diff --git a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
index 1bd23db0948..6a5e55d1822 100644
--- a/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
+++ b/litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/server.py
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ def _request_tags_from_raw_headers(
 ) -> Sequence[str] | None:
     """The caller's tags, parsed by the same helper the LLM routes use so an MCP operation and a
     chat completion attribute an identical header identically."""
-    header_value = _request_tags_header(raw_headers)
+    header_value: Final = _request_tags_header(raw_headers)
     if header_value is None:
         return None
     return LiteLLMProxyRequestSetup.add_request_tag_to_metadata(
@@ -2190,7 +2190,11 @@ if MCP_AVAILABLE:
             list_tools_call_id: Final = str(uuid.uuid4())
             # Derive trace_id from raw_headers when not explicitly passed (same as A2A / MCP call_tool)
             effective_litellm_trace_id: Final = litellm_trace_id or get_chain_id_from_headers(raw_headers)
-            effective_request_tags: Final = request_tags or _request_tags_from_raw_headers(raw_headers)
+            # An explicit [] means the caller resolved to no tags; only fall back to the
+            # header when nothing was passed at all.
+            effective_request_tags: Final = (
+                request_tags if request_tags is not None else _request_tags_from_raw_headers(raw_headers)
+            )
             spend_logs_metadata: Final[dict[str, object]] = {
                 "mcp_operation": "list_tools",
             }
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/test_mcp_server.py b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/test_mcp_server.py
index 09d7592d4d4..1b68303cfdb 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/test_mcp_server.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/proxy/_experimental/mcp_server/test_mcp_server.py
@@ -5031,26 +5031,26 @@ async def test_get_tools_from_mcp_servers_takes_list_tools_tags_from_x_litellm_t
         return dummy_logging_obj, None
 
     with (
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: server allowlist is a module-level function; the suite has no injection seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server._get_allowed_mcp_servers",
             new=AsyncMock(return_value=[server_a]),
         ),
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: header prep is a module-level function; the suite has no injection seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server._prepare_mcp_server_headers",
             return_value=(None, None),
         ),
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: manager is a module-level singleton; patching it is the suite established seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server.global_mcp_server_manager",
         ) as mock_manager,
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: tool filter is a module-level function; the suite has no injection seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server.filter_tools_by_allowed_tools",
             side_effect=lambda tools, _server: tools,
         ),
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: permission filter is a module-level async function; the suite has no injection seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server.filter_tools_by_key_team_permissions",
             new=AsyncMock(side_effect=lambda tools, **_: tools),
         ),
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: logging setup is a module-level function; patched to capture spend-log metadata kwargs
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server.function_setup",
             side_effect=_capture_function_setup,
         ),
@@ -5073,7 +5073,8 @@ async def test_get_tools_from_mcp_servers_takes_list_tools_tags_from_x_litellm_t
 
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_get_tools_from_mcp_servers_prefers_explicit_request_tags_over_the_header():
-    """`request_tags` is the resolved value a caller passes in; a header must not override it."""
+    """`request_tags` is the resolved value a caller passes in; a header must not override it.
+    An explicit empty list resolves to no tags rather than falling back to the header."""
     try:
         from litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server import (
             _get_tools_from_mcp_servers,
@@ -5105,26 +5106,26 @@ async def test_get_tools_from_mcp_servers_prefers_explicit_request_tags_over_the
         return dummy_logging_obj, None
 
