[BUG] Session not terminated server-side on client crash/freeze — causes uncontrolled token consumption and billing impact

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?

When Claude Desktop for Windows freezes (blank/white screen — known Electron rendering bug), the server-side session remains open indefinitely. Upon app restart, the client reconnects to the same active session instead of starting a new one. This causes uncontrolled token consumption and usage limit depletion that is invisible to the user during the crash period, with direct billing impact

What Should Happen?

Session lifecycle should be managed server-side. If the client disconnects or sends no heartbeat for a defined timeout period, the server should automatically terminate the session. Reconnection after a crash should always initiate a new session, not resume the crashed one.

Error Messages/Logs

No error messages visible to user — the issue is silent by design, which makes it worse from a billing integrity perspective

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start a conversation session in Claude Desktop for Windows
2. Allow the app to freeze (blank/white screen — triggers after minimizing or switching windows)
3. Restart or reinstall the app
4. Observe that the previous session resumes rather than a new one starting
5. Check Settings > Usage — session usage reflects the entire duration including the crash period

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

N/A - Claude Desktop app, not Claude Code CLI

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Related known issues: #21803, #25929, #28900, #23637 (all blank screen bugs on Windows Desktop)
Hardware: Windows 11, Ryzen 9 9950X3D, RTX 4070 12GB
This is not just a UX issue — it has billing integrity implications. Users can be charged for extra usage during a session they cannot see or control.
Current incident on status.claude.com (Mar 18, 12:30 UTC): "Increased errors on Opus 4.6" may be related.