[BUG] MacOS Claude app adding and removing ephemeral menu bar icon

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?

This is a problem with the desktop app for MacOS.

Claude App version: Claude 1.10628.2 (deee0a) 2026-06-03T20:08:36.000Z
MacOS version: Tahoe 26.5

Menu bar and window items were shifting left and right. Using Claude Code to inspect system logs, we identified the Claude desktop app as the culprit — it's adding and removing an ephemeral menu bar item without proper cleanup when its renderer process is recycled.

Log Line:

What Should Happen?

The menu bar icon should be managed by the main process, not a renderer. When a renderer is recycled (e.g. when opening a new conversation), the icon shouldn't disappear and reappear — the main process should own it continuously.

The specific fix: move the NSStatusItem (or Electron equivalent) registration out of whatever renderer or helper process currently owns it, into the app's main process. Then renderer restarts become invisible to the menu bar.

Error Messages/Logs

ControlCenter: Removing ephemeral displayable instance from menu bar. 
No corresponding host (bid:com.anthropic.claudefordesktop-Item-0-6125)

Steps to Reproduce

Based on what the logs showed:

Open the Claude desktop app
Open a new conversation (this triggers a renderer process restart)
Observe the menu bar shift — items to the left of the Claude icon will visibly jump
You could also just watch for it during normal use since it happens automatically whenever the renderer is recycled.

One caveat: I inferred step 2 from the timing in the logs (new conversation opened ~18 seconds after the icon disappeared). You may want to verify that's the exact trigger before submitting — it's possible any action that restarts the renderer causes it, not just new conversations.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude 1.10628.2 (deee0a) 2026-06-03T20:08:36.000Z

Platform

Other

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

_No response_