--teleport fails with 'Session expired' on confirmed-active cloud session (OAuth, correct account)

[DoisKoh]

Description

claude --teleport <session_id> fails with:

Session expired. Please run /login to sign in again.

…even though:

• The cloud session is confirmed still active in claude.ai/code (visible in session list, not archived).
• The local CLI is signed in via OAuth as the same claude.ai account that created the cloud session.
• The interactive claude CLI works fine (i.e., login isn't actually broken).
• I tried from a second alias signed into a different work account too — same error.
• No ANTHROPIC_API_KEY, ANTHROPIC_AUTH_TOKEN, or ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL set in environment or shell rc files (ruling out Max plan shows as 'API Usage Billing' in CLI #20976 root cause).

The error message is misleading: nothing visible is actually expired.

Environment

• Claude Code: v2.1.109
• macOS: 26.3.1 (darwin 25.3.0)
• Shell: zsh
• Auth: OAuth (claude.ai), no API key in env
• CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT=cli

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start a remote session on claude.ai/code (confirmed active, visible in web session list).
2. In a local terminal where claude is OAuth-logged-in as the same account, run:

   claude --teleport session_016iYh47iYVCf6KxBJ9MyRUN
   

3. Observe immediate error: Session expired. Please run /login to sign in again.
4. Running /login again does not change the behavior.

Expected

Either teleport succeeds, or the error explains what is actually wrong (e.g. account mismatch, scope mismatch, session ownership, server-side state).

Related

• CLI shows 'Claude API' despite OAuth account configured — teleport fails #22972 (closed as dup of Max plan shows as 'API Usage Billing' in CLI #20976) — same error string but different root cause (env-var override).
• Max plan shows as 'API Usage Billing' in CLI #20976 — root cause was ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL in PowerShell profile; doesn't apply here.

This appears to be a separate failure mode of the same generic "Session expired" error. Suggest improving the error message to distinguish: (a) local auth missing/expired, (b) account mismatch with session owner, (c) session not found server-side, (d) scope/subscription mismatch.

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. Chrome extension bridge rejects valid OAuth token: Invalid token or user mismatch #40203
2. Claude in Chrome: account mismatch on cold Chrome start from Cowork (no retry on bridge connect) #36620
3. Cursor/VS Code extension: teleport fails for active remote-control sessions #45535

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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[DoisKoh]

Sorry, Claude Code filed this issue for me.

I want to note that all of the things it said was actually true EXCEPT, running /login again DID fix the issue (still possibly some kind of bug though).

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.