google-gemini/gemini-cli · info · ChangeAuthRequestedError

User requested to change authentication method

Error message

User requested to change authentication method

What it means

ChangeAuthRequestedError is a control-flow exception thrown inside setupUser's validation loop. It fires only after the Code Assist API returned ValidationRequiredError AND the caller's validationHandler returned the literal intent 'change_auth'. It is not a failure: it tells the outer auth layer to restart auth selection with a different credential.

Source

Thrown at packages/core/src/code_assist/setup.ts:198

        ...coreClientMetadata,
        duetProject: projectId,
      },
    });

    try {
      validateLoadCodeAssistResponse(loadRes);
      break;
    } catch (e) {
      if (e instanceof ValidationRequiredError && validationHandler) {
        const intent = await validationHandler(
          e.validationLink,
          e.validationDescription,
        );
        if (intent === 'verify') {
          continue;
        }
        if (intent === 'change_auth') {
          throw new ChangeAuthRequestedError();
        }
        throw new ValidationCancelledError();
      }
      throw e;
    }
  }

  if (loadRes.currentTier) {
    if (!loadRes.paidTier?.id && !loadRes.currentTier.id) {
      debugLogger.warn(
        'Warning: Code Assist API did not return a user tier ID. Defaulting to STANDARD tier.',
      );
    }

    if (!loadRes.cloudaicompanionProject) {
      if (projectId) {
        return {
          projectId,

View on GitHub (pinned to 5024443c72)

Solutions

1. Catch ChangeAuthRequestedError at the auth-selection layer and loop back to credential choice (this is the intended handler).
2. If you did not mean to switch auth, retry setupUser and pick 'verify' on the validation prompt.
3. If the prompt keeps appearing, ensure the account is on a Code Assist-eligible tier before re-running.

Example fix

// before
try { await setupUser(client, config); }
catch (e) { throw e; }
// after
try { await setupUser(client, config); }
catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof ChangeAuthRequestedError) { return restartAuthSelection(); }
  throw e;
}

// node
import { ChangeAuthRequestedError } from './utils/errors.js';
function isChangeAuthRequested(e: unknown): e is ChangeAuthRequestedError {
  return e instanceof ChangeAuthRequestedError;
}

try {
  await setupUser(client, config);
} catch (e) {
  if (e instanceof ChangeAuthRequestedError) {
    // intended: restart auth method selection
    return restartAuthSelection();
  }
  throw e;
}

When it happens

Trigger: setupUser() -> caServer.loadCodeAssist() throws ValidationRequiredError -> config.getValidationHandler() is set -> user picks 'change_auth' from the verificationLink/validationDescription prompt -> line 198 throws.

Common situations: User selects 'Use a different account' / 'Switch login' in the OAuth/quota verification prompt; first-time login where the default account lacks Code Assist access; switching from Vertex to Code Assist auth.

Understand the failure class

• Authentication and authorization failures — expired tokens, bad credentials, and missing scopes.

Related errors

• User cancelled account validation
• Execution aborted
• Failed to initialize GCS bucket ${this.bucketName}: ${error}
• The enforced authentication type is '${enforcedType}', but t
• The auth type '${enforcedType}' is enforced, but no authenti

AI-assisted analysis of google-gemini/gemini-cli@5024443c72 (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/64c2bd360938b246. Report an issue: GitHub.