diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index e5d02b6..88c95f8 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ import type { Server } from '@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/index.js';
 export async function createConnection(userConfig: Config = {}, contextGetter?: () => Promise<BrowserContext>): Promise<Server> {
   const config = await resolveConfig(userConfig);
   const factory = contextGetter ? new SimpleBrowserContextFactory(contextGetter) : contextFactory(config.browser);
-  return mcpServer.createServer(new BrowserServerBackend(config, factory));
+  return mcpServer.createServer(new BrowserServerBackend(config, factory), false);
 }
 
 class SimpleBrowserContextFactory implements BrowserContextFactory {
diff --git a/src/loopTools/context.ts b/src/loopTools/context.ts
index 59d2b64..b1b4709 100644
--- a/src/loopTools/context.ts
+++ b/src/loopTools/context.ts
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export class Context {
   static async create(config: FullConfig) {
     const client = new Client({ name: 'Playwright Proxy', version: '1.0.0' });
     const browserContextFactory = contextFactory(config.browser);
-    const server = mcpServer.createServer(new BrowserServerBackend(config, browserContextFactory));
+    const server = mcpServer.createServer(new BrowserServerBackend(config, browserContextFactory), false);
     await client.connect(new InProcessTransport(server));
     await client.ping();
     return new Context(config, client);
diff --git a/src/mcp/server.ts b/src/mcp/server.ts
index 57ba3c9..1d4e2ba 100644
--- a/src/mcp/server.ts
+++ b/src/mcp/server.ts
@@ -51,14 +51,14 @@ export interface ServerBackend {
 
 export type ServerBackendFactory = () => ServerBackend;
 
-export async function connect(serverBackendFactory: ServerBackendFactory, transport: Transport) {
+export async function connect(serverBackendFactory: ServerBackendFactory, transport: Transport, runHeartbeat: boolean) {
   const backend = serverBackendFactory();
   await backend.initialize?.();
-  const server = createServer(backend);
+  const server = createServer(backend, runHeartbeat);
   await server.connect(transport);
 }
 
-export function createServer(backend: ServerBackend): Server {
+export function createServer(backend: ServerBackend, runHeartbeat: boolean): Server {
   const server = new Server({ name: backend.name, version: backend.version }, {
     capabilities: {
       tools: {},
@@ -80,7 +80,13 @@ export function createServer(backend: ServerBackend): Server {
     })) };
   });
 
+  let heartbeatRunning = false;
   server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async request => {
+    if (runHeartbeat && !heartbeatRunning) {
+      heartbeatRunning = true;
+      startHeartbeat(server);
+    }
+
     const errorResult = (...messages: string[]) => ({
       content: [{ type: 'text', text: messages.join('\n') }],
       isError: true,
@@ -96,10 +102,30 @@ export function createServer(backend: ServerBackend): Server {
     }
   });
 
-  if (backend.serverInitialized)
-    server.oninitialized = () => backend.serverInitialized!(server.getClientVersion());
-  if (backend.serverClosed)
-    server.onclose = () => backend.serverClosed!();
-
+  addServerListener(server, 'initialized', () => backend.serverInitialized?.(server.getClientVersion()));
+  addServerListener(server, 'close', () => backend.serverClosed?.());
   return server;
 }
+
+const startHeartbeat = (server: Server) => {
+  const beat = () => {
+    Promise.race([
+      server.ping(),
+      new Promise((_, reject) => setTimeout(() => reject(new Error('ping timeout')), 5000)),
+    ]).then(() => {
+      setTimeout(beat, 3000);
+    }).catch(() => {
+      void server.close();
+    });
+  };
+
+  beat();
+};
+
+function addServerListener(server: Server, event: 'close' | 'initialized', listener: () => void) {
+  const oldListener = server[`on${event}`];
+  server[`on${event}`] = () => {
+    oldListener?.();
+    listener();
+  };
+}
diff --git a/src/mcp/transport.ts b/src/mcp/transport.ts
index 6804294..e85a66f 100644
--- a/src/mcp/transport.ts
+++ b/src/mcp/transport.ts
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ export async function start(serverBackendFactory: ServerBackendFactory, options:
 }
 
 async function startStdioTransport(serverBackendFactory: ServerBackendFactory) {
-  await mcpServer.connect(serverBackendFactory, new StdioServerTransport());
+  await mcpServer.connect(serverBackendFactory, new StdioServerTransport(), false);
 }
 
 const testDebug = debug('pw:mcp:test');
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ async function handleSSE(serverBackendFactory: ServerBackendFactory, req: http.I
     const transport = new SSEServerTransport('/sse', res);
     sessions.set(transport.sessionId, transport);
     testDebug(`create SSE session: ${transport.sessionId}`);
-    await mcpServer.connect(serverBackendFactory, transport);
+    await mcpServer.connect(serverBackendFactory, transport, false);
     res.on('close', () => {
       testDebug(`delete SSE session: ${transport.sessionId}`);
       sessions.delete(transport.sessionId);
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ async function handleStreamable(serverBackendFactory: ServerBackendFactory, req:
       sessionIdGenerator: () => crypto.randomUUID(),
       onsessioninitialized: async sessionId => {
         testDebug(`create http session: ${transport.sessionId}`);
-        await mcpServer.connect(serverBackendFactory, transport);
+        await mcpServer.connect(serverBackendFactory, transport, true);
         sessions.set(sessionId, transport);
       }
     });