Auto-update leaves temp directories and requires manual intervention
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Oct 31, 2025 by 5u6r054 Closed Oct 31, 2025
Issue
The auto-update feature is not working as advertised and requires manual intervention, defeating the purpose of having an 'auto' update.
Expected Behavior
When auto-update is enabled, Claude Code should automatically update itself without requiring manual npm commands or cleanup.
Actual Behavior
- Auto-update fails silently or leaves temp directories behind
- Temp directories like
.claude-code-*accumulate in/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/ - These temp directories prevent future updates from working
- Requires manual cleanup with
sudo rm -rf - Requires manually killing Claude processes with
pkill claude - Requires manually running
npm i -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
Environment
- Platform: macOS (darwin)
- Installation: Homebrew npm global install
- Location:
/opt/homebrew/lib/node_modules/@anthropic-ai/
Reproduction
- Enable auto-update in settings
- Let Claude Code run for a while with updates available
- Notice that updates don't apply automatically
- Manual update attempts fail due to leftover temp directories
Impact
This completely negates the value of having an auto-update feature. Users expect 'auto' update to work automatically without manual intervention or writing custom update scripts.
Suggested Fix
The auto-updater should:
- Properly clean up temp directories on failed updates
- Gracefully handle running processes (terminate and restart)
- Provide clear feedback when auto-update fails
- Not require sudo or manual cleanup
This issue has 3 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