Locked out: sign-in returns "Create your account" via BOTH Google SSO and email code, while the API reports the same address owns an active Max account

Summary

Re-login returns the account-creation page ("Create your account") instead of
signing in to an existing, active Claude Max account. Both sign-in methods fail
identically: "Continue with Google", and email + verification code.

Meanwhile the existing Claude Code OAuth token for the same account continues to
authenticate and refresh normally. The two paths disagree about whether the
account exists.

Fin (the in-app support bot) states it cannot relay this to a human, so there is
no escalation path.

Sequence

1. Claude Code warned that the login was about to expire, then it expired.
2. Ran the re-login, which had always worked on previous expiries.
3. The flow opened the browser for sign-in.
4. Chose Continue with Google — the same Google address the account has used
   since it was created in 2023, never changed. Also tried "Use another account"
   and entered the address by hand, to rule out a wrong default Google account.
5. Also tried the email + verification code route with the same address.
6. Both return "Create your account", every time, on every device, including a
   private/incognito tab on a device that had never signed in.

Evidence the account exists and is active

Claude Code on Android/Termux is still signed in and fully functional:

• ~/.claude/.credentials.json holds a valid access token and refresh token
• subscriptionType: max, rateLimitTier: default_claude_max_20x
• ~/.claude.json → oauthAccount shows an active stripe_subscription,
  organizationRole: admin, account created 2023-09-26
• The CLI refreshes silently and has never failed

The direct contradiction, both sides dated 2026-09-19:

• claude auth status returns loggedIn: true, "email": "hugebelts@gmail.com",
  subscriptionType: max, org ee815ee0-.... The profile was fetched live from
  the API at 15:55 UTC that day, and the API reported that email for this account.
• The sign-in flow, the same afternoon, reports no account for that same address
  via either auth method.

One Anthropic system says that email owns an active Max account; another says no
account has that email. The account, org and paid subscription are intact — only
the email/identity → account lookup in the sign-in flow fails.

Impact / urgency

The Claude Code refresh token is currently the only working access to this
account. It expires 2026-10-06. After that there is no route back in through
any interface.

Environment

• Claude Code on Android (Termux, aarch64), glibc build
• Reproduced in browsers on multiple separate devices, including private tabs

Notes

accountUuid and organizationUuid available privately — omitted here since this
issue is public.

Related

Similar lockouts with no escalation path in #79808 and #61892, though most reports
there are undelivered passcode emails rather than a Google SSO mismatch.

Start with the reported browser OAuth reproduction: use “Continue with Google” for the existing account across a normal and private browser session, then compare it with the still-working Claude Code token refresh. Done means the existing Claude Max account signs in through the browser flow instead of reaching “Create your account”; the issue names no repository files or tests.