CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN
A Claude Code environment variable, read out of the shipped bundle. It has been in the build since v2.1.138, including the newest one read.
What it is
OAuth refresh token for Claude.ai authentication. When set, claude auth login exchanges this token directly instead of opening a browser. Requires CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_SCOPES. Useful for provisioning authentication in automated environments
Anthropic's own wording. Read off Environment variables, captured 2026-08-28.
Presence across releases
| Releases | Reading | Declared type | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1.245 – 2.1.250 5 releases | never mined | — | — |
| 2.1.160 – 2.1.243 75 releases | in the build | str | — |
| 2.1.138 – 2.1.159 20 releases | in the build | — | — |
A row reading never mined is a release with no archived bundle behind it. Nothing was read out of it, so nothing here says whether the name was in it. A declared type or a default is only ever what that release's own bundle stated.
Changelog entries naming it
No changelog entry here has ever named it. That is a statement about what has been written, not about the name: it has been in the build since v2.1.138 without anybody writing a line about it.
Documentation pages
- Environment variables reference table Claude Code CLI
- Test self-hosted environments end to end mentions it Claude Code CLI
A reference table page is one whose own table defines this name, and it is where the description above came from. A page that mentions it carries the name somewhere in its text and may say nothing about it at all. Every page carrying it.
Names beside it
Every environment variable in the inventory starting claude_code_oauth, up to twelve of them.
CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_401_WAIT_MSNo description from anybody. 2.1.163
CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_CLIENT_IDNo description from anybody. 2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_SCOPESSpace-separated OAuth scopes the refresh token was issued with, such as "user:profile user:inference user:sessions:claude_code". Required when CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_REFRESH_TOKEN is set 2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKENOAuth access token for claude.ai authentication. Alternative to /login for SDK and automated environments. Takes precedence over keychain-stored credentials. Generate one with [claude setup-token](/docs/en/authentication#generate-a-long-lived-token). Unless you run [/login](/docs/en/authentication#authentication-precedence), Claude Code uses the token you set for the whole session. To replace an expired token, generate a new one and restart 2.1.138
CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN_FILE_DESCRIPTORLogin tokens are warmed at startup, and skipped entirely for token-based auth. 2.1.138
Read out of the published npm bundle release by release, and out of Anthropic's own documentation as this site captured it. Nothing on this page is a description anybody here wrote about what the environment variable does. All environment variables.