[Bug] Authentication redirect loops to onboarding for existing account with active subscription

Found 2 possible duplicate issues:

1. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/19160
2. https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/22685

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Same issue here. Pro subscriber, since March 17 outage. Login with verified email redirects to “Let’s create your account” / onboarding page. iOS app works perfectly with full history. Tried clearing cookies, incognito, multiple browsers, multiple computers — same result. Support email, DSA inquiry, and Fin AI chat (2 tickets) — zero response in 4 days. This is NOT a duplicate of #19160 which is about Claude Code OAuth. This is a claude.ai web login bug affecting existing accounts after the March 17 outage.

For reference, my Fin AI Agent conversation IDs with zero resolution: 215473516210636 and 215473574775779. Both were closed automatically without any human agent responding.

Same issue. Day 3.

Stuck in a /login to /onboarding redirect loop despite having an active max account.

No access to Claude.ai and Desktop.
iOS ok (I could log out and log back in).
Claude Code works on active sessions (pre-issue) but I haven't tried to log out for fear of losing access there too.

Tried all troubleshooting options, cookies, incognito, deactivated browser extensions, removed sign-in with Google from chrome settings, signed out of all accounts (except claude code), signed in with email instead of SSO. No joy.

No human agents on support chat. Sent a support ticket, no response after two days. Fin AI agent only lists troubleshooting options. Only once it said it would pass on the issue to a human agent. Last time I tried 10' ago: "I apologize, but our team is not currently available to help you. I understand how frustrating it must be to be unable to access your account for three days, especially when you're paying for a premium subscription. To get more help, browse our Help Center for additional troubleshooting tips, or get more help from Fin by starting a new conversation. [Ends chat conversation]." Great.

Same issue. Day 3. Stuck in a /login to /onboarding redirect loop despite having an active max account. No access to Claude.ai and Desktop. iOS ok (I could log out and log back in). Claude Code works on active sessions (pre-issue) but I haven't tried to log out for fear of losing access there too. Tried all troubleshooting options, cookies, incognito, deactivated browser extensions, removed sign-in with Google from chrome settings, signed out of all accounts (except claude code), signed in with email instead of SSO. No joy. No human agents on support chat. Sent a support ticket, no response after two days. Fin AI agent only lists troubleshooting options. Only once it said it would pass on the issue to a human agent. Last time I tried 10' ago: "I apologize, but our team is not currently available to help you. I understand how frustrating it must be to be unable to access your account for three days, especially when you're paying for a premium subscription. To get more help, browse our Help Center for additional troubleshooting tips, or get more help from Fin by starting a new conversation. [Ends chat conversation]." Great.

In my case, after waiting three days for the support team to contact me — which never happened — I decided to take the risk. I went ahead and proceeded with the new account. After going back and forth with several AI tools, it actually worked out well. Instead of creating a new account, it reverted back to my original one. That was my experience. At least in this regard, it went smoothly. As of today, I still haven't received a response, and it's been over a week.

I don't know what's happening to me I already paid for PRO membership yet it's showing free and when attempting to do the monthly payment again it is doing nothing and showing an error message - _this organization already has an active subscription_

Issue Environment: I did all the steps in Claude Desktop (but same is happening in claude code CLI and in claude browser)

In my case, after waiting three days for the support team to contact me — which never happened — I decided to take the risk. I went ahead and proceeded with the new account. After going back and forth with several AI tools, it actually worked out well. Instead of creating a new account, it reverted back to my original one. That was my experience. At least in this regard, it went smoothly. As of today, I still haven't received a response, and it's been over a week.

Thanks for sharing this @migas5000! I waited another day then went ahead with the onboarding. Cleared cookies and logged back in via SSO. It worked, back on my max plan on web and desktop. 👍

Claude Code explained that I wouldn't have lost access in the CLI anyway as it uses its own authentication token stored locally on my machine. It's completely independent from the web/desktop app login. You won't lose access by doing anything on claude.ai.

This is definitely the same problem as #19160

Adding a data point — same issue on my account since April 24, 2026.
I know my Max subscription ($20/month) won’t move the needle at Anthropic, but I’m genuinely locked out of the product I’m paying for, so here’s the detailed report hoping someone can help.

The issue:
• Existing Claude Max account, active and confirmed on mobile
• Desktop app + claude.ai both route to “Let’s create your account” onboarding
• Email shows as verified but auth fails

What happened before it broke: logged in on Mac, attempted login on office desktop while first session was still active. Both the login failed AND the original session got force-logged-out simultaneously. Since then, all desktop/web attempts fail the same way. Mobile still works.

Already tried: Google SSO, email magic link, incognito, multiple browsers/devices, revoked Google access, cleared app data. Nothing works.

Support: Ticket #215474005792314 (3 days, no human response).
This looks like the same root cause as #19160 — backend auth routing / account service sync issue.

I'm experiencing the same problem with one of my accounts. I have two Max Plan accounts, which I currently use on two different computers. Today, one of my accounts was almost out of credit, and I wanted to switch to the other account. However, I found that clicking the magic link in the verification email redirects me to the account creation page, making it impossible to log in. After several unsuccessful attempts, I logged back into the account with the almost-out-of-credit account, and strangely, it logged in and worked normally. On the other computer, the problematic account also cannot log in via the web browser, but it works fine with the Claude Code CLI. I'm very frustrated now.

I'm experiencing the same problem with one of my accounts. I have two Max Plan accounts, which I currently use on two different computers. Today, one of my accounts was almost out of credit, and I wanted to switch to the other account. However, I found that clicking the magic link in the verification email redirects me to the account creation page, making it impossible to log in. After several unsuccessful attempts, I logged back into the account with the almost-out-of-credit account, and strangely, it logged in and worked normally. On the other computer, the problematic account also cannot log in via the web browser, but it works fine with the Claude Code CLI. I'm very frustrated now.

It’s been incredibly frustrating. I’ve been trying to reach Anthropic support for 10 days, and all I’ve gotten are bot responses. I’ve honestly never had a worse customer support experience.

The only time they said they connected me to a human agent, it was even worse than the Fin AI support bot. That “human” replied without even reading my case or conversation history. If there’s anything more frustrating than a bot, it’s a human agent who doesn’t read the case and gives completely unrelated suggestions.

I’m sorry for everyone else dealing with this mess. I posted here, on Reddit, tagged Anthropic on X, and even tried reaching support employees on LinkedIn because I had important work inside the account. But at this point, the time I’ve wasted trying to fix this has become more valuable than the account itself, not to mention the frustration.

Even engineers don’t seem to read here, so it feels like a complete waste of time. I ended up migrating my work to a new account. I got a refund and I’m now using a new account.

Good luck to everyone still dealing with this. But honestly, don’t expect any help from support. In my experience, it has been a complete waste of time. You’re probably better off trying other workarounds.

Same situation here as a paying Max subscriber. Continue with Google completes the Google OAuth handshake, the page briefly shows "You are logging back to your account", then drops me on the onboarding / "Let's create your account" page. Browser and Claude Desktop both broken, mobile app and Claude Code CLI still authenticated and working. Started for me on 7 May 2026.

Fin AI Agent looped through the same email-deliverability troubleshooting and refused to escalate to a human despite seven explicit requests (Conversation ID 215474217164643). Email sent to support@anthropic.com, no response yet.

Did anyone here find a workaround that did not require clicking "Create account" and risking the duplicate-account scenario from #51002? Specifically interested in whether revoking and re-granting the "Claude by Anthropic" permission at myaccount.google.com/permissions resolved it for anyone, or whether there is any other safe path that did not require waiting for support.

Thanks.

same here — Max subscriber, macOS, locked out 15+ days after a Google password change. Identical symptoms: every sign-in redirects to /onboarding with email shown as verified, while the Android app and platform.claude.com still work. Full details in my comment on #57164. Adding myself to the count of affected paying customers.

fyi worth contacting privacy@anthropic and requesting all of your data under GDPR Subject Access Request. Explain why you want a copy off all your data (because you have been locked out of your account). Legal are duty bound to reply in 30 days and provide you a copy of all of the data held in your account. If not you can report them to the data commission in your country and the fines of non compliance are astronomical.

Anthropic may choose to not staff their support teams, but they have a legal responsibility here so this request will definately be met with a response and, hopefully, see some internal effort to fix the issue.

same here — Max subscriber, macOS, locked out 15+ days after a Google password change. Identical symptoms: every sign-in redirects to /onboarding with email shown as verified, while the Android app and platform.claude.com still work. Full details in my comment on #57164. Adding myself to the count of affected paying customers.

I've just went ahead and continue to create a new account and everything was back. I had no choice, I took the risk and it went fine. So probably just a bug

EDIT:
I did it! I followed the process to create a new account - and I was back in my existing one.

Hi
I have the same issues since 4 days. No clue, what I can do.
Claude on my iphone App works fine. But via Browser, it always redirects to the account creation page. I have tried all the solutions that Fin AI proposed, several times.
No answer from support@antrhopic.com.
Is there already a solution or a workaround?
Thank you

Update: resolved by following the migas5000 / GiacomoPatella path in #36797. Proceeded through the "Create account" onboarding flow, and the system automatically reverted me to my existing Max account — full Projects, memory, chat history, and Skills intact. No duplicate account was created. Web and desktop access fully restored.

Confirming the May 2026 pattern: the backend now correctly recognizes the email and re-routes to the existing Max account on completion of the onboarding flow. Adding myself as the fifth+ public confirmation that this path is safe.

Mobile session (Android) remained authenticated throughout the entire process, as predicted by the independent OAuth token architecture.

NOTE: I was oretty nervous because of the context, projects and massive data content in my max account, but at least for now, seems to be the best solution to restore your account with all your data

Proceeded through the "Create account" onboarding flow, and the system automatically reverted me to my existing Max account

@FNCglobal Did you have to enter credit card / billing info in the onboarding flow or did it revert you to your existing account before you got to that point?

Hi in the end I went through onboarding, but via the web.

I deleted the Claude app, so I downloaded a second version and that worked.

Previous version was asking for me to make a choice re subscription so I
could see where that was heading

On Fri, 22 May 2026, 16:41 Cliff Hall, @.***> wrote:

cliffhall left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#36797) <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/36797#issuecomment-4520132907> Proceeded through the "Create account" onboarding flow, and the system automatically reverted me to my existing Max account @FNCglobal <https://github.com/FNCglobal> Did you have to enter credit card / billing info in the onboarding flow? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/36797#issuecomment-4520132907>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BWZEOPSMM356KM6MP2MYUE344BYLDAVCNFSM6AAAAACWZRNJ66VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DKMRQGEZTEOJQG4> . Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub>. You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

Same issue here, on Windows with an active paid subscription.

The desktop app authenticates successfully (verification code accepted) but then redirects me to the onboarding screen — "Let's create your account" — with my email shown as verified at the bottom. I never reach my dashboard; it just loops back.

Key details matching this bug:

• claude.ai in the browser works perfectly on the same account — dashboard, projects and history all load. The problem is specific to the desktop client's post-auth account routing.
• Existing account, active subscription (not a new signup).
• Login itself succeeds — the failure is purely the redirect to onboarding afterward.
• Persists after full reinstall and clearing %APPDATA%\Claude and %LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude, repeatedly, which points to this being server-side rather than local data.

Account email is on a Proton Mail address, in case that's a common factor worth checking against other reports.

Adding my case to help with triage — this has been ongoing across multiple weeks.

BTW, I tried the "just press through the signup page and it will realize you have an account and auth you" approach, but it did not work. Ended up on the "give us your credit card page".

BTW, I tried the "just press through the signup page and it will realize you have an account and auth you" approach, but it did not work. Ended up on the "give us your credit card page".

I had the same issue being redirected to /onboarding despite a paid plan and for me just going through the steps worked to recover access 🙏

I had the same experience which went to Fin that is completely useless and then I tried to go trough, which did the trick. This is a horrible bug that needs to be fixed. Not sure why there is a label saying invalid, should be "in progress".

Same issue happening here

Just had the same thing happen to me, on the $200 plan, in the middle of a very active session with a deadline. The reports of several days without support contact is very disconcerting. The models are great, but In ever have these issues with other AI products.

I had the same issue. A long time user on the Max plan and suddenly when trying to login (via claude.ai in browser or desktop app) it took me to the onboarding screen. I tried everything to get back in. I did not get any help from Fin (AI) and after it telling me I would have human support for 4 days I decided to try the onboarding workflow again and it took me to my account. Really not happy that I did not have any direct support from Anthropic here.

Same issue here. Does support come back to you?

Hi Gavin

This was the (human) response I got back from Anthropic:
--

Hi Darren,

Thanks for reaching out to Anthropic Support.

If you've paid for a Pro or Max plan but are not seeing this reflected in
your account, there are two things you should check:

1. You've logged in with a different email. We recommend trying to sign

in with any alternative emails you may have used to create your paid
account.

1. Your payment method failed and your account was downgraded. To check

this, navigate to *Settings > Billing
<https://claude.ai/settings/billing>* to confirm your recent payment
status and update your payment method or billing details if needed.

Kind regards,

[NAME REDACTED]
--
This was sent to me after I did the onboarding again and regained access to
my account.

I sent this person at Anthropic a link to this Github issue stating that
they have a problem and need to look into it. I have not heard back.

On Thu, 6 Aug 2026 at 08:10, Gavin @.***> wrote:

gavin-jd left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#36797) <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/36797#issuecomment-5205804047> Same issue here. Does support come back to you? — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/36797?email_source=notifications&email_token=BIMY6XOMQYZNF4KR2RM3VNT5ISGWXA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTKMRQGU4DANBQGQ32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#issuecomment-5205804047>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BIMY6XLXZH33QSVK7CVFQRT5ISGWXAVCNFSNUABFKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHM4TGNZSGUZTINZVHNEXG43VMU5TIMJQHE4DONZZGIY2C5QC> . Triage notifications, keep track of coding agent tasks and review pull requests on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/ios/BIMY6XKVQBPMFIBUIEIKX7T5ISGWXA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTKMRQGU4DANBQGQ32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJKTGN5XXIZLSL5UW64Y> and Android <https://github.com/notifications/mobile/android/BIMY6XOQJKNP2OQBX6ZTOTL5ISGWXA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTKMRQGU4DANBQGQ32M4TFMFZW63VHMNXW23LFNZ2KKZLWMVXHJLTGN5XXIZLSL5QW4ZDSN5UWI>. Download it today! You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: @.***>

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Founder & Managing Director
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+44 7811 340 @.*** dewsign.co.uk
<http://www.dewsign.co.uk>

one more voice with the same issue for the last 5 days. still connected on my android app, as well as CLI (VS Code) on my laptop, but browser authenticates and then says lets create a new account. Positive its all the same account, happens on a brand new machine as well so its not cookies or anything.

i have over 2 years of work there, i have trepidation about going through the onboarding process as some have suggested and will eventually do that bc there are no other suggestions available, certainly not from Anthropic humans, and certainly not from Fin, who just keeps circling back over the same territory. even my CLI conversation says that this is nuts.

no word at all from Anthropic. Is there no way to actually put in a support ticket that someone may actually read?

I got a human response about a week after submitting my ticket (6 days to be precise). I ran out of patience long before that and just crossed my fingers and went through the onboarding steps with the determination that it was either going to work or I was cancelling my subscription. Fortunately for everyone, that worked. By the time a human read my ticket their response was essentially (paraphrasing) "looks like you're all good now - cheers".

I got a human response about a week after submitting my ticket (6 days to be precise). I ran out of patience long before that and just crossed my fingers and went through the onboarding steps with the determination that it was either going to work or I was cancelling my subscription. Fortunately for everyone, that worked. By the time a human read my ticket their response was essentially (paraphrasing) "looks like you're all good now - cheers".

Really, no duplicate account bug?

Resolved for me today. Max subscriber, locked out of claude.ai web since 12 August while Claude Code CLI and mobile stayed authenticated the whole time.

Going through the "Let's create your account" onboarding flow in the browser (not the desktop app) routed me straight back to my existing Max account. No duplicate account, projects and history intact.

Twelve days lost purely because I was afraid to click that button. Thanks to @migas5000, @GiacomoPatella, @FNCglobal, @darrenewilliams and @jvanord for reporting that the path is safe. That is the only reason I dared try it.

Anthropic support never surfaced this. Ticket opened 12 August, escalated by a human agent on 13 August, no follow-up since. The answer was in this thread the entire time.

Adding one more confirmation to the count for whoever finds this next: complete the onboarding flow, stop if it asks for a credit card, and your account comes back.

Really, no duplicate account bug?

Not for me but I don't want to promise anything I don't fully understand. Like others have said, stop if they as for a payment method.

re-onboarding workd fine for me. thanks for the tips and assurances.

one more voice with the same issue for the last 5 days. still connected on my android app, as well as CLI (VS Code) on my laptop, but browser authenticates and then says lets create a new account. Positive its all the same account, happens on a brand new machine as well so its not cookies or anything. i have over 2 years of work there, i have trepidation about going through the onboarding process as some have suggested and will eventually do that bc there are no other suggestions available, certainly not from Anthropic humans, and certainly not from Fin, who just keeps circling back over the same territory. even my CLI conversation says that this is nuts. no word at all from Anthropic. Is there no way to actually put in a support ticket that someone may actually read?

After reading a lot of person that suffered with the same problem. I decided to clic on the create account (even when I already had an existing account with the same google account that Claude was asking me to "create account").

The result was exactly as other persons, after answering some questions (like if I were indeed creating a new account) I could get back my full account work, chats and everything.

Today is August 27th, 2026. I hope this help others.

Note: I had more than 24 hours with the problem (2 working days). I had access on my phone and tablet, but claude web on different computers, clearing cookies, trying to access on incognito mode and all other options Fin AI ask me to do (Claude customer service agent), but anything worked but this I'm sharing with you.

Claude has a awful customer service, but at least the Claude community help, in github you can find many persons with the same problem ([BUG] Login redirects to "Create account" onboarding for existing account with active Pro subscription #74236, [Bug] Authentication redirect loops to onboarding for existing account with active subscription #36797)

Wow! I can confirm it worked for me as well. I went ahead and clicked "Create New Account" and after going through the follow up screens it took me back to my original account all chats and sessions presserved.

Confirming this worked! Thanks for sharing your experiences, I wouldn't have dared to go through this without this page.

Max subscriber, locked out of claude.ai and the desktop app for roughly a day. Authentication succeeded every time and then landed on "Let's create your account". Reproduced in private browsing and on a second device on a different network that had never touched my account, so it was not local state. Mobile app and Console stayed signed in throughout.

Support routed me to Fin, which confirmed no organisation was attached to my address, then told me plainly it could not open a case or pass anything to a human team.

What fixed it: clicking through the "Create account" onboarding. It did not create a new account. It reconnected my existing one with all chats, projects and skills intact.

One detail that may matter and that I would like someone from Anthropic to confirm or correct. I did it while authenticating with the SAME provider my account was originally created under (Google). #51002 documents the opposite outcome where a duplicate was created under a DIFFERENT provider than the original, locking the user out permanently.

So "just click through" may not be safe advice on its own. Anyone trying this should first back up anything that exists only inside the account, since project instructions are not covered by the data export.

Still open as a product issue: authentication that succeeds but matches no account record should surface an error rather than offering account creation, as #57164 asks. And a paying subscriber locked out of every surface should reach a human, which the "How to get support" article says happens for Pro and Max but did not here.

Thanks for this thread. I confirm it worked for me too. Just did the onboarding now, 15/09/2026. The account wasn't duplicated. I made sure to use the same form of login (google integration) just to make sure.

Excelent brother, I totally understand tje horribñe feeling... good for you!

jcalmeida left a comment (anthropics/claude-code#36797)

Thanks for this thread. I confirm it worked for me too. Just did the onboarding now, 15/09/2026. The account wasn't duplicated. I made sure to use the same form of login (google integration) just to make sure.

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