RTL (Arabic/Hebrew) text renders incorrectly in chat panel — VS Code extension & macOS desktop app (v2.1.191)

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?

RTL (right-to-left) Arabic text renders incorrectly in the Claude Code chat panel, in both the VS Code extension and the macOS desktop app. The exact same content renders correctly on claude.ai in the browser, so this is specific to the desktop/VS Code chat rendering — not a content problem.

This is different from the terminal RTL fix in v2.1.73 (that was for terminal output). The chat panel itself is still broken on v2.1.191.

Symptoms in both the VS Code extension and the macOS desktop app:

• Arabic text is left-aligned instead of right-aligned
• Bidirectional text is reversed (mixed Arabic / English / numbers come out in the wrong order)
• Punctuation (periods, colons) appears at the start of the line instead of the end
• List markers — bullets and numbered items (1., 2.) — appear on the wrong side and are misaligned

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open the chat panel in the VS Code extension or the macOS desktop app
2. Send or receive a message containing Arabic text (ideally mixed with English/numbers)
3. Observe the reversed / misaligned rendering

Expected: RTL text should be right-aligned with correct bidirectional ordering, matching how claude.ai renders the same content.

Environment:

• Platform: macOS
• Claude Code version: 2.1.191 (latest)
• Affected: VS Code extension chat panel AND macOS desktop app chat panel
• Works correctly on: claude.ai (web)

Already tried: updated to latest (2.1.191), fully restarted VS Code and the desktop app, confirmed the same text renders correctly on the web.

Screenshots attached: broken rendering (desktop/VS Code) vs. correct rendering (web).

What Should Happen?

Arabic (RTL) text in the chat panel should render the same way it does on claude.ai:

• Right-aligned, not left-aligned
• Correct bidirectional ordering for mixed Arabic / English / numbers (no reversed text)
• Punctuation (periods, colons) at the end of the line, in the correct position
• List markers — bullets and numbered items (1., 2.) — on the right side and properly aligned

In short: the chat panel should match the RTL rendering that already works correctly on claude.ai (web).

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Use Claude Code on macOS — either the VS Code extension or the macOS desktop app (v2.1.191).
2. Open the chat panel.
3. Send or receive a message that contains Arabic text, ideally mixed with English words and numbers (for example a sentence with Arabic plus "VS Code", "2.1.191", and a bulleted or numbered list).
4. Look at how the message is rendered in the chat panel.
5. Observe: the text is left-aligned, the bidirectional order is reversed, punctuation jumps to the start of the line, and list markers (bullets, 1., 2.) appear on the wrong side.
6. For comparison, open claude.ai in a browser and view the same text — it renders correctly (right-aligned, correct order).

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.191

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_