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feat(mcp): add a capture_initialize option - #1115

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@gesh gesh commented Oct 23, 2026 •

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💡 Motivation and Context

  • Many MCP clients reconnect before every few tool calls, so $mcp_initialize can outnumber $mcp_tool_call.
  • On PostHog's own MCP server, it was 37% of all MCP events in the last 7 days: 21.1M events, against 17.2M tool calls.
  • Hosts that do not use the event pay for it and cannot turn it off.

Part of one change across three repos: PostHog/posthog-js#5401 (@posthog/mcp) and PostHog/sdk-specs#141 (the spec).

Follow-up, stacked on this PR: #1116 adds the same option for $mcp_tools_list.

Changes

  • New option MCPAnalyticsOptions(capture_initialize=False). It is on by default, so nothing changes unless a host sets it.
  • With the option off, record_initialize and the first-request fallback return early. These are the only places that send the event.
  • Nothing else changes. The middleware still mints the session token, so tool calls keep their sessions and client names on every pod.
  • README section and a minor changeset.

💚 How did you test it?

  • test_capture_initialize_off_sends_no_initialize_and_keeps_sessions drives two round-robin pods over HTTP, for the SDK high-level server, standalone fastmcp, and a low-level Server, on both SDK majors. It asserts no $mcp_initialize, a minted token, each connection's tool calls in that token's session, and the client name on every pod.
  • test_capture_initialize_off_also_gates_the_first_request_fallback covers SDK 1.x without HTTP, as on stdio, with the option on and off.
  • The existing tests cover the default.
  • The MCP suites pass on Python 3.10 and 3.14. SDK 1.x has 647 tests, and SDK 2.x has 539.

📝 Checklist

  • I reviewed the submitted code.
  • I added tests to verify the changes.
  • I updated the docs if needed.
  • No breaking change or entry added to the changelog.

If releasing new changes

  • Ran sampo add to generate a changeset file

🤖 Agent context

Autonomy: Human-driven (agent-assisted)

  • Written with Claude Code, model Claude Opus 5.5 (claude-opus-5-5).
  • The option only stops the event. It does not change how the SDK observes the handshake.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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PostHog Review · Standard · reviewed 4571911: 1 Should fix.

This is the only automatic review while this pull request is a draft. Comment @posthog review to review new changes sooner. Otherwise, a review of the new changes runs when you mark it ready for review.

See this review and its findings in PostHog Review. Comment @posthog review --deep for a Deep review. A Deep review takes longer and looks deeper than a Standard review.

Comment thread posthog/mcp/_instrumentation.py
MCPAnalyticsOptions(capture_initialize=False) stops $mcp_initialize. The
option is on by default. Many clients reconnect before every few tool
calls, so the handshake event can outnumber $mcp_tool_call.

With the option off, record_initialize and the first-request fallback
return early. Nothing else changes: the middleware still mints the
session token, so tool calls keep their sessions and client names.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
@gesh
gesh force-pushed the georgis/mcp-capture-initialize-option branch from 4571911 to dca253f Compare October 23, 2026 13:29
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github-actions Bot commented Oct 23, 2026 •

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posthog-python Compliance Report

Date: 2026-10-23T13:49:19.359903+00:00
Duration: 259417ms

✅ All Tests Passed!

