claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Feature Request: Hot-reload MCP servers without restarting session [2 comments, 2 participants]

When MCP servers are added or modified in ~/.claude/settings.json (or project-level settings), the changes only take effect on a new session. Continued or resumed sessions retain the MCP server list from when they started. There is no way to pick up new MCP tools without losing session context.

Use case

Multi-agent workflows frequently evolve infrastructure mid-session. Adding a new MCP server (e.g., an orchestration tool, a new data source, a monitoring endpoint) should not require abandoning accumulated session context.

In our case: we added an llm-relay MCP server (8 tools for cross-provider delegation) to global settings while an agent session was active. The agent confirmed the tools were documented in its CLAUDE.md but could not access them — they were not in its tool set. The only fix was to exit and start a fresh session, losing 182K tokens of accumulated context.

Current behavior

MCP server list is loaded once at session start. Changes to settings during a session are invisible.

Requested behavior

Detect when MCP server configuration changes and hot-reload the server connections. Either:

1. Automatically on settings file change (preferred)
2. Via a /mcp reload command
3. At minimum, on /compact or /continue (session continuity points that already re-evaluate state)

Context

This is the same hot-reload pattern Claude Code already supports for hooks (settings changes take effect on next hook invocation). MCP servers should follow the same principle.