fix: ensure MCP and skills config changes are immediately reflected

- Use ExtensionsConfig.from_file() instead of cached config to always
  read latest configuration from disk in LangGraph Server
- Add mtime-based cache invalidation for MCP tools to detect config
  file changes made through Gateway API
- Call reload_extensions_config() in Gateway API after updates to
  refresh the global cache
- Remove unnecessary MCP initialization from Gateway startup since
  MCP tools are only used by LangGraph Server

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

backend/src/gateway/app.py

@@ -23,13 +23,10 @@ async def lifespan(app: FastAPI) -> AsyncGenerator[None, None]:
     config = get_gateway_config()
     logger.info(f"Starting API Gateway on {config.host}:{config.port}")
 
-    # Initialize MCP tools at startup
+    # NOTE: MCP tools initialization is NOT done here because:
-    try:
+    # 1. Gateway doesn't use MCP tools - they are used by Agents in the LangGraph Server
-        from src.mcp import initialize_mcp_tools
+    # 2. Gateway and LangGraph Server are separate processes with independent caches
-
+    # MCP tools are lazily initialized in LangGraph Server when first needed
-        await initialize_mcp_tools()
-    except Exception as e:
-        logger.warning(f"Failed to initialize MCP tools: {e}")
 
     yield
     logger.info("Shutting down API Gateway")

backend/src/gateway/routers/mcp.py

@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ from fastapi import APIRouter, HTTPException
 from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
 
 from src.config.extensions_config import ExtensionsConfig, get_extensions_config, reload_extensions_config
-from src.mcp.cache import reset_mcp_tools_cache
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 router = APIRouter(prefix="/api", tags=["mcp"])
@@ -139,15 +138,11 @@ async def update_mcp_configuration(request: McpConfigUpdateRequest) -> McpConfig
 
         logger.info(f"MCP configuration updated and saved to: {config_path}")
 
-        # Reload the configuration to update the cache
+        # NOTE: No need to reload/reset cache here - LangGraph Server (separate process)
-        reload_extensions_config()
+        # will detect config file changes via mtime and reinitialize MCP tools automatically
 
-        # Reset MCP tools cache so they will be reinitialized with new config on next use
+        # Reload the configuration and update the global cache
-        reset_mcp_tools_cache()
+        reloaded_config = reload_extensions_config()
-        logger.info("MCP tools cache reset - tools will be reinitialized on next use")
-
-        # Return the updated configuration
-        reloaded_config = get_extensions_config()
         return McpConfigResponse(
             mcp_servers={name: McpServerConfigResponse(**server.model_dump()) for name, server in reloaded_config.mcp_servers.items()}
         )

backend/src/gateway/routers/skills.py

@@ -207,10 +207,10 @@ async def update_skill(skill_name: str, request: SkillUpdateRequest) -> SkillRes
 
         logger.info(f"Skills configuration updated and saved to: {config_path}")
 
-        # Reload the configuration to update the cache
+        # Reload the extensions config to update the global cache
         reload_extensions_config()
 
-        # Reload the skills to get the updated status
+        # Reload the skills to get the updated status (for API response)
         skills = load_skills(enabled_only=False)
         updated_skill = next((s for s in skills if s.name == skill_name), None)
 

backend/src/mcp/cache.py

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import asyncio
 import logging
+import os
 
 from langchain_core.tools import BaseTool
 
@@ -10,6 +11,46 @@ logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 _mcp_tools_cache: list[BaseTool] | None = None
 _cache_initialized = False
 _initialization_lock = asyncio.Lock()
+_config_mtime: float | None = None  # Track config file modification time
+
+
+def _get_config_mtime() -> float | None:
+    """Get the modification time of the extensions config file.
+
+    Returns:
+        The modification time as a float, or None if the file doesn't exist.
+    """
+    from src.config.extensions_config import ExtensionsConfig
+
+    config_path = ExtensionsConfig.resolve_config_path()
+    if config_path and config_path.exists():
+        return os.path.getmtime(config_path)
+    return None
+
+
+def _is_cache_stale() -> bool:
+    """Check if the cache is stale due to config file changes.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if the cache should be invalidated, False otherwise.
+    """
+    global _config_mtime
+
+    if not _cache_initialized:
+        return False  # Not initialized yet, not stale
+
+    current_mtime = _get_config_mtime()
+
+    # If we couldn't get mtime before or now, assume not stale
+    if _config_mtime is None or current_mtime is None:
+        return False
+
+    # If the config file has been modified since we cached, it's stale
+    if current_mtime > _config_mtime:
+        logger.info(f"MCP config file has been modified (mtime: {_config_mtime} -> {current_mtime}), cache is stale")
+        return True
+
+    return False
 
 
 async def initialize_mcp_tools() -> list[BaseTool]:
@@ -20,7 +61,7 @@ async def initialize_mcp_tools() -> list[BaseTool]:
     Returns:
         List of LangChain tools from all enabled MCP servers.
     """
-    global _mcp_tools_cache, _cache_initialized
+    global _mcp_tools_cache, _cache_initialized, _config_mtime
 
