MCP Tasks
MCP Tasks is an official extension for operations that should not block one tool request until work finishes. A server can return a durable task handle; the client can poll status and retrieve the result later.
Use cases
- CI pipelines and deployments.
- Batch jobs lasting minutes or hours.
- External asynchronous APIs.
- Human-in-the-loop approval that may take time.
- Clients with unreliable connections.
Progressive enhancement
The server returns task handles only when the client declares support for the extension. Otherwise, the server can use a normal result path or return a capability error depending on the operation.
Durability
Task state must survive disconnects and ideally process restarts. Store status, progress, result location, and cancellation state in a durable job system.
Tasks solve duration and durability; they do not replace your queue or worker infrastructure.