Gmail MCP connects but tool calls fail — requires tools list refresh + retry to resolve

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?

The connection appears active (/mcp gmail says connected) but tool calls fail silently with a network error. The status and the actual connection state are out of sync — connected in name only.

What Should Happen?

Either the connection works and tool calls succeed, or it fails and reports the failure clearly. Not both at once.

Error Messages/Logs

From the session:

Unable to connect. Is the computer able to access the url?

And from the CLI:

Failed to reconnect to claude.ai Gmail.
Tried reconnecting to claude.ai Gmail, but the connection failed. Restart Claude Code to retry.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open a new Claude Code session with Gmail MCP configured
2. Run /mcp gmail — reports "Connected"
3. Call any Gmail tool (e.g. search inbox)
4. Tool fails with "Unable to connect. Is the computer able to access the url?"
5. Run /mcp gmail again — fails to reconnect
6. Run /mcp gmail a second time — fails again, suggests restarting Claude Code

Resolution that worked:

1. Refresh the tools list in the Claude app
2. Run /mcp gmail — "Authentication successful. Connected to claude.ai Gmail."
3. Tool calls succeed

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.126

Platform

Other

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

The /mcp status dialog showed "Connected" throughout — it never reported a failure. The broken state was only visible when actually calling a tool. Refreshing the tools list in the Claude app (not restarting Claude Code) was sufficient to restore the connection without re-authenticating.