[BUG] Desktop app Google Drive connector flow routes to signup page, creates duplicate account under same email and locks paid Max subscriber
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?
Preflight Checklist
• I have searched existing issues and this hasn’t been reported yet
• This is a single bug report
• I am a paying Claude Max subscriber affected by this issue
What’s Wrong
Clicking “Connect” on the Google Drive connector in the Claude macOS desktop app (Settings → Connectors) opens the Claude account signup flow in the default browser instead of the Google OAuth consent screen. If the user proceeds through this flow (reasonably believing it’s part of the connector setup), a duplicate Claude account is created under the same email address but with a different auth provider than the original account. The user is then locked out of their paid account on web and desktop.
Steps to Reproduce
- Have an existing Claude Max subscription originally signed up via Apple Sign-In
- Be signed in on the macOS desktop app via existing session
- Settings → Connectors → click “Connect” next to Google Drive
- Observe: default browser opens to claude.ai onboarding (“How are you planning to use Claude?”) — NOT the Google OAuth consent screen
- Continue through the flow — you arrive at “Let’s create your account” showing “Email verified as [your_email]”
- Click “Create account”
- A duplicate account is now created under the same email but a different auth provider (email magic link instead of Apple Sign-In)
Expected Behavior
Clicking “Connect” on a connector in the signed-in desktop app should:
• Either open the Google OAuth consent screen directly, or
• Prompt the user to sign in to Claude first (if session is missing), but recognize the existing email and route to the correct auth provider instead of “Create account”
Actual Behavior
• Routes to new-user signup flow regardless of existing account on that email
• “Email verified as [email]” step does not check whether an account already exists under that email before offering “Create account”
• Allows creation of duplicate accounts under identical email addresses with different auth providers
• Primary account becomes inaccessible on web and desktop (Apple Sign-In flow is now ambiguous and routes to onboarding)
Impact
• Paid Max subscriber locked out of their subscription on web and desktop
• iOS app remains the only remaining access point to the original paid account
• Auto-renewal scheduled in 4 days — next Stripe charge will likely go to an ambiguous/orphaned account state
• No self-service path to delete the duplicate account or merge identities
Support Path Attempted
- Opened Fin AI Agent conversation on support.claude.com
- Fin confirmed billing is direct Stripe (not Apple App Store) and confirmed Fin cannot verify billing details or perform account deletion
- When asked to escalate to a human specialist, Fin closed the conversation with “browse our Help Center or start a new conversation” — no human routing
- Emailed support@anthropic.com (pending response)
- Opening this issue as final escalation path, per precedent in #47290
Request to Engineering
- Urgent (individual case): Route me to a human specialist who can delete the duplicate empty account (created ~23:00 CEST Apr 19, 2026) and restore web/desktop sign-in to the original Max-subscribed account via Apple Sign-In — before the Apr 24 renewal.
- Product fix (broader): The connector OAuth flow should not route to a new-user signup page. The “Email verified as [email]” step must check for existing accounts under that email before offering “Create account” as an option. This is a data-integrity issue that can silently duplicate paying customers’ accounts.
Verification
I can provide the following privately via official support channels (not in this public issue):
• Account email
• Paid invoice PDFs (3 recent invoices)
• Card last-4 digits
• Account creation timestamps for both accounts
• iOS app screenshots showing the active Max plan under the original account
Happy to verify via any channel that is not a dead-end bot loop.
What Should Happen?
Clicking “Connect” on a connector in the signed-in desktop app should open the Google OAuth consent screen directly, OR prompt the user to sign in to Claude first if the session is missing. It must recognize the existing email and route to the correct original auth provider (Apple Sign-In in my case) instead of offering “Create account”. Silently creating a duplicate account under a different auth provider with the same email address should never be possible.
