fix: reject discovery for legacy-only servers

crates/rmcp/src/handler/server.rs

@@ -61,6 +61,16 @@ impl<H: ServerHandler> Service<RoleServer> for H {
             .is_some_and(|v| v.as_str() >= ProtocolVersion::V_2026_07_28.as_str());
         let requested_version = context.meta.protocol_version();
         let uses_inline_negotiation = !matches!(&request, ClientRequest::InitializeRequest(_));
+        // Legacy-only servers do not implement discovery. MethodNotFound tells
+        // dual-lifecycle clients to fall back to initialize.
+        if matches!(&request, ClientRequest::DiscoverRequest(_))
+            && self
+                .supported_protocol_versions()
+                .iter()
+                .all(ProtocolVersion::has_initialize)
+        {
+            return Err(McpError::method_not_found::<DiscoverRequestMethod>());
+        }
         if uses_inline_negotiation && let Some(requested_version) = requested_version.as_ref() {
             let supported_versions = self.supported_protocol_versions();
             if !supported_versions.contains(requested_version) {

crates/rmcp/tests/test_server_discover_http.rs

@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ impl ServerHandler for DiscoveryServer {
     }
 
     fn supported_protocol_versions(&self) -> Cow<'static, [ProtocolVersion]> {
-        Cow::Borrowed(&[ProtocolVersion::V_2025_11_25])
+        Cow::Borrowed(&[ProtocolVersion::V_2025_11_25, ProtocolVersion::V_2026_07_28])
     }
 }
 
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ async fn discover_returns_server_metadata_without_session() {
         body["result"],
         json!({
             "resultType": "complete",
-            "supportedVersions": ["2025-11-25"],
+            "supportedVersions": ["2025-11-25", "2026-07-28"],
             "capabilities": { "tools": {} },
             "_meta": {
                 "io.modelcontextprotocol/serverInfo": {
@@ -153,16 +153,16 @@ async fn discover_does_not_require_initialization_in_legacy_session_mode() {
 async fn discover_rejects_unsupported_version_with_http_400() {
     let (client, url, cancellation_token) = spawn_server(true).await;
 
-    let response = post_discover(&client, &url, "2026-07-28", Some("2026-07-28")).await;
+    let response = post_discover(&client, &url, "2099-01-01", Some("2099-01-01")).await;
 
     assert_eq!(response.status(), 400);
     let body: serde_json::Value = response.json().await.expect("response should be JSON");
     assert_eq!(body["error"]["code"], -32022);
     assert_eq!(
         body["error"]["data"],
         json!({
-            "requested": "2026-07-28",
-            "supported": ["2025-11-25"]
+            "requested": "2099-01-01",
+            "supported": ["2025-11-25", "2026-07-28"]
         })
     );
 
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ async fn regular_request_rejects_server_unsupported_meta_version() {
         "method": "tools/list",
         "params": {
             "_meta": {
-                "io.modelcontextprotocol/protocolVersion": "2026-07-28"
+                "io.modelcontextprotocol/protocolVersion": "2099-01-01"
             }
         }
     });
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ async fn regular_request_rejects_server_unsupported_meta_version() {
         .post(&url)
         .header("Content-Type", "application/json")
         .header("Accept", "application/json, text/event-stream")
-        .header("MCP-Protocol-Version", "2026-07-28")
+        .header("MCP-Protocol-Version", "2099-01-01")
         .header("Mcp-Method", "tools/list")
         .json(&body)
         .send()
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ async fn discover_accepts_missing_optional_client_info() {
 async fn discover_error_uses_http_400_when_sse_is_configured() {
     let (client, url, cancellation_token) = spawn_server(false).await;
 
-    let response = post_discover(&client, &url, "2026-07-28", Some("2026-07-28")).await;
+    let response = post_discover(&client, &url, "2099-01-01", Some("2099-01-01")).await;
 
     assert_eq!(response.status(), 400);
     assert_eq!(

crates/rmcp/tests/test_stateless_server_requests.rs

@@ -1,18 +1,22 @@
 #![cfg(all(feature = "server", not(feature = "local")))]
 
 use std::{
-    sync::{Arc, Mutex},
+    borrow::Cow,
+    sync::{
+        Arc, Mutex,
+        atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering},
+    },
     time::Duration,
 };
 
 use rmcp::{
-    ServerHandler, ServiceExt,
+    ClientLifecycleMode, ClientServiceExt, ServerHandler, ServiceExt,
     model::{
         ClientCapabilities, ClientJsonRpcMessage, ClientRequest, DiscoverRequest,
-        DiscoverRequestParams, ErrorCode, ErrorData, Implementation, ListToolsRequest,
-        ListToolsResult, NumberOrString, PaginatedRequestParams, ProgressNotificationParam,
-        ProgressToken, ProtocolVersion, RequestId, RequestMetaObject, ServerJsonRpcMessage,
-        ServerNotification,
+        DiscoverRequestMethod, DiscoverRequestParams, DiscoverResult, ErrorCode, ErrorData,
+        Implementation, ListToolsRequest, ListToolsResult, NumberOrString, PaginatedRequestParams,
+        ProgressNotificationParam, ProgressToken, ProtocolVersion, RequestId, RequestMetaObject,
+        ServerJsonRpcMessage, ServerNotification,
     },
     service::{MaybeSendFuture, RequestContext, RoleServer},
     transport::{IntoTransport, Transport},
@@ -23,6 +27,25 @@ struct StatelessServer;
 
 impl ServerHandler for StatelessServer {}
 
+#[derive(Clone)]
+struct LegacyServer {
+    discover_called: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+}
+
+impl ServerHandler for LegacyServer {
+    fn supported_protocol_versions(&self) -> Cow<'static, [ProtocolVersion]> {
+        Cow::Borrowed(ProtocolVersion::known_up_to(&ProtocolVersion::V_2025_11_25))
+    }
+
+    async fn discover(
+        &self,
+        _context: RequestContext<RoleServer>,
+    ) -> Result<DiscoverResult, ErrorData> {
+        self.discover_called.store(true, Ordering::Relaxed);
+        Err(ErrorData::method_not_found::<DiscoverRequestMethod>())
+    }
+}
+
 fn complete_meta() -> RequestMetaObject {
     complete_meta_for("stateless-client")
 }
@@ -123,6 +146,42 @@ async fn stateless_server_rejects_missing_metadata_on_every_request() {
     running.cancel().await.expect("cancel server");
 }
 
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn legacy_only_server_rejects_discovery_before_dispatch() {
+    let discover_called = Arc::new(AtomicBool::new(false));
+    let server = LegacyServer {
+        discover_called: Arc::clone(&discover_called),
+    };
+    let (server_transport, client_transport) = tokio::io::duplex(4096);
+    let server_task = tokio::spawn(async move {
+        server
+            .serve(server_transport)
+            .await
+            .expect("server should start")
+    });
+
+    let client = ()
+        .serve_with_lifecycle(
+            client_transport,
+            ClientLifecycleMode::Auto {
+                preferred_versions: vec![ProtocolVersion::V_2026_07_28],
+                legacy_version: Some(ProtocolVersion::V_2025_11_25),
+            },
+        )
+        .await
+        .expect("client should fall back to initialize");
+
+    assert!(!discover_called.load(Ordering::Relaxed));
+
+    client.cancel().await.expect("cancel client");
+    server_task
+        .await
+        .expect("server task")
+        .cancel()
+        .await
+        .expect("cancel server");
+}
+
 #[derive(Clone)]
 struct ContextServer {
     seen_clients: Arc<Mutex<Vec<String>>>,