Desktop Code tab: bundled Claude Code binary crashes immediately (exit code 1)

Bug Description

The Code tab in Claude Desktop never produces a response. The bundled Claude Code binary exits immediately with code 1 on every attempt (0 successes out of 19+ attempts).

Environment

• Claude Desktop: 1.1.8986 (latest download as of 2026-03-26)
• Bundled Claude Code: 2.1.78
• CLI Claude Code: 2.1.85
• OS: macOS (Darwin 25.3.0)
• Plugins enabled: 12 (superpowers, hookify, commit-commands, frontend-design, firecrawl, feature-dev, context7, imessage, skill-creator, playground, claude-md-management, security-guidance)

Symptoms

1. Open Code tab in Desktop, select a project directory
2. Type a message and send
3. No response appears — blank conversation
4. Desktop log shows the Claude Code process exiting immediately

Log Evidence

[info] [CCD] Passing 13 plugin(s) to SDK (skills: 1, remote: 0, local: 12)
[info] Using Claude Code binary at: .../claude-code/2.1.78/claude.app/Contents/MacOS/claude
[error] Session local_XXXX query error: Claude Code process exited with code 1
[info] [CCD CycleHealth] unhealthy cycle for local_XXXX (0s, hadFirstResponse=false, reason=no_response)

This pattern repeats on every attempt. The crash happens in 0-2 seconds, before any response is generated.

What I Tried (did NOT fix)

• Fresh download of Claude Desktop (re-downloaded, same version/binary)
• Deleting the cached binary directory to force re-download (re-downloaded same 2.1.78)
• Disabling hookify plugin
• Cleaning up git worktrees

What Fixed It

Replacing the bundled 2.1.78 binary with the CLI-installed 2.1.85 binary:

BINARY_DIR="$HOME/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code/2.1.78/claude.app/Contents/MacOS"
mv "$BINARY_DIR/claude" "$BINARY_DIR/claude-real"
cp "$(which claude)" "$BINARY_DIR/claude-real"
printf '#!/bin/bash\nexec "$(dirname "$0")/claude-real" "$@"\n' > "$BINARY_DIR/claude"
chmod +x "$BINARY_DIR/claude"

After this, the Code tab works perfectly.

Additional Notes

• The bundled 2.1.78 binary works fine when invoked directly from CLI (claude -p "hello" --verbose --output-format stream-json), including with --plugin-dir flags. The crash only occurs when Desktop launches it.
• The binary replacement with 2.1.85 is a workaround but will be overwritten on Desktop updates.
• Desktop always re-downloads 2.1.78 even though 2.1.85 is the current CLI version, suggesting the Desktop pins to a specific bundled version.