MCP forced re-auth appends prompt=select_account for non-Microsoft OAuth providers
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Description
Describe the bug
When an MCP OAuth flow is started with forced re-authentication, Copilot CLI unconditionally appends prompt=select_account to the authorization URL, including for non-Microsoft authorization servers that do not advertise support for this prompt value.
A non-Microsoft OpenID Connect provider rejects this unsupported value with invalid_request. The same authorization request succeeds after removing only &prompt=select_account from the URL.
Affected version
GitHub Copilot CLI 1.0.80
Steps to reproduce the behavior
- Configure a remote Streamable HTTP MCP server that uses OAuth with a non-Microsoft OpenID Connect authorization server.
- Complete Dynamic Client Registration and PKCE setup normally.
- Trigger forced re-authentication through
/mcp auth, the MCP server Authenticate action, or therre-auth shortcut. - Inspect the generated authorization URL.
- Observe that Copilot CLI appends
prompt=select_account. - Open the URL and observe that the authorization server rejects it with HTTP 400
invalid_request. - Remove only
&prompt=select_accountand reload the URL while the Copilot CLI callback server remains running. - Observe that the OAuth request proceeds successfully.
Control result:
forceReauth=false: nopromptparameter; authorization proceeds.forceReauth=true:prompt=select_account; authorization is rejected.
Expected behavior
Copilot CLI should not add prompt=select_account unconditionally for every authorization server.
Possible solutions include:
- Add the parameter only when the authorization server advertises
select_accountthroughprompt_values_supported. - Make the forced re-authentication prompt configurable.
- Use a provider-neutral re-authentication mechanism such as
prompt=loginwhen account-selection support is unknown.
Additional context
Environment:
- Windows 11 x64
- PowerShell
- Remote Streamable HTTP MCP server
- OAuth Authorization Code flow with PKCE
- Dynamic Client Registration
- Non-Microsoft OpenID Connect provider
Temporary workaround: copy the generated authorization URL, remove &prompt=select_account, and open the modified URL while the Copilot CLI OAuth callback server is still running.
No credentials, tokens, or private authorization-server URLs are included in this report.
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start at the OAuth authorization URL generation reached through /mcp auth, the MCP server Authenticate action, and the r re-auth shortcut; trace how forceReauth adds prompt=select_account. Check the authorization server's advertised prompt_values_supported metadata and verify that forced re-authentication no longer sends an unsupported prompt to non-Microsoft providers, while the OAuth flow still succeeds.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Domain
- authentication, cli
- Issue type
- Bug
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Active
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 55/100