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What's Wrong?

Claude Code Android App — Cannot Create GitHub Session Branches (Read Works, Write Fails)

Bug Report: Claude Code Android App — Cannot Create Session Branches on GitHub

Date: May 13, 2026
Time: ~5:06–5:27 PM ET
Reporter: Arik Marks
Environment: Claude Android App (Claude Code feature)

Summary

The Claude Code feature in the Claude Android app fails to initialize cloud sessions when connected to a GitHub repository. The app can read repositories (they appear in the repo selector) but cannot push the session branch to GitHub, causing all sessions to fail with a branch-not-found error. The same workflow succeeds immediately in the browser at claude.ai/code.

Environment

• Device: Android smartphone
• App: Claude Android app (Claude Code feature)
• Cloud environment: Default Cloud Environment 2
• GitHub account: Bonjiovanni
• Repository: Bonjiovanni/arik-litigation
• Repo status: Private, active, ~10 folders and files including CLAUDE.md

Error Message

"The requested branch or commit was not found in the git_repository source. Check the spelling of the branch name, verify it exists on the remote, and ensure it hasn't been deleted or renamed."

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Android app
2. Navigate to Claude Code
3. Create a new session (or open existing session) connected to Bonjiovanni/arik-litigation
4. Select main as the target branch
5. Send any message to initialize the session

Result: Session fails immediately with the error above.

Expected: Session initializes, Claude Code creates a claude/session-name branch off main, and the session starts normally.

Session Branch Details

The Android app attempted to create the following branches but failed to push them to GitHub:

• claude/general-session-IWlpL (first session attempt)
• claude/update-claude-md-MQYra (second session attempt)

Neither branch appeared in the GitHub repository's branch list after the failed attempts, confirming the app cannot write to GitHub despite having the correct permissions.

By contrast, the following claude/ branches exist in the same repo and were successfully created by the Windows desktop app during prior sessions last week:

• claude/fervent-turing-886b9b
• claude/recursing-thompson-eccc91
• claude/blissful-bardeen-3d6750
• claude/thirsty-yalow-448a44

Diagnostic Steps Completed (All Ruled Out)

Workaround

Opening claude.ai/code in the phone's browser (not the Android app) connects to the same repo and initializes sessions successfully. The browser-based Claude Code created a session, read aid4mail_pipeline_diagram.md, and responded correctly within the same session window.

Root Cause Assessment

The Android app appears to use a different GitHub OAuth token than:

1. The GitHub App installation (checked at github.com/settings/installations)
2. The browser-based claude.ai/code session

The Android app token has sufficient read access to enumerate repos in the session setup UI, but lacks write access (or has a stale/invalid token) and cannot push new claude/ branches to the remote. The app provides no in-app option to disconnect or refresh the GitHub connection, and the issue persists across multiple new session attempts.

Impact

Claude Code is fully non-functional in the Android app for GitHub-connected cloud sessions. The only workaround is to use the mobile browser, which is functional but suboptimal compared to the native app experience.

Suggested Fix

1. Expose a "Disconnect GitHub / Reconnect" option in the Android app settings
2. Validate write access (not just read) when the GitHub connection is established in the app
3. Surface a clear auth error when branch push fails, rather than a generic "branch not found" message

What Should Happen?

The expected behavior section should say:

When a user creates a new Claude Code session in the Android app connected to a GitHub repository, the app should:

1. Create a new claude/session-name branch off of main on the remote GitHub repository
2. Push that branch to GitHub successfully
3. Initialize the cloud session against that branch
4. Allow the user to interact with the codebase normally

This is exactly what happens when using the same account and same repository via claude.ai/code in a mobile browser — the Android app should behave identically.

Error Messages/Logs

The requested branch or commit was not found in the git_repository source. Check the spelling of the branch name, verify it exists on the remote, and ensure it hasn't been deleted or renamed.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Android app (v1.260507.10) on Pixel 7 / Android 16
2. Navigate to Claude Code
3. Tap new session
4. Select a GitHub repository (tested with Bonjiovanni/arik-litigation)
5. Default branch main is shown and selected
6. Type any message to initialize the session
7. Session immediately fails with the error above
8. Verify on GitHub that no new claude/ branch was created — confirming the app failed to push the session branch

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

Unknown

Claude Code Version

Na android app

Platform

Other

Operating System

Other

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Android native app