"
+  input_schema(properties: { count: { type: "integer" } }, required: ["count"])
+
+  def self.call(count:, server_context:)
+    count.times do |i|
+      # Exit early if the client has sent `notifications/cancelled`.
+      break if server_context.cancelled?
+
+      do_work(i)
+    end
+
+    MCP::Tool::Response.new([{ type: "text", text: "Done" }])
+  end
+end
+```
+
+Alternatively, raise at the next safe point with `raise_if_cancelled!`:
+
+```ruby
+def self.call(count:, server_context:)
+  count.times do |i|
+    server_context.raise_if_cancelled!
+
+    do_work(i)
+  end
+
+  MCP::Tool::Response.new([{ type: "text", text: "Done" }])
+end
+```
+
+When a handler observes cancellation (either by returning early with `cancelled?` or
+by raising `MCP::CancelledError` via `raise_if_cancelled!`), the server drops the response and
+no JSON-RPC result is sent to the client.
+
+The same pattern works for other handler types:
+
+```ruby
+# resources/read
+server.resources_read_handler do |params, server_context:|
+  server_context.raise_if_cancelled!
+  # read the resource
+end
+
+# completion/complete
+server.completion_handler do |params, server_context:|
+  server_context.raise_if_cancelled!
+  # compute completions
+end
+
+# custom method
+server.define_custom_method(method_name: "custom/slow") do |params, server_context:|
+  server_context.raise_if_cancelled!
+  # do work
+end
+
+# prompts (via Prompt subclass)
+class SlowPrompt < MCP::Prompt
+  prompt_name "slow_prompt"
+
+  def self.template(args, server_context:)
+    server_context.raise_if_cancelled!
+    MCP::Prompt::Result.new(messages: [])
+  end
+end
+```
+
+Handlers that do not declare a `server_context:` keyword continue to work unchanged -
+the opt-in detection only wraps the context when the block signature asks for it.
+
+#### Nested Server-to-Client Requests Are Cancelled Automatically
+
+When a tool handler is waiting on a nested server-to-client request
+(`server_context.create_sampling_message`, `create_form_elicitation`, or
+`create_url_elicitation`), cancelling the parent tool call automatically raises
+`MCP::CancelledError` from the nested call, so the tool does not need to wrap it
+in its own `cancelled?` checks:
+
+```ruby
+def self.call(server_context:)
+  result = server_context.create_sampling_message(messages: messages, max_tokens: 100)
+  # If the parent tools/call is cancelled while waiting above, MCP::CancelledError
+  # is raised here and the tool can let it propagate or clean up as needed.
+  MCP::Tool::Response.new([{ type: "text", text: result[:content][:text] }])
+rescue MCP::CancelledError
+  # Optional: run cleanup. Re-raising (or letting it propagate) is fine; the server
+  # will still suppress the JSON-RPC response per the MCP spec.
+  raise
+end
+```
+
+Nested cancellation propagation is supported on `StreamableHTTPTransport` only.
+`StdioTransport` is single-threaded and blocks on `$stdin.gets`, so a nested
+`server_context.create_sampling_message` inside a tool runs to completion even if
+the parent `tools/call` is cancelled. The parent tool itself still observes cancellation
+via `server_context.cancelled?` between nested calls.
+
 ### Ping
 
 The MCP Ruby SDK supports the

lib/json_rpc_handler.rb

@@ -18,6 +18,11 @@ class ErrorCode
 
   DEFAULT_ALLOWED_ID_CHARACTERS = /\A[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+\z/
 
+  # Sentinel return value from a handler. When a handler returns this,
+  # `process_request` emits no JSON-RPC response for the request,
+  # matching the notification-style semantics (id is ignored).
+  NO_RESPONSE = Object.new.freeze
+
   extend self
 
   def handle(request, id_validation_pattern: DEFAULT_ALLOWED_ID_CHARACTERS, &method_finder)
@@ -103,6 +108,7 @@ def process_request(request, id_validation_pattern:, &method_finder)
       end
 
       result = method.call(params)
+      return if result.equal?(NO_RESPONSE)
 
       success_response(id: id, result: result)
     rescue MCP::Server::RequestHandlerError => e

lib/mcp.rb

@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
 
 module MCP
   autoload :Annotations, "mcp/annotations"
+  autoload :Cancellation, "mcp/cancellation"
+  autoload :CancelledError, "mcp/cancelled_error"
   autoload :Client, "mcp/client"
   autoload :Content, "mcp/content"
   autoload :Icon, "mcp/icon"

lib/mcp/cancellation.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require_relative "cancelled_error"
+
+module MCP
+  class Cancellation
+    attr_reader :reason, :request_id
+
+    def initialize(request_id: nil)
+      @request_id = request_id
+      @reason = nil
+      @cancelled = false
+      @callbacks = []
+      @mutex = Mutex.new
+    end
+
+    def cancelled?
+      @mutex.synchronize { @cancelled }
+    end
+
+    def cancel(reason: nil)
+      callbacks = @mutex.synchronize do
+        return false if @cancelled
+
+        @cancelled = true
+        @reason = reason
+        @callbacks.tap { @callbacks = [] }
+      end
+
+      callbacks.each do |callback|
+        callback.call(reason)
+      rescue StandardError => e
+        MCP.configuration.exception_reporter.call(e, { error: "Cancellation callback failed" })
+      end
+
+      true
+    end
+
+    # Registers a callback invoked synchronously on the first `cancel` call.
+    # If already cancelled, fires immediately.
+    #
+    # Returns the block itself as a handle that can be passed to `off_cancel`
+    # to deregister it (e.g. when a nested request completes normally and the
+    # hook should not fire on a later parent cancellation).
+    def on_cancel(&block)
+      fire_now = false
+      @mutex.synchronize do
+        if @cancelled
+          fire_now = true
+        else
+          @callbacks << block
+        end
+      end
+
+      block.call(@reason) if fire_now
+      block
+    end
+
+    # Removes a previously-registered `on_cancel` callback. Returns `true`
+    # if the callback was still pending (i.e. had not yet fired), `false`
+    # otherwise. Safe to call with `nil`.
+    def off_cancel(handle)
+      return false unless handle
+
+      @mutex.synchronize { !@callbacks.delete(handle).nil? }
+    end
+
+    def raise_if_cancelled!
+      raise CancelledError.new(request_id: @request_id, reason: @reason) if cancelled?
+    end
+  end
+end

lib/mcp/cancelled_error.rb

@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module MCP
+  class CancelledError < StandardError
+    attr_reader :request_id, :reason
+
+    def initialize(message = "Request was cancelled", request_id: nil, reason: nil)
+      super(message)
+      @request_id = request_id
+      @reason = reason
+    end
+  end
+end