[BUG] Cowork connectors broken after Claude Desktop auto-update on Windows 11 — "Could not load connectors directory"; computer-use MCP disconnected

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?

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 [PRO], build [OS Build 26220.8340]
• Claude Desktop version: Version 1.6608.2 (ebf1a1)
• Channel: auto-update (just landed)

What happened

Immediately after Claude Desktop auto-updated, Cowork mode surfaced an error toast: "Could not load connectors directory".

In the same session, the computer-use MCP server disconnected mid-conversation and stopped responding to tool calls. Other MCPs in the session continued working at the time of disconnect, but the connectors subsystem clearly entered a degraded state.

This is reproducible — relaunching Claude Desktop produces the same error on next session start.

What I expected

Connectors directory loads normally and previously-working MCP servers (including computer-use) remain available after an auto-update, the same way they did on the prior Claude Desktop version.

Repro steps

1. Have a working Cowork + connectors install on Windows 11.
2. Allow Claude Desktop to auto-update (this happened on app launch).
3. Start a Cowork session.
4. → "Could not load connectors directory" appears; computer-use and other connector-backed tools begin failing.

Already tried

• Quitting and relaunching Claude Desktop.
• (Add any other steps you tried, e.g., reboot, reinstall, disable VPN.)

Related / likely duplicate of

This appears to be the same regression tracked in:

• #47104 — Windows 11 Pro: Cowork, Connectors, Claude Code all broken after latest auto-update
• #49997 — Cowork regression after Claude Desktop auto-update to v1.3109.0.0
• #50961 — Cowork regression — Windows 11 unsupported after auto-update (v1.3109.0.0)
• #28218 — original "Could not load Connectors Directory" report (closed as "not planned", but the error wording is identical)

Filing a fresh report so the post-update regression count keeps climbing while #47104 / #49997 / #50961 stay open.

Impact

Loss of all connector-backed tooling inside Cowork — including the computer-use MCP and any third-party plugin connectors. Skills and local file tools (Read/Write/Edit, bash) continue to work, so local pipelines aren't blocked, but anything that requires an MCP-mediated integration is dead.

What Should Happen?

Connectors directory loads normally and previously-working MCP servers (including computer-use) remain available after an auto-update, the same way they did on the prior Claude Desktop version.

Error Messages/Logs

Immediately after Claude Desktop auto-updated, Cowork mode surfaced an error toast: **"Could not load connectors directory"**.

In the same session, the `computer-use` MCP server disconnected mid-conversation and stopped responding to tool calls. Other MCPs in the session continued working at the time of disconnect, but the connectors subsystem clearly entered a degraded state.

This is reproducible — relaunching Claude Desktop produces the same error on next session start.

Steps to Reproduce

Repro steps

1. Have a working Cowork + connectors install on Windows 11.
2. Allow Claude Desktop to auto-update (this happened on app launch).
3. Start a Cowork session.
4. → "Could not load connectors directory" appears; computer-use and other connector-backed tools begin failing.

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

2.1.126 (Claude Code)

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

_No response_