121/121 tests passed


Capture_V1 Tests

✅ 95/95 tests passed

View Details
Test Status Duration
Endpoint And Method.Targets V1 Endpoint ✅ 515ms
Endpoint And Method.Does Not Use Legacy Endpoints ✅ 510ms
Required Headers.Has Authorization Bearer Header ✅ 508ms
Required Headers.Has Content Type Json ✅ 509ms
Required Headers.Has Posthog Sdk Info Format ✅ 508ms
Required Headers.Has Posthog Attempt Header ✅ 508ms
Required Headers.Has Posthog Request Id ✅ 508ms
Required Headers.Has Posthog Request Timestamp ✅ 509ms
Required Headers.Has User Agent ✅ 508ms
Body Format.Body Has Created At And Batch ✅ 508ms
Body Format.No Api Key In Body ✅ 509ms
Body Format.No Sent At In Body ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Event Has Required Root Fields ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Event Uuid Is Valid ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Event Timestamp Is Rfc3339 ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Non Utc Event Timestamp Is Converted To Utc ✅ 519ms
Event Format.Distinct Id Is String ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Distinct Id At Root Not Properties ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Custom Properties Preserved ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Set Properties Preserved ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Set Once Properties Preserved ✅ 509ms
Event Format.Groups Properties Preserved ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Sdk Generates Uuid If Not Provided ✅ 508ms
Event Format.Event Has Required Root Fields Batch ✅ 511ms
Event Format.Event Uuid Is Valid Batch ✅ 511ms
Event Format.Event Timestamp Is Rfc3339 Batch ✅ 510ms
Event Format.Distinct Id Is String Batch ✅ 511ms
Event Format.Distinct Id At Root Not Properties Batch ✅ 511ms
Event Format.Custom Properties Preserved Batch ✅ 510ms
Event Format.Set Properties Preserved Batch ✅ 511ms
Event Format.Set Once Properties Preserved Batch ✅ 511ms
Event Format.Groups Properties Preserved Batch ✅ 511ms
Event Format.Sdk Generates Uuid If Not Provided Batch ✅ 510ms
Batch Behavior.Multiple Events In Single Batch ✅ 514ms
Batch Behavior.Batch Envelope Smoke ✅ 512ms
Batch Behavior.Flush With No Events Sends Nothing ✅ 505ms
Batch Behavior.Flush At Triggers Batch ✅ 1009ms
Batch Behavior.Created At Reflects Batch Creation Time ✅ 508ms
Deduplication.Generates Unique Uuids ✅ 514ms
Deduplication.Different Events Same Content Different Uuids ✅ 510ms
Deduplication.Preserves Uuid On Retry ✅ 6513ms
Deduplication.Preserves Timestamp On Retry ✅ 6517ms
Deduplication.Preserves Uuid And Timestamp On Batch Retry ✅ 6520ms
Deduplication.No Duplicate Events In Batch ✅ 515ms
Header Behavior On Retry.Attempt Header Starts At One ✅ 508ms
Header Behavior On Retry.Attempt Header Increments On Retry ✅ 13525ms
Header Behavior On Retry.Request Id Preserved On Retry ✅ 6517ms
Header Behavior On Retry.Different Requests Have Different Request Ids ✅ 3017ms
Header Behavior On Retry.Request Timestamp Changes On Retry ✅ 6517ms
Response Format Validation.Success Response Has Uuid Keyed Results ✅ 509ms
Response Format Validation.Success Response Has Ok For Each Event ✅ 512ms
Response Format Validation.Success No Retry After When All Ok ✅ 511ms
Response Format Validation.Success Retry After Present When Retry Events ✅ 1513ms
Response Format Validation.Success No Retry After When Drop Only ✅ 510ms
Response Format Validation.Response Echoes Request Id ✅ 509ms
Retry Behavior.Retries On 408 ✅ 6513ms
Retry Behavior.Retries On 500 ✅ 6514ms
Retry Behavior.Retries On 503 ✅ 8516ms
Retry Behavior.Retries On 504 ✅ 6517ms
Retry Behavior.Retryable Errors Have Retry After ✅ 3515ms
Retry Behavior.Respects Retry After On Retryable Error ✅ 11514ms
Retry Behavior.Does Not Retry On 400 ✅ 2512ms
Retry Behavior.Does Not Retry On 401 ✅ 2510ms
Retry Behavior.Does Not Retry On 402 ✅ 2512ms
Retry Behavior.Does Not Retry On 413 ✅ 2512ms
Retry Behavior.Does Not Retry On 415 ✅ 2512ms
Retry Behavior.Non Retryable Errors Have No Retry After ✅ 2511ms
Retry Behavior.Implements Backoff ✅ 22522ms
Retry Behavior.Max Retries Respected ✅ 22533ms
Partial Batch Handling.Handles 200 Full Success ✅ 2511ms
Partial Batch Handling.Handles 200 With All Ok ✅ 3515ms
Partial Batch Handling.Does Not Retry Dropped Events ✅ 3514ms
Partial Batch Handling.Does Not Retry Limited Events ✅ 3513ms
Partial Batch Handling.Prunes Ok Events On Partial Retry ✅ 6519ms
Partial Batch Handling.Prunes Dropped Events On Partial Retry ✅ 6515ms
Partial Batch Handling.Retries Only Retry Events From Partial ✅ 6519ms
Partial Batch Handling.Partial Retry Preserves Uuids ✅ 6518ms
Partial Batch Handling.Partial Retry Attempt Header Increments ✅ 6517ms
Partial Batch Handling.Partial Retry Request Id Preserved ✅ 6518ms
Partial Batch Handling.Respects Retry After On Partial ✅ 8519ms
Partial Batch Handling.Unknown Result Treated As Terminal ✅ 3514ms
Partial Batch Handling.Mixed Ok Drop Limited No Retry ✅ 3517ms
Compression.Sends Gzip Content Encoding ✅ 509ms
Compression.No Content Encoding When Disabled ✅ 509ms
Compression.Compressed Body Is Decompressible ✅ 508ms
Error Handling.Does Not Retry On Unknown 4Xx ✅ 2512ms
Event Options.Cookieless Mode Override ✅ 509ms
Event Options.Disable Skew Correction Override ✅ 508ms
Event Options.Process Person Profile Override ✅ 509ms
Event Options.Product Tour Id Override ✅ 508ms
Event Options.Unset Options Omitted ✅ 509ms
Event Options.Options Override In Batch ✅ 511ms
Geoip And Historical Migration.Geoip Disable Injected Into Properties ✅ 508ms
Geoip And Historical Migration.Historical Migration Set In Body ✅ 509ms
Geoip And Historical Migration.Historical Migration Absent By Default ✅ 508ms

