fix(dashboard): discover MCP tools on startup

apps/desktop/src/app/session/hooks/use-message-stream.ts

@@ -33,9 +33,11 @@ import {
   setCurrentReasoningEffort,
   setCurrentServiceTier,
   setCurrentUsage,
+  setMcpStatus,
   setTurnStartedAt,
   setYoloActive
 } from '@/store/session'
+import type { McpServerStatusItem } from '@/store/session'
 import { clearSessionSubagents, pruneDelegateFallbackSubagents, upsertSubagent } from '@/store/subagents'
 import { recordToolDiff } from '@/store/tool-diffs'
 import type { RpcEvent } from '@/types/hermes'
@@ -730,6 +732,10 @@ export function useMessageStream({
 
         void refreshHermesConfig()
 
+        if (Array.isArray(payload?.mcp_servers)) {
+          setMcpStatus(payload.mcp_servers as McpServerStatusItem[])
+        }
+
         if (modelChanged || providerChanged) {
           void queryClient.invalidateQueries({
             queryKey: explicitSid && sessionId ? ['model-options', sessionId] : ['model-options']

apps/desktop/src/app/settings/mcp-settings.tsx

@@ -9,7 +9,8 @@ import { useI18n } from '@/i18n'
 import { Wrench } from '@/lib/icons'
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils'
 import { notify, notifyError } from '@/store/notifications'
-import { $activeSessionId } from '@/store/session'
+import { $activeSessionId, $mcpStatus, setMcpStatus } from '@/store/session'
+import type { McpServerStatusItem } from '@/store/session'
 import type { HermesConfigRecord } from '@/types/hermes'
 
 import { EmptyState, LoadingState, Pill, SettingsContent } from './primitives'
@@ -47,6 +48,7 @@ export function McpSettings({ gateway, onConfigSaved }: McpSettingsProps) {
   const { t } = useI18n()
   const m = t.settings.mcp
   const activeSessionId = useStore($activeSessionId)
+  const mcpRuntimeStatus = useStore($mcpStatus)
   const [config, setConfig] = useState<HermesConfigRecord | null>(null)
   const [selected, setSelected] = useState<string | null>(null)
   const [name, setName] = useState('')
@@ -72,9 +74,33 @@ export function McpSettings({ gateway, onConfigSaved }: McpSettingsProps) {
     return () => void (cancelled = true)
   }, [])
 
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!gateway) {
+      return
+    }
+
+    let cancelled = false
+
+    gateway
+      .request<{ servers: McpServerStatusItem[] }>('mcp.status')
+      .then(res => {
+        if (!cancelled && Array.isArray(res?.servers)) {
+          setMcpStatus(res.servers)
+        }
+      })
+      .catch(() => {})
+
+    return () => void (cancelled = true)
+  }, [gateway])
+
   const servers = useMemo(() => getServers(config), [config])
   const names = useMemo(() => Object.keys(servers).sort(), [servers])
 
+  const mcpStatusByName = useMemo(
+    () => Object.fromEntries(mcpRuntimeStatus.map(s => [s.name, s])),
+    [mcpRuntimeStatus]
+  )
+
   useDeepLinkHighlight({
     block: 'nearest',
     elementId: serverName => `mcp-server-${serverName}`,
@@ -176,6 +202,15 @@ export function McpSettings({ gateway, onConfigSaved }: McpSettingsProps) {
         confirm: true,
         session_id: activeSessionId ?? undefined
       })
+
+      try {
+        const status = await gateway.request<{ servers: McpServerStatusItem[] }>('mcp.status')
+
+        if (Array.isArray(status?.servers)) {
+          setMcpStatus(status.servers)
+        }
+      } catch {}
+
       notify({ kind: 'success', title: m.reloadedTitle, message: m.reloadedMessage })
     } catch (err) {
       notifyError(err, m.reloadFailed)
@@ -204,6 +239,8 @@ export function McpSettings({ gateway, onConfigSaved }: McpSettingsProps) {
               {names.map(serverName => {
                 const server = servers[serverName]
                 const active = selected === serverName
+                const runtime = mcpStatusByName[serverName]
+                const isConnected = runtime?.connected === true
 
