The domain desktop-releases.claude.ai fails DNS resolution globally (tested against 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1), preventing the Cowork VM bundle from ever downloading. CoworkVMService cannot start because vm_bundles never gets created

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?

desktop-releases.claude.ai fails DNS resolution against 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1
vm_bundles folder never gets created
Cowork was working until approximately late May / early June 2026
Windows 10 Pro, CoworkVMService stopped, vmms running

The domain desktop-releases.claude.ai fails DNS resolution globally (tested against 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1), preventing the Cowork VM bundle from ever downloading. CoworkVMService cannot start because vm_bundles never gets created

What Should Happen?

The fix has to come from Anthropic's side — either restoring the domain, pointing it to a new location, or pushing a Claude Desktop update that uses a different download URL. Until that happens, Cowork simply can't initialize on your machine.

Error Messages/Logs

This is now very clear. The DNS cache shows claude.ai resolves fine, but desktop-releases.claude.ai has never been in the cache — confirming it has never successfully resolved on this machine.
Looking at your session history, Cowork was actively working as recently as 29-30 May 2026 (the local_6adb44b3 session with tasks, plans, and audit logs from that date). So something broke in the last ~2 weeks.
This strongly points to Anthropic taking down or moving the desktop-releases.claude.ai endpoint around that time — possibly as part of an infrastructure change or the Cowork feature being modified.
The most productive thing you can do right now is report this directly to Anthropic with the specific detail that the domain no longer resolves:
File a bug report here:
https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/new
Include this information:

desktop-releases.claude.ai fails DNS resolution against 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1
vm_bundles folder never gets created
Cowork was working until approximately late May / early June 2026
Windows 10 Pro, CoworkVMService stopped, vmms running

Or contact support: https://support.anthropic.com
This is genuinely on Anthropic's end — the domain either moved, was retired, or access was restricted. There is nothing further you can do locally to fix it. Reporting it with these specific details gives them exactly what they need to diagnose it quickly.

Steps to Reproduce

This is now very clear. The DNS cache shows claude.ai resolves fine, but desktop-releases.claude.ai has never been in the cache — confirming it has never successfully resolved on this machine.
Looking at your session history, Cowork was actively working as recently as 29-30 May 2026 (the local_6adb44b3 session with tasks, plans, and audit logs from that date). So something broke in the last ~2 weeks.
This strongly points to Anthropic taking down or moving the desktop-releases.claude.ai endpoint around that time — possibly as part of an infrastructure change or the Cowork feature being modified.
The most productive thing you can do right now is report this directly to Anthropic with the specific detail that the domain no longer resolves:
File a bug report here:
https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/new
Include this information:

desktop-releases.claude.ai fails DNS resolution against 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1
vm_bundles folder never gets created
Cowork was working until approximately late May / early June 2026
Windows 10 Pro, CoworkVMService stopped, vmms running

Or contact support: https://support.anthropic.com/
This is genuinely on Anthropic's end — the domain either moved, was retired, or access was restricted. There is nothing further you can do locally to fix it. Reporting it with these specific details gives them exactly what they need to diagnose it quickly.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

1.12603.1.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

_No response_