ChatGPT Pro MCP calls fail with 401 tunnel_active_organization_required despite selected Platform org

[andriicharnosh-creator]

Summary

A Secure MCP Tunnel associated with a Platform organization cannot be used from a ChatGPT Pro personal workspace. Every real MCP tool invocation fails at the OpenAI tunnel gateway with:

401 tunnel_active_organization_required

The request does not reach the private MCP server.

Environment

• tunnel-client: v0.0.12
• Client host: OVH, outbound-only
• ChatGPT plan/workspace: Pro personal workspace
• Platform organization: visible, selected, and the user is a member
• Tunnel page: shows the expected Platform organization and a ChatGPT workspace association
• Connector: reports connected; OAuth reconnect succeeds
• Tunnel, workspace, account, and support-case identifiers are intentionally redacted and can be provided privately to maintainers

Steps to reproduce

1. Create a Secure MCP Tunnel under a Platform organization.
2. Associate it with a ChatGPT Pro personal workspace as shown on the Tunnels page.
3. Run tunnel-client v0.0.12; confirm the outbound tunnel process is healthy/ready.
4. Connect the MCP connector in ChatGPT and complete OAuth successfully.
5. Invoke any real MCP tool.

Actual result

Every tool invocation returns 401 tunnel_active_organization_required.

No corresponding request appears in the private MCP gateway logs, so the failure occurs before the target server or application is reached.

Expected result

The selected Platform organization context should be propagated to the tunnel gateway, and an authorized invocation should be forwarded through the tunnel to the MCP gateway.

Checks already completed

• Platform organization is visible and selected.
• User membership in that organization is confirmed.
• Tunnels page displays the expected Platform organization.
• Tunnels page displays a ChatGPT workspace association.
• ChatGPT has no separate organization-named workspace in its account switcher.
• OAuth reconnect completes successfully.
• The connector reports connected.
• Repeated real tool calls fail identically before reaching the MCP server.

Questions for maintainers

1. Is a ChatGPT Pro personal workspace eligible to use a tunnel owned by a Platform organization?
2. Should ChatGPT propagate an active Platform organization claim/context for this workspace type?
3. Can the tunnel association retain a stale or incorrect internal ChatGPT workspace identifier?
4. What request ID, timestamp, or other correlation data should be captured so the control-plane team can locate the rejected gateway request?

This may be related in area to #9, but it is a different failure stage and error: the tunnel exists and connects, while invocation is rejected with tunnel_active_organization_required.

Security / scope

The downstream MCP gateway is private and least-privilege. It exposes only read-only or bounded analytical tools; no database browsing, secrets, filesystem, shell, generic HTTP proxy, messaging, or physical-equipment control.