Improve early error handling for stdio transport

src/fastmcp/client/client.py

@@ -286,6 +286,19 @@ class Client(Generic[ClientTransportT]):
 
     async def __aenter__(self):
         await self._connect()
+
+        # Check if session task failed and raise error immediately
+        if (
+            self._session_task is not None
+            and self._session_task.done()
+            and not self._session_task.cancelled()
+        ):
+            exception = self._session_task.exception()
+            if exception is not None:
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    f"Client failed to connect: {exception}"
+                ) from exception
+
         return self
 
     async def __aexit__(self, exc_type, exc_val, exc_tb):
@@ -336,16 +349,21 @@ class Client(Generic[ClientTransportT]):
         self._initialize_result = None
 
     async def _session_runner(self):
-        async with AsyncExitStack() as stack:
-            try:
-                await stack.enter_async_context(self._context_manager())
-                # Session/context is now ready
-                self._ready_event.set()
-                # Wait until disconnect/stop is requested
-                await self._stop_event.wait()
-            finally:
-                # On exit, ensure ready event is set (idempotent)
-                self._ready_event.set()
+        try:
+            async with AsyncExitStack() as stack:
+                try:
+                    await stack.enter_async_context(self._context_manager())
+                    # Session/context is now ready
+                    self._ready_event.set()
+                    # Wait until disconnect/stop is requested
+                    await self._stop_event.wait()
+                finally:
+                    # On exit, ensure ready event is set (idempotent)
+                    self._ready_event.set()
+        except Exception:
+            # Ensure ready event is set even if context manager entry fails
+            self._ready_event.set()
+            raise
 
     async def close(self):
         await self._disconnect(force=True)

src/fastmcp/client/transports.py

@@ -361,34 +361,48 @@ class StdioTransport(ClientTransport):
         async def _connect_task():
             from mcp.client.stdio import stdio_client
 
-            async with contextlib.AsyncExitStack() as stack:
-                try:
-                    server_params = StdioServerParameters(
-                        command=self.command, args=self.args, env=self.env, cwd=self.cwd
-                    )
-                    transport = await stack.enter_async_context(
-                        stdio_client(server_params)
-                    )
-                    read_stream, write_stream = transport
-                    self._session = await stack.enter_async_context(
-                        ClientSession(read_stream, write_stream, **session_kwargs)
-                    )
+            try:
+                async with contextlib.AsyncExitStack() as stack:
+                    try:
+                        server_params = StdioServerParameters(
+                            command=self.command,
+                            args=self.args,
+                            env=self.env,
+                            cwd=self.cwd,
+                        )
+                        transport = await stack.enter_async_context(
+                            stdio_client(server_params)
+                        )
+                        read_stream, write_stream = transport
+                        self._session = await stack.enter_async_context(
+                            ClientSession(read_stream, write_stream, **session_kwargs)
+                        )
 
-                    logger.debug("Stdio transport connected")
-                    self._ready_event.set()
+                        logger.debug("Stdio transport connected")
+                        self._ready_event.set()
 
-                    # Wait until disconnect is requested (stop_event is set)
-                    await self._stop_event.wait()
-                finally:
-                    # Clean up client on exit
-                    self._session = None
-                    logger.debug("Stdio transport disconnected")
+                        # Wait until disconnect is requested (stop_event is set)
+                        await self._stop_event.wait()
+                    finally:
+                        # Clean up client on exit
+                        self._session = None
+                        logger.debug("Stdio transport disconnected")
+            except Exception:
+                # Ensure ready event is set even if connection fails
+                self._ready_event.set()
+                raise
 
         # start the connection task
         self._connect_task = asyncio.create_task(_connect_task())
         # wait for the client to be ready before returning
         await self._ready_event.wait()
 
+        # Check if connect task completed with an exception (early failure)
+        if self._connect_task.done():
+            exception = self._connect_task.exception()
+            if exception is not None:
+                raise exception
+
     async def disconnect(self):
         if self._connect_task is None:
             return

tests/client/test_stdio.py

@@ -115,3 +115,14 @@ class TestKeepAlive:
             await client.close()
             with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="Client is not connected"):
                 await client.call_tool("pid")
+
+    async def test_session_task_failure_raises_immediately_on_enter(self):
+        # Use a command that will fail to start
+        client = Client(
+            transport=StdioTransport(command="nonexistent_command", args=[])
+        )
+
+        # Should raise RuntimeError immediately, not defer until first use
+        with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="Client failed to connect"):
+            async with client:
+                pass