EINVAL error writing task output files on Windows
Resolved 💬 3 comments Opened Feb 25, 2026 by ssgonell Closed Mar 1, 2026
Bug Description
Background tasks/agents fail with EINVAL: invalid argument when trying to write task output files on Windows.
Error Message
Error: EINVAL: invalid argument, open 'C:\Users\omkco\AppData\Local\Temp\claude\C--Users-omkco-PycharmProjects-scube-quantpy\tasks\bouhwyo9n.output'
Environment
- OS: Windows 11 Pro 10.0.26200
- Claude Code version: 2.1.58
- Shell: bash (Git Bash)
Steps to Reproduce
- Open Claude Code on Windows
- Run a task that triggers a background agent (e.g., a Bash command via the Task tool)
- The task fails with the EINVAL error when Claude Code tries to write the
.outputfile
Troubleshooting Already Attempted
- The tasks directory exists and is writable (verified manually with Python
open()/write()) - Disk space is not an issue (1.1TB free)
- Adding a Windows Defender exclusion for the Claude temp directory did not resolve the issue
- Updated to latest version (2.1.58) — issue persists
- Error is intermittent and appears across multiple Claude Code sessions
Appears to be an internal Node.js file handle / race condition issue specific to Windows.
This issue has 3 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