[BUG] Cowork fails with HCS 0x800707de on Windows 11 — Construct failure after update to v1.1.6041

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?

Cowork workspace fails to start with HCS error 0x800707de (ERROR_RESOURCE_NOT_PRESENT) during the VM Construct phase. The error began after a recent update and persists through multiple reboots, full reinstalls, and workspace reinstalls.

The VM bundle appears complete (rootfs.vhdx, smol-bin.vhdx, sessiondata.vhdx, vmlinuz, initrd all present). The smol-bin.vhdx is freshly copied from app resources each startup attempt. The failure occurs immediately after "Windows VM service configured" — the HCS Construct phase itself fails.

Troubleshooting attempted:

• Full machine reboot (shutdown, wait 5 min, power on) — multiple times
• Reinstalling the workspace — multiple times
• Full app reinstall
• Verified no stale HCS compute systems (hcsdiag list returns empty)
• Verified no stale HNS networks (Get-HnsNetwork shows nothing cowork-related)
• Confirmed C: drive is NOT NTFS-compressed
• Hyper-V, VirtualMachinePlatform, and Containers features all enabled

None of the above resolved the issue.

What Should Happen?

Clicking the Cowork tab should start the VM and load the workspace successfully.

Error Messages/Logs

From cowork_vm_node.log:

2026-03-12 11:24:34 [info] [VM:shutdown] Completed in 171ms
2026-03-12 11:24:36 [info] [VM] Loading vmClient (TypeScript) module...
2026-03-12 11:24:36 [info] [VM] Module loaded successfully
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [KernelBugMonitor] State reset
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:start] Beginning startup, bundlePath=C:\Users\TheDigitalNinja\AppData\Roaming\Claude\vm_bundles\claudevm.bundle
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:start] Bundle version: fb30784dadb34104626c8cf6d8f90dd47cd393cc
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:start] VM instance ID: 5f2dd9fb-75dc-45f5-a1e2-261023285dbd
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:steps] download_and_sdk_prepare started
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:steps] download_and_sdk_prepare completed (2ms)
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:steps] load_swift_api started
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:steps] load_swift_api completed (0ms)
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [Callbacks] Initializing VM event callbacks...
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [Callbacks] VM event callbacks initialized
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:start] Copying smol-bin.x64.vhdx to bundle: C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Claude_1.1.6041.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc\app\resources\smol-bin.x64.vhdx -> C:\Users\TheDigitalNinja\AppData\Roaming\Claude\vm_bundles\claudevm.bundle\smol-bin.vhdx
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:start] smol-bin.x64.vhdx copied successfully
2026-03-12 11:24:38 [info] [VM:start] Configuring Windows VM service...
2026-03-12 11:24:39 [info] [VM:start] Windows VM service configured
2026-03-12 11:24:39 [error] [VM:start] VM boot failed: HCS operation failed: failed to create compute system: HcsWaitForOperationResult failed with HRESULT 0x800707de: {"Error":-2147022882,"ErrorMessage":"","Attribution":[{"OperationFailure":{"Detail":"Construct"}}]}
2026-03-12 11:24:39 [info] Dispatching startup error: HCS operation failed: failed to create compute system: HcsWaitForOperationResult failed with HRESULT 0x800707de: {"Error":-2147022882,"ErrorMessage":"","Attribution":[{"OperationFailure":{"Detail":"Construct"}}]}
2026-03-12 11:24:39 [error] [VM:start] Startup failed: Error: HCS operation failed: failed to create compute system: HcsWaitForOperationResult failed with HRESULT 0x800707de: {"Error":-2147022882,"ErrorMessage":"","Attribution":[{"OperationFailure":{"Detail":"Construct"}}]}
    at vFt (C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Claude_1.1.6041.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc\app\resources\app.asar\.vite\build\index.js:924:3941)
    at async Object.startVM (C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Claude_1.1.6041.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc\app\resources\app.asar\.vite\build\index.js:1412:25884)
    at async C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Claude_1.1.6041.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc\app\resources\app.asar\.vite\build\index.js:7:261558
    at async Session.<anonymous> (node:electron/js2c/browser_init:2:116443)
2026-03-12 11:24:39 [info] [VM:start] Skipping auto-reinstall (already attempted once)

UI error message:

Failed to start Claude's workspace
HCS operation failed: failed to create compute system: HcsWaitForOperationResult failed with HRESULT 0x800707de: {"Error":-2147022882,"ErrorMessage":"","Attribution":[{"OperationFailure":{"Detail":"Construct"}}]}

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install/update Claude Desktop to v1.1.6041 (Microsoft Store version) on Windows 11
2. Open Claude Desktop
3. Click the Cowork tab
4. Error appears immediately: HCS operation failed: failed to create compute system: HcsWaitForOperationResult failed with HRESULT 0x800707de
5. Click "Reinstall the workspace" — same error on next attempt
6. Full reboot — same error
7. Full app reinstall — same error

The VM bundle directory (%APPDATA%\Claude\vm_bundles\claudevm.bundle) contains all expected files:

• rootfs.vhdx (9,035,776 KB)
• smol-bin.vhdx (36,864 KB) — freshly copied from app resources each attempt
• sessiondata.vhdx (4,096 KB)
• initrd (171,436 KB)
• vmlinuz (14,615 KB)
• Plus .origin files and .zst compressed variants

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Desktop 1.1.6041

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Related Issues

This is related to but distinct from:

• #32172 — Reports the same 0x800707de HRESULT but the primary error is a virtiofs/Plan9 mount failure (Plan9 mount failed: bad address) that precedes the HCS error. In my case there is no Plan9/virtiofs error — the failure is a clean HCS Construct failure with no preceding mount issues.
• #32088 — Reports 0x800707de caused by smol-bin.vhdx never being downloaded. In my case all VHDX files are present in the bundle (rootfs.vhdx, smol-bin.vhdx, sessiondata.vhdx), and the log confirms smol-bin.x64.vhdx is freshly copied from app resources on each attempt. The Construct failure still occurs despite a complete bundle.

Environment Details

Windows Features:

VirtualMachinePlatform                   Enabled
HypervisorPlatform                      Disabled
Microsoft-Hyper-V-All                    Enabled
Microsoft-Hyper-V                        Enabled
Microsoft-Hyper-V-Hypervisor             Enabled
Microsoft-Hyper-V-Services               Enabled
Containers                               Enabled
Containers-HNS                           Enabled
Containers-SDN                           Enabled

Additional checks:

• hcsdiag list returns empty (no stale compute systems)
• Get-HnsNetwork | Where-Object { $_.Name -like "*cowork*" } returns empty (no stale HNS networks)
• C: drive NTFS compression is not enabled
• cowork-service.log has not been written to in several days — only cowork_vm_node.log shows current activity

Bundle Contents (screenshot available)

All expected files present in %APPDATA%\Claude\vm_bundles\claudevm.bundle\:

• rootfs.vhdx — 9,035,776 KB (3/10/2026)
• smol-bin.vhdx — 36,864 KB (3/12/2026, freshly copied each attempt)
• sessiondata.vhdx — 4,096 KB (3/10/2026)
• initrd — 171,436 KB
• vmlinuz — 14,615 KB
• Plus .zst compressed variants and .origin metadata files