[GH-ISSUE #142] feat: MCP instructions support #63

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opened 2026-10-18 21:11:07 +00:00 by bsakaguchi · 1 comment

bsakaguchi commented

2026-10-18 21:11:07 +00:00

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Originally created by @rkconsulting on GitHub (May 15, 2025).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/open-webui/mcpo/issues/142

Check Existing Issues

I have searched the existing issues and discussions.

Problem Description

As per MCP spec, an MCP server can send "instructions". This is used to have a way of passing general instructions to the model about what it can do with the MCP server and which tools to use when etc. We need to have a way to get these instructions to show up to the model in OWUI so that its use of the MCP is not severely disadvantaged compared to a client fully supporting MCP spec.

Desired Solution you'd like

MCPO currently generates an OpenAPI-standard "server description", but it simply uses the serverInfo.name and appends " MCP Server", which is pretty redundant since "MCP Server" is likely already in the name of the thing! :-D

So since this field currently serves no real purpose, i propose we put the MCP instructions into this OpenAPI "description". They can be retrieved directly from the MCP session, just like the serverInfo:

github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk@6353dd192c/src/mcp/types.py (L300)

Then MCPO will be much more competitive and MCP servers will in many cases be more effective for OWUI!

Alternatives Considered

An alternative might be a description param in the config.json, but there is no real reason for this as the instructions are part of the current standard already.

Additional Context

No response

Originally created by @rkconsulting on GitHub (May 15, 2025). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/open-webui/mcpo/issues/142 ### Check Existing Issues - [x] I have searched the existing issues and discussions. ### Problem Description As per MCP spec, an MCP server can send "instructions". This is used to have a way of passing general instructions to the model about what it can do with the MCP server and which tools to use when etc. We need to have a way to get these instructions to show up to the model in OWUI so that its use of the MCP is not severely disadvantaged compared to a client fully supporting MCP spec. ### Desired Solution you'd like MCPO currently generates an OpenAPI-standard "server description", but it simply uses the serverInfo.name and appends " MCP Server", which is pretty redundant since "MCP Server" is likely already in the name of the thing! :-D So since this field currently serves no real purpose, i propose we put the MCP `instructions` into this OpenAPI "description". They can be retrieved directly from the MCP session, just like the `serverInfo`: https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk/blob/6353dd192c41b891ef3bf1dfc093db46f6e2175a/src/mcp/types.py#L300 Then MCPO will be much more competitive and MCP servers will in many cases be more effective for OWUI! ### Alternatives Considered An alternative might be a description param in the config.json, but there is no real reason for this as the `instructions` are part of the current standard already. ### Additional Context _No response_

bsakaguchi closed this issue

2026-10-18 21:11:07 +00:00

bsakaguchi commented

2026-10-18 21:11:09 +00:00

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@rkconsulting commented on GitHub (May 16, 2025):

@tjbck tested and works beautifully.

PR: https://github.com/open-webui/mcpo/pull/146

@rkconsulting commented on GitHub (May 16, 2025): @tjbck tested and works beautifully. PR: https://github.com/open-webui/mcpo/pull/146

bsakaguchi referenced this issue

2026-10-18 21:12:19 +00:00

[PR #63] [MERGED] Improved error/result handling #159