[BUG] Cowork fails to connect to Claude in Chrome extension

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?

<img width="1685" height="1064" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/0785acf3-c005-4bae-87b3-4db5b1de1178" />

Cowork in Claude Desktop cannot connect to or use the Claude in Chrome extension. The Chrome extension shows as connected in Claude Desktop's Connector settings, but when Cowork attempts to interact with Chrome browser context (e.g., reading tab content, navigating pages, or performing browser-based tasks), the connection fails. Cowork does not receive any browser context from the extension

What Should Happen?

When the Claude in Chrome extension is connected and enabled, Cowork should be able to:

Connect to Chrome via the extension and access active tab content
Perform browser-based tasks (navigate, read page content, interact with web pages)
Use tabs_context_mcp tool to retrieve browser context within Cowork sessions

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Install Claude in Chrome extension from Chrome Web Store
Open Claude Desktop on macOS Tahoe 26.3.1
Verify Chrome extension shows as connected in Settings > Connectors
Open a Cowork session
Ask Cowork to perform a browser-related task (e.g., "Read the content of my current Chrome tab" or "Search for X in Chrome")
Observe: Cowork fails to connect to Chrome — no browser context is received despite extension showing as connected

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

Troubleshooting Already Attempted

Restarted Claude Desktop (full quit via Dock > Quit, then relaunch)
Reinstalled Claude in Chrome extension
Verified Connector settings — extension shows as connected
Checked ~/Library/Logs/Claude/main.log for errors

Environment

OS: macOS Tahoe 26.3.1

<img width="1685" height="1064" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e2057117-267a-409f-ad0e-ee01ea52ed7e" />