MCP error: add_url_source via MCP never triggers crawler (sources stuck PROCESSING)

Date: 2026-04-05

MCP Server: Chipp (build.chipp.ai/mcp, streamable-http transport)

MCP Client: Claude Code v2.1.92 (Anthropic CLI, macOS)

Steps to reproduce

Call add_url_source via MCP to add a URL-based knowledge source:

{ "appId": 10041051, "url": "https://portal-conneva.vercel.app/api/mosaic/knowledge/index.html", "crawlAllLinks": true }

Result

Source is created successfully and returns a source ID (e.g., dd18f40d-5de9-46a1-a1c8-2a41a9686237). However, the source remains in PROCESSING status indefinitely — the crawler never picks it up.

Calling get_crawl_progress on the source returns:

{ "error": { "code": "INTERNAL_ERROR", "message": "Failed to connect before the deadline" } }

Expected

Source transitions through PENDING → PROCESSING → COMPLETED as the crawler fetches and indexes the content. This is the behavior observed when adding the same URL via the Chipp dashboard.

Root cause evidence

• Dashboard-added sources crawl fine. The same URL was added manually through the build.chipp.ai dashboard and crawled to COMPLETED status successfully. Two individual topic URLs were also added via dashboard and indexed correctly.

• MCP-created sources never start crawling. Multiple sources created via add_url_source MCP tool remain stuck at PROCESSING. No crawl activity is observed.

• The crawler itself is healthy. Dashboard-initiated crawls complete normally, confirming the crawler service is running. The issue is that MCP-created sources are not being enqueued for crawling.

• get_crawl_progress also fails for MCP-created sources with a "Failed to connect before the deadline" error, suggesting the crawl was never initiated (no Temporal workflow to query).

• Tested multiple times across different sessions and URLs — consistently reproducible.

Workaround

Add sources manually via the build.chipp.ai dashboard instead of the MCP add_url_source tool.

Environment

• MCP Server: Chipp (build.chipp.ai/mcp, streamable-http, OAuth 2.0 + PKCE)

• MCP Client: Claude Code v2.1.92 (Anthropic CLI, macOS darwin)

• All other MCP tools (app management, list_knowledge_sources, delete_knowledge_source, custom actions, system prompt, branding) function normally for this workspace and app.