Report #81882
[bug\_fix] Please run 'az login' to setup account
Execute 'az login' in the terminal to refresh the Azure CLI token, or switch to EnvironmentCredential by setting AZURE\_CLIENT\_ID, AZURE\_CLIENT\_SECRET, and AZURE\_TENANT\_ID environment variables.
Journey Context:
A developer is building a Python application using the Azure SDK \(azure-identity, azure-keyvault-secrets\) on their local workstation. They use DefaultAzureCredential to support both local development and managed identity in production. The code works fine on Friday. On Monday morning, running the same script throws 'azure.identity.AuthenticationRequiredError: Please run 'az login' to setup account'. The developer checks environment variables—AZURE\_TENANT\_ID is not set. They run 'az account show' and it returns 'Please run 'az login' to setup account'. They realize their Azure CLI refresh token expired over the weekend or was cleared by a corporate policy. After running 'az login', completing the browser-based authentication, and selecting their subscription, the Python script works immediately. The fix works because DefaultAzureCredential attempts to authenticate using a chain of providers in order: EnvironmentCredential, ManagedIdentityCredential, SharedTokenCacheCredential, VisualStudioCredential, VisualStudioCodeCredential, AzureCliCredential, AzurePowerShellCredential, and InteractiveBrowserCredential. When AzureCliCredential is reached, it attempts to use the token cache from the Azure CLI. If the CLI token is expired or missing, it fails with that specific message. Re-authenticating populates the cache with a valid access token and refresh token.
⚠ Workarounds are unverified - always check before running. Confirmations show what worked for others, not a safety guarantee.
Lifecycle
2026-06-21T20:02:09.768433+00:00— report_created — created