diff --git a/src/oauth-handler.ts b/src/oauth-handler.ts
index e360688..49f5431 100644
--- a/src/oauth-handler.ts
+++ b/src/oauth-handler.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,18 @@ import type { AuthRequest } from '@cloudflare/workers-oauth-provider';
 // ── Feature gate: flip to true when ready to accept public signups ──
 const PUBLIC_SIGNUPS_ENABLED = true;
 
+// #28 fix: default scopes shown on the consent screen when an OAuth client
+// initiates without requesting any scope. The C-1a remediation (commit 256ba06,
+// 2026-04-10) correctly removed the hardcoded ['generate','read'] grant — any
+// caller with an OAuth token was inheriting those scopes regardless of what
+// their token claimed — but left no path for clients (notably Claude Code /
+// Claude.ai MCP clients) that don't include scope in their OAuth initiate.
+// Those requests end up creating grants that are empty at every level
+// (grant.scope AND encryptedProps.scopes), silently blocking every subsequent
+// tool call. These defaults are NEVER silently applied: they're rendered on
+// the consent page and only enter the grant after explicit user approval.
+const DEFAULT_CONSENT_SCOPES = ['read', 'generate'];
+
 // --- Shared styles ---
 
 const SHARED_STYLES = `
@@ -469,6 +481,27 @@ async function handleGetAuthorize(request: Request, env: GatewayEnv): Promise<Re
           headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/html' },
         });
       }
+      // #28 fix: if the client omitted scope from the OAuth initiate, do
+      // NOT auto-approve. Render the consent page with DEFAULT_CONSENT_SCOPES
+      // so the user explicitly approves. Clients that DID request scope still
+      // hit the zero-latency auto-approve path below — this exception adds
+      // one consent hop only for empty-scope initiates, which is acceptable
+      // compared to the alternative (silent grant with no usable scope).
+      if (!oauthReqInfo.scope?.length) {
+        const clientInfo = await env.OAUTH_PROVIDER.lookupClient(oauthReqInfo.clientId);
+        const clientName = clientInfo?.clientName ?? oauthReqInfo.clientId;
+        return new Response(
+          renderConsentPage(
+            clientName,
+            DEFAULT_CONSENT_SCOPES,
+            oauthParams,
+            identityToken,
+            identity.email,
+          ),
+          { headers: { 'Content-Type': 'text/html' } },
+        );
+      }
+
       // Auto-approve: skip consent screen to reduce OAuth hop count.
       // The user already authenticated (login/signup/social) and we control
       // all scopes. Showing a consent page adds latency that can cause
@@ -562,11 +595,20 @@ async function handlePostAuthorize(request: Request, env: GatewayEnv): Promise<R
     return Response.redirect(redirectUrl.toString(), 302);
   }
 
-  // Approve -- complete the OAuth authorization
+  // Approve -- complete the OAuth authorization.
+  // #28 fix: if the original OAuth initiate omitted scope, use the consent-
+  // screen defaults that the user just explicitly approved on the rendered
+  // page. This is NOT a silent upgrade — the consent page showed exactly
+  // these scopes and the user clicked approve. Clients that requested scope
+  // explicitly keep whatever they requested.
+  const effectiveScope = oauthReqInfo.scope?.length
+    ? oauthReqInfo.scope
+    : DEFAULT_CONSENT_SCOPES;
+
   const { redirectTo } = await env.OAUTH_PROVIDER.completeAuthorization({
     request: oauthReqInfo,
     userId: identity.userId,
-    scope: oauthReqInfo.scope,
+    scope: effectiveScope,
     metadata: {
       authorizedAt: new Date().toISOString(),
       userEmail: identity.email,
@@ -577,7 +619,7 @@ async function handlePostAuthorize(request: Request, env: GatewayEnv): Promise<R
       name: identity.name,
       // C-1a remediation: thread the actual OAuth scope grant through
       // to the gateway's apiHandler so resolveAuth can enforce it.
-      scopes: oauthReqInfo.scope,
+      scopes: effectiveScope,
     },
   });
 
diff --git a/test/oauth-handler.test.ts b/test/oauth-handler.test.ts
index d9a04dd..01298f0 100644
--- a/test/oauth-handler.test.ts
+++ b/test/oauth-handler.test.ts
@@ -413,6 +413,175 @@ describe('OAuth handler — scope labels', () => {
   });
 });
 
