Claude Desktop macOS: "prevented from modifying apps" Privacy & Security notification appearing at startup

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?

On startup today (May 18, 2026), macOS displayed a Privacy & Security notification: "Claude was prevented from modifying apps on your Mac." I have been using Claude Desktop for several months and this is the first time this notification has appeared. Claude Desktop version 1.7196.0, installed May 12. Running macOS (darwin). Desktop Commander MCP extension v0.2.41 also installed.

What Should Happen?

Claude Desktop should start up without triggering a macOS Privacy & Security notification. No system modification warnings should appear during normal app launch.

Error Messages/Logs

macOS notification text: "Claude was prevented from modifying apps on your Mac."

ShipIt log (~/Library/Caches/com.anthropic.claudefordesktop.ShipIt/ShipIt_stderr.log):
2026-05-18 06:20:46 [warn] UtilityProcess Check: Extension desktop-commander not found in installed extensions

tccd log:
TCCDProcess: identifier=com.anthropic.claudefordesktop attempted to call TCCAccessRequest for kTCCServiceAccessibility without the recommended com.apple.private.tcc.manager.check-by-audit-token entitlement

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install Claude Desktop v1.7196.0 on macOS
2. Enable login item so Claude launches at startup
3. Restart Mac
4. Observe Privacy & Security notification on login: "Claude was prevented from modifying apps on your Mac"

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

Unknown - worked prior to v1.7196.0 (installed May 12, 2026)

Claude Code Version

N/A - Claude Desktop v1.7196.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Terminal/Shell — leave as Terminal.app (macOS) ✓
Additional Information — paste this:
This is a Claude Desktop app bug, not a Claude Code CLI bug — filed here as it's the recommended reporting channel.

Desktop Commander MCP extension v0.2.41 is installed. The macOS notification screenshot is attached.

Note: a separate related issue exists — a Claude Desktop update attempted on May 15, 2026 failed silently with SQRLCodeSignatureErrorDomain Code -67061 (invalid signature). A separate bug report will be filed for that.
<img width="356" height="78" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e2a77430-3ac8-4a04-b95a-d5f22e1e45a1" />