Error Messages/Logs
No stack trace or error message — this is a silent UX and auth-routing bug. The Google Drive connector flow opens the Claude signup onboarding in the browser instead of a Google OAuth consent screen. No error is surfaced to the user; they simply arrive at “Let’s create your account” with “Email verified as [my_email]” and a “Create account” button that creates a duplicate.Steps to Reproduce
Have an existing Claude Max subscription originally signed up via Apple Sign-In
- Be signed in on the macOS desktop app via existing session
- Go to Settings → Connectors → click “Connect” next to Google Drive
- Observe: default browser opens to claude.ai onboarding (“How are you planning to use Claude?”) — NOT the Google OAuth consent screen
- Continue through the flow — arrive at “Let’s create your account” showing “Email verified as [your_email]”
- Click “Create account”
- A duplicate account is created under the same email but a different auth provider (email magic link instead of Apple Sign-In)
- Cannot sign in to web or macOS desktop app anymore — all login flows now route back to onboarding
Claude Model
Opus
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
4.7
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
macOS
Terminal/Shell
Terminal.app (macOS)
Additional Information
This is not a Claude Code CLI bug — I’m opening on this repo per precedent in #47290, where a billing issue required engineering escalation because Fin AI support could not resolve. My support path:
- Fin AI Agent on support.claude.com — confirmed billing details but stated it cannot delete accounts or escalate; closed conversation without routing to human
- Email to support@anthropic.com — pending
- This GitHub issue as final escalation
Impact: Max subscription auto-renews in 4 days (Apr 24, 2026) and I have no way to ensure the renewal charge is applied to the correct of two accounts under my email. Requesting a human specialist to delete the duplicate empty account created Apr 19, 2026 ~23:00 CEST and restore Apple Sign-In access to the original paid account.
Verification details (card last-4, invoice PDFs, account creation timestamps, iOS screenshots showing active Max plan) available privately via official support channels.
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12 Comments
Found 3 possible duplicate issues:
This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code
Acknowledging the
invalidlabel — I understand this isn't a Claude Code CLI bug and apologize for filing in the wrong repo.I opened here per the precedent in #47290, where a billing issue similarly could not be escalated through Fin AI support and required engineering visibility via this repo. If there is a correct public repository or channel for Claude desktop app / auth bugs that actually reaches the team (e.g. an
anthropics/claude-desktoprepo, or a specific support escalation path that bypasses Fin's dead-end loop), I would be very grateful for a pointer and will move the report there immediately.Leaving this open in the meantime, not because the wrong-repo classification is contested, but because:
support.claude.comhas explicitly confirmed it cannot delete accounts, verify billing, or escalate — and closes conversations with "start a new conversation" rather than routing to a human.support@anthropic.comemail is pending (sent earlier today).If anyone from Anthropic sees this and can either (a) redirect me to a working escalation channel or (b) flag my support email internally, I am available for full verification privately (invoice PDFs, card last-4, iOS screenshots showing active Max plan, account creation timestamps). Happy to close this issue the moment a working contact is established.
Thank you.
Thanks for the automated triage. Preventing auto-closure with this comment.
The three referenced issues (#39788, #19160, #36797) appear to match on general keywords like "account", "duplicate", or "login", but they describe different scenarios — typically Claude Code CLI authentication issues, organization/personal account switching, or Teams vs. Pro account selection. None of them describe the specific bug I am reporting:
The unique flow here is:
This is not an account-switching UX request or a Claude Code CLI login problem. It is an auth-routing bug in the Claude macOS desktop app connector flow that silently produces duplicate accounts with no self-service recovery path, and it affects billing integrity for paying subscribers (auto-renewal will charge an ambiguous account state).
If an Anthropic reviewer is reading: please confirm whether this should stay here, move to another repo (which?), or be handled exclusively via
support@anthropic.comwith a real human escalation path (the Fin AI Agent loop cannot resolve it). Happy to close immediately once a working private channel is established.Additional context and new information since opening this issue (and explicitly replying to prevent auto-closure):
I'm experiencing what looks like a broken onboarding / duplicate-account state with my Claude account.
My paid Claude account is tied to Sign in with Apple using the email michal.nydrle@me.com.
I've attached two screenshots that illustrate the problem:
It's also interesting (and worrying) that on my second Mac (Mac mini) the Claude desktop app got logged out sometime overnight and now behaves exactly the same as the web — it only shows the onboarding / create-account flow and never takes me to my existing paid account. At this point, only iOS still works, presumably because it has an older, still-valid session token — and I'm concerned that session could also expire at any time, locking me out entirely.
