[BUG] Cowork RPC error: "user already exists unexpectedly" → crashes with exit code 1 after reaching 100% workspace setup — macOS Apple M5

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?

Cowork fails to start any session. The VM reaches 100% workspace setup then crashes. Tried both Sonnet and Opus — identical result. Chat mode and Claude Code in Terminal both work normally.
First error:
RPC error: ensure user: user great-sharp-tesla already exists unexpectedly: uid=1011 gid=1011
After clearing vm_bundles and local-agent-mode-sessions, error changed to:
Something went wrong — Claude Code process exited with code 1
Workspace setup now reaches 100% on each attempt before failing with exit code 1. Session history was lost as a side effect of the cache clearing.

What Should Happen?

Cowork completes workspace setup and allows task execution.

Error Messages/Logs

RPC error: ensure user: user great-sharp-tesla already exists unexpectedly: uid=1011 gid=1011
Something went wrong — Claude Code process exited with code 1

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Desktop
2. Open Cowork, start a new session
3. Workspace setup reaches 100%
4. Session crashes with above error

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.61

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

<img width="465" height="578" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/b35c5d36-66c4-443a-b55b-8461af2fdc20" />

<img width="489" height="547" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e230372a-2e0f-4b4f-8ecf-f68f1fcbe429" />