diff --git a/src/main.zig b/src/main.zig
index 9f689fde7..fbab31ad6 100644
--- a/src/main.zig
+++ b/src/main.zig
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ fn mcpThread(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, app: *App) void {
 
     var stdin_buf: [64 * 1024]u8 = undefined;
     var stdin = std.fs.File.stdin().reader(&stdin_buf);
-    lp.mcp.router.processRequests(mcp_server, &stdin.interface) catch |err| {
+    lp.mcp.router.processRequests(mcp_server, &stdin.interface, std.fs.File.stdin()) catch |err| {
         log.fatal(.mcp, "mcp error", .{ .err = err });
     };
 }
diff --git a/src/mcp/Server.zig b/src/mcp/Server.zig
index 4691e4d87..a2b33359c 100644
--- a/src/mcp/Server.zig
+++ b/src/mcp/Server.zig
@@ -66,6 +66,21 @@ pub fn deinit(self: *Self) void {
     self.allocator.destroy(self);
 }
 
+/// Pump the browser session for one short slice while the server waits on
+/// input. Page transfers live on this thread's curl multi; left unserviced
+/// between tool calls they die on curl's wall-clock timeout. Returns how
+/// long the caller may block before pumping again.
+pub fn idle(self: *Self) u31 {
+    const quiet_ms = 250;
+    self.session.processDestroyQueues();
+    var runner = self.session.runner(.{}) catch return quiet_ms; // no page yet
+    const result = runner.tick(.{ .ms = 25 }) catch return quiet_ms;
+    return switch (result) {
+        .done => quiet_ms,
+        .ok => |next_ms| @intCast(@min(next_ms, quiet_ms)),
+    };
+}
+
 pub fn sendError(self: *Self, id: std.json.Value, code: protocol.ErrorCode, message: []const u8) !void {
     return self.transport.sendError(id, code, message);
 }
@@ -119,7 +134,7 @@ test "MCP.Server - Integration: synchronous smoke test" {
     var server = try Self.init(allocator, app, &out_alloc.writer);
     defer server.deinit();
 
-    try router.processRequests(server, &in_reader);
+    try router.processRequests(server, &in_reader, null);
 
     try testing.expectJson(.{ .jsonrpc = "2.0", .id = 1, .result = .{ .protocolVersion = "2024-11-05" } }, out_alloc.writer.buffered());
 }
diff --git a/src/mcp/router.zig b/src/mcp/router.zig
index 64b3206ed..e865f657c 100644
--- a/src/mcp/router.zig
+++ b/src/mcp/router.zig
@@ -10,8 +10,10 @@ const log = lp.log;
 /// `handleToolList`, `handleToolCall` methods. `handleResourceList` /
 /// `handleResourceRead` are optional — servers that don't expose
 /// resources can omit them and the router returns `MethodNotFound`
-/// automatically.
-pub fn processRequests(server: anytype, reader: *std.io.Reader) !void {
+/// automatically. When `input` is the file behind `reader`, the server must
+/// also expose `idle`: the router then pumps the browser session between
+/// requests instead of blocking on the read.
+pub fn processRequests(server: anytype, reader: *std.io.Reader, input: ?std.fs.File) !void {
     var arena: std.heap.ArenaAllocator = .init(server.allocator);
     defer arena.deinit();
 
@@ -19,6 +21,8 @@ pub fn processRequests(server: anytype, reader: *std.io.Reader) !void {
         _ = arena.reset(.retain_capacity);
         const aa = arena.allocator();
 
+        if (input) |file| idleUntilInput(server, reader, file);
+
         const buffered_line = reader.takeDelimiter('\n') catch |err| switch (err) {
             error.StreamTooLong => {
                 log.err(.mcp, "Message too long", .{});
@@ -41,6 +45,20 @@ pub fn processRequests(server: anytype, reader: *std.io.Reader) !void {
     }
 }
 
+/// Returns once `reader` holds a delimiter or the fd is readable —
+/// `takeDelimiter` may still block on a partial line, but MCP clients write
+/// whole lines. A full buffer also returns so StreamTooLong surfaces.
+fn idleUntilInput(server: anytype, reader: *std.io.Reader, file: std.fs.File) void {
+    while (std.mem.indexOfScalar(u8, reader.buffered(), '\n') == null and
+        reader.bufferedLen() < reader.buffer.len)
+    {
+        const wait_ms = server.idle();
+        var fds = [_]std.posix.pollfd{.{ .fd = file.handle, .events = std.posix.POLL.IN, .revents = 0 }};
+        const ready = std.posix.poll(&fds, wait_ms) catch return;
+        if (ready > 0) return;
+    }
+}
+
 const Method = enum {
     initialize,
     ping,