[BUG] Claude Code process exited with code 1 (desktop app)

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?

Environment:

• macOS Darwin 25.3.0 (Apple Silicon)
• Claude Desktop: latest (freshly reinstalled)
• Claude Code bundled version: 2.1.76
• Claude Code CLI: 2.1.77 (works perfectly)
• Plan: Max

Problem:
Claude Code mode in the Desktop app stopped working suddenly today (was working fine earlier). When I start a Code conversation and send a message,
it immediately fails with no response. Regular Chat mode works fine.

What I tried (nothing helped):

• Reset app data (rm -rf ~/Library/Application Support/Claude)
• Complete uninstall + reinstall of Desktop app
• Removed VM bundles and session data to force fresh download
• Disabled all plugins (reduced from 7 to 1 — still crashes)
• Created new conversations
• Toggled between Chat/Code modes
• Waited for VM to fully boot before sending messages

Verified working:

• The bundled binary runs fine from terminal: "/path/to/2.1.76/claude" -p "hello" → responds correctly
• Claude Code CLI v2.1.77 via npm works perfectly
• VM boots fine, API is reachable, no errors in VM logs

The crash appears to be in how the Desktop app spawns the Claude Code process — possibly environment variables or arguments it passes that differ
from direct terminal execution.

What Should Happen?

app should work again :)

Error Messages/Logs

Root cause from logs:                                                                                                                                
  The Claude Code binary (2.1.76) exits with code 1 instantly when launched by the Desktop app. The same binary works fine when run directly from
  terminal.       

  Key log lines (~/Library/Logs/Claude/main.log):                                                                                                      
  [info] [CCD] Passing 1 plugin(s) to SDK (skills: 1, local: 0)                      
  [info] Using Claude Code binary at: .../claude-code/2.1.76/claude                                                                                    
  [error] Session local_36a38320-... query error: Claude Code process exited with code 1                                                               
  [info] [CCD CycleHealth] unhealthy cycle (0s, hadFirstResponse=false, reason=no_response)

Steps to Reproduce

Open desktop app, type anything in claude code, no response, consecutive prompt doesn’t even appear

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Fresh installed Claude Code bundled version: 2.1.76

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_