[BUG]

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?

Local sessions in Claude Desktop always fail with "Failed to load session" error. The Claude Code process crashes immediately with exit code 3 when spawned by the desktop app. Cloud sessions work perfectly, and the binary runs fine when executed manually (claude.exe --version works), but crashes when launched by Claude Desktop.

What Should Happen?

Local sessions should start successfully and allow coding assistance, just like cloud sessions do.

Error Messages/Logs

2026-01-30 05:44:17 [info] Starting local session local_cfd9ea30-6545-4640-a0e3-e907ae99af19 in C:\Users\alecw\clawdbot
2026-01-30 05:44:17 [info] Using Claude Code binary at: C:\Users\alecw\AppData\Roaming\Claude\claude-code\2.1.22\claude.exe
2026-01-30 05:44:18 [info] Mapping internal session local_cfd9ea30-6545-4640-a0e3-e907ae99af19 to CLI session e900f5a2-9d96-43fc-bd89-769f58eb6e40
2026-01-30 05:44:20 [error] Session local_cfd9ea30-6545-4640-a0e3-e907ae99af19 query error: Claude Code process exited with code 3

Steps to Reproduce

Open Claude Desktop on Windows
Click the "Code" tab
Select any local folder
Click to start a new session
Session immediately fails with "Failed to load session"

Note: Happens with any folder, including brand new empty folders. Cloud sessions work perfectly.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.22 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

Key finding: The Claude Code binary works fine when run manually:
& "C:\Users\alecw\AppData\Roaming\Claude\claude-code\2.1.22\claude.exe" --version
Returns: 2.1.22 (Claude Code)
But it crashes with exit code 3 when spawned by Claude Desktop.
Cloud sessions work perfectly - only local sessions fail.
Troubleshooting attempted:

Full logout/login
Cleared all session folders (Session Storage, claude-code-sessions, local-agent-mode-sessions)
Complete uninstall and reinstall
Deleted %LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude\ and %APPDATA%\Claude\ entirely
Ran as Administrator
Verified Controlled Folder Access is disabled
Checked Windows Credential Manager (no Claude/Anthropic entries)
Installed/repaired Visual C++ Redistributable
Git is installed (2.52.0.windows.1)

This appears related to issue #9217 (Bun ENOTCONN / exit code 3), but I have not changed my Windows password.