{"name":"CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN_FILE_DESCRIPTOR","slug":"claude-code-oauth-token-file-descriptor","family":"env","title":"Environment variables","noun":"environment variable","description":"Login tokens are warmed at startup, and skipped entirely for token-based auth.","description_source":"entry","described_by":{"version":"2.1.246","anchor":"credentials-are-primed-through-the-store-at-start-up"},"presence":{"first_seen":"2.1.138","removed_in":null,"in_current_build":true,"newest_mined":"2.1.308","builds":149,"mined_builds":149,"first_cited":{"version":"2.1.257","released_at":"2026-09-01 17:15:33","spans":1}},"aliases":[],"entries":[{"version":"2.1.295","anchor":"session-tunnel-session-tunnel-reads-oauth-and-agent-proxy","heading":"Session tunnel startup reads sign-in and proxy tokens from a file descriptor","line":"Started with `--session-tunnel`, Claude Code can read its sign-in token and an agent proxy token from a launcher-supplied channel","released_at":"2026-10-08 18:22:58","reason":"found in this entry's text"},{"version":"2.1.290","anchor":"existing-sign-in-detection-helper","heading":"Claude Code can detect an existing sign-in from token variables","line":"A new check finds out whether a usable sign-in already exists, for example from `CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN`","released_at":"2026-10-05 18:12:44","reason":"found in this entry's text"},{"version":"2.1.257","anchor":"new-file-descriptor-based-secret-passing-for-subprocesses","heading":"New file-descriptor-based secret passing for subprocesses","line":"Auth tokens can now be handed to subprocesses over file descriptors instead of plaintext environment variables.","released_at":"2026-09-01 17:15:33","reason":"found in this entry's text, named in this entry"},{"version":"2.1.257","anchor":"eval-sandbox-auth-is-now-handed-to-child-processes-via-file","heading":"Eval sandbox auth is now handed to child processes via file descriptor or snapshot file instead of env vars directly","line":"Eval sandbox children get credentials via file descriptor, or a temp snapshot file on Windows, rather than env vars.","released_at":"2026-09-01 17:15:33","reason":"found in this entry's text, named in this entry"},{"version":"2.1.246","anchor":"credentials-are-primed-through-the-store-at-start-up","heading":"Credentials are primed through the store at start-up","line":"Login tokens are warmed at startup, and skipped entirely for token-based auth.","released_at":"2026-08-25 19:17:34","reason":"named in this entry, found in this entry's text"}],"entries_total":5,"docs":[],"docs_total":0,"gates":[],"related":[{"name":"CLAUDE_CODE_OAUTH_TOKEN","slug":"claude-code-oauth-token","description":"Three artifact environment variables are now recognised, with the API token stripped from spawned processes as a secret."}],"url":"https:\/\/changelogs.core-directive.com\/reference\/env\/claude-code-oauth-token-file-descriptor","family_url":"https:\/\/changelogs.core-directive.com\/reference\/env.json"}