Cannot Remotely Authenticate with Claude Code

[Lord0fBytes]

Cannot authenticate with Todoist MCP over SSH

Problem: Authentication fails when running the MCP server on a remote machine accessed via SSH.

Root Cause: The OAuth callback URL uses localhost, which resolves to the remote machine rather than the local machine where the browser is running. This prevents the authentication flow from completing successfully.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. SSH into a remote machine
2. Attempt to authenticate with Todoist MCP
3. OAuth flow redirects to localhost:[port] callback URL
4. Callback fails because localhost points to the remote machine, not the local browser

Expected Behavior: Authentication should work for remote/SSH scenarios

[gnapse]

Hi, thanks for taking the time to report this issue.

I have a few questions in order to better understand what you're trying to do:

How are you running the MCP server?

Are you running the MCP server yourself locally, as explained in the README (via the npx @doist/todoist-ai command). Or are you referring to using the online server we have deployed at https://ai.todoist.net/mcp.

(I'm assuming you're using the remote one, because you reference OAuth, and that's the only one that supports OAuth, but still want to clarify it instead of assuming it.)

What do you mean that the OAuth callback uses localhost?

If you refer to this redirect_uri in the auth URL…

…that is a value that Claude Code itself provides Todoist. It's Claude Code telling Todoist "when the OAuth flow ends, please open this URL so that I am informed of the outcome". We do not control that URL.