Claude web fails to authenticate to MCP server

problem
2

@samuelclay same here. Just went for the subscription for this.

NewsBlur MCP Server Bug Report

Date: 2026-04-06
Subscription: Premium Archive (confirmed active)

Summary

All NewsBlur MCP content endpoints reject requests with “MCP access requires a NewsBlur Premium Archive subscription”, despite the account endpoint correctly confirming an active Premium Archive subscription.

Related Forum Thread

“Claude web fails to authenticate to MCP server” by ozoromo (posted 2026-04-03):

When trying to add the MCP server on claude.ai the authentication fails with the message:
Authorization with the MCP server failed. You can check your credentials and permissions.

Adding the MCP server via claude mcp add --transport http newsblur https://newsblur.com/mcp/ works as expected. Authentication succeeds. The issue is not with authentication itself, but with the subscription check on content endpoints.

Environment

  • Claude Code CLI with MCP transport over HTTP
  • MCP endpoint: https://newsblur.com/mcp/
  • Authentication: successful (confirmed via /mcp reconnect)

Evidence

Account endpoint works

get_account_info returns:

{
  "tier": "archive",
  "is_premium": true,
  "is_archive": true,
  "is_pro": false,
  "feed_count": 76,
  "feed_limit": 4096,
  "premium_expire_date": 1807019902
}

The server correctly identifies the account as Premium Archive.

All content endpoints fail

Endpoint Result
get_account_info Works
list_feeds Fails
list_folders Fails
get_stories Fails
get_saved_stories Fails
search_stories Fails
get_daily_briefing Fails
discover_feeds Fails

Every endpoint except get_account_info returns:

MCP access requires a NewsBlur Premium Archive subscription. Upgrade at https://newsblur.com/pricing

Reproduction steps

  1. Subscribe to NewsBlur Premium Archive
  2. Authenticate MCP: claude mcp add --transport http newsblur https://newsblur.com/mcp/
  3. Call get_account_info (succeeds, shows is_archive: true)
  4. Call any other endpoint (fails with subscription error)

Diagnosis

The subscription tier check in get_account_info and the subscription gate on content endpoints appear to use different logic or different session/token scopes. The account endpoint reads the tier correctly, but the middleware guarding content endpoints does not recognize the same session as Premium Archive.

Possible causes:

  • Subscription status is cached separately for MCP content endpoints and was set before the upgrade
  • The MCP content endpoint middleware checks a different field or uses a different authentication context than get_account_info
  • Token/session scope difference between the account lookup and content access paths