Claude Code sidebar in Desktop app: VM never starts, 'Failed to load session'

Description

Claude Code in the Claude Desktop app sidebar is completely non-functional. The VM subsystem never initializes, resulting in a "Failed to load session" error after the first message, or an indefinite "percolating" loading state.

Environment

• Claude Desktop version: 1.1.5368 (fresh install as of 2026-03-06)
• macOS: Darwin 25.3.0 (Apple Silicon)
• Claude Code CLI version: 2.1.63 (works fine in terminal)
• Hypervisor support: enabled (kern.hv_support: 1)
• App entitlements: com.apple.security.virtualization present

Symptoms

1. Claude Code sidebar shows loading/percolating state indefinitely
2. If a message gets through, second message shows "Failed to load session" with a "Back to landing page" button
3. Regular Claude chat in the Desktop app works fine

Diagnostics

~/Library/Logs/Claude/claude_vm_node.log: Never created on launch. The VM subsystem is not even attempting to start.

~/Library/Logs/Claude/claude_vm_swift.log: Never created on launch.

~/Library/Logs/Claude/claude.ai-web.log shows:

[error] No handler registered for 'ClaudeCode.getStatus'

(repeated every 2 seconds indefinitely)

And after attempting to use it:

[error] [LOCAL_SESSION] Failed to send message [object Object]

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle/: Directory is created but remains empty. The rootfs.img is never downloaded.

Steps taken (none resolved)

1. Deleted vm_bundles/, claude-code-sessions/, claude-code-vm/, local-agent-mode-sessions/, and all Claude logs - relaunched - same issue
2. Completely uninstalled Claude Desktop (app + entire ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ directory) and reinstalled fresh - same issue
3. Confirmed hypervisor support and virtualization entitlement are present

Expected behavior

Claude Code sidebar should download the VM image, boot the VM, and accept commands.

Notes

• The VM last worked on Desktop version ~1.1.673 (January 19, 2026)
• The Claude Code CLI (terminal) works perfectly on the same machine
• Disk space is not an issue (183GB free)