Installation fails with 'another process is currently installing' even when no other process exists

Resolved 💬 7 comments Opened Dec 29, 2025 by goushuai888 Closed Jan 7, 2026

Bug Description

The installation script intermittently fails with the error:

"Could not install - another process is currently installing Claude. Please try again in a moment."

This happens even when no other installation process is running.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Run curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash -s 2.0.76 - fails
  2. Run the same command again - same failure
  3. Run curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash -s 2.0.74 - fails
  4. Run with stable tag - succeeds (installs 2.0.67)
  5. Run with latest tag - succeeds (installs 2.0.76)
  6. Run with specific version 2.0.76 again - fails again

The behavior is inconsistent: specific version numbers fail, but stable/latest tags work.

Environment

  • OS: macOS (Darwin 25.2.0)
  • Architecture: Apple Silicon (darwin)
  • Shell: zsh
  • Current installed version: 2.0.76

Terminal Logs

$ curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash -s 2.0.76
Setting up Claude Code...

✘ Installation failed

Could not install - another process is currently installing Claude. Please try again in a moment.

Try running with --force to override checks

$ curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash -s stable
Setting up Claude Code...

✔ Claude Code successfully installed!
  Version: 2.0.67

$ curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash -s latest
Setting up Claude Code...

✔ Claude Code successfully installed!
  Version: 2.0.76

$ curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash -s 2.0.76
Setting up Claude Code...

✘ Installation failed

Could not install - another process is currently installing Claude. Please try again in a moment.

Expected Behavior

  1. Installation with specific version numbers should work consistently
  2. If a stale lock exists, provide a way to clear it automatically or show the lock file location

Possible Cause

The lock mechanism may be creating a stale lock file when installing specific versions, but not when using stable/latest tags. The lock file might not be properly cleaned up.

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