[BUG] Cowork "VM connection timeout after 60 seconds" on Snapdragon ARM64 + Windows 11 Home — vmms