[BUG] **Claude Code stuck on "Credit balance too low" after credits were added — no way to recover without manual credential deletion**

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Claude Code stuck on "Credit balance too low" after credits were added — no way to recover without manual credential deletion

Environment

• Claude Code v2.1.76
• OS: Ubuntu (Hetzner VPS)
• Auth: API Usage Billing (Organization: active, credits visible)
• Runtime: Bun, managed via PM2 + tmux

What happened
Credits ran out during an active session. $100 was added via platform.claude.com/settings/billing. The billing dashboard confirmed $97.47 remaining balance immediately.

However, Claude Code continued to reject every input with:

Credit balance too low · Add funds: https://platform.claude.com/settings/billing

This persisted for over one hour despite the credits being clearly available on the platform.

The real problem: unrecoverable state
The critical issue is that there was no way to fix this from within Claude Code:

• claude logout → Claude launches, hits the billing error immediately, never reaches the logout flow
• claude config → Same behavior, blocked before any command runs
• No way to clear cached auth/billing state through the CLI

The only fix was to manually delete ~/.claude/.credentials and re-authenticate with claude login.

Impact
This is a production blocker for anyone running Claude Code as a persistent agent (24/7 via PM2/tmux). If the billing cache gets stale, the entire system is bricked with no CLI-accessible recovery path.

Workaround

rm -rf ~/.claude/.credentials
claude login

What Should Happen?

Expected behavior

• Claude Code should re-check billing status periodically, not cache it indefinitely
• CLI commands like logout, login, and config should work regardless of billing status
• At minimum, there should be a claude auth reset or similar escape hatch

Error Messages/Logs

Credit balance too low · Add funds: https://platform.claude.com/settings/billing

Steps to Reproduce

Run out of API funds

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Code v2.1.76

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

VS Code integrated terminal

Additional Information

_No response_