claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [BUG] Agent worktree subprocesses frequently require re-authentication on Max plan (OAuth) [1 comments, 2 participants]

## Environment

- Claude Code version: 2.1.85                                                                                                     
- OS: macOS 15 (Darwin 25.3.0)
                                                                                                                                  
- Auth method: claude.ai OAuth (first-party)                                                                                    

- Subscription: Max plan (Organization)                                                                                           

                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
## Problem
Agent tool with `isolation: "worktree"` frequently fails with
"Not logged in · Please run /login", requiring re-authentication

~10 times per day during normal usage.                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                  
## Reproduction                                                                                                                 
1. Log in via `/login` (OAuth, Max plan)

2. Run a workflow that spawns multiple agents with `isolation: "worktree"`                                                        

3. After some time (sometimes within minutes), the agent subprocess                                                               
                                                                                                                                
   returns "Not logged in" without executing any work

                                                                                                                                  

## Expected behavior                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
OAuth token should persist across agent subprocesses within a session,
or token refresh should propagate to child processes automatically.



## Actual behavior
Each worktree agent spawn can independently fail auth, even immediately
                                                                                                                                  
after a successful `/login` in the main session. The token seems to
                                                                                                                                  
expire frequently and is not shared/refreshed for subprocesses.                                                                 

                                                                                                                                  

## Auth status (redacted)                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
```json

{

  "loggedIn": true,
  "authMethod": "claude.ai",
  "apiProvider": "firstParty",                                                                                                    
  "subscriptionType": "max"
}                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
```

## Notes

                                                                                                                                  
- No ANTHROPIC_API_KEY is set (company account, no individual API key access)
                                                                                                                                  
- This is a significant friction point for workflows that rely heavily                                                          
on agent worktrees (e.g., processing multiple Jira tickets in parallel)

OAuth token should remain valid across agent subprocesses spawned                                                               

within the same session. Token refresh should propagate automatically
to child processes (worktree agents), so that a single /login at
                                                                                                                                  
session start is sufficient for the entire session duration.

Agent worktree returned the following instead of executing the task:

                                                                                                                                    
  "Not logged in · Please run /login"
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                  

  No stack trace or additional error logs are produced.

  The agent simply exits without performing any work.

1. Authenticate via `/login` (OAuth, claude.ai Max plan, Organization account)                                                    

2. Confirm auth is valid: `claude auth status` shows `loggedIn: true`                                                             
3. Start a workflow that uses the Agent tool with `isolation: "worktree"`:                                                      
                                                                                                                                  
   - Example: any multi-step task that delegates subtasks to worktree agents
                                                                                                                                  
4. The first agent may succeed, but subsequent agents (or agents after                                                          

   some elapsed time) return:                                                                                                     

   "Not logged in · Please run /login"                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
5. Run `/login` again — agent works

6. Repeat steps 3-5 throughout the day (~10 times)                                                                                

                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
Note: Exact token expiry timing is unpredictable. Sometimes fails

within minutes of login, sometimes after longer intervals.

- This occurs on a company Organization account (not personal)                                                                    
- No ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable is set — the organization
  does not provide individual API keys, so OAuth is the only auth method                                                          
                                                                                                                                
- The workflow that triggers this most frequently uses multiple                                                                   

  sequential Agent calls with `isolation: "worktree"`, each spawning                                                              
                                                                                                                                
  a new subprocess that needs to read the OAuth token

- Workaround: running `/login` each time the agent fails, but this                                                                

  breaks automated pipelines and requires constant user intervention