[BUG] Claude Desktop incorrectly reads tags <Name> and </Name> as <n> and </n> from files

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Note: This is a Claude Desktop issue, not Claude Code.
Filing here because no Claude Desktop issue tracker exists.

Environment

• Claude Desktop on Windows 11
• Using desktop-commander MCP server for file operations
• Also affects built-in Linux container tools

Expected Behavior

XML tags should be preserved exactly as they appear in the file/input:
<Name>SomeValue</Name>

Actual Behavior

Tags are corrupted/transformed at the client level:
<n>SomeValue</n>

Impact

• Claude cannot correctly parse or generate XML files with <Name> tags
• Affects ALL file reading methods (MCP servers, built-in tools, direct paste)
• Workaround required: manually instructing Claude to interpret <n> as <Name>

Root Cause Hypothesis

The corruption appears to happen in Claude Desktop's input processing layer, suggesting possible overly aggressive HTML/XML sanitization or tag normalization that incorrectly transforms <Name> → <n>.

What Should Happen?

Expected Behavior

XML tags should be preserved exactly as they appear in the file/input:
<Name>SomeValue</Name>

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Scenario 1: Reading files via MCP

1. Create a file containing XML with <Name> and </Name> tags
2. Read the file using desktop-commander MCP server
3. Observe that Claude receives <n> and </n> instead

Scenario 2: Pasting XML content directly in chat

1. Copy XML content containing <Name> tags
2. Paste it directly into Claude Desktop chat
3. Use the built-in view tool (Linux container) to read the pasted content
4. The view tool also returns corrupted tags (<n> instead of <Name>)

This indicates the corruption happens at the Claude Desktop client level, before content reaches any backend tools.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

it's in Claude Desktop and judging by the other similar reports in Claude CLI version: 0.2.45 (Claude Code), Claude CLI version: claude/v1.5.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

_No response_