stablyai/orca · warning · Error

No Claude credentials found in ${resolvedDir}. Run `claude l

Error message

No Claude credentials found in ${resolvedDir}. Run `claude login` into this directory first.

What it means

Thrown by captureFromExistingConfigDir() on non-macOS platforms when the resolved configDir does not contain a .credentials.json file. On Linux/Windows Claude stores OAuth credentials as plaintext .credentials.json, so its absence means the directory was never authenticated via `claude login`. macOS is exempt because credentials live in the Keychain.

Source

Thrown at src/main/claude-accounts/service.ts:218

  // Why: capture credentials from a CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR the caller already
  // authenticated (e.g. a temp dir the CLI ran `claude login` into), mirroring
  // runClaudeLoginAndCapture's capture step but without spawning the interactive
  // login. On Linux/Windows the credentials live in a plaintext `.credentials.json`.
  private async captureFromExistingConfigDir(
    configDir: string,
    previousLegacyCredentialsSha256?: string | null
  ): Promise<CapturedClaudeAuth> {
    const trimmed = configDir.trim()
    if (!trimmed) {
      throw new Error('A Claude config directory path is required.')
    }
    const resolvedDir = resolve(trimmed)
    // Why: macOS keeps Claude credentials in the Keychain rather than a file, so
    // only require `.credentials.json` off-darwin; captureAuthFromConfigDir reads
    // the scoped Keychain item on macOS.
    if (process.platform !== 'darwin' && !existsSync(join(resolvedDir, '.credentials.json'))) {
      throw new Error(
        `No Claude credentials found in ${resolvedDir}. Run \`claude login\` into this directory first.`
      )
    }
    // Why: `allowFailure` covers a non-zero exit but not a spawn error, and unlike
    // the GUI flow nothing has run `claude` in this process yet — a daemon started
    // with a minimal PATH (launchd/systemd) would hard-fail an add the user already
    // signed in for. Identity still resolves from the config dir's oauthAccount.
    let status = ''
    try {
      status = await this.runClaudeCommand(
        ['auth', 'status', '--json'],
        { windowsPath: resolvedDir, linuxPath: null, wslDistro: null },
        STATUS_TIMEOUT_MS,
        { allowFailure: true }
      )
    } catch (error) {
      console.warn('[claude-accounts] Could not read `claude auth status`:', error)
    }

View on GitHub (pinned to 1136503c6a)

Solutions

Run `claude login` with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR set to the exact directory you pass to captureFromExistingConfigDir.
Verify fs.existsSync(join(dir, '.credentials.json')) before calling.
Confirm the directory path is the one the CLI actually used (check for .claude.json / .config.json siblings).
On macOS, remember credentials live in the Keychain, not the file — do not require .credentials.json there.

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

import { existsSync, join } from 'node:path'

if (process.platform !== 'darwin' && !existsSync(join(resolvedDir, '.credentials.json'))) {
  throw new Error(`No credentials in ${resolvedDir}. Run 'claude login' there first.`)
}

Prevention

Run `claude login` with CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR pointing at the exact dir before importing.
Verify .credentials.json exists (off-darwin) before capture.
Remember macOS stores credentials in the Keychain, not the file.
Use the same dir for login and capture.

When it happens

Trigger: On Linux/Windows, calling captureFromExistingConfigDir with a dir where `claude login` was never run, or pointing at the wrong directory. The .credentials.json file was deleted or never created.

Common situations: User selects a fresh/empty temp dir instead of the one they logged into. Path points at the parent of the actual config dir. The CLI wrote credentials to a different CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR than the one supplied. The login failed silently and left no credentials.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of stablyai/orca@1136503c6a (2026-08-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/4a8362dab50bd257. Report an issue: GitHub.