[BUG] Cowork VM never creates on Windows — connection timeout + macOS diagnostics running on Windows

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Environment

• Claude Desktop version: 1.1.2998.0
• OS: Windows 11 Pro for Workstations (Build 10.0.26200)
• Architecture: x64
• Hyper-V: Enabled
• Subscription: Pro

Problem Description

The Cowork/Code tab freezes with a spinning icon and never produces any output. The root cause is that the Cowork VM is never actually created, despite CoworkVMService running.

Two distinct bugs identified:

Bug 1: VM never deploys — no Hyper-V VM, no NAT, no virtual switch

• Get-VM returns empty — no VM exists
• Get-NetNat returns empty — no NAT configured
• Get-VMSwitch shows only Default Switch — no cowork-vm-nat switch created
• CoworkVMService is running with no backing VM
• cowork_vm_node.log shows the VM starts configuring, reaches load_swift_api, then times out after 60 seconds waiting for guest connection

Bug 2: macOS network diagnostic code runs on Windows

After the VM connection timeout, the diagnostic code attempts to run macOS-specific binaries on Windows:

Failed to spawn /sbin/ifconfig: spawn /sbin/ifconfig ENOENT
Failed to spawn /usr/sbin/scutil: spawn /usr/sbin/scutil ENOENT
Failed to spawn /usr/bin/pgrep: spawn /usr/bin/pgrep ENOENT
Failed to spawn /usr/sbin/kextstat: spawn /usr/sbin/kextstat ENOENT
Failed to spawn /usr/bin/log: spawn /usr/bin/log ENOENT

The log even labels this section === Comprehensive macOS Diagnostics === while running on Windows.

Additional issue: Orphaned CoworkVMService cannot be removed

• Previous install left CoworkVMService that could not be deleted even as Administrator
• sc.exe delete CoworkVMService returns "Access is denied"
• The installer itself logs: WARNING: failed to remove conflicting service: could not open CoworkVMService: Access is denied.
• Had to resort to reg delete "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CoworkVMService" /f to remove it
• After reinstall, the service gets recreated but the same VM deployment failure occurs

Relevant log entries from cowork_vm_node.log:

2026-02-13 00:37:46 [info] [VM:start] Copying smol-bin.vhdx to bundle
2026-02-13 00:37:46 [info] [VM:start] smol-bin.vhdx copied successfully
2026-02-13 00:37:46 [info] [VM:start] Configuring Windows VM service...
2026-02-13 00:38:02 [info] [VM:start] Windows VM service configured
2026-02-13 00:38:47 [info] [VM:start] Still waiting for guest connection... 20755ms elapsed
2026-02-13 00:39:04 [info] [VM:start] Still waiting for guest connection... 37781ms elapsed
2026-02-13 00:39:23 [info] [VM:start] Still waiting for guest connection... 56484ms elapsed
2026-02-13 00:39:48 [info] [VM:start] Still waiting for guest connection... 81602ms elapsed
2026-02-13 00:39:49 [error] [VM:start] Connection timeout, last completed step: load_swift_api
2026-02-13 00:39:49 [info] [networkDiagnostics] === Comprehensive macOS Diagnostics ===
2026-02-13 00:39:49 [error] [VM:start] Startup failed: Error: VM connection timeout after 60 seconds

After the initial timeout, it eventually reports connected but all CLI commands fail:

2026-02-13 00:40:19 [info] [VM] Network status: CONNECTED
2026-02-13 00:40:20 [info] [VM] API reachability: REACHABLE
2026-02-13 00:40:45 [error] [VMCLIRunner] Command failed: Request timed out
2026-02-13 00:44:43 [error] [VMCLIRunner] Command failed: Request timed out
2026-02-13 00:45:40 [error] [VMCLIRunner] Command failed: Request timed out

From ClaudeSetup.log:

Multiple install attempts show:

• WARNING: CoworkVMService already exists (potential conflict)
• WARNING: failed to remove conflicting service: could not open CoworkVMService: Access is denied.
• Old MSIX package Claude_1.1.2998.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc fails to remove with HRESULT 0x80073CFA
• New package install fails with HRESULT 0x80073CF9

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Claude Desktop on Windows 11 Pro for Workstations (x64, Hyper-V enabled)
2. Open Claude Desktop and click on the Code/Cowork tab
3. Tab shows spinning icon indefinitely — no output
4. Get-VM returns empty, Get-NetNat returns empty
5. Uninstalling and reinstalling does not fix the issue
6. CoworkVMService persists across reinstalls and cannot be removed by the installer

What Should Happen?

The Cowork VM should be created as a Hyper-V VM with proper NAT networking, and the Code tab should load and accept input. Network diagnostics should use Windows-appropriate commands (ipconfig, Get-NetAdapter, etc.) instead of macOS paths.

Claude Code Version

1.1.2998.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Is this a regression?

Not applicable — Cowork has never worked on this system.

Additional Information

Related issues: #25136, #25205, #21764