[BUG] /remote-control fails on fresh Windows 11 install — bridge webview cannot authenticate (bridge_state: failed — /login)

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?

The /remote-control feature fails to connect on a freshly installed Windows 11 machine. The error shown is:
"Remote Control failed to connect: /login"

This occurs immediately after logging into Claude Desktop — the bridge webview cannot authenticate at all.

Diagnostic evidence from %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\main.log:

• topFrameUrl: 'https://claude.ai/login?from=logout&returnTo=%2Fepitaxy'
• Failed to check allowlist status: Organization API returned status 403
• [remote-control] bridge_state: failed — /login

Diagnostic evidence from %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\claude.ai-web.log:

• Uncaught (in promise) UnknownError: Internal error opening backing store for indexedDB.open
• [bootstrap] Eager fetch failed: Failed to fetch
• Eager bootstrap returned no data (logged out)

Key finding: On this broken machine, the IndexedDB storage for the bridge webview (https_claude.ai_0.indexeddb.leveldb) is essentially empty (~142 KB). On working machines (other Windows 11 PC, MacBook, iPhone), the same IndexedDB is ~965 KB and contains authentication tokens for the bridge.

The bridge webview uses an isolated Chromium context separate from the main chat webview. On this machine, the bridge webview's initial authentication handshake fails silently — it cannot reach claude.ai/epitaxy at all ("Failed to fetch"), leaving IndexedDB empty of bridge tokens.

All other devices on the same account work correctly. Only this one fresh Windows 11 install is affected.

What Should Happen?

After logging into Claude Desktop, /remote-control should successfully establish the bridge connection and allow cross-device session access. The bridge webview should authenticate against claude.ai/epitaxy and populate its IndexedDB with the required tokens.

Error Messages/Logs

From %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\main.log:
[remote-control] bridge_state: failed — /login
topFrameUrl: 'https://claude.ai/login?from=logout&returnTo=%2Fepitaxy'
Failed to check allowlist status: Organization API returned status 403

From %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\claude.ai-web.log:
Uncaught (in promise) UnknownError: Internal error opening backing store for indexedDB.open
[bootstrap] Eager fetch failed: Failed to fetch
Eager bootstrap returned no data (logged out)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Perform a fresh install of Windows 11
2. Install Claude Desktop (latest version: 1.7196.1 abcd65)
3. Sign in via Google OAuth
4. Open Claude Desktop — login completes normally
5. Try /remote-control from any device on the same account

Result: Fails immediately with "Remote Control failed to connect: /login"

Note: NOT reproducible on the same account on other devices (another Windows 11 PC, MacBook, iPhone). Specific to this fresh Windows 11 install only.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

1.7196.1 (abcd65) — Claude Desktop app

Claude Code Version

1.7196.1 (abcd65) — Claude Desktop app

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

Environment:

• Claude Desktop Version: 1.7196.1 (abcd65)
• OS: Windows 11 (fresh install)
• Authentication: Google OAuth (SSO)
• Same account works on 3 other devices

Affected device: 1x Windows 11 (fresh install) — /remote-control fails
Working devices: 1x Windows 11 (older install), 1x MacBook, 1x iPhone — all work

Troubleshooting already attempted (none resolved the issue):

1. Re-login (logout + login again)
2. Full Windows 11 reinstall (bug survived a clean OS reinstall)
3. Windows Time Service sync (W32tm /resync)
4. Changed Windows Firewall network profile from Public to Private
5. Disabled Windows Defender Controlled Folder Access
6. Cleared IndexedDB manually from %APPDATA%\Claude\
7. Copied IndexedDB from a working machine (fails — Windows DPAPI encryption binds data to machine, unreadable cross-machine)
8. Claude Desktop update (already on latest version)

Root cause hypothesis: The bridge webview's initial device registration handshake silently fails on fresh Windows 11 installs. The bridge cannot reach claude.ai/epitaxy at all during the first launch window ("Failed to fetch"), leaving IndexedDB permanently empty of bridge tokens. Subsequent launches find no stored tokens and redirect to /login.

Intercom support conversation ID: 215474328571874

I will reinstall Windows 11 again in the future and will try /remote-control immediately after first login, then report findings on this issue.