[Bug] ZCode Desktop 3.14.4 (Windows): user-scope MCP server connects, but its tools are never listed/registered in sessions

Summary

A user-scope MCP server (stdio) is connected successfully at session startup, but ZCode never sends a tools/list request to it and never registers its tools into chat sessions. As a result, mcp__<server>__* tools are unavailable in any new chat, even though the MCP server itself is fully healthy.

Environment

• ZCode Desktop 3.14.4.7912, Windows 10 Pro 22H2 (build 19045, x64)
• MCP server under test: local Node.js stdio server (tradingview-mcp 2.0.0, exposes 84 tools)
• Registered at user scope in %USERPROFILE%\.zcode\cli\config.json → mcp.servers
• Companion test server: built-in node_repl (1 tool)

Expected

After startup, a session's toolset includes tools from the connected user-scope MCP server (mcp__tradingview__chart_get_state, etc.).

Actual

• Connection succeeds: mcp.server.connected (durationMs ≈ 1500–3500) in every session.
• But no tools/list request is ever sent to that server — no tool-listing events appear in logs at all.
• mcp.tools.registered consistently reports registeredToolCount: 1, serverCount: 2 across many sessions on different days — the "1" is the built-in node_repl tool; the user-scope server contributes 0 tools.
• Tools are absent from every new chat's toolset.

Log evidence (2026-10-01 / 2026-10-02, anonymized)

{"event":"mcp.server.connect.started","context":{"mcpServerName":"tradingview","transport":"stdio","timeoutMs":30000}}
{"event":"mcp.server.connected","context":{"mcpServerName":"tradingview","durationMs":3444,"status":"completed"}}
{"event":"mcp.tools.registered","context":{"registeredToolCount":1,"serverCount":2}}

(The registeredToolCount: 1 pattern repeats in ~20+ events across two days, incl. fresh sessions at turnNumber 0.)

Server-side is healthy

Driving the same server manually over stdio JSON-RPC works perfectly:

initialize OK in 1274 ms; server: tradingview 2.0.0
tools/list OK in 1313 ms — 84 tools
tools/call chart_get_state → {"success": true, "symbol": "BYBIT:ADAUSDT.P", ...}

So the failure is on ZCode's side: the client connects but never enumerates/registers the server's tools.

Related issues

1. Settings → MCP Servers page hangs on "Loading..." indefinitely (both User and Workspace scopes), so per-server status/toggles cannot be inspected in the GUI.
2. A broken built-in plugin MCP server (plugin:image-search:image_search, HTTP transport) fails at every session start with coding plan is required; built-in plugins cannot be uninstalled (GUI "Uninstall" does nothing) — only disabling via config.json works.
3. Config schema mismatch: a user config with
   "skills": { "paths": [ "..." ] }
   (as suggested by community templates) logs at every startup:
   config.file.invalid: skills.paths: Invalid input: expected object, received array (severity: error).
   Either the docs/template should be fixed or the array form accepted.

Workaround we use now

A small wrapper script that spawns the MCP server and speaks stdio JSON-RPC directly (initialize → tools/call). This works reliably, which confirms the MCP server is fine and the issue is in the client's tool-registration pipeline.

Request

Please register tools from connected user-scope MCP servers in chat sessions (or expose a per-server tools toggle in Settings). Also: make Settings → MCP Servers render, and clarify the skills.paths schema.