[BUG] Desktop app: queued messages don't fire on their own — only flush when you send another message

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet. The closest is #61718, but that is Cowork-specific and describes inconsistent / silently-dropped behavior. This is the deterministic Claude Code desktop-app case where the queue only flushes when you send another message.
• [x] This is a single bug report.
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code.

What's Wrong?

When I queue a message while Claude is working (I type while the Send button shows Queue), the queued message is never picked up on its own after the current turn ends. Claude finishes the turn and goes idle with the queued message still sitting in the queue. The queued message only gets processed when I send another message, at which point the previously queued message finally fires.

In short: queuing a message does not, by itself, trigger a follow-up turn. It requires a subsequent manual send to flush the queue.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Send a prompt that takes a while to respond to.
2. While Claude is still working (the Send button shows Queue), type and submit a follow-up message so it enters the queue.
3. Wait for the current turn to complete.

Expected Behavior

After the current turn completes, the queued message should automatically fire as the next turn.

Actual Behavior

The turn completes and Claude goes idle. The queued message stays unprocessed until I send another message, which then triggers the queued message to fire.

Key diagnostic signal: the session reaches the idle state with the queue still non-empty. Nothing drains the queue on turn completion. The next user send is what flushes it, so the previously queued message and the newly typed message get processed together on that send.

Environment

• Surface: Claude Code desktop app (macOS)
• Desktop app version: 1.11187.4
• macOS: 26.5 (arm64, Apple Silicon)

Related

• #61718 (Cowork: queued messages delivered to session but not actioned). Same family, but that report is Cowork-specific and describes inconsistent / silent behavior. This report is the deterministic desktop-app "flush only on next send" variant.