Claude Code failed to solve a basic video embedding problem after hours of attempts

I spent multiple long sessions trying to get Claude Code to embed mpv video playback inside an Electron app window. The task was straightforward: play a video inside the app, not in an external window.

Claude repeatedly:

• Chose the wrong technical approach (SW render via CPU) and doubled down on it for hours instead of recognizing it wouldn't work
• Generated 10-15fps "slideshow" video and kept trying to optimize a fundamentally broken approach
• Switched approaches only after the context window was exhausted and a new session started
• Wasted the user's API credits on repeated failed attempts

A working solution (mpv X11 embedding or IPC subprocess) was never delivered. The previous session's AI (Codex) had apparently solved a different part of the problem; Claude then broke it.

Expected: A working video player embedded in the Electron window at 24fps.
Actual: Hours of failed attempts, frustrated user, no working solution.

Suggestion: Claude should recognize architectural dead ends earlier and pivot faster rather than micro-optimizing a broken approach.