ChatGPT MCP connector refreshes token on every tool call and doesn't persist sessions

Summary

ChatGPT’s MCP connector unconditionally refreshes the OAuth token and creates a new MCP session before every single tool call, even when the access token is still valid.

Observed Behavior

Every tool invocation follows this pattern:

POST /token (grant_type=refresh_token) ← token is still valid initialize ← new MCP session message processing canceled ← previous session killed tools/call ← actual work

This happens regardless of expires_in — even with a freshly issued access token (e.g., expires_in: 3600), the next tool call triggers a full refresh + new session.

Evidence from Server Logs

Refresh token request — clientId={clientId}, userAgent=Python/3.12 aiohttp/3.13.3 POST /token → 200 initialize → Client message processing canceled tools/call → success Refresh token request — clientId={clientId} ← immediately refreshes again initialize → Client ← brand new session tools/call → success

Problems This Causes

1. Unnecessary load on authorization servers. Every tool call hits the token endpoint even when the access token has minutes/hours of remaining validity.

2. Users are repeatedly prompted to re-authenticate despite having valid tokens with offline_access scope.

Environment

• MCP client: ChatGPT Desktop/Web
• OAuth flow: Authorization Code + PKCE (OAuth 2.1)
• Scopes: openid profile api offline_access
• Server correctly returns expires_in, access_token, and refresh_token in token responses