Refresh tools after plugin changes#

The generated tool list and conda://capabilities resource are snapshots from server startup. Restart the server after installing, removing, or updating a conda plugin.

Detect a required restart#

After a successful write or arbitrary execution, inspect the structured result:

{
  "restart_required": true
}

The server compares the current conda version and external plugin entry-point metadata with the startup fingerprint. It also requests a restart conservatively when that post-operation inspection fails.

The running tool list does not change even after restart_required becomes true.

Restart and verify#

Stop the current MCP server through the client.
Start it again with the same target conda executable and policy options.
List tools again.
Read conda://capabilities and confirm the plugin metadata and discovery fingerprint changed as expected.

Commands contributed through conda’s subcommand hook receive structured tools when their argparse definitions are representable. Opaque commands remain reachable through conda_execute when --allow-exec is enabled.

Passing conda’s --no-plugins option affects that individual conda process. It does not rebuild the server’s startup catalog.