GitHub MCP returns 403 "not authorized to use this Copilot feature" on Claude Code web; OAuth fallback renders misleading "Server Turned Down → Google Drive" page
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?
GitHub MCP returns 403 "not authorized to use this Copilot feature" on Claude Code web; OAuth fallback renders misleading "Server Turned Down → Google Drive" page
What Should Happen?
Summary
On Claude Code on the web, the GitHub MCP server's HTTP endpoint reproducibly returns HTTP 403 "unauthorized: not authorized to use this Copilot feature". Claude Code interprets the 403 as "authentication required" and starts an OAuth flow, but the OAuth authorize page renders a generic "Server Turned Down" error page (pointing, misleadingly, at Google Drive) and the flow ends in Authentication timeout. Net effect: the GitHub MCP cannot be authenticated or used at all from web sessions.
Environment
- Claude Code 2.1.143 (Claude Code on the web, remote/cloud execution environment,
remote_mobile) - GitHub MCP server, HTTP transport, hosted under
https://api.anthropic.com/v2/ccr-sessions/<SESSION>/github/mcp - Node v24.3.0, Linux
ghCLI is not installed in the environment (command -v gh→ not found) → no CLI fallback for GitHub operations
Steps to reproduce
- In a Claude Code web session, let any GitHub MCP tool initialize (or call the GitHub MCP authenticate flow).
- Observe the MCP connection attempt to the
/github/mcpendpoint. - Open the resulting OAuth authorization URL (
https://api.anthropic.com/authorize?...) in a browser.
Expected
GitHub MCP connects (or the OAuth consent screen appears and the flow completes, redirecting to localhost:<port>/callback?code=...).
Actual
- The MCP HTTP POST fails immediately with:
Streamable HTTP error: Error POSTing to endpoint: unauthorized: not authorized to use this Copilot feature (code: 403)
- Claude Code treats this as "authentication required" and starts an OAuth flow. OAuth metadata returns
scope: NONE("No scopes available from URL or metadata"). - The
api.anthropic.com/authorizepage renders a static page:
> Server Turned Down
> This MCP server has been turned down. Please use https://drivemcp.googleapis.com/mcp/v1 instead — connect via Google Drive in the Claude directory.
- The flow ends with
Authentication timeout.
The Google Drive reference is unrelated to GitHub and appears to be a generic/templated fallback page rendered when the underlying MCP is unavailable/unauthorized for the account. It is not an actionable instruction.
Root cause (likely)
The headline error is a 403 entitlement failure, not an OAuth-flow bug: the account/session is "not authorized to use this Copilot feature" (GitHub's MCP is Copilot-backed). The OAuth flow and the "Server Turned Down" page are downstream symptoms of the 403, not the cause. This points at an account/org feature-entitlement problem, not a transient outage.
Error log (redacted)
Error Messages/Logs
[2026-05-17T11:04:58.432Z] HTTP Connection failed after 495ms:
Streamable HTTP error: Error POSTing to endpoint:
unauthorized: not authorized to use this Copilot feature
(code: 403, errno: none)
[2026-05-17T11:04:58.432Z] Authentication required for HTTP server
[2026-05-17T11:07:18.818Z] Fetched OAuth metadata with scope: NONE
[2026-05-17T11:07:19.015Z] No scopes available from URL or metadata
[2026-05-17T11:12:18.822Z] Error during auth completion: Authentication timeout
[2026-05-17T11:12:18.822Z] OAuth flow failed after tool-triggered start: Authentication timeout
[2026-05-17T11:28:38.392Z] HTTP Connection failed after 270ms:
Streamable HTTP error: Error POSTing to endpoint:
unauthorized: not authorized to use this Copilot feature
(code: 403, errno: none)
Steps to Reproduce
Reproducibility
100% reproducible across multiple independent attempts and two distinct freshly server-generated OAuth URLs (different callback ports, state, and PKCE challenge). Not flaky.
Impact
- GitHub MCP authentication can never complete from web sessions.
- All GitHub MCP tools are unusable (e.g. cannot open PRs).
- No fallback:
ghCLI is absent in the web environment. - Work itself is safe (git commit/push over HTTPS works normally); only the GitHub-MCP-dependent steps of automated workflows are blocked.
Workarounds tried
- Regenerated the OAuth URL via the sanctioned authenticate flow multiple times — same 403 / same "Server Turned Down" page.
- Checked for
ghCLI fallback — not installed.
Suggested investigation
- Check the GitHub-MCP / Copilot feature entitlement for the affected account/org (session and account identifiers available privately on request — not posted here for security).
- Separately: the OAuth authorize page rendering an unrelated "use Google Drive" body for a GitHub MCP failure is itself a misleading-error-message bug worth fixing.
Claude Model
Opus
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
Claude Code 2.1.143.
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
Other
Terminal/Shell
Other
Additional Information
_No response_
This issue has 3 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