cli/cli · error · CowardlyRefusalError

couldn't find oauth token for %q: %w

Error message

couldn't find oauth token for %q: %w

What it means

Error "couldn't find oauth token for %q: %w" thrown in cli/cli.

Source

Thrown at internal/config/migration/multi_account.go:118

	// so lets avoid any confusion and say there's no migration required.
	if len(hostnames) == 0 {
		return nil
	}

	// Otherwise let's get to the business of migrating!
	for _, hostname := range hostnames {
		tokenSource, err := getToken(c, hostname)
		// If no token existed for this host we'll remove the entry from the hosts file
		// by deleting it and moving on to the next one.
		if errors.Is(err, noTokenError) {
			// The only error that can be returned here is the key not existing, which
			// we know can't be true.
			_ = c.Remove(append(hostsKey, hostname))
			continue
		}
		// For any other error we'll error out
		if err != nil {
			return CowardlyRefusalError{fmt.Errorf("couldn't find oauth token for %q: %w", hostname, err)}
		}

		username, err := getUsername(c, hostname, tokenSource.token, m.Transport)
		if err != nil {
			issueURL := "https://github.com/cli/cli/issues/8441"
			return CowardlyRefusalError{fmt.Errorf("couldn't get user name for %q please visit %s for help: %w", hostname, issueURL, err)}
		}

		if err := migrateConfig(c, hostname, username); err != nil {
			return CowardlyRefusalError{fmt.Errorf("couldn't migrate config for %q: %w", hostname, err)}
		}

		if err := migrateToken(hostname, username, tokenSource); err != nil {
			return CowardlyRefusalError{fmt.Errorf("couldn't migrate oauth token for %q: %w", hostname, err)}
		}
	}

	return nil

View on GitHub (pinned to 0eeec0b92e)

Solutions

1. Re-authenticate with `gh auth login` for that host so the migration can read the token, or set the token in the keyring/config manually before re-running.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at internal/config/migration/multi_account.go:118 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of cli/cli@0eeec0b92e (2026-08-15). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a64dbd095dcfe6ef. Report an issue: GitHub.