[BUG] Claude Code Desktop for Windows always starts Powershell

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?

When running a command either via "! ..." prompt or by starting the integrated terminal claude code desktop always uses powershell.

But I explicitly configured bash in settings.json:

{
  "permissions": {
    "defaultMode": "auto"
  },
  "effortLevel": "medium",
  "autoMemoryEnabled": false,
  "skipDangerousModePermissionPrompt": true,
  "skipAutoPermissionPrompt": true,
  "defaultShell": "bash"
}

What Should Happen?

I expect that commands called with BashTool are run with bash or when I open a terminal bash is running in the terminal

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Start Claude Code Desktop on Windows
2. Enter prompt "!ls"
3. The output is formatted like the "ls" command from powershell (not bash)

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.8555.0 (8245b7) 2026-05-21T05:49:11.000Z

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

_No response_