Capture_Ai Tests

✅ 5/5 tests passed

View Details
Test Status Duration
Routing.Capture Ai Posts To Ai Endpoint ✅ 509ms
Routing.Capture Does Not Reroute Ai Named Events ✅ 508ms
Identity.Capture Ai Event Has Uuid ✅ 509ms
Identity.Capture Ai Keeps Supplied Uuid ✅ 508ms
Timestamp Format.Non Utc Event Timestamp Is Converted To Utc ✅ 508ms

Feature_Flags Tests

✅ 17/17 tests passed

View Details
Test Status Duration
Request Payload.Request With Person Properties Device Id ✅ 9ms
Request Payload.Flags Request Uses V2 Query Param ✅ 8ms
Request Payload.Flags Request Hits Flags Path Not Decide ✅ 7ms
Request Payload.Flags Request Omits Authorization Header ✅ 8ms
Request Payload.Token In Flags Body Matches Init ✅ 7ms
Request Payload.Groups Round Trip ✅ 7ms
Request Payload.Groups Default To Empty Object ✅ 8ms
Request Payload.Disable Geoip False Propagates As Geoip Disable False ✅ 8ms
Request Payload.Disable Geoip Omitted Defaults To False ✅ 7ms
Request Payload.Flag Keys To Evaluate Contains Only Requested Key ✅ 7ms
Request Lifecycle.No Flags Request On Init Alone ✅ 3ms
Request Lifecycle.No Flags Request On Normal Capture ✅ 507ms
Request Lifecycle.Two Flag Calls Produce Two Remote Requests ✅ 13ms
Request Lifecycle.Mock Response Value Is Returned To Caller ✅ 7ms
Retry Behavior.Retries Flags On 502 ✅ 311ms
Retry Behavior.Retries Flags On 504 ✅ 312ms
Side Effect Events.Get Feature Flag Captures Feature Flag Called Event ✅ 510ms

Feature_Flags_Local_Evaluation Tests

✅ 4/4 tests passed

View Details
Test Status Duration
Versioned Boolean Matching.Matching Version Missing ✅ 54ms
Versioned Boolean Matching.Matching Version 1 ✅ 52ms
Versioned Boolean Matching.Matching Version 2 ✅ 52ms
Versioned Boolean Matching.Version Only Reload 1 2 1 2 Missing ✅ 29ms

@gesh gesh mentioned this pull request Oct 23, 2026
5 tasks done
record_initialize returned before handle_identify when the option was
off. An identify callback that resolves the user only from the
initialize request then left the session anonymous, so later tool calls
lost the user. Identify now runs first, and the option stops only the
event.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
@gesh

gesh commented Oct 23, 2026

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@PostHog review

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posthog Bot commented Oct 23, 2026

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@gesh PostHog Review is reviewing this pull request.

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PostHog Review · Standard · reviewed 7e1f2f7: no findings.

@gesh
gesh marked this pull request as ready for review October 23, 2026 14:05
@gesh
gesh requested a review from a team as a code owner October 23, 2026 14:05
@gesh
gesh removed the request for review from a team October 23, 2026 14:06
@gesh gesh added the stamphog Request stamphog review label Oct 23, 2026
@gesh
gesh requested a review from a team October 23, 2026 14:06

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Not approved — this change needs a human reviewer.

Re-adding the stamphog label gives the same result unless the changed files change.

stamphog can't approve this pull request, because two gates refused it. The deny-list gate matched public_api: the change adds capture_initialize to MCPAnalyticsOptions in posthog/mcp/types.py and updates references/public_api_snapshot.txt. The tier gate classified the change as T2-never (108 lines across 6 files, cross-cutting, a feature), so it always needs a human reviewer. The size gate passed, so splitting the PR won't change this outcome. The next step is to ask a human maintainer to review it, ideally one who owns the public API surface of the MCP module.

  • posthog[bot] reviewed the current head.
Gate mechanics and policy version
Gate Result
prerequisites ✓ all clear
deny-list ✗ matches: public_api
size ✓ 14L, 2F substantive, 108L/6F incl. docs/generated/snapshots — within ceiling
tier ✗ classified as T2-never: T2-never (108L, 6F, cross-cutting, feat)
stamphog 2.6.1 .stamphog/policy.yml @ unknown · reviewed head 7e1f2f7

@stamphog stamphog Bot removed the stamphog Request stamphog review label Oct 23, 2026

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