Created
January 9, 2026 21:21
-
-
Save cwage/437da569e44b394378907083e9b746b5 to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Claude Code bug report: SSH passphrase prompt on startup
This file contains hidden or bidirectional Unicode text that may be interpreted or compiled differently than what appears below. To review, open the file in an editor that reveals hidden Unicode characters.
Learn more about bidirectional Unicode characters
| # Marketplace plugin refresh uses SSH instead of HTTPS, causing unexpected passphrase prompts on startup | |
| When Claude Code starts, it attempts to refresh the official plugins marketplace by cloning/pulling `anthropics/claude-plugins-official`. However, it uses SSH (`git@github.com:...`) rather than HTTPS, which causes an unexpected SSH passphrase prompt when the user's SSH key isn't loaded in the agent. | |
| ## Steps to reproduce | |
| 1. Have an SSH key configured for GitHub with a passphrase | |
| 2. Don't add the key to ssh-agent | |
| 3. Run `claude` in a git repository | |
| ## Expected behavior | |
| Claude Code should clone public marketplace repositories via HTTPS (`https://github.com/anthropics/claude-plugins-official.git`), which requires no authentication. | |
| ## Actual behavior | |
| An SSH passphrase prompt appears before the Claude Code banner: | |
| ``` | |
| $ claude | |
| Enter passphrase for key '/home/user/.ssh/id_ed25519': | |
| ``` | |
| ## Debug log excerpt | |
| ``` | |
| [ERROR] Failed to refresh marketplace claude-plugins-official: Failed to clone marketplace repository: SSH authentication failed. Please ensure your SSH keys are configured for GitHub, or use an HTTPS URL instead. | |
| Original error: Cloning into '/home/user/.claude/plugins/marketplaces/claude-plugins-official'... | |
| git@github.com: Permission denied (publickey). | |
| fatal: Could not read from remote repository. | |
| ``` | |
| ## Environment | |
| - Claude Code v2.1.1 | |
| - Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS | |
| - Linux 6.14.0-37-generic | |
| ## Impact | |
| - Confusing/unexpected behavior on startup | |
| - Users may be alarmed seeing SSH authentication prompts from an application they didn't expect to use SSH | |
| - Blocks startup until passphrase is entered or prompt times out | |
| ## Suggested fix | |
| Use HTTPS URLs for cloning public marketplace repositories, or fall back to HTTPS when SSH fails. |
Sign up for free
to join this conversation on GitHub.
Already have an account?
Sign in to comment