[BUG] Claude Code Offline Installation

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?

I am reaching out regarding an issue I am encountering while attempting to install Claude Code in an offline/air-gapped environment.

Since my environment has no internet access, I downloaded the Claude Code binary directly from the following URL:
https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-code-releases/2.1.117/linux-x64/claude

What Should Happen?

I can install Claude Code with oo internet access

Error Messages/Logs

When attempting to run the installation, I receive the following error:
Failed to fetch version from https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-code-releases/stable: 
timeout of 30000ms exceeded
This is expected behavior given the lack of internet connectivity. However, I have also tried running the command with the --force flag as suggested in the error output, but unfortunately this does not resolve the issue either.

Steps to Reproduce

Environment details:

• OS: Linux x64
• Binary version: 2.1.117
• Network: No internet access (air-gapped)

Download https://downloads.claude.ai/claude-code-releases/2.1.117/linux-x64/claude
Copy to the machine and test install

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

2.1.89

Claude Code Version

2.1.117

Platform

Google Vertex AI

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

• Is there an officially supported method to install and run Claude Code in a fully offline or air-gapped environment?

• Is it possible to bypass the version check that is triggering this timeout?

• Are there any additional configuration files, environment variables, or flags that could allow the binary to run without attempting to reach external endpoints?