[BUG] Claude in Chrome MCP server never activates in Claude Desktop

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?

Title: Claude in Chrome MCP server never activates in Claude Desktop (Cowork) on macOS — activeServers always empty
Environment:

macOS, Claude Desktop app (Cowork mode)
Microsoft Edge with Claude in Chrome extension installed
Native messaging host: com.anthropic.claude_browser_extension registered in Edge

Bug description:
The Claude in Chrome MCP server is installed but never becomes active. ~/Library/Logs/Claude/mcp-info.json consistently shows:
json{
"installedServers": ["mcp-registry", "Claude in Chrome"],
"activeServers": [],
"configurations": {}
}
As a result, the switch_browser tool fails immediately with "No other browsers available to switch to" and no Connect button ever appears in Edge. The native host binary at /Applications/Claude.app/Contents/Helpers/chrome-native-host is present, executable, and functioning correctly — it creates a socket at /tmp/claude-mcp-browser-bridge-<username>/<PID>.sock and logs "Socket server listening for connections." The Claude Desktop app never connects to that socket.
What has been tried:

Clearing orphaned sockets with rm -rf /tmp/claude-mcp-* and restarting both apps in every combination of order
Verifying the native messaging host JSON file is correctly registered in Edge
Verifying the binary exists and is executable
Multiple Claude Desktop restarts with Edge running and socket already present

None of these resolve the issue. The activeServers list remains empty regardless.
Expected behavior: After Edge launches with the extension active and the socket is created, Claude Desktop should connect to the socket and list "Claude in Chrome" in activeServers.
Related issues: #25992, #24784, #29528

What Should Happen?

Claude should open a connection to the extension in Edge

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Open Claude desktop, open Edge Browser, click Claude extension in the toolbar, go to Claude and ask to connect. Claude tells you it can't find Edge

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.1.5749 (ecf3d9) 2026-03-08T18:23:37.000Z Claude Desktop

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_