[BUG] Missing or broken symlink folder causes failure to launch Claude Desktop

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?

Claude Desktop fails to launch with a generic "Claude Desktop failed to launch" error when ~/Documents is a symlink pointing to a nonexistent target. The app crashes entirely instead of falling back gracefully.

(Claude Code told me to put this here even though it's a Desktop issue.)

What Should Happen?

Claude Desktop should either launch successfully despite the broken documents path, or display a helpful error message identifying the broken path (~/Documents → <missing target>).

Error Messages/Logs

Error: Failed to get 'documents' path
{}
Failed to get 'documents' path
Error: Failed to get 'documents' path
    at Object.<anonymous> (app:///.vite/build/index.js:907:76077)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1820:14)
    at Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1953:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1540:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1342:12)
    at c._load (node:electron/js2c/node_init:2:18047)
    at wrapModuleLoad (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:262:19)
    at Module.require (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1563:12)
    at Module.h (app:///.vite/build/index.pre.js:5:3370)
    at _require.e.require (app:///.vite/build/index.pre.js:5:2341)
    at require (node:internal/modules/helpers:152:16)
    at Object.<anonymous> (app:///.vite/build/index.pre.js:62:3980)
    at Module._compile (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1820:14)
    at Module._extensions..js (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1953:10)
    at Module.load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1540:32)
    at Module._load (node:internal/modules/cjs/loader:1342:12)
    at c._load (node:electron/js2c/node_init:2:18047)
    at node:electron/js2c/browser_init:2:145374
    at node:electron/js2c/browser_init:2:145583
    at node:electron/js2c/browser_init:2:145587%

Steps to Reproduce

1. Set ~/Documents as a symlink to a path that doesn't exist (e.g. a Dropbox or Resilio Sync folder that hasn't synced yet)
2. Launch Claude Desktop
3. App fails with "Claude Desktop failed to launch"

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.114 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Claude Desktop Version: 1.3109.0