[BUG] Cowork VM connector serves stale/truncated file snapshots — Read tool, wc -l, and Python all report fewer lines than exist on disk

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 using Cowork mode (Claude desktop app) with a mounted folder from a Windows machine, the VM connector serves a stale or partial snapshot of files to all file-reading tools. Specifically:

• The Read tool reports fewer lines than actually exist in the file (e.g. a 72-line GDScript file appears as 17 lines)
• - wc -l via Bash returns the same incorrect low line count
• - - Python open().readlines() via Bash also returns the truncated result

All three tools agree on the wrong number, which makes it appear as though the file is genuinely truncated — when in fact the file on the user's machine is complete and correct.

This appears to affect files that were written by Godot (running on the host Windows machine) or by Claude Code in a separate session. The VM mount does not reflect the current on-disk state of those files.

Steps to reproduce:

1. Use Cowork with a mounted Windows folder
2. 2. Have a file edited externally (e.g. by Godot or another editor on the host)
3. 3. Attempt to read that file via the Read tool or Bash — the result will be truncated/stale
4. 4. Open the same file in the host editor — it shows the full correct content

What Should Happen?

The Read tool, Bash commands (wc -l, cat), and Python file reads should all reflect the current on-disk state of files in the mounted folder. When a file is modified by an external process on the host machine, the VM connector should serve the updated content, not a stale snapshot.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude desktop app (Cowork mode) and mount a folder from a Windows host machine
2. In a separate Claude Code session (or via Godot/any editor on the host), write or modify a file in that mounted folder — e.g. a 72-line GDScript file
3. 3. In the Cowork session, use the Read tool on that file — observe it returns only ~17 lines
4. 4. Run wc -l on the same file via Bash — observe it also returns ~17 lines
5. 5. Run python3 -c "print(len(open('/path/to/file').readlines()))" — observe the same low count
6. 6. Open the file in an editor on the Windows host — observe the full 72 lines are present

The VM connector is serving a stale cached snapshot. All tools in the VM see the same truncated version.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

N/A — Cowork mode (Claude desktop app), not Claude Code CLI

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

_No response_