[BUG] Claude for OSX hangs on startup

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?

Claude starts and UI renders, but then suddenly begins hanging w/ pinwheel. Restart does not help.

What Should Happen?

Should start!

Error Messages/Logs

Logs:


$ tail ~/Library/Logs/Claude/main.log
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] claude.ai account details provided
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] claude.ai account active and logged in
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] [growthbook] refreshing for account change
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] Starting periodic extension update checks (interval: 21600000ms)
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] Starting blocklist update checks. Initial check will be triggered on first ConnectToServer.
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] Checking for updates for 1 extensions
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] Extension update check completed
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] [growthbook] loaded 39 features (0 changed)
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] [RemotePluginManager] Starting remote plugins sync
2026-03-08 08:49:08 [info] [VMCLIRunner] Ensuring VM is started

Steps to Reproduce

Just opening the app

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.71

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_