Claude Code

How do you troubleshoot authentication issues in Claude Code?

Last verified: July 2026 · 2 min read
QUICK ANSWER

Resolve CLI authentication issues by running '/config set logout', clearing your ~/.config/claude-code credentials directory, and restarting the CLI to run the OAuth flow again.

Step-by-step Troubleshooting

  1. Run /config set logout inside the Claude Code prompt if accessible.
  2. If the prompt is locked or failing, delete the cached credentials file locally: 
    rm -rf ~/.config/claude-code
  3. Verify your developer account status and credit balance in the Anthropic Console.
  4. Start the utility again by running claude to initiate a fresh browser-based device link verification flow.
Verified against: Claude Code CLI v0.2.5

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