[BUG] [Desktop][Windows] Code session sidebar "Working" indicator stays lit indefinitely after the turn completes — clears only on full app restart

Status Fixed / completed
Maintainer reply None cached
Activity 4 comments · opened Jul 6, 2026 · closed Aug 25, 2026

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?

In the Code tab, a session's sidebar activity indicator (the "thinking"/Working spinner-dot) stays lit indefinitely after the session's turn has already finished. The indicator is the only thing misbehaving: the response renders normally, the session stays fully usable, and I can keep sending prompts and receiving replies in that same session. It is purely cosmetic — but the stale indicator never clears on its own and only resets on a full quit-and-relaunch of the desktop app. It's consistently the same long-running sessions that get stuck.

What Should Happen?

Once a session's turn completes, its sidebar activity indicator should return to the idle state within a couple of seconds, accurately reflecting that the session is no longer working.

Error Messages/Logs

No error output is produced — the indicator simply never resets. Desktop logs on Windows are under %APPDATA%\Claude\logs\ (e.g. claude_ai-web.log); happy to attach a snippet covering a moment the indicator sticks.

Steps to Reproduce

Open the Code tab with multiple named sessions grouped into projects.
Send a prompt in a session and let it complete; confirm the response renders and the session is responsive.
Switch away to another session.
Observe the first session's sidebar indicator: it keeps showing the Working/"thinking" state indefinitely even though its turn is done.
It does not clear by waiting, by returning to the session, or by sending a follow-up prompt. Only a full app quit + relaunch resets it.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Desktop app 1.18286.0 - I'm not using the Claude Code in terminal.

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Impact: With several sessions open across projects, the stale indicators make it impossible to tell which sessions are actually active versus finished — which defeats the purpose of the status dots and causes me to lose track of which session I was last working in. Filtering sessions by "Working" status is unreliable for the same reason.

Workarounds: A full quit and relaunch of the desktop app resets all indicators to their correct state (until it re-triggers). Sending a follow-up prompt does not clear it. The app reports it is already on the latest version, so there is no update available.

Environment: Claude Desktop app version 1.18286.0, Code tab, Windows.

Possible regression: This resembles a longer-lived variant of two issues addressed by earlier fixes — the agents view holding a session on "Working" with a busy spinner for up to ~30s after the worker replied, and background tasks/workflows showing as running after they finished or were stopped — except mine persists indefinitely until an app restart.

Related issues (checked before filing; all distinct):

#50665 (UI stuck in "working" when Claude is idle) — different: my session is never unresponsive and no Stop-button behavior is involved; mine is purely the sidebar status dot staying lit after a normally completed turn.
#58965 (agent status shows "working" instead of "waiting for input") — same cosmetic family, but triggered by a pending permission prompt; mine fires after a normal completed response with nothing waiting for input.
#68992 (stuck "N running tasks" badge on Windows Desktop) — also a stale status indicator on Windows, but that one hangs new messages; mine stays fully responsive and promptable.

<img width="956" height="1040" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/3b1183ab-2b5d-4ab0-86d4-4a1ce728f184" />

View original on GitHub ↗

4 Comments

Carter2004 · 3 months ago

Closed out of Claude to reset it, then happened again.

<img width="1108" height="995" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9de326c6-74ce-49b0-8054-b763f500c7b4" />

ThomazFarias · 3 months ago

Confirming this on Windows 11 desktop as well — same symptom and same impact.

I have several Code sessions grouped in a project; multiple of them keep the "Working"/running indicator lit in the sidebar after their turn has clearly finished (the response rendered, the session is idle and fully promptable). With several sessions in that stuck state it becomes impossible to tell which one is actually processing something.

Details matching the report:

  • Purely cosmetic — sessions stay responsive, replies keep coming.
  • Does not clear by waiting, switching away/back, or sending a follow-up prompt.
  • Consistently the longer-lived sessions.

+1 on the expected behavior: the indicator should return to idle within a couple seconds of the turn completing.

j-goldstein · 3 months ago

Confirming on Mac OS as well.

gofortiss · 20 days ago

same issue...