From my perspective this looks like either:
Could someone from the Claude team please:
I'm happy to provide any additional details (transaction IDs, subscription info, more screenshots) privately if needed. Right now I'm effectively locked out of my paid account on every platform except iOS, and that last remaining session could expire at any time.
Thank you!
<img width="765" height="613" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b3c01246-d390-4a9a-ad9a-409683f87152" />
<img width="1185" height="793" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3ee2f4c7-3d77-4a1c-a170-207fb2fbb628" />
I'm experiencing the same account duplication issue, but via a different path.
My case
takaoitoecokaku@gmail.comThree accounts exist under my single email:
b596ad89-5de3-4e41-a62c-3b4bc61dfad041526cba-eba6-428c-b33b-d416a1b17168e838212a-31d6-497c-a46c-73a9c0070f3bImpact
What I tried (all failed)
/logoutand/loginvia Google OAuth in Claude CodeAll failed. Backend still routes to Pro account for any authentication method.
Support response
Submitted support ticket 16+ hours ago. No response from human agent yet, only Fin AI Agent automated replies.
This is a paying Max subscriber who cannot use Claude Code due to this bug.
Request to Anthropic
This is not an isolated case. Please fix the backend routing for duplicate accounts, or provide a self-service account merge/delete option.
Related support ticket ID:
215473985847564Update (2026-04-22): Confirmed backend routing issue — same systemic problem as @michalnydrle-cloud's original report
Further to my comment 18 hours ago, I have done additional testing and can now confirm this is definitively a backend routing issue, not a user configuration issue. This appears to be the same systemic problem described in the original report (@michalnydrle-cloud).
1. Cross-browser testing confirms backend routing
2. Only Claude Desktop app retains the correct Max connection
3. Claude Code is unusable due to the routing issue
4. Duplicate billing problem: paying $242/month across two accounts
5. "Upgrade Pro to Max" workaround is not a solution
Request to Anthropic engineering
All user-side troubleshooting has been performed (Google connection reset, logout/login, OAuth re-approval across Edge and Chrome). The issue is confirmed to be on Anthropic's backend.
Account IDs:
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.
Second affected user here, on a paid Max plan. Same auth-routing bug, unresolved for over a month.
Setup: I have a Max subscription on account
darenawilson@gmail.com. The lockout began after connecting a third-party MCP server (Higgsfield AI) when I was on my work email which did not have a Claude account - it opened up a Claude Onboarding screen and I clicked on the link at the bottom to log in with my personal account where I had my Claude max account. It resulted in an Oauth mismatch. Since then, attempting to log in on desktop routes me to the "Let's create your account" onboarding screen showing "Email verified as darenawilson@gmail.com" with a "Create account" button, exactly as described in this issue. It will not route me into my existing account. The same onboarding loop now also occurs in my iPhone browser and in incognito, so it is not a local browser-state problem.Impact:
Support history: Multiple conversations with the Fin support agent over the past month produced only client-side troubleshooting (cache clears, incognito, connector toggles, full auth resets), none of which apply to a server-side account-state bug. Fin has confirmed it cannot escalate to a human on these conversations. Recent Fin conversation IDs: 215474126005561, 215474122073272, 215474357205328, 215474463494220.
This needs backend investigation to correct the account-state/auth-provider routing and to restore access. Verification details (card last-4, invoice PDFs, account-creation timestamps, iOS screenshots showing the active Max plan) available privately through official support channels. Requesting a human specialist to investigate.
Request request a subject matter access request under GDPR rules. 30 days
by law, they have to give you a copy of every single piece of data they
have on you, so you won't lose anything.
I did that then took the risk and clicked through create an account. It
opened on my historical account. This appears to be the "fix". Anthropic
are making a mistake in not providing support. I wonder where its going to
become an issue for them.
Failure to comply with with a GDPR request can result in fines of multiples
% of global revenue.
On Wed, May 27, 2026 at 9:57 AM HeathSeed @.***> wrote:
Thank you a billion for this. Claude was telling me that if I created a new account I would loose all my past info. To think it took a month for this and you saved my day. Huge thanks!!
Happy to help!
On Wed, 27 May 2026, 15:30 HeathSeed, @.***> wrote:
Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.