### Preflight Checklist - [x] I have searched [existing issues](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aopen%20label%3Abug) 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? After successful /login using Claude Max (OAuth), the CLI initially works and shows "Opus 4.6 · Claude Max". However, after running /status and dismissin

/status corrupts OAuth session on narrow terminals — Max switches to Claude API, model downgrade, and 401 errors

Status Fixed / completed

Reported on v2.1.109

Maintainer reply None cached

Activity 4 comments · opened Apr 15, 2026 · closed Apr 16, 2026

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?

After successful /login using Claude Max (OAuth), the CLI initially works and shows "Opus 4.6 · Claude Max".

However, after running /status and dismissing it (Esc), the session state changes unexpectedly:

Banner switches to "Sonnet 4.6 · Claude API"
Model downgrades from Opus to Sonnet
All subsequent commands fail with:

API Error: 401 (Invalid authentication credentials)

Additionally, the /status output renders incorrectly (garbled vertical text) on a narrow mobile terminal (Termius iOS).

This suggests /status is mutating session/auth state instead of being read-only.

This appears to be a session/auth state corruption triggered by UI rendering (/status) rather than user configuration.

What Should Happen?

/status should be read-only and must not modify:

Authentication method (should remain Claude Max OAuth)
Model selection (should remain Opus 4.6)
Session validity

CLI should remain stable regardless of terminal width or UI rendering issues.

Error Messages/Logs

API Error: 401
{"type":"error","error":{"type":"authentication_error","message":"Invalid authentication credentials"}}

Steps to Reproduce

Launch claude
Run /login → Login successful
Observe banner: Opus 4.6 · Claude Max
Run /status → output renders incorrectly (vertical/garbled)
Press Esc to dismiss
Observe banner switches to: Sonnet 4.6 · Claude API
Run any command → 401 authentication error

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

Unknown (issue started recently, not observed before v2.1.109)

Claude Code Version

2.1.109

Platform

Other

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Occurs consistently on mobile SSH (Termius on iOS) with a narrow terminal viewport.

Running /status renders incorrectly (garbled/vertical layout). Dismissing it (Esc) immediately flips the banner from "Opus 4.6 · Claude Max" to "Sonnet 4.6 · Claude API".

After that, all commands return:
API Error: 401 (Invalid authentication credentials)

Re-running /login restores functionality temporarily.

Actual environment details:

OS: Kali Linux (Debian-based, headless)
Terminal: Termius (iOS SSH client, narrow viewport)
Auth: Claude.ai OAuth (Max subscription, NOT API key)

Note: Dropdown selections are approximate due to limited options in the GitHub form.

View original on GitHub ↗

4 Comments

0xbrainkid · 6 months ago

OAuth session state being corrupted by a /status display operation is a real bug — a read-only status check should never mutate auth state. The model downgrade and 401 cascade suggests the status check is either triggering a token refresh that fails, or the narrow terminal rendering is somehow corrupting the stored OAuth token or model selection.

From an agent identity perspective this matters beyond UX: OAuth token state IS the agent identity in sessions that use OAuth auth. If /status can silently swap the model and cause 401s, there is a window where the agent is operating with undefined identity state — it thinks it is authenticated as one model/user combination, but the server is rejecting or degrading those assumptions. Actions taken during that window cannot be reliably attributed or audited.

Two additions worth considering for the fix:

1. Read-only guard on /status. The status command should be explicitly marked as non-mutating in the codebase — any code path in /status that writes to auth state, model selection, or credential storage should be considered a bug. A unit test that verifies /status leaves auth state unchanged (comparing before/after on session state) would prevent regression.

2. Auth state change event. When model selection or auth state changes for any reason other than explicit user action, emit a structured event (log line + optional callback) that downstream tools can intercept. This makes the corruption visible rather than silent — operators can alert on unexpected auth state changes rather than discovering them via 401 errors in production.

Scorpion1190 · 6 months ago

Update: Reproduced on macOS SSH client (standard terminal, wide viewport) connecting to the same VPS. Same behavior — corrupts OAuth session, banner switches from Max to Claude API, followed by 401 errors.

This rules out Termius (iOS) and narrow terminal width as the cause.

Termius iOS → Kali VPS — reproduces
macOS Terminal → same Kali VPS — reproduces

Bug is in Claude Code v2.1.109 itself, not terminal-specific.