[BUG] Cowork Tab Missing from Sidebar — Runtime Not Initializing (v1.15962.1, macOS M4)
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?
Summary
The Cowork tab is missing from Claude Desktop after a recent update. All other features work normally, but Cowork is inaccessible.
Environment
App version: 1.15962.1
Platform: macOS (darwin, arm64)
OS version: macOS 26.5.1
Hardware: Apple M4 (10 cores, 24GB RAM)
Plan: Pro (truedose.se account)
Troubleshooting Completed
✓ Full app restart
✓ Verified Pro plan (Cowork-eligible)
✓ Confirmed system meets all requirements (M4, 24GB, macOS 26.5.1)
✓ Verified other MCP servers work fine
Diagnostic Info
Exported diagnostic bundle shows:
cowork-vm-log.txt is empty (runtime never starts)
claude-code-sessions loads fine (2 persisted sessions)
Main log shows app attempting to load Cowork but failing silently
What Should Happen?
Expected Behavior
Cowork tab should appear in the left sidebar alongside Chat and Code tabs.
Actual Behavior
Only Chat and Code tabs visible in sidebar
Cowork tab is completely missing
Can see old Cowork projects/chats but cannot access Cowork features
Diagnostic logs show cowork-vm-log.txt is empty (runtime not initializing)
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
Steps to Reproduce
Open Claude Desktop v1.15962.1
Look at left sidebar
Observe Cowork tab is absent
Claude Model
None
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
the version before v1.15962.1
Claude Code Version
Open Claude Desktop v1.15962.1
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
macOS
Terminal/Shell
Terminal.app (macOS)
Additional Information
Troubleshooting Completed
✓ Full app restart
✓ Verified Pro plan (Cowork-eligible)
✓ Confirmed system meets all requirements (M4, 24GB, macOS 26.5.1)
✓ Verified other MCP servers work fine
Diagnostic Info
Exported diagnostic bundle shows:
cowork-vm-log.txt is empty (runtime never starts)
claude-code-sessions loads fine (2 persisted sessions)
Main log shows app attempting to load Cowork but failing silently
9 Comments
Found 3 possible duplicate issues:
This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.
🤖 Generated with Claude Code
I dont think it is the same underlaying issue. And one of them you will close because of duplicate of another bug. Hard to keep track which one will remain open.
Confirming this regression persists in a newer build. Same symptom: Cowork tab absent from the sidebar, Chat and Code present, old Cowork sessions visible but inaccessible.
Environment:
App version: 1.17377.2 (e0ea9e), built 2026-07-01
Platform: macOS 26.5.2 (darwin, arm64)
Plan: Claude pro
Troubleshooting done:
Full quit and relaunch of the app (no change)
No fix from the auto-updater as of this build
This matches the runtime-not-initializing behavior in the original report, so the regression survived past v1.15962.1 into 1.17377.2. Happy to attach a diagnostic bundle if useful.
Confirming this bug on additional hardware: MacBook Pro 2021 (M1 Pro), Claude Desktop v1.18286.0 (built 2026-07-02), native Apple Silicon, paid personal account. Sidebar shows only Home and Code — no Cowork tab. Home has absorbed Cowork features (New Task, Projects, Artifacts, Scheduled, Dispatch), so Cowork works via Home → New Task as a workaround.
Ruled out: outdated build, Rosetta/Intel, account mismatch, app restart, sign-out/sign-in, window resize.
One additional data point for maintainers: my existing Cowork Project (16 saved sessions) is not visible on this install, but appeared identically on two other Macs on the same account with separate local storage — suggesting session history syncs server-side. Can it be restored here once the tab is fixed?
(Originally filed as #74072, closed as duplicate of this issue.)
Same problem to me:
I have tried everythin even reinstalling and removing Application Support/Claude. Still no there
Same issue here on macOS (Apple Silicon), app version 1.19367.0.
Version 1.19367.0 on macOS, Apple Silicon MacBook Pro
Cowork tab is absent from the sidebar. Only Chat and Code are shown. Prior Cowork session data is still present on disk.
Trigger: system ran out of memory, machine was restarted, Cowork tab never returned. It was working normally immediately before the OOM event.
coworkd.log last wrote at 2026-07-08 20:24:32 with [VM] Module loaded successfully, then nothing. No error, no shutdown line, consistent with a hard kill.
No new entries in coworkd.log on any launch since, so the daemon is not starting at all.
No coworkd or VM process present in ps after launch.
Caches at local-agent-mode-sessions/// are intact and well-formed, not truncated. cowork-policy-limits-cache.json shows no entitlement restriction. Clearing the caches and the root .claude.json.lock did not restore the tab.
Full app quit and system reboot did not restore it.
Ditto. I just created a new install on a fresh box. Same issue. And I have the issue on the 2 other installs of the windows app on other machines.
+1 - same issue for me:
App: Claude Desktop
App version: Claude 1.22209.3 (babe11) 2026-07-19T02:06:35.000Z
OS: macOS 14.6.1 (23G93)
Chip: Apple Silicon (M3)
Plan: Pro