# Reported issues for sports-mcp-server Pod holds 12 of 12 problems reported by people outside the maintainer team. Issues filed by the project's own owners, members and collaborators are excluded entirely — a maintainer's release checklist is not a warning to a prospective user. Back to [sports-mcp-server](/mcp/sports-mcp-server). ## Most discussed ### bug(sports_find_team): espnId and mlbId always null — TSDB records win deduplication over ESPN/MLB records `sports_find_team` promises to return ESPN/MLB/TheSportsDB IDs in its output schema (`espnId`, `mlbId`, `tsdbId`) and description ("Returns...ESPN/MLB/TheSportsDB IDs"), but `espnId` and `mlbId` are always `null` in practice. The handler appends TheSportsDB results first, then fetches ESPN/MLB matches — but the final deduplication step (by `displayName`, case-insensitive) always keeps the TSDB record and drops the ESPN/MLB record when both reference the same team. ## Steps to reproduce 1. Call [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/4) · 2026-06-07 · closed · 2 comments ### feat(config): declare stateless session mode in createApp ### Use case The server should declare its stateless session posture in source so launches with no `MCP_SESSION_MODE` override behave consistently across npm, bunx, source, and Docker. ### Proposed behavior After cyanheads/mcp-ts-core#376 adds a server-level `createApp` session-mode option, set the default to `stateless` in `src/index.ts`. An explicit `MCP_SESSION_MODE` environment value must retain precedence. ### Alternatives considered Changing the framework-wide `auto` default would alt [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/12) · 2026-08-22 · open · 1 comment ### bug(docker): run ESPN-backed serving on Node ### Server version 0.2.0 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.12.3 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.4.0 ### Transport HTTP (Streamable HTTP) ### Description The Docker production command runs the server under Bun, and Bun's HTTP clients receive HTTP 403 from ESPN's public Site API while Node and curl receive HTTP 200 for the same endpoint. The failure is runtime-specific; the evidence does not establish a TLS-fingerprint cause. ### Steps to reproduce 1. Fetch `https://site.api.espn.co [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/11) · 2026-08-21 · closed · 1 comment ### enhancement(tool-defs): tighten MCP-facing descriptions ### Use case Tool schemas should describe a tool's capability and each field's value without repeating cross-tool sequencing instructions or exposing routing details. Server-level instructions already carry the supported workflows. ### Proposed behavior Tighten the identified tool and field descriptions. Remove cross-tool imperatives from tool catalog text, keep workflow examples in `createApp({ instructions })`, retain the fact that `sport` is advisory in its own input description, and descr [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/10) · 2026-06-28 · closed · 1 comment ### docs(sports_find_player): README still says sport narrows results ### Use case Users reading the README need to know that `sports_find_player.sport` does not narrow results. The shipped tool accepts it only as an advisory disambiguation hint. ### Proposed behavior Replace the stale `sports_find_player` README bullet with language that calls `sport` an advisory hint and states that matching players are returned regardless of its value. ### Alternatives considered Implementing server-side sport filtering is separate product work: TheSportsDB search does not [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/9) · 2026-06-28 · closed · 1 comment ### bug(sports_get_player): formatted bio truncates structured description ### Server version 0.1.4 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.12.3 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.4.0 ### Transport stdio and HTTP (the formatted response is shared) ### Description `sports_get_player` returns a complete biography in `structuredContent.player.description` but truncates the same field to 1,000 characters plus an ellipsis in `content[]`. Clients that consume formatted content therefore receive a different terminal value. ### Steps to reproduce 1. Call `sportsGetPlayer [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/8) · 2026-06-28 · closed · 1 comment ### bug(input): reject blank required text fields ### Server version 0.1.4 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.12.3 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.4.0 ### Transport stdio and HTTP (input schemas are shared) ### Description Four required text inputs accept empty and whitespace-only strings. `sports_find_team` and `sports_get_team` can then match every candidate through `includes('')` or select the first team from an upstream list; the player tools make an unnecessary upstream request and return a lookup-style error instead of input v [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/7) · 2026-06-28 · closed · 1 comment ### bug(sports_find_team): retain TSDB metadata with league filters ### Server version 0.2.0 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.12.3 ### Runtime Bun ### Runtime version Bun 1.4.0 ### Transport stdio and HTTP (shared handler) ### Description `sports_find_team` rejects valid TheSportsDB team records when a league filter is present and the provider's human-readable league name does not contain either the server enum or ESPN slug. The subsequent ESPN match cannot restore TheSportsDB-only metadata such as `tsdbId` and venue when the record was discarded before cros [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/6) · 2026-06-28 · closed · 1 comment ## Most recent ### bug(sports_get_schedule): honor league-wide date ranges ### Server version 0.2.0 ### mcp-ts-core version 0.12.3 ### Runtime Node.js and Bun ### Runtime version Node 26.5.0 / Bun 1.4.0 ### Transport stdio and HTTP (shared handler) ### Description League-wide `sports_get_schedule` requests discard supplied date ranges before making their upstream request. With no `team_name`, the MLB path always calls `getSchedule(null)` and the ESPN path always calls `getScoreboard(..., null)`; the later local filter cannot recover games that were never fet [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/5) · 2026-06-28 · closed · 1 comment ### ux(all tools): error content[] missing recovery hints — ctx.fail() called without recovery hint at throw sites All tool `errors[]` contracts declare `recovery` strings, but none of the `ctx.fail()` call sites pass `{ recovery: { hint: '...' } }` as a third argument. As a result, `content[0].text` only contains the bare error message with no actionable next step. Per the framework docs, the recovery hint from the contract definition does not auto-populate the wire — it must be passed explicitly at the throw site. ## Steps to reproduce 1. Call `sports_get_standings` with `{ league: \"nfl\", season: \"180 [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/3) · 2026-06-07 · closed · 1 comment ### ux(sports_find_player): sport filter is silently ignored but described as narrowing results The `sport` parameter on `sports_find_player` claims to \"narrow results\" but has no effect on the results returned. TheSportsDB search does not support server-side sport filtering, and the handler logs a debug message acknowledging this but still tells callers the filter will work. ## Steps to reproduce 1. Call `sports_find_player` with `{ query: \"Messi\", sport: \"Curling\" }` 2. Observe `totalFound: 1` — same result as without the `sport` parameter ## Actual behavior Sport parameter is [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/2) · 2026-06-07 · closed · 1 comment ### bug(sports_get_standings): soccer leagues return season_not_found during off-season instead of empty standings `sports_get_standings` throws `season_not_found` for soccer leagues (epl, mls, laliga, bundesliga, seriea, ligue1, ucl) whenever the current season returns an empty ESPN response. The error is identical to the response for a genuinely bad season year, so callers can't distinguish \"off-season, try again in August\" from \"your season parameter is wrong\". ## Steps to reproduce 1. Call `sports_get_standings` with `{ league: \"epl\" }` (no season) 2. Observe `isError: true`, `reason: \"season_no [Read the thread](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues/1) · 2026-06-07 · closed · 1 comment The remaining reports are on [the project's issue tracker](https://github.com/cyanheads/sports-mcp-server/issues).