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infracore
infracore

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Hunting Down a 25-Second Network Ghost

Some HTTP MCP clients log a basic connectivity pre-check, finish TCP/TLS in well under a second, then sit idle for a tight ~25s band before logging success and sending the real request.

When a capture shows the handshake fully ACKed and zero application bytes until the client closes, the stall is almost certainly in client logic: a fixed timer, a probe that never writes, or negotiation that only continues after a timeout.

Useful isolation without owning the server:

  • Wall-clock from the "testing connectivity" log to the first client-sent application byte
  • Whether an HTTP/2 preface, SETTINGS, or any request leaves during the gap
  • Local config beside the server URL for protocol or feature-flag state that could gate the next step

Which client pre-check designs have you seen that wait a fixed multi-second delay after the socket is already live?

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