refactor: Remove header mutation in streamable_http_client

Remove client.headers.update() call that was unnecessarily mutating
user-provided httpx.AsyncClient instances. The mutation was defensive
but unnecessary since:

1. All transport methods pass headers explicitly to httpx requests
2. httpx merges request headers with client defaults, with request
   headers taking precedence
3. HTTP requests are identical with or without the mutation
4. Not mutating respects user's client object integrity

Add comprehensive test coverage for header behavior:
- Verify client headers are not mutated after use
- Verify MCP protocol headers override httpx defaults in requests
- Verify custom and MCP headers coexist correctly in requests

All existing tests pass, confirming no behavior change to actual
HTTP requests.

Author: felixweinberger

src/mcp/client/streamable_http.py

@@ -509,9 +509,6 @@ async def streamable_http_client(
     # Create transport with extracted configuration
     transport = StreamableHTTPTransport(url, headers_dict, timeout, sse_read_timeout, auth)
 
-    # Sync client headers with transport's merged headers (includes MCP protocol requirements)
-    client.headers.update(transport.request_headers)
-
     async with anyio.create_task_group() as tg:
         try:
             logger.debug(f"Connecting to StreamableHTTP endpoint: {url}")

tests/shared/test_streamable_http.py

@@ -1644,3 +1644,112 @@ async def test_handle_sse_event_skips_empty_data():
     finally:
         await write_stream.aclose()
         await read_stream.aclose()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_streamable_http_client_does_not_mutate_provided_client(
+    basic_server: None, basic_server_url: str
+) -> None:
+    """Test that streamable_http_client does not mutate the provided httpx client's headers."""
+    # Create a client with custom headers
+    original_headers = {
+        "X-Custom-Header": "custom-value",
+        "Authorization": "Bearer test-token",
+    }
+
+    async with httpx.AsyncClient(headers=original_headers, follow_redirects=True) as custom_client:
+        # Use the client with streamable_http_client
+        async with streamable_http_client(f"{basic_server_url}/mcp", http_client=custom_client) as (
+            read_stream,
+            write_stream,
+            _,
+        ):
+            async with ClientSession(read_stream, write_stream) as session:
+                result = await session.initialize()
+                assert isinstance(result, InitializeResult)
+
+        # Verify client headers were not mutated with MCP protocol headers
+        # If accept header exists, it should still be httpx default, not MCP's
+        if "accept" in custom_client.headers:  # pragma: no branch
+            assert custom_client.headers.get("accept") == "*/*"
+        # MCP content-type should not have been added
+        assert custom_client.headers.get("content-type") != "application/json"
+
+        # Verify custom headers are still present and unchanged
+        assert custom_client.headers.get("X-Custom-Header") == "custom-value"
+        assert custom_client.headers.get("Authorization") == "Bearer test-token"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_streamable_http_client_mcp_headers_override_defaults(
+    context_aware_server: None, basic_server_url: str
+) -> None:
+    """Test that MCP protocol headers override httpx.AsyncClient default headers."""
+    # httpx.AsyncClient has default "accept: */*" header
+    # We need to verify that our MCP accept header overrides it in actual requests
+
+    async with httpx.AsyncClient(follow_redirects=True) as client:
+        # Verify client has default accept header
+        assert client.headers.get("accept") == "*/*"
+
+        async with streamable_http_client(f"{basic_server_url}/mcp", http_client=client) as (
+            read_stream,
+            write_stream,
+            _,
+        ):
+            async with ClientSession(read_stream, write_stream) as session:
+                await session.initialize()
+
+                # Use echo_headers tool to see what headers the server actually received
+                tool_result = await session.call_tool("echo_headers", {})
+                assert len(tool_result.content) == 1
+                assert isinstance(tool_result.content[0], TextContent)
+                headers_data = json.loads(tool_result.content[0].text)
+
+                # Verify MCP protocol headers were sent (not httpx defaults)
+                assert "accept" in headers_data
+                assert "application/json" in headers_data["accept"]
+                assert "text/event-stream" in headers_data["accept"]
+
+                assert "content-type" in headers_data
+                assert headers_data["content-type"] == "application/json"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.anyio
+async def test_streamable_http_client_preserves_custom_with_mcp_headers(
+    context_aware_server: None, basic_server_url: str
+) -> None:
+    """Test that both custom headers and MCP protocol headers are sent in requests."""
+    custom_headers = {
+        "X-Custom-Header": "custom-value",
+        "X-Request-Id": "req-123",
+        "Authorization": "Bearer test-token",
+    }
+
+    async with httpx.AsyncClient(headers=custom_headers, follow_redirects=True) as client:
+        async with streamable_http_client(f"{basic_server_url}/mcp", http_client=client) as (
+            read_stream,
+            write_stream,
+            _,
+        ):
+            async with ClientSession(read_stream, write_stream) as session:
+                await session.initialize()
+
+                # Use echo_headers tool to verify both custom and MCP headers are present
+                tool_result = await session.call_tool("echo_headers", {})
+                assert len(tool_result.content) == 1
+                assert isinstance(tool_result.content[0], TextContent)
+                headers_data = json.loads(tool_result.content[0].text)
+
+                # Verify custom headers are present
+                assert headers_data.get("x-custom-header") == "custom-value"
+                assert headers_data.get("x-request-id") == "req-123"
+                assert headers_data.get("authorization") == "Bearer test-token"
+
+                # Verify MCP protocol headers are also present
+                assert "accept" in headers_data
+                assert "application/json" in headers_data["accept"]
+                assert "text/event-stream" in headers_data["accept"]
+
+                assert "content-type" in headers_data
+                assert headers_data["content-type"] == "application/json"