[BUG] cowork error "CLI output was not valid JSON. This may indicate an error during startup. Output: Invalid configuration in /etc/srt-settings.json:"

Bug Report Info

System:

• macOS 15.2 (Darwin 25.2.0)
• Apple M2 Max, arm64
• Claude Desktop 1.1.351
• VM Bundle: 8c56966fa5825aba21d51a59e8a505b849e14f41
• SDK Version: 2.1.8

Error:
CLI output was not valid JSON. This may indicate an error during startup.
Output: Invalid configuration in /etc/srt-settings.json:

What happens:

1. sdk_daemon logs "updated srt-settings with 28 allowed domains" (success)
2. CLI process starts inside VM
3. CLI immediately fails reading /etc/srt-settings.json
4. Process exits with non-zero code
5. Error persists even after "Delete VM Bundle and Restart"

This appears to be a bug in how the VM image handles the srt-settings.json file - either the file isn't being written to /etc/ properly, or the CLI is reading it before it's fully written. Since it persists across fresh VM downloads, it's likely a bug in the VM image build itself.

Reinstalled OSX fresh and then Claude desktop on refresh OSX install and got the same error.

• ❌ Delete VM Bundle and Restart
• ❌ Delete VM Sessions and Restart
• ❌ Reset App Data
• ❌ Full restart

The bug is in VM bundle version 8c56966fa5825aba21d51a59e8a505b849e14f41 that Anthropic distributes. The /etc/srt-settings.json file inside the VM image is broken.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Fresh macOS install
2. Install Claude Desktop
3. Try to use Cowork

Expected: Cowork starts normally
Actual: Error "CLI output was not valid JSON... Invalid configuration in /etc/srt-settings.json:"

Logs show: sdk_daemon successfully writes "updated srt-settings with 28 allowed domains" but CLI fails to read the file.

Tried: Delete VM Bundle, Delete VM Sessions, Reset App Data - all failed.

i have the same issue. any news on this?

I'm experiencing the same issue on Cowork (Claude desktop app), it started yesterday.

Error:

• _CLI output was not valid JSON. This may indicate an error during startup. Output: Error: Sandbox dependencies are not available on this system. Required: ripgrep (rg), bubblewrap (bwrap), and socat._
• When I send another message in Cowork, I see progress text like "Starting agent" and "This is taking longer than usual… (2m 33s)."
• Right now Cowork is not operational. I’m using MacOS (M1), Claude 1.1.381 (c2a39e) 2026-01-18T20:18:52.000Z

I'm experiencing the same issue on Cowork (Claude desktop app), it started yesterday. Error: _CLI output was not valid JSON. This may indicate an error during startup. Output: Error: Sandbox dependencies are not available on this system. Required: ripgrep (rg), bubblewrap (bwrap), and socat._ When I send another message in Cowork, I see progress text like "Starting agent" and "This is taking longer than usual… (2m 33s)." * Right now Cowork is not operational. I’m using MacOS (M1), Claude 1.1.381 (c2a39e) 2026-01-18T20:18:52.000Z

Same experience and Mac version.

I'm experiencing the same issue on Cowork (Claude desktop app), it started yesterday. Error: _CLI output was not valid JSON. This may indicate an error during startup. Output: Error: Sandbox dependencies are not available on this system. Required: ripgrep (rg), bubblewrap (bwrap), and socat._ When I send another message in Cowork, I see progress text like "Starting agent" and "This is taking longer than usual… (2m 33s)." * Right now Cowork is not operational. I’m using MacOS (M1), Claude 1.1.381 (c2a39e) 2026-01-18T20:18:52.000Z

With a new version of Claude Desktop App on Mac (Claude 1.1.799 (2e02b6) 2026-01-23T19:08:29.000Z) - CoWork works 👍

same error for me on Claude 1.1.799 (2e02b6) 2026-01-23T19:08:29.000Z. tried deleting VM bundle and deleting VM session. Same error.

CLI output was not valid JSON. This may indicate an error during startup. Output: Invalid configuration in /etc/srt-settings.json:

@jeffrolc can you use the "Send feedback" bug button in the bottom left of Claude desktop and make sure you attach your logs. Include this GitHub issue URL in your feedback text somewhere so I can find it easily 🙇 Will take a look once it comes in

@jeffrolc can you use the "Send feedback" bug button in the bottom left of Claude desktop and make sure you attach your logs. Include this GitHub issue URL in your feedback text somewhere so I can find it easily 🙇 Will take a look once it comes in

already sent at least 10 since this feature was released.

@jeffrolc can you use the "Send feedback" bug button in the bottom left of Claude desktop and make sure you attach your logs. Include this GitHub issue URL in your feedback text somewhere so I can find it easily 🙇 Will take a look once it comes in

just sent another one and referenced "[BUG] cowork error "CLI output was not valid JSON. This may indicate an error during startup. Output: Invalid configuration in /etc/srt-settings.json:" #18809"

Hey @jeffrolc thanks for that, I think I've got an idea what's going on. Can you try removing anything that looks like an invalid host pattern from your user configurable egress settings.

If you go Settings -> Capabilities inside the claude app you should see a list of hostnames you've configured, one of them is likely invalid (I can't see what the invalid one is but my guess is something that doesn't have a suffix (E.g. oneword or *.oneword)

Let me know if that gets you online

Hey @jeffrolc thanks for that, I think I've got an idea what's going on. Can you try removing anything that looks like an invalid host pattern from your user configurable egress settings. If you go Settings -> Capabilities inside the claude app you should see a list of hostnames you've configured, one of them is likely invalid (I can't see what the invalid one is but my guess is something that doesn't have a suffix (E.g. oneword or *.oneword) Let me know if that gets you online

They all look valid but I deleted them all anyway and that fixed the problem. I appreciate it!!!

@jeffrolc Do you mind sharing the list of what they used to be? I can figure out the different between our validators easier that way, no worries if they're gone I'll figure this out 👍

I'll need to pull a back up of my claude desktop config since I deleted them out. what file should I look in? I know for sure I had github.com, *.github.com

Ah it's ok, these are stored server-side nothing to find locally. I think I've found the case you were hitting should be fixed in a release early next week but clearing out the invalid hostnames is a good workaround for now. Thanks for going back and forth on this 👍

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