Doc update + validation in SseServerTransport + existing test fixes: addresses Issue: modelcontextprotocol#827 (modelcontextprotocol#900)

Author: AishwaryaKalloli

src/mcp/server/sse.py

@@ -80,14 +80,39 @@ class SseServerTransport:
     def __init__(self, endpoint: str, security_settings: TransportSecuritySettings | None = None) -> None:
         """
         Creates a new SSE server transport, which will direct the client to POST
-        messages to the relative or absolute URL given.
+        messages to the relative path given.
 
         Args:
-            endpoint: The relative or absolute URL for POST messages.
+            endpoint: A relative path where messages should be posted
+                    (e.g., "/messages/").
             security_settings: Optional security settings for DNS rebinding protection.
+
+        Note:
+            We use relative paths instead of full URLs for several reasons:
+            1. Security: Prevents cross-origin requests by ensuring clients only connect
+               to the same origin they established the SSE connection with
+            2. Flexibility: The server can be mounted at any path without needing to
+               know its full URL
+            3. Portability: The same endpoint configuration works across different
+               environments (development, staging, production)
+
+        Raises:
+            ValueError: If the endpoint is a full URL instead of a relative path
         """
 
         super().__init__()
+
+        # Validate that endpoint is a relative path and not a full URL
+        if "://" in endpoint or endpoint.startswith("//") or "?" in endpoint or "#" in endpoint:
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Given endpoint: {endpoint} is not a relative path (e.g., '/messages/'), \
+                             expecting a relative path(e.g., '/messages/')."
+            )
+
+        # Ensure endpoint starts with a forward slash
+        if not endpoint.startswith("/"):
+            endpoint = "/" + endpoint
+
         self._endpoint = endpoint
         self._read_stream_writers = {}
         self._security = TransportSecurityMiddleware(security_settings)

tests/shared/test_sse.py

@@ -473,3 +473,31 @@ def test_sse_message_id_coercion():
     json_message = '{"jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": "123", "method": "ping", "params": null}'
     msg = types.JSONRPCMessage.model_validate_json(json_message)
     assert msg == snapshot(types.JSONRPCMessage(root=types.JSONRPCRequest(method="ping", jsonrpc="2.0", id=123)))
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "endpoint, expected_result",
+    [
+        # Valid endpoints - should normalize and work
+        ("/messages/", "/messages/"),
+        ("messages/", "/messages/"),
+        ("/", "/"),
+        # Invalid endpoints - should raise ValueError
+        ("http://example.com/messages/", ValueError),
+        ("//example.com/messages/", ValueError),
+        ("ftp://example.com/messages/", ValueError),
+        ("/messages/?param=value", ValueError),
+        ("/messages/#fragment", ValueError),
+    ],
+)
+def test_sse_server_transport_endpoint_validation(endpoint: str, expected_result: str | type[Exception]):
+    """Test that SseServerTransport properly validates and normalizes endpoints."""
+    if isinstance(expected_result, type) and issubclass(expected_result, Exception):
+        # Test invalid endpoints that should raise an exception
+        with pytest.raises(expected_result, match="is not a relative path.*expecting a relative path"):
+            SseServerTransport(endpoint)
+    else:
+        # Test valid endpoints that should normalize correctly
+        sse = SseServerTransport(endpoint)
+        assert sse._endpoint == expected_result
+        assert sse._endpoint.startswith("/")