VSCode Extension webview input field missing when using Remote SSH (requires clean reinstall to fix)

Root Cause

Shell environment resolution timeout. VS Code's Remote SSH extension host has a ~10s timeout to resolve the user's shell environment. A large/slow .bashrc or /etc/profile.d/ script caused this timeout, which prevented the Claude Code extension from completing its init sequence — resulting in a blank/empty webview panel.

Symptoms

• Claude Code tab opens but panel is completely blank (no input field, no UI)
• Extension activates successfully (logs show "Claude code extension is now active")
• Webview sends init message but never receives a response
• Tab cannot be reopened without full VS Code reload
• VS Code remote agent log shows: Unable to resolve your shell environment in a reasonable time

Environment

• VSCode: 1.113.0
• Claude Code Extension: 2.1.78 through 2.1.90 (all affected)
• Local machine: Ubuntu 24.04 (native)
• Remote machine: Ubuntu 24.04 (via Remote SSH)

Actual Fix

Add an early return in .bashrc / shell profile when VS Code is resolving the environment:

# Skip heavy init when VS Code is resolving shell environment
if [[ "$VSCODE_RESOLVING_ENVIRONMENT" == "1" ]] || [[ "$ELECTRON_RUN_AS_NODE" == "1" ]]; then
    return 0
fi

What Did NOT Fix It

• Removing npm global install of claude-code
• Reinstalling claude CLI via official installer
• Upgrading Node.js from 18 to 20
• Clearing ~/.claude/ide/*.lock files
• Resetting ~/.claude/settings.json to {}
• Reinstalling the VS Code extension
• Wiping ~/.vscode-server (appeared to work temporarily but was coincidental)

Note

The original report incorrectly identified the fix as "complete wipe of ~/.vscode-server". The actual root cause was a slow shell environment that exceeded VS Code's resolution timeout. This is not a bug in Claude Code — it affects any extension that spawns processes requiring the full user environment via Remote SSH.

code --install-extension anthropic.claude-code@2.1.76