You'll noticeTier: how much it should matter to you
2Useful: my rating, 1 to 5
2Signal: worth watching, 1 to 5
MCPArea: what it touches
ImprovementsKind: in v2.1.302,
ImprovementsSection of the release
What
MCP servers are outside tools that Claude Code connects to. When one needs you to sign in, or turns down the credentials it was given, Claude Code shows a message. These messages changed:
The messages for a rejected headersHelper credential (a command you configure to produce login headers) and for a rejected Authorization header in a server's config now come from shared helpers, helperRejected and headerRejected, instead of being written in place. The old wording told you to check the helper, or update the header, and then run /mcp to reconnect. The new wording was not visible in the findings.
When a particular check is true, MCP messages leave out /mcp and tell you to start a new task or chat instead.
The reminder Claude receives when MCP servers need sign-in now chooses its wording by whether those servers are claude.ai connectors. In some cases it tells Claude to explain the step "without naming a command or settings page".
Why
Where /mcp cannot be run, advice to run it is a dead end, and these messages now give a step you can take instead. The exact wording you see may differ from earlier versions.
