Claude Desktop (Windows): `</> Code` conversation history silently lost on restart — and Claude doesn't detect the gap

Environment

• Claude Desktop for Windows (Windows 11 Pro 26200)
• Surface: the </> Code tab (Claude Code embedded in Desktop)
• Observed: 2026-06-26

Summary

Messages exchanged in a </> Code session — both the user's and Claude's — disappear after closing and reopening Claude Desktop. A conversation that rendered fine before the restart is gone afterward. Critically, Claude itself does not notice the loss: on the next turn it proceeds as if the prior exchange were still in context, with no error, warning, or "history truncated" notice. The failure is silent.

Steps to reproduce

1. Open Claude Desktop (Windows).
2. Go to the </> Code tab and hold a normal multi-turn conversation (one or more sessions, back-and-forth that displays correctly).
3. Fully quit Claude Desktop (tray → Quit) and reopen it.
4. Return to the </> Code session(s).

Expected

History from before the restart is preserved and visible, like the Chat / Cowork surfaces.

Actual

• All messages (user + Claude) from the last app opening are gone from the </> Code session(s).
• Claude shows no indication anything is missing — it continues as though the lost turns were still present, producing confusing continuity (e.g. "Continue from where you left off" yields normal/empty turns; references to messages that no longer exist).

Additional notes

• Has also occurred within the same app session (no restart) — history vanished mid-use.
• Because Claude can't detect the gap, there's no recovery prompt or truncation notice.
• Likely specific to how </> Code (local code sessions) persists transcripts vs. Chat/Cowork.

Impact

Silent loss of conversation record and work context — easy to miss until you scroll back and find it gone.