                 return (
                   <button
@@ -216,10 +253,18 @@ export function McpSettings({ gateway, onConfigSaved }: McpSettingsProps) {
                     onClick={() => setSelected(serverName)}
                     type="button"
                   >
-                    <div className="truncate text-sm font-medium">{serverName}</div>
+                    <div className="flex items-center gap-1.5 truncate text-sm font-medium">
+                      {isConnected && (
+                        <span className="inline-block size-2 shrink-0 rounded-full bg-emerald-500" title="Connected" />
+                      )}
+                      <span className="truncate">{serverName}</span>
+                    </div>
                     <div className="mt-1 flex items-center gap-1.5">
                       <Pill>{transportLabel(server)}</Pill>
                       {server.disabled === true && <Pill>{m.disabled}</Pill>}
+                      {runtime && !runtime.connected && !runtime.disabled && (
+                        <span className="text-red-500 text-xs">disconnected</span>
+                      )}
                     </div>
                   </button>
                 )

apps/desktop/src/lib/chat-messages.ts

@@ -61,6 +61,8 @@ export type GatewayEventPayload = {
   // secret.request (skill credential capture)
   env_var?: string
   prompt?: string
+  // session.info mcp status
+  mcp_servers?: unknown[]
   // terminal.read.request (GUI agent reading the in-app terminal pane)
   start?: number
   count?: number

apps/desktop/src/store/session.ts

@@ -207,6 +207,16 @@ export const $currentPersonality = atom('')
 export const $availablePersonalities = atom<string[]>([])
 export const $introSeed = atom(0)
 export const $contextSuggestions = atom<ContextSuggestion[]>([])
+export interface McpServerStatusItem {
+  connected: boolean
+  disabled: boolean
+  name: string
+  tools: number
+  transport: string
+}
+
+export const $mcpStatus = atom<McpServerStatusItem[]>([])
+
 export const $modelPickerOpen = atom(false)
 export const $sessionPickerOpen = atom(false)
 
@@ -257,6 +267,7 @@ export const setCurrentPersonality = (next: Updater<string>) => updateAtom($curr
 export const setAvailablePersonalities = (next: Updater<string[]>) => updateAtom($availablePersonalities, next)
 export const setIntroSeed = (next: Updater<number>) => updateAtom($introSeed, next)
 export const setContextSuggestions = (next: Updater<ContextSuggestion[]>) => updateAtom($contextSuggestions, next)
+export const setMcpStatus = (next: Updater<McpServerStatusItem[]>) => updateAtom($mcpStatus, next)
 export const setModelPickerOpen = (next: Updater<boolean>) => updateAtom($modelPickerOpen, next)
 export const setSessionPickerOpen = (next: Updater<boolean>) => updateAtom($sessionPickerOpen, next)
 

hermes_cli/main.py

@@ -10303,6 +10303,21 @@ def cmd_dashboard(args):
         # the missing-provider state if it matters.
         print(f"⚠ Plugin discovery failed: {exc}", file=sys.stderr)
 
+    # Discover MCP tools in the background so the dashboard/desktop backend
+    # has them available for chat sessions via the embedded gateway
+    # WebSocket. The CLI chat path does this in _prepare_agent_startup(),
+    # but the dashboard command does not call that function, so we trigger
+    # it here before start_server(). A background thread avoids blocking
+    # dashboard startup when an MCP server is slow to respond.
+    try:
+        from hermes_cli.mcp_startup import start_background_mcp_discovery
+        start_background_mcp_discovery(
+            logger=logger,
+            thread_name="dashboard-mcp-discovery",
+        )
+    except Exception as exc:
+        print(f"⚠ Background MCP tool discovery failed: {exc}", file=sys.stderr)
+
     from hermes_cli.web_server import start_server
 
     # The in-browser Chat tab (the embedded TUI over PTY/WebSocket) is always

tui_gateway/server.py

@@ -7324,6 +7324,16 @@ def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
         return _err(rid, 5015, str(e))
 
 
+@method("mcp.status")
+def _(rid, _params: dict) -> dict:
+    try:
+        from tools.mcp_tool import get_mcp_status
+
+        return _ok(rid, {"servers": get_mcp_status()})
+    except Exception as e:
+        return _err(rid, 5016, str(e))
+
+
 @method("reload.env")
 def _(rid, params: dict) -> dict:
     """Re-read ``~/.hermes/.env`` into the gateway process via