[BUG] [Desktop] SSH sessions: File Pane shows "File could not be read… outside the session folder" and diff pane shows "No changes to show" despite real remote edits

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?

In SSH sessions on the redesigned Claude Code Desktop app, two related UI features are broken:

1. Clicking an edited file path fails. Clicking any file path Claude links in the chat (files it just edited on the remote host) opens the File Pane with an error saying the file could not be read or is outside the session folder. The file has not been deleted or moved — it exists on the remote at the exact path shown, and git status / git diff on the remote correctly report the edits.

1. Diff pane reports no changes. After Claude edits files on the remote, the diff pane shows "No changes to show" even when the remote's version control shows many changed files from the session. The changes are physically on disk on the remote; the client just can't surface them in the diff pane.

Chat, prompts, and Claude's actual edits on the remote all work normally — Claude is successfully reading and writing files on the remote machine. The failure is purely in the client-side UI surfaces (File Pane click-to-open and diff pane) that try to read those same files back for display.

Reproduced across the full client × remote matrix I tested:

| Client | Remote Host | Result |
|---------------------|---------------|------------|
| Windows 11 Desktop | macOS (SSH) | Reproduces |
| Windows 11 Desktop | Ubuntu (SSH) | Reproduces |
| macOS Desktop | macOS (SSH) | Reproduces |
| macOS Desktop | Ubuntu (SSH) | Reproduces |

This rules out client-OS specificity, remote-OS specificity, and any single-host SSH config issue.

What Should Happen?

Per the Claude Code Desktop docs, the file pane is available in local and SSH sessions. Clicking an edited file path should open the file contents in the File Pane, and the diff pane should display the actual changes Claude made on the remote host — matching what version control on the remote reports.

Error Messages/Logs

File Pane, after clicking a file path Claude edited in the chat:

> File could not be read. It may have been deleted or moved, or it lives outside the session folder.

Diff pane, when opened during / after a session with real remote edits:

> No changes to show

No relevant console errors observed from the UI. Can add logs if there's a specific place to look.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Code Desktop (any supported client OS).
2. Start a new session and select an SSH connection as the environment.
3. Choose a project folder on the remote.
4. Prompt Claude to edit a file in the project (e.g., "add a comment to the top of README.md").
5. Wait for Claude to apply the edit. Confirm on the remote that the file was modified (git status shows it changed).
6. In Claude Code, click the file path in the chat → File Pane opens with "File could not be read. It may have been deleted or moved, or it lives outside the session folder."
7. Open the diff pane → "No changes to show" despite the remote having actual, VC-visible changes.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.3561.0 (fbc74b) 2026-04-20T14:59:51.000Z

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

Environment:

• Claude Code Desktop version (Windows 11): Claude 1.3561.0 (fbc74b) 2026-04-20T14:59:51.000Z
• Claude Code Desktop version (macOS): Claude 1.3561.0 (fbc74b) 2026-04-20T14:59:51.000Z
• Remote OS versions tested: macOS 26.4.1, Ubuntu Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS
• Environment type: SSH connection (not Local, not Remote/cloud)

Happy to help verify the path-resolution hypothesis if there are debug flags or logs that would help.