[BUG] Cowork VM initialization fails — no resume mechanism for ~10GB download

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 Cowork initializes its Linux VM environment for the first time, it downloads approximately 10GB of data. This download frequently fails/interrupts due to network instability, and the large file size with no chunked/resumable download support.

When the download fails, there is no resume capability — the entire ~10GB download restarts from zero. This makes Cowork essentially unusable for users with less-than-perfect network conditions.

There is also no progress indicator or estimated time remaining shown during the download.

This disproportionately affects users in regions with unstable internet connections. Users paying $100-$200/month for Max subscription cannot use Cowork at all. No workaround exists — there is no way to manually download or pre-install the VM image.

What Should Happen?

1. The VM download should support resumable downloads (HTTP range requests / chunked transfer)
2. A clear progress bar with percentage and estimated time should be displayed
3. If interrupted, the download should resume from where it left off, not restart from zero
4. Consider offering a smaller base image with lazy loading of additional components
5. Optionally provide a standalone VM image download link so users can download via tools that support resume (e.g., wget -c, aria2c, browser download managers)
6. Host VM images on a global CDN with edge nodes for faster regional downloads

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Claude Desktop (latest version)
2. Switch to Cowork mode
3. Cowork begins initializing the VM environment (~10GB download)
4. If network interrupts during download, the process fails
5. Retry → download starts from 0% again
6. Repeat — never completes for users with unstable connections

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Latest (Claude Desktop / Cowork)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

This is a critical UX issue for paid Max subscribers. The lack of resumable download support for a ~10GB file is a fundamental oversight. Many users in Asia and other regions with variable network conditions are completely locked out of Cowork despite paying for it.

Related issues: #22543 (performance degradation), VM bundle size concerns.