fix: resolve list[dict] return type producing Root() instead of dicts (#3880)

When a tool returns `list[dict]`, the client deserializes each dict as a
`Root()` dataclass with no fields instead of preserving the original dict
data.

The root cause is in `_get_from_type_handler`: its `"object"` branch
always fell through to `_create_dataclass` for schemas without
`properties`, creating an empty dataclass named `Root`. The top-level
`json_schema_to_type` already handled this case correctly (returning
`dict[str, Any]`), but that logic was not shared with `_schema_to_type`
which is used when converting nested schemas (e.g., array items).

Extract `_object_schema_to_type` to unify the four object-schema cases
(dict, typed dict, BaseModel with extra, dataclass) so both top-level
and nested paths produce the correct type.

Fixes #3867

Co-authored-by: Ke Wang <ke@pika.art>

src/fastmcp/utilities/json_schema_type.py

@@ -350,23 +350,48 @@ def _return_Any() -> Any:
     return Any
 
 
+def _object_schema_to_type(
+    schema: Mapping[str, Any], schemas: Mapping[str, Any]
+) -> type:
+    """Convert an object schema to the appropriate Python type.
+
+    Handles three cases that mirror the top-level ``json_schema_to_type`` logic:
+    1. No ``properties`` with ``additionalProperties`` — return ``dict[str, T]``
+    2. No ``properties`` and no ``additionalProperties`` — return ``dict[str, Any]``
+    3. Has ``properties`` and ``additionalProperties is True`` — Pydantic model
+    4. Has ``properties`` — dataclass
+    """
+    has_properties = bool(schema.get("properties"))
+    additional_props = schema.get("additionalProperties")
+
+    if not has_properties and additional_props:
+        if additional_props is True:
+            return dict[str, Any]
+        value_type = _schema_to_type(additional_props, schemas)
+        return cast(type[Any], dict[str, value_type])  # type: ignore[valid-type]  # ty:ignore[invalid-type-form]
+
+    if not has_properties and not additional_props:
+        return dict[str, Any]
+
+    if has_properties and additional_props is True:
+        return _create_pydantic_model(schema, schema.get("title"), schemas)
+
+    return _create_dataclass(schema, schema.get("title"), schemas)
+
+
 def _get_from_type_handler(
     schema: Mapping[str, Any], schemas: Mapping[str, Any]
 ) -> Callable[..., Any]:
     """Get the appropriate type handler for the schema."""
 
-    type_handlers: dict[str, Callable[..., Any]] = {  # TODO
+    type_handlers: dict[str, Callable[..., Any]] = {
         "string": lambda s: _create_string_type(s),
         "integer": lambda s: _create_numeric_type(int, s),
         "number": lambda s: _create_numeric_type(float, s),
         "boolean": lambda _: bool,
         "null": lambda _: type(None),
         "array": lambda s: _create_array_type(s, schemas),
-        "object": lambda s: (
-            _create_pydantic_model(s, s.get("title"), schemas)
-            if s.get("properties") and s.get("additionalProperties") is True
-            else _create_dataclass(s, s.get("title"), schemas)
-        ),
+        "object": lambda s: _object_schema_to_type(s, schemas),
     }
     return type_handlers.get(schema.get("type", None), _return_Any)
 

tests/client/client/test_client.py

@@ -749,3 +749,21 @@ async def test_client_does_not_unwrap_dict_result():
         assert result.structured_content == {"a": 1}
         assert result.data == {"a": 1}
         assert result.meta is None
+
+
+async def test_client_list_dict_return_type():
+    """list[dict] return type should produce list of dicts, not Root() objects (issue #3867)."""
+    server = FastMCP()
+
+    @server.tool
+    def get_temperatures() -> list[dict]:
+        """Get current temperatures for all cities"""
+        return [
+            {"city": "NYC", "temp": 72},
+            {"city": "LA", "temp": 85},
+        ]
+
+    client = Client(transport=FastMCPTransport(server))
+    async with client:
+        result = await client.call_tool("get_temperatures", {})
+        assert result.data == [{"city": "NYC", "temp": 72}, {"city": "LA", "temp": 85}]

tests/utilities/json_schema_type/test_containers.py

@@ -140,6 +140,35 @@ class TestObjectTypes:
         generated_type = json_schema_to_type(schema)
         assert generated_type == expected_type
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize(
+        "input_type, expected_type",
+        [
+            # list[dict] roundtrips correctly (not list[Root()])
+            (list[dict], list[dict[str, Any]]),
+            # list[dict[str, Any]] stays the same
+            (list[dict[str, Any]], list[dict[str, Any]]),
+            # list[dict[str, str]] preserves value type
+            (list[dict[str, str]], list[dict[str, str]]),
+            # list[dict[str, int]] preserves value type
+            (list[dict[str, int]], list[dict[str, int]]),
+        ],
+    )
+    def test_list_of_dict_types_roundtrip(self, input_type, expected_type):
+        """Ensure list[dict] schemas produce dict types, not dataclasses (issue #3867)."""
+        schema = TypeAdapter(input_type).json_schema()
+        generated_type = json_schema_to_type(schema)
+        assert generated_type == expected_type
+
+    def test_list_dict_validates_data(self):
+        """list[dict] schema should validate actual dict data, not produce Root() (issue #3867)."""
+        schema = TypeAdapter(list[dict]).json_schema()
+        generated_type = json_schema_to_type(schema)
+        validator = TypeAdapter(generated_type)
+        result = validator.validate_python(
+            [{"city": "NYC", "temp": 72}, {"city": "LA", "temp": 85}]
+        )
+        assert result == [{"city": "NYC", "temp": 72}, {"city": "LA", "temp": 85}]
+
     def test_object_accepts_valid(self, simple_object):
         validator = TypeAdapter(simple_object)
         result = validator.validate_python({"name": "test", "age": 30})