koala73/worldmonitor · error · Error

Authentication unavailable while loading MCP clients. Try ag

Error message

Authentication unavailable while loading MCP clients. Try again.

What it means

Thrown by listMcpClients() in src/services/mcp-clients.ts when the Convex client and API loaded fine but waitForConvexAuthForUser(userId) returned false for the still-current Clerk user. That gate waits up to 10 s for the Convex server to confirm setAuth for exactly this userId and fails when the barrier times out or is superseded by a newer auth generation. The listProMcpTokens query is skipped because issuing it unauthenticated would fail server-side Clerk auth.

Source

Thrown at src/services/mcp-clients.ts:52

}

export interface McpQuota {
  used: number;
  /** Plan-resolved daily allowance. `null` = unlimited (plan 2026-07-25-001 U3b). */
  limit: number | null;
  resetsAt: string;
}

/** List all Pro MCP tokens for the current user. */
export async function listMcpClients(): Promise<McpClientInfo[]> {
  const userId = getCurrentClerkUser()?.id;
  if (!userId) return [];

  const [client, api] = await Promise.all([getConvexClient(), getConvexApi()]);
  if (!client || !api) return [];
  if (!await waitForConvexAuthForUser(userId)) {
    assertAccountStillCurrent(userId, 'loading MCP clients');
    throw new Error('Authentication unavailable while loading MCP clients. Try again.');
  }

  // Mirror services/api-keys.ts:listApiKeys cast pattern — the generated
  // Convex `api` is fully typed at module level but each service casts
  // `as any` at the call-site to avoid pulling the entire generated index
  // type into every service file.
  const rows = await settleAccountOperation(
    userId,
    'loading MCP clients',
    () => client.query((api as any).mcpProTokens.listProMcpTokens, {}),
  );
  assertAccountStillCurrent(userId, 'loading MCP clients');
  return rows as McpClientInfo[];
}

/**
 * Revoke a Pro MCP token by tokenId.
 *

View on GitHub (pinned to eeab0a219f)

Solutions

1. Retry the listing after a brief delay — the auth barrier normally settles just past the timeout.
2. Confirm in DevTools (Network → WS) that the Convex socket connects and authenticates; investigate proxy/VPN interference if it stalls.
3. Check that Clerk and Convex are paired correctly (same deployment, working token exchange) if the error is deterministic.
4. Render an empty-but-retryable state in the MCP clients tab for this error instead of a hard failure.

Example fix

// before
const clients = await listMcpClients();

// after
let clients: McpClientInfo[];
try {
  clients = await listMcpClients();
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message.startsWith('Authentication unavailable')) {
    await new Promise((r) => setTimeout(r, 1500));
    clients = await listMcpClients();
  } else {
    throw err;
  }
}

import { waitForConvexAuthForUser } from '@/services/convex-client';
import { getCurrentClerkUser } from '@/services/clerk';

const userId = getCurrentClerkUser()?.id;
if (!userId) return [];
if (!await waitForConvexAuthForUser(userId, 15_000)) {
  renderClientsRetryableEmpty();
  return [];
}
return await listMcpClients();

try {
  return await listMcpClients();
} catch (err) {
  if (err instanceof Error && err.message.startsWith('Authentication unavailable')) {
    await delay(1500);
    return await listMcpClients();
  }
  throw err;
}

When it happens

Trigger: Opening the Connected MCP clients settings tab immediately after sign-in before the Convex WebSocket auth handshake completes (10 s barrier timeout); a corporate proxy blocking the Convex WebSocket so setAuth never confirms; Clerk token issuance stalling; sign-out/sign-in churn replacing the auth barrier generation mid-wait.

Common situations: Slow first-load networks; enterprise networks that break WebSocket upgrades; Clerk dev-instance slowness; users who sign out and back in quickly while the settings panel is already mounted.

Understand the failure class

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

Related errors

• Authentication unavailable while loading Business Pro seats.
• REDIS_DOWN
• UNAUTHENTICATED
• Revoke service is temporarily unavailable. Try again in a mo
• HTTP ${response.status}

AI-assisted analysis of koala73/worldmonitor@eeab0a219f (2026-08-21). Data as JSON: /api/errors/03aeed8e238b0e42. Report an issue: GitHub.