[BUG] Local Code mode crashes immediately with 'process exited with code 1' on macOS 26.3.1 / M4 Max"

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?

Every Code-mode session in the Claude Code Mac app crashes immediately when I send any message — even just "hi". A red banner appears saying "Claude Code crashed — Claude Code process exited with code 1". This has been happening continuously for 3+ hours.

I tried everything: new sessions, resumed sessions, different working directories, full app reinstall, deleted local data folder, signed out and back in. Nothing fixed it.

Cowork mode works fine on the same machine and account. Only Code (Local) mode is broken.

Setup: macOS 26.3.1 (Tahoe), Apple M4 Max, latest Claude Code Mac app, CLI binary 2.1.121.

What Should Happen?

Claude should respond normally to the message instead of the local CLI process exiting with code 1.

Error Messages/Logs

Error: Claude Code process exited with code 1
    at nXi.getProcessExitError (app:///.vite/build/index.js:235:8357)
    at ChildProcess.i (app:///.vite/build/index.js:235:11402)
    at Object.onceWrapper (node:events:631:26)
    at ChildProcess.emit (node:events:521:24)
    at ChildProcess._handle.onexit (node:internal/child_process:295:12)

Source: ~/Library/Logs/Claude/main.log
Binary: /Users/LimeMaids/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code/2.1.121/claude.app/Contents/MacOS/claude

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude Code Mac app on macOS 26.3.1 / M4 Max
2. Click "Code" tab in the left sidebar
3. Click "+ New session"
4. Type "hi" in the message box and press Enter
5. Crash banner appears: "Claude Code process exited with code 1"

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

Latest as of April 30, 2026 (just freshly reinstalled). CLI binary 2.1.121 per logs.

Claude Code Version

Claude Code Mac app: [version from About box] CLI binary (from logs): 2.1.121

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Diagnostic notes:

• Crash happens on every Code-mode session, regardless of working directory

(tested LimeMaids CRM repo and a generic Desktop folder — both crash)

• Crash happens on both new sessions AND resumed sessions
• Cowork mode (cloud) works perfectly on the same machine and account,

so it's isolated to the Local CLI binary

• main.log shows the binary spawning then exiting in 0ms with code 1, no

further error info from the binary itself

• Also seeing IndexedDB errors in main.log: "Internal error opening backing

store for indexedDB.open" (may or may not be related)

• Quit watchdog warning observed: "Quit watchdog fired after 15000ms — event

loop still alive, forcing exit"

• Hardware/OS combo: M4 Max + macOS 26.3.1 (Tahoe). Possibly relevant if

the bundled CLI binary isn't yet built/tested for this combo.

Happy to provide full main.log, cowork_vm_node.log, or run additional
diagnostics if helpful.