Repository: jlowin/fastmcp

Issue:
Composed MCP Servers don't initialize lifespans
When an MCP Server is composed, the current code imports the tools but does not start-up the lifespan


This means you still need one giant lifespan function at the top level that initializes the lifespans of all the child servers. It would be nice if the composing FastMCP handled this for you.

Hints from issue comments:
@jlowin: That's a great callout! I overlooked this. @jlowin: This is addressed in #129, including a basic test. Lifespan behavior is tricky to test since low-level servers can't be stopped programmatically without error as far as I can tell. However, if you see any other behavior please open a new issue!

Solution patch:
diff --git a/src/fastmcp/server/server.py b/src/fastmcp/server/server.py
index 3c30145..875fc3d 100644
--- a/src/fastmcp/server/server.py
+++ b/src/fastmcp/server/server.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import re
 from collections.abc import AsyncIterator, Callable
 from contextlib import (
     AbstractAsyncContextManager,
+    AsyncExitStack,
     asynccontextmanager,
 )
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Generic, Literal
@@ -18,7 +19,6 @@ from fastapi import FastAPI
 from mcp.server.lowlevel.helper_types import ReadResourceContents
 from mcp.server.lowlevel.server import LifespanResultT
 from mcp.server.lowlevel.server import Server as MCPServer
-from mcp.server.lowlevel.server import lifespan as default_lifespan
 from mcp.server.session import ServerSession
 from mcp.server.sse import SseServerTransport
 from mcp.server.stdio import stdio_server
@@ -56,6 +56,19 @@ if TYPE_CHECKING:
 logger = get_logger(__name__)
 
 
+@asynccontextmanager
+async def default_lifespan(server: "FastMCP") -> AsyncIterator[Any]:
+    """Default lifespan context manager that does nothing.
+
+    Args:
+        server: The server instance this lifespan is managing
+
+    Returns:
+        An empty context object
+    """
+    yield {}
+
+
 def lifespan_wrapper(
     app: "FastMCP",
     lifespan: Callable[["FastMCP"], AbstractAsyncContextManager[LifespanResultT]],
@@ -64,7 +77,18 @@ def lifespan_wrapper(
 ]:
     @asynccontextmanager
     async def wrap(s: MCPServer[LifespanResultT]) -> AsyncIterator[LifespanResultT]:
-        async with lifespan(app) as context:
+        async with AsyncExitStack() as stack:
+            # enter main app's lifespan
+            context = await stack.enter_async_context(lifespan(app))
+
+            # Enter all mounted app lifespans
+            for prefix, mounted_app in app._mounted_apps.items():
+                mounted_context = mounted_app._mcp_server.lifespan(
+                    mounted_app._mcp_server
+                )
+                await stack.enter_async_context(mounted_context)
+                logger.debug(f"Prepared lifespan for mounted app '{prefix}'")
+
             yield context
 
     return wrap
@@ -84,10 +108,16 @@ class FastMCP(Generic[LifespanResultT]):
         self.tags: set[str] = tags or set()
         self.settings = fastmcp.settings.ServerSettings(**settings)
 
+        # Setup for mounted apps - must be initialized before _mcp_server
+        self._mounted_apps: dict[str, FastMCP] = {}
+
+        if lifespan is None:
+            lifespan = default_lifespan
+
         self._mcp_server = MCPServer[LifespanResultT](
             name=name or "FastMCP",
             instructions=instructions,
-            lifespan=lifespan_wrapper(self, lifespan) if lifespan else default_lifespan,  # type: ignore
+            lifespan=lifespan_wrapper(self, lifespan),
         )
         self._tool_manager = ToolManager(
             duplicate_behavior=self.settings.on_duplicate_tools
@@ -100,9 +130,6 @@ class FastMCP(Generic[LifespanResultT]):
         )
         self.dependencies = self.settings.dependencies
 
-        # Setup for mounted apps
-        self._mounted_apps: dict[str, FastMCP] = {}
-
         # Set up MCP protocol handlers
         self._setup_handlers()
 
@@ -554,10 +581,15 @@ class FastMCP(Generic[LifespanResultT]):
           Example: If app has a template with URI "weather://location/{id}", it will be available as "weather+weather://location/{id}"
         - The prompts are imported with prefixed names using the prompt_separator
           Example: If app has a prompt named "weather_prompt", it will be available as "weather_weather_prompt"
+        - The mounted app's lifespan will be executed when the parent app's lifespan runs,
+          ensuring that any setup needed by the mounted app is performed
 
         Args:
             prefix: The prefix to use for the mounted application
             app: The FastMCP application to mount
+            tool_separator: Separator for tool names (defaults to "_")
+            resource_separator: Separator for resource URIs (defaults to "+")
+            prompt_separator: Separator for prompt names (defaults to "_")
         """
         if tool_separator is None:
             tool_separator = "_"


Test patch:
diff --git a/tests/server/test_mount.py b/tests/server/test_mount.py
index 74a94f3..b48f157 100644
--- a/tests/server/test_mount.py
+++ b/tests/server/test_mount.py
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+import contextlib
+
+import pytest
+
 from fastmcp.server.server import FastMCP
 
 
@@ -182,3 +186,47 @@ async def test_mount_multiple_prompts():
     # Verify prompts were imported with correct prefixes
     assert "python_review_python" in main_app._prompt_manager._prompts
     assert "sql_explain_sql" in main_app._prompt_manager._prompts
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_mount_lifespan():
+    """Test that the lifespan of a mounted app is properly handled."""
+    # Create apps
+
+    lifespan_checkpoints = []
+
+    @contextlib.asynccontextmanager
+    async def lifespan(app: FastMCP):
+        lifespan_checkpoints.append(f"enter {app.name}")
+        try:
+            yield
+        finally:
+            lifespan_checkpoints.append(f"exit {app.name}")
+
+    main_app = FastMCP("MainApp", lifespan=lifespan)
+    sub_app = FastMCP("SubApp", lifespan=lifespan)
+    sub_app_2 = FastMCP("SubApp2", lifespan=lifespan)
+
+    main_app.mount("sub", sub_app)
+    main_app.mount("sub2", sub_app_2)
+
+    low_level_server = main_app._mcp_server
+    async with contextlib.AsyncExitStack() as stack:
+        # Note: this imitates the way that lifespans are entered for mounted
+        # apps It is presently difficult to stop a running server
+        # programmatically without error in order to test the exit conditions,
+        # so this is the next best thing
+        await stack.enter_async_context(low_level_server.lifespan(low_level_server))
+        assert lifespan_checkpoints == [
+            "enter MainApp",
+            "enter SubApp",
+            "enter SubApp2",
+        ]
+    assert lifespan_checkpoints == [
+        "enter MainApp",
+        "enter SubApp",
+        "enter SubApp2",
+        "exit SubApp2",
+        "exit SubApp",
+        "exit MainApp",
+    ]