+describe('OAuth handler — #28 empty-scope consent flow', () => {
+  // When the OAuth client's initiate omits `scope` entirely, C-1a's
+  // remediation made the gateway silently mint an empty-scope grant —
+  // every subsequent tool call failed with "(none)". The fix: route
+  // empty-scope initiates through the consent page with defaults so
+  // the user explicitly approves. Auto-approve still works for every
+  // initiate that includes explicit scope (regression guard below).
+
+  async function makeIdentityToken(clientId: string, redirectUri: string): Promise<string> {
+    return signIdentityToken(TEST_SECRET, {
+      userId: 'u1',
+      email: 'test@test.com',
+      name: 'Test',
+      clientId,
+      redirectUri,
+    });
+  }
+
+  it('renders the consent page when oauthReqInfo.scope is empty', async () => {
+    const emptyScopeAuthRequest: AuthRequest = { ...MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST, scope: [] };
+    const provider = mockOAuthProvider({
+      parseAuthRequest: vi.fn(async () => emptyScopeAuthRequest),
+    });
+    const env = makeEnv({
+      OAUTH_PROVIDER: provider as unknown as GatewayEnv['OAUTH_PROVIDER'],
+    });
+
+    const identityToken = await makeIdentityToken(
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.clientId,
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.redirectUri,
+    );
+    const req = getRequest(`/authorize?identity_token=${encodeURIComponent(identityToken)}`);
+    const res = await callHandler(req, env);
+
+    // Consent page rendered — NOT a redirect to completeAuthorization.
+    expect(res.status).toBe(200);
+    expect(res.headers.get('Content-Type')).toContain('text/html');
+    const body = await res.text();
+    expect(body).toContain('Authorize access');
+    expect(body).toContain('read');
+    expect(body).toContain('generate');
+    // The consent page carries forward the oauth_params + identity_token
+    // so the POST-back to /authorize has everything it needs.
+    expect(body).toContain('identity_token');
+    expect(body).toContain('action');
+
+    // Crucial: no empty grant gets minted at this step.
+    expect(provider.completeAuthorization).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it('auto-approves (skips consent) when the client explicitly requests scope', async () => {
+    // Regression guard for the zero-latency path that Claude Code depends on.
+    const provider = mockOAuthProvider(); // default scope ['generate', 'read']
+    const env = makeEnv({
+      OAUTH_PROVIDER: provider as unknown as GatewayEnv['OAUTH_PROVIDER'],
+    });
+
+    const identityToken = await makeIdentityToken(
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.clientId,
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.redirectUri,
+    );
+    const req = getRequest(`/authorize?identity_token=${encodeURIComponent(identityToken)}`);
+    const res = await callHandler(req, env);
+
+    // Redirect back to client — auto-approve path, no consent hop.
+    expect(res.status).toBe(302);
+    expect(provider.completeAuthorization).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
+    // The grant uses the client-requested scope verbatim (not the defaults).
+    expect(provider.completeAuthorization).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        scope: ['generate', 'read'],
+        props: expect.objectContaining({ scopes: ['generate', 'read'] }),
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('handlePostAuthorize injects consent defaults when the original initiate was empty-scope', async () => {
+    const emptyScopeAuthRequest: AuthRequest = { ...MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST, scope: [] };
+    const emptyScopeOauthParams = btoa(JSON.stringify(emptyScopeAuthRequest));
+
+    const provider = mockOAuthProvider({
+      parseAuthRequest: vi.fn(async () => emptyScopeAuthRequest),
+    });
+    const env = makeEnv({
+      OAUTH_PROVIDER: provider as unknown as GatewayEnv['OAUTH_PROVIDER'],
+    });
+
+    const identityToken = await makeIdentityToken(
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.clientId,
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.redirectUri,
+    );
+
+    const req = formRequest('/authorize', {
+      action: 'approve',
+      oauth_params: emptyScopeOauthParams,
+      identity_token: identityToken,
+    });
+    const res = await callHandler(req, env);
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(302);
+    // The grant was stored with the consent defaults — NOT empty.
+    expect(provider.completeAuthorization).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        scope: ['read', 'generate'],
+        props: expect.objectContaining({ scopes: ['read', 'generate'] }),
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('handlePostAuthorize preserves the client-requested scope when it is non-empty', async () => {
+    // Regression guard — explicit scopes are never overwritten.
+    const oauthParams = makeOAuthParamsB64(); // scope: ['generate', 'read']
+    const provider = mockOAuthProvider();
+    const env = makeEnv({
+      OAUTH_PROVIDER: provider as unknown as GatewayEnv['OAUTH_PROVIDER'],
+    });
+
+    const identityToken = await makeIdentityToken(
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.clientId,
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.redirectUri,
+    );
+
+    const req = formRequest('/authorize', {
+      action: 'approve',
+      oauth_params: oauthParams,
+      identity_token: identityToken,
+    });
+    const res = await callHandler(req, env);
+
+    expect(res.status).toBe(302);
+    expect(provider.completeAuthorization).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.objectContaining({
+        scope: ['generate', 'read'],
+        props: expect.objectContaining({ scopes: ['generate', 'read'] }),
+      }),
+    );
+  });
+
+  it('deny action still works for empty-scope initiates (no grant created)', async () => {
+    const emptyScopeAuthRequest: AuthRequest = { ...MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST, scope: [] };
+    const emptyScopeOauthParams = btoa(JSON.stringify(emptyScopeAuthRequest));
+
+    const provider = mockOAuthProvider({
+      parseAuthRequest: vi.fn(async () => emptyScopeAuthRequest),
+    });
+    const env = makeEnv({
+      OAUTH_PROVIDER: provider as unknown as GatewayEnv['OAUTH_PROVIDER'],
+    });
+
+    const identityToken = await makeIdentityToken(
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.clientId,
+      MOCK_AUTH_REQUEST.redirectUri,
+    );
+
+    const req = formRequest('/authorize', {
+      action: 'deny',
+      oauth_params: emptyScopeOauthParams,
+      identity_token: identityToken,
+    });
+    const res = await callHandler(req, env);
+
+    // 302 back to client with access_denied — and crucially, no grant.
+    expect(res.status).toBe(302);
+    const location = res.headers.get('Location');
+    expect(location).toContain('error=access_denied');
+    expect(provider.completeAuthorization).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
+
 describe('OAuth handler — security invariants', () => {
   it('identity tokens use HMAC-SHA256 (not plaintext)', async () => {
     const token = await signIdentityToken(TEST_SECRET, {