     async with _initialization_lock:
         if _cache_initialized:
@@ -32,7 +73,8 @@ async def initialize_mcp_tools() -> list[BaseTool]:
         logger.info("Initializing MCP tools...")
         _mcp_tools_cache = await get_mcp_tools()
         _cache_initialized = True
-        logger.info(f"MCP tools initialized: {len(_mcp_tools_cache)} tool(s) loaded")
+        _config_mtime = _get_config_mtime()  # Record config file mtime
+        logger.info(f"MCP tools initialized: {len(_mcp_tools_cache)} tool(s) loaded (config mtime: {_config_mtime})")
 
         return _mcp_tools_cache
 
@@ -43,11 +85,21 @@ def get_cached_mcp_tools() -> list[BaseTool]:
     If tools are not initialized, automatically initializes them.
     This ensures MCP tools work in both FastAPI and LangGraph Studio contexts.
 
+    Also checks if the config file has been modified since last initialization,
+    and re-initializes if needed. This ensures that changes made through the
+    Gateway API (which runs in a separate process) are reflected in the
+    LangGraph Server.
+
     Returns:
         List of cached MCP tools.
     """
     global _cache_initialized
 
+    # Check if cache is stale due to config file changes
+    if _is_cache_stale():
+        logger.info("MCP cache is stale, resetting for re-initialization...")
+        reset_mcp_tools_cache()
+
     if not _cache_initialized:
         logger.info("MCP tools not initialized, performing lazy initialization...")
         try:
@@ -79,7 +131,8 @@ def reset_mcp_tools_cache() -> None:
 
     This is useful for testing or when you want to reload MCP tools.
     """
-    global _mcp_tools_cache, _cache_initialized
+    global _mcp_tools_cache, _cache_initialized, _config_mtime
     _mcp_tools_cache = None
     _cache_initialized = False
+    _config_mtime = None
     logger.info("MCP tools cache reset")

backend/src/mcp/tools.py

@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import logging
 
 from langchain_core.tools import BaseTool
 
-from src.config.extensions_config import get_extensions_config
+from src.config.extensions_config import ExtensionsConfig
 from src.mcp.client import build_servers_config
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -22,7 +22,11 @@ async def get_mcp_tools() -> list[BaseTool]:
         logger.warning("langchain-mcp-adapters not installed. Install it to enable MCP tools: pip install langchain-mcp-adapters")
         return []
 
-    extensions_config = get_extensions_config()
+    # NOTE: We use ExtensionsConfig.from_file() instead of get_extensions_config()
+    # to always read the latest configuration from disk. This ensures that changes
+    # made through the Gateway API (which runs in a separate process) are immediately
+    # reflected when initializing MCP tools.
+    extensions_config = ExtensionsConfig.from_file()
     servers_config = build_servers_config(extensions_config)
 
     if not servers_config:

backend/src/skills/loader.py

@@ -73,10 +73,14 @@ def load_skills(skills_path: Path | None = None, use_config: bool = True, enable
                 skills.append(skill)
 
     # Load skills state configuration and update enabled status
+    # NOTE: We use ExtensionsConfig.from_file() instead of get_extensions_config()
+    # to always read the latest configuration from disk. This ensures that changes
+    # made through the Gateway API (which runs in a separate process) are immediately
+    # reflected in the LangGraph Server when loading skills.
     try:
-        from src.config.extensions_config import get_extensions_config
+        from src.config.extensions_config import ExtensionsConfig
 
-        extensions_config = get_extensions_config()
+        extensions_config = ExtensionsConfig.from_file()
         for skill in skills:
             skill.enabled = extensions_config.is_skill_enabled(skill.name, skill.category)
     except Exception as e:

backend/src/tools/tools.py

@@ -31,14 +31,21 @@ def get_available_tools(groups: list[str] | None = None, include_mcp: bool = Tru
     loaded_tools = [resolve_variable(tool.use, BaseTool) for tool in config.tools if groups is None or tool.group in groups]
 
     # Get cached MCP tools if enabled
+    # NOTE: We use ExtensionsConfig.from_file() instead of config.extensions
+    # to always read the latest configuration from disk. This ensures that changes
+    # made through the Gateway API (which runs in a separate process) are immediately
+    # reflected when loading MCP tools.
     mcp_tools = []
-    if include_mcp and config.extensions and config.extensions.get_enabled_mcp_servers():
+    if include_mcp:
         try:
+            from src.config.extensions_config import ExtensionsConfig
             from src.mcp.cache import get_cached_mcp_tools
 
-            mcp_tools = get_cached_mcp_tools()
+            extensions_config = ExtensionsConfig.from_file()
-            if mcp_tools:
+            if extensions_config.get_enabled_mcp_servers():
-                logger.info(f"Using {len(mcp_tools)} cached MCP tool(s)")
+                mcp_tools = get_cached_mcp_tools()
+                if mcp_tools:
+                    logger.info(f"Using {len(mcp_tools)} cached MCP tool(s)")
         except ImportError:
             logger.warning("MCP module not available. Install 'langchain-mcp-adapters' package to enable MCP tools.")
         except Exception as e: