[BUG] 401 Authentication Error — OAuth token rejected on all servers despite valid Max 20x subscription

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?

[BUG] 401 Authentication Error — OAuth token rejected on all servers despite valid Max 20x subscription

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

After working normally (including this morning), Claude Code suddenly started returning 401 authentication errors on every command, including /login, /logout, and claude login. This happens across all my servers (multiple VPS instances), ruling out a local configuration issue.

The welcome screen correctly identifies my account (name, email, organization, Max subscription), but every subsequent command fails with:

Please run /login · API Error: 401 {"type":"error","error":{"type":"authentication_error","message":"Invalid authentication credentials"},"request_id":"req_..."}

Environment

• Claude Code version: v2.1.107
• OS: Ubuntu 24 (multiple servers: Vultr Santiago, Contabo France/USA)
• Node.js: Latest LTS
• Subscription: Claude Max 20x (active, with plenty of usage available)
• Shell: Bash
• Connection: SSH (tested with MobaXterm, PuTTY, PowerShell SSH, VNC)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open SSH session to any server
2. Run claude
3. Welcome screen shows correctly: "Welcome back [name]!", Max subscription, correct email and organization
4. Type any command → 401 error
5. Try /login → 401 error
6. Try claude logout → 401 error
7. Try claude login → 401 error
8. Delete ~/.claude/.credentials.json and retry → same result
9. Repeat on a completely different server → same result

Additional Context

• This is NOT a paste/terminal issue. The 401 error occurs before even reaching the token paste step — the OAuth token stored server-side appears to be rejected.
• The problem started suddenly today (April 14, 2026) after working fine this morning.
• I successfully completed the OAuth browser flow multiple times, but even after generating fresh tokens, the 401 persists.
• There were related Anthropic outages on April 13 (Claude.ai down, login affected 15:31–16:19 UTC) and April 14 (degraded admin API endpoints 09:24–15:21 UTC). The timing suggests the outage may have corrupted or invalidated existing OAuth tokens.
• No ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable is set — purely OAuth authentication via Max subscription.
• ~/.claude/ directory contains no auth* or .credentials* files, suggesting Linux OAuth storage may not be persisting correctly.

Troubleshooting Already Attempted

• [x] claude logout + claude login — returns 401
• [x] rm -f ~/.claude/.credentials.json — no effect
• [x] rm -rf ~/.claude/auth* — no files found
• [x] npm update -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code — updated to latest v2.1.107, same issue
• [x] unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — confirmed no API key conflict
• [x] Tested on 5+ different servers — same behavior on all
• [x] Tested with multiple SSH clients (MobaXterm, PuTTY, PowerShell, VNC) — same result
• [x] Cleared libsecret keyring — no effect
• [x] Used expect to automate token paste — token sent but still rejected

What Should Happen

After completing the OAuth flow, Claude Code should accept the new token and authenticate API requests normally. The /login command should never itself return a 401 — it should always allow re-authentication.

Related Issues

• #44092 — Identical symptoms (welcome screen correct, all commands 401)
• #44930 — OAuth token expired, no recovery path
• #33811 — OAuth token expired, login/logout/all commands fail with 401
• #33879 — Same 401 loop, marked as duplicate

What Should Happen?

[BUG] 401 Authentication Error — OAuth token rejected on all servers despite valid Max 20x subscription

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

After working normally (including this morning), Claude Code suddenly started returning 401 authentication errors on every command, including /login, /logout, and claude login. This happens across all my servers (multiple VPS instances), ruling out a local configuration issue.

The welcome screen correctly identifies my account (name, email, organization, Max subscription), but every subsequent command fails with:

Please run /login · API Error: 401 {"type":"error","error":{"type":"authentication_error","message":"Invalid authentication credentials"},"request_id":"req_..."}

Environment

• Claude Code version: v2.1.107
• OS: Ubuntu 24 (multiple servers: Vultr Santiago, Contabo France/USA)
• Node.js: Latest LTS
• Subscription: Claude Max 20x (active, with plenty of usage available)
• Shell: Bash
• Connection: SSH (tested with MobaXterm, PuTTY, PowerShell SSH, VNC)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open SSH session to any server
2. Run claude
3. Welcome screen shows correctly: "Welcome back [name]!", Max subscription, correct email and organization
4. Type any command → 401 error
5. Try /login → 401 error
6. Try claude logout → 401 error
7. Try claude login → 401 error
8. Delete ~/.claude/.credentials.json and retry → same result
9. Repeat on a completely different server → same result

Additional Context

• This is NOT a paste/terminal issue. The 401 error occurs before even reaching the token paste step — the OAuth token stored server-side appears to be rejected.
• The problem started suddenly today (April 14, 2026) after working fine this morning.
• I successfully completed the OAuth browser flow multiple times, but even after generating fresh tokens, the 401 persists.
• There were related Anthropic outages on April 13 (Claude.ai down, login affected 15:31–16:19 UTC) and April 14 (degraded admin API endpoints 09:24–15:21 UTC). The timing suggests the outage may have corrupted or invalidated existing OAuth tokens.
• No ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable is set — purely OAuth authentication via Max subscription.
• ~/.claude/ directory contains no auth* or .credentials* files, suggesting Linux OAuth storage may not be persisting correctly.