     with (
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: server allowlist is a module-level function; the suite has no injection seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server._get_allowed_mcp_servers",
             new=AsyncMock(return_value=[server_a]),
         ),
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: header prep is a module-level function; the suite has no injection seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server._prepare_mcp_server_headers",
             return_value=(None, None),
         ),
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: manager is a module-level singleton; patching it is the suite established seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server.global_mcp_server_manager",
         ) as mock_manager,
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: tool filter is a module-level function; the suite has no injection seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server.filter_tools_by_allowed_tools",
             side_effect=lambda tools, _server: tools,
         ),
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: permission filter is a module-level async function; the suite has no injection seam
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server.filter_tools_by_key_team_permissions",
             new=AsyncMock(side_effect=lambda tools, **_: tools),
         ),
-        patch(
+        patch(  # test-quality-ok: logging setup is a module-level function; patched to capture spend-log metadata kwargs
             "litellm.proxy._experimental.mcp_server.server.function_setup",
             side_effect=_capture_function_setup,
         ),
@@ -5141,8 +5142,22 @@ async def test_get_tools_from_mcp_servers_prefers_explicit_request_tags_over_the
             list_tools_log_source="mcp_protocol",
             request_tags=["explicit"],
         )
+        explicit_metadata = dict(function_setup_kwargs["metadata"])
 
-    assert function_setup_kwargs["metadata"]["tags"] == ["explicit"]
+        await _get_tools_from_mcp_servers(
+            user_api_key_auth=user_auth,
+            mcp_auth_header=None,
+            mcp_servers=["server_a"],
+            mcp_server_auth_headers=None,
+            raw_headers={"x-litellm-tags": "from-header"},
+            log_list_tools_to_spendlogs=True,
+            list_tools_log_source="mcp_protocol",
+            request_tags=[],
+        )
+        empty_metadata = dict(function_setup_kwargs["metadata"])
+
+    assert explicit_metadata["tags"] == ["explicit"]
+    assert "tags" not in empty_metadata
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
diff --git a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/lib/http/schema.d.ts b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/lib/http/schema.d.ts
index 7eadaa6c991..839aa52fa84 100644
--- a/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/lib/http/schema.d.ts
+++ b/ui/litellm-dashboard/src/lib/http/schema.d.ts
@@ -16781,7 +16781,6 @@ export interface paths {
          *     - permissions: Optional[dict] - [Not Implemented Yet] User-specific permissions, eg. turning off pii masking.
          *     - metadata: Optional[dict] - Metadata for user, store information for user. Example metadata = {"team": "core-infra", "app": "app2", "email": "ishaan@berri.ai" }
          *     - max_parallel_requests: Optional[int] - Rate limit a user based on the number of parallel requests. Raises 429 error, if user's parallel requests > x.
-         *     - soft_budget: Optional[float] - Get alerts when user crosses given budget, doesn't block requests.
          *     - model_max_budget: Optional[dict] - Model-specific max budget for user. [Docs](https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/users#add-model-specific-budgets-to-keys)
          *     - budget_fallbacks: Optional[Dict[str, List[str]]] - Per-model fallback chain tried in order when that model's own `model_max_budget` is exceeded, e.g. {"gpt-4o": ["gpt-4o-mini"]}.
          *     - model_rpm_limit: Optional[float] - Model-specific rpm limit for user. [Docs](https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/users#add-model-specific-limits-to-keys)
@@ -16887,7 +16886,6 @@ export interface paths {
          *         - permissions: Optional[dict] - [Not Implemented Yet] User-specific permissions, eg. turning off pii masking.
          *         - metadata: Optional[dict] - Metadata for user, store information for user. Example metadata = {"team": "core-infra", "app": "app2", "email": "ishaan@berri.ai" }
          *         - max_parallel_requests: Optional[int] - Rate limit a user based on the number of parallel requests. Raises 429 error, if user's parallel requests > x.
-         *         - soft_budget: Optional[float] - Get alerts when user crosses given budget, doesn't block requests.
          *         - model_max_budget: Optional[dict] - Model-specific max budget for user. [Docs](https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/users#add-model-specific-budgets-to-keys)
          *         - budget_fallbacks: Optional[Dict[str, List[str]]] - Per-model fallback chain tried in order when that model's own `model_max_budget` is exceeded, e.g. {"gpt-4o": ["gpt-4o-mini"]}.
          *         - model_rpm_limit: Optional[float] - Model-specific rpm limit for user. [Docs](https://docs.litellm.ai/docs/proxy/users#add-model-specific-limits-to-keys)