[BUG] Cowork: conversation thread renders incorrectly after navigating away and back during long session

[BUG] Cowork: conversation thread renders incorrectly after navigating away and back during long session

Repo: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/new

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Description

In Claude Desktop Cowork mode, during a long-running agent session, navigating away from the conversation (e.g. to Settings or switching to Chat mode) and then returning causes the conversation thread to render incorrectly.

Symptoms

• A spinner is stuck at the bottom of the thread
• Above the spinner, old user prompts appear in dark-gray styling (as if dimmed/inactive)
• The actual current agent output only appears above the stale prompts, resulting in inverted/broken visual ordering
• The conversation becomes difficult to follow as the chronological order is disrupted

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Desktop → Cowork mode
2. Start a complex, multi-step agent session (many tool calls, long context — e.g. 30+ minutes of active work)
3. While the agent is working or between exchanges, navigate to Settings or switch to Chat mode
4. Navigate back to the Cowork session
5. Observe the broken conversation thread layout

Expected Behavior

The conversation thread should render in correct chronological order with consistent styling, regardless of navigation during the session.

Actual Behavior

The thread renders with broken ordering: spinner at bottom → old prompts in dark gray → current output above them. The visual hierarchy is inverted.

Environment

• Claude Desktop (latest version as of April 2026)
• Cowork mode
• Long-running sessions with heavy tool usage

Possibly Related

• #29793 (conversation rollback/loss when switching to settings or menus) — similar trigger (navigation away), but different symptom (rollback vs. rendering corruption)
• #26921 (Cowork UI freezes mid-response, other threads go blank)