Troubleshooting Already Attempted

• [x] claude logout + claude login — returns 401
• [x] rm -f ~/.claude/.credentials.json — no effect
• [x] rm -rf ~/.claude/auth* — no files found
• [x] npm update -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code — updated to latest v2.1.107, same issue
• [x] unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — confirmed no API key conflict
• [x] Tested on 5+ different servers — same behavior on all
• [x] Tested with multiple SSH clients (MobaXterm, PuTTY, PowerShell, VNC) — same result
• [x] Cleared libsecret keyring — no effect
• [x] Used expect to automate token paste — token sent but still rejected

What Should Happen

After completing the OAuth flow, Claude Code should accept the new token and authenticate API requests normally. The /login command should never itself return a 401 — it should always allow re-authentication.

Related Issues

• #44092 — Identical symptoms (welcome screen correct, all commands 401)
• #44930 — OAuth token expired, no recovery path
• #33811 — OAuth token expired, login/logout/all commands fail with 401
• #33879 — Same 401 loop, marked as duplicate

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

[BUG] 401 Authentication Error — OAuth token rejected on all servers despite valid Max 20x subscription

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

After working normally (including this morning), Claude Code suddenly started returning 401 authentication errors on every command, including /login, /logout, and claude login. This happens across all my servers (multiple VPS instances), ruling out a local configuration issue.

The welcome screen correctly identifies my account (name, email, organization, Max subscription), but every subsequent command fails with:

Please run /login · API Error: 401 {"type":"error","error":{"type":"authentication_error","message":"Invalid authentication credentials"},"request_id":"req_..."}

Environment

• Claude Code version: v2.1.107
• OS: Ubuntu 24 (multiple servers: Vultr Santiago, Contabo France/USA)
• Node.js: Latest LTS
• Subscription: Claude Max 20x (active, with plenty of usage available)
• Shell: Bash
• Connection: SSH (tested with MobaXterm, PuTTY, PowerShell SSH, VNC)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open SSH session to any server
2. Run claude
3. Welcome screen shows correctly: "Welcome back [name]!", Max subscription, correct email and organization
4. Type any command → 401 error
5. Try /login → 401 error
6. Try claude logout → 401 error
7. Try claude login → 401 error
8. Delete ~/.claude/.credentials.json and retry → same result
9. Repeat on a completely different server → same result

Additional Context

• This is NOT a paste/terminal issue. The 401 error occurs before even reaching the token paste step — the OAuth token stored server-side appears to be rejected.
• The problem started suddenly today (April 14, 2026) after working fine this morning.
• I successfully completed the OAuth browser flow multiple times, but even after generating fresh tokens, the 401 persists.
• There were related Anthropic outages on April 13 (Claude.ai down, login affected 15:31–16:19 UTC) and April 14 (degraded admin API endpoints 09:24–15:21 UTC). The timing suggests the outage may have corrupted or invalidated existing OAuth tokens.
• No ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable is set — purely OAuth authentication via Max subscription.
• ~/.claude/ directory contains no auth* or .credentials* files, suggesting Linux OAuth storage may not be persisting correctly.

Troubleshooting Already Attempted

• [x] claude logout + claude login — returns 401
• [x] rm -f ~/.claude/.credentials.json — no effect
• [x] rm -rf ~/.claude/auth* — no files found
• [x] npm update -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code — updated to latest v2.1.107, same issue
• [x] unset ANTHROPIC_API_KEY — confirmed no API key conflict
• [x] Tested on 5+ different servers — same behavior on all
• [x] Tested with multiple SSH clients (MobaXterm, PuTTY, PowerShell, VNC) — same result
• [x] Cleared libsecret keyring — no effect
• [x] Used expect to automate token paste — token sent but still rejected

What Should Happen

After completing the OAuth flow, Claude Code should accept the new token and authenticate API requests normally. The /login command should never itself return a 401 — it should always allow re-authentication.

Related Issues

• #44092 — Identical symptoms (welcome screen correct, all commands 401)
• #44930 — OAuth token expired, no recovery path
• #33811 — OAuth token expired, login/logout/all commands fail with 401
• #33879 — Same 401 loop, marked as duplicate

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Code v2.1.107

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

_No response_