VS Code Extension Automatically Creates Local Installation Without User Consent

Bug Report: VS Code Extension Automatically Creates Local Installation Without User Consent

Summary:
The VS Code extension (anthropic.claude-code) automatically creates a local Claude installation at ~/.claude/local/ without user permission, even when the user has explicitly chosen to
use a global installation.

Environment:

• Claude Code Version: 1.0.44
• VS Code Extension Version: 1.0.44 (anthropic.claude-code-1.0.44)
• Installation Method: npm global (npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code)
• OS: macOS 15.5 (24F74)
• Node.js: 24.2.0

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install Claude Code globally: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
2. Install the VS Code extension
3. Deliberately remove any local installation: rm -rf ~/.claude/local/
4. Run any Claude command (e.g., claude --version)
5. Check ~/.claude/local/ - it gets recreated automatically

Expected Behavior:

• The VS Code extension should respect the user's choice of installation method
• If a global installation exists and works, it should use that
• Local installation should only be created with explicit user consent

Actual Behavior:

• VS Code extension automatically creates ~/.claude/local/ directory
• This happens repeatedly even after manual deletion
• Creates confusion with multiple installations
• claude doctor shows warnings about "Multiple installations found"

Impact:

• User confusion about which installation is being used
• Conflicting recommendations from claude doctor
• Unnecessary duplicate installations taking up space
• Breaks user's preferred setup choice

Additional Notes:

• The global installation works perfectly fine
• The local installation is created but not used (due to PATH precedence)
• This seems to happen when the VS Code extension initializes or runs commands

Suggested Fix:
The VS Code extension should:

1. Check if a working global installation exists first
2. Only create local installation if no global installation is found
3. Ask user permission before creating local installation
4. Provide a setting to disable automatic local installation creation

---
Claude CLI Diagnostic
Currently running: npm-global (1.0.44)
Path: /opt/homebrew/Cellar/node/24.2.0/bin/node
Invoked: /opt/homebrew/bin/claude
Auto-updates: No
Config install method: local
Config auto-updates: true
Update permissions: Yes
Recommendation: Run '/migrate-installer' to enable auto-updates
This migrates to a local installation in ~/.claude/local
Warning: Multiple installations found

• npm-local at /Users/greg/.claude/local
• npm-global at /opt/homebrew/bin/claude

Warning: Local installation exists but not being used
Fix: Consider using local installation: claude migrate-installer
Press Enter to continue…