Unconditional `prompt=consent` (when `offline_access` in scope) blocks OAuth in Entra tenants with user consent disabled + admin consent granted

[sonmaximum]

Symptom

packages/client/src/client/auth.ts, in startAuthorization:

if (scope?.split(' ').includes('offline_access')) {
    authorizationUrl.searchParams.append('prompt', 'consent');
}

In enterprise Entra tenants where:

• User consent is disabled (Microsoft's recommended default)
• Admin consent granted tenant-wide for the app (AllPrincipals OAuth2PermissionGrant present)

prompt=consent bypasses the existing admin grants and forces Entra to show the consent screen. Non-admin users hit AADSTS90095: Admin consent is required on every reconnect. Unrecoverable, since the admin already consented. Approving the resulting admin-consent request does not change tenant state; the next connect triggers another same consent request.

Verified in our tenant against a Microsoft-hosted MCP server (WorkIQ Mail Tool): manually removing &prompt=consent from the SDK-generated authorize URL and continuing the flow returns tokens immediately, no consent screen. Grants are respected; the SDK-added parameter is the sole blocker.

Repro

Cline (using this SDK): blocks with AADSTS90095:

https://login.microsoftonline.com/organizations/oauth2/v2.0/authorize
  ?response_type=code
  &client_id=<redacted>
  &redirect_uri=http://127.0.0.1:1456/mcp/oauth/callback
  &scope=<resource>/.default+openid+profile+offline_access
  &prompt=consent   ← added by SDK, sole blocker
  &resource=<resource>

The &prompt=consent in this URL is what the SDK code shown above appends. Removing it manually (per the Symptom section above) returns tokens with no consent screen - confirming it as the sole blocker.

Fix

Drop the unconditional add.

Spec basis: OIDC Core §11's prompt=consent obligation is on the authorization server, not the client. §11 notes that prompt=consent "can be used" by the AS - not required to be sent by the client. #681 introduced the client-side add as a defensive measure; the underlying spec doesn't ask for it.

Precedent: Azure CLI, VS Code, and other established OAuth clients requesting offline_access against Entra don't force the prompt=consent parameter client-side and operate correctly in the same enterprise-tenant configuration where this SDK currently breaks.

Downstream clients that want to force re-consent for a specific high-risk flow can add the parameter themselves at the call site.

Impact

Blocks every non-admin end-user in enterprise Entra tenants for any MCP server the client OAuths against.

Related:

• prompt=consent hardcoded on every MCP OAuth authorize request breaks Entra tenants with user consent disabled — affects Claude Code, claude.ai web connector and desktop alike (#49722 was closed without a fix) anthropics/claude-code#94804 (client-side symptom report; wrong repo for the fix)
• fix(client/auth): use .set() for prompt=consent instead of .append() to avoid duplicating #1958 (open PR; only de-dupes the parameter, still emits it every time)
• Add prompt=consent for OIDC offline_access scope #681 (original PR that introduced this behavior)