fix: harden roots fallback semantics and docs

README.md

@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ Example server launch with allowlisted roots:
 uv --directory /full/path/to/telegram-mcp run main.py /data/telegram /tmp/telegram-mcp
 ```
 
-Additionally, GIF-related tools (`get_gif_search`, `get_saved_gifs`, `send_gif`) have been removed due to ongoing issues with reliability in the Telethon library or Telegram API interactions.
+GIF tools are currently limited: `get_gif_search` and `send_gif` are available, while `get_saved_gifs` is not implemented due to reliability limits in Telethon/Telegram API interactions.
 
 ---
 

main.py

@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ MAX_FILE_BYTES: dict[str, int] = {
     "set_profile_photo": 50 * 1024 * 1024,
     "edit_chat_photo": 50 * 1024 * 1024,
 }
+ROOTS_UNSUPPORTED_ERROR_CODES = {-32601}
 
 
 # Error code prefix mapping for better error tracing
@@ -462,9 +463,26 @@ def _ensure_size_within_limit(tool_name: str, candidate: Path) -> Optional[str]:
 
 
 async def _get_effective_allowed_roots(ctx: Optional[Context]) -> List[Path]:
-    if ctx is not None:
+    fallback_roots = list(SERVER_ALLOWED_ROOTS)
+    if ctx is None:
+        return fallback_roots
+
     try:
         list_roots_result = await ctx.session.list_roots()
+    except McpError as error:
+        error_code = getattr(getattr(error, "error", None), "code", None)
+        error_message = (
+            getattr(getattr(error, "error", None), "message", None) or str(error)
+        ).lower()
+        if error_code in ROOTS_UNSUPPORTED_ERROR_CODES or "method not found" in error_message:
+            # Fallback is allowed only when roots are unsupported in this MCP client session.
+            return fallback_roots
+        logger.error("MCP roots request failed; disabling file-path tools for safety.", exc_info=True)
+        return []
+    except Exception:
+        logger.error("Unexpected MCP roots failure; disabling file-path tools for safety.", exc_info=True)
+        return []
+
     client_roots: List[Path] = []
     for root in list_roots_result.roots:
         try:
@@ -472,12 +490,12 @@ async def _get_effective_allowed_roots(ctx: Optional[Context]) -> List[Path]:
         except Exception:
             # Ignore invalid root entries supplied by a client.
             continue
+
+    if client_roots:
         return _dedupe_paths(client_roots)
-        except (McpError, Exception):
-            # Fall back to server-side allowlist when roots are unsupported
-            # or not available in this MCP client session.
-            pass
-    return list(SERVER_ALLOWED_ROOTS)
+
+    # If client returned an empty roots list, keep server-side fallback roots.
+    return fallback_roots
 
 
 async def _ensure_allowed_roots(

test_file_path_security.py

@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 import pytest
 from mcp import types
+from mcp.shared.exceptions import McpError
+from mcp.types import ErrorData
 
 os.environ.setdefault("TELEGRAM_API_ID", "12345")
 os.environ.setdefault("TELEGRAM_API_HASH", "dummy_hash")
@@ -23,6 +25,19 @@ class _DummyContext:
         self.session = _DummySession(roots)
 
 
+class _FailingSession:
+    def __init__(self, error):
+        self._error = error
+
+    async def list_roots(self):
+        raise self._error
+
+
+class _FailingContext:
+    def __init__(self, error):
+        self.session = _FailingSession(error)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_readable_relative_path_resolves_inside_first_server_root(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     root = (tmp_path / "root").resolve()
@@ -106,6 +121,60 @@ async def test_client_roots_replace_server_allowlist(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     assert resolved == client_file.resolve()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_empty_client_roots_fall_back_to_server_allowlist(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    server_root = (tmp_path / "server_root").resolve()
+    server_root.mkdir(parents=True)
+    server_file = server_root / "server.txt"
+    server_file.write_text("server", encoding="utf-8")
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(main, "SERVER_ALLOWED_ROOTS", [server_root])
+    ctx = _DummyContext([])
+
+    roots = await main._get_effective_allowed_roots(ctx)
+    assert roots == [server_root]
+
+    resolved, error = await main._resolve_readable_file_path(
+        raw_path="server.txt",
+        ctx=ctx,
+        tool_name="send_file",
+    )
+    assert error is None
+    assert resolved == server_file.resolve()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_mcp_method_not_found_falls_back_to_server_allowlist(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    server_root = (tmp_path / "server_root").resolve()
+    server_root.mkdir(parents=True)
+
+    monkeypatch.setattr(main, "SERVER_ALLOWED_ROOTS", [server_root])
+    ctx = _FailingContext(McpError(ErrorData(code=-32601, message="Method not found")))
+
+    roots = await main._get_effective_allowed_roots(ctx)
+    assert roots == [server_root]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_unexpected_roots_error_disables_file_path_tools(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
+    server_root = (tmp_path / "server_root").resolve()
+    server_root.mkdir(parents=True)
+    monkeypatch.setattr(main, "SERVER_ALLOWED_ROOTS", [server_root])
+
+    ctx = _FailingContext(RuntimeError("transport failure"))
+    roots = await main._get_effective_allowed_roots(ctx)
+    assert roots == []
+
+    resolved, error = await main._resolve_readable_file_path(
+        raw_path="anything.txt",
+        ctx=ctx,
+        tool_name="send_file",
+    )
+    assert resolved is None
+    assert error is not None
+    assert "disabled" in error
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_writable_default_path_uses_downloads_subdir(tmp_path, monkeypatch):
     root = (tmp_path / "root").resolve()