OAuth token expired immediately after fresh login - cannot use Claude Code (blocking)

[michaelhdmd]

Preflight Checklist

• I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Environment:

Claude Code v2.1.12
macOS (M1, MacBook Pro 2022)
Claude Max subscription

Issue:
Cannot use Claude Code at all. Two failure modes observed:

Token pre-expired: Fresh OAuth login completes successfully (browser shows "You're all set up for Claude Code"), welcome screen displays, but the very first API call fails with 401: "OAuth token has expired."
Login callback failure: /login command fails with ECONNREFUSED or "Was there a typo in the url or port?" - even though the browser successfully completes auth on Anthropic's side.

Steps to reproduce:

Exit Claude Code
rm -rf ~/.claude (clear all credentials)
Run claude
Run /login
Either: login callback fails with ECONNREFUSED, OR login succeeds but first prompt returns 401 "token expired"

Key difference from #17716:
This is not a mid-session expiration - the token is invalid immediately upon issuance. No prompts can be sent at all. This is a complete blocker, not a UX friction issue.
Additional context:

Occurred Jan 17 and Jan 18, 2026, same time of day (~3pm EST)
Spontaneously resolved after several hours on Jan 17
Credential reset does not fix the issue
No VPN, firewall disabled, Pi-hole disabled during testing

What Should Happen?

After completing the browser OAuth flow, Claude Code should receive a valid token and successfully execute API calls. Users should be able to send prompts immediately after login.

Error Messages/Logs

API Error: 401 {"type":"error","error":{"type":"authentication_error","message":"OAuth token has expired. Please obtain a new token or refresh your existing token."},"request_id":"req_011CXFRbLKkrH6cs3PmDt3b1"} · Please run /login
OAuth error: ECONNREFUSED
Press Enter to retry.
OAuth error: Was there a typo in the url or port?
Press Enter to retry.

Steps to Reproduce

Run claude in terminal
Enter any prompt (e.g., 1x)
Receive 401 "OAuth token has expired" error
Run /login
Either:

Login callback fails with ECONNREFUSED, OR
Browser completes successfully but CLI reports "Was there a typo in the url or port?"

If login appears to succeed, first prompt still returns 401 "token expired"

Workaround attempted (unsuccessful):

Exit Claude Code
rm -rf ~/.claude (clear all credentials)
Run claude
Run /login
Same failure occurs

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

2.1.12

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

[michaelhdmd]

And now we are back.

[jacoporicare]

I am experiencing the same since Friday. The token expires in 3 hours or so.

[michaelhdmd]

After working last night (EST), OAuth token has expired.

[jacoporicare]

I maybe found the culprit - ps aux | grep claude showed me that multiple instances (older versions, one from each, probably after every update; also visible in Activity Monitor on macOS) of Claude Code was running in the background. I killed them all with pkill claude and fingers crossed that was the issue. It would make sense if Claude had refresh token rotation and other instances used the refresh token.
A side note: one of the instances in the background, (which I didn't background, it was stuck) was using 100% of CPU (one core) all the time. I was wondering why suddenly my MacBook Pro with M4 Pro is heating like crazy.

[michaelhdmd]

@jacoporicare ok. I am still up as of 12:05 EST. If it goes down again today, I will give it a try and see if I get a similar result.

[minetree2023]

Today I encountered similiarly a same issue, both with WSL and Claude Desktop, MAX plan subscription. I am much confused.

[minetree2023]

Today I encountered similiarly a same issue, both with WSL and Claude Desktop, MAX plan subscription. I am much confused.

WSL replys: OAuth error: Failed to fetch user roles: Request failed with status code 403

[minetree2023]

Today I encountered similiarly a same issue, both with WSL and Claude Desktop, MAX plan subscription. I am much confused.

WSL replys: OAuth error: Failed to fetch user roles: Request failed with status code 403

API Error: 403 {"error":{"type":"forbidden","message":"Request not allowed"}} · Please run /login

[michaelhdmd]

@ 2:31 PM (EST) I am ok and logged in.

[minetree2023]

@ 2:31 PM (EST) I am ok and logged in.

Good to hear that. Maybe temporary server errors. After about 5 hours, I get to be ok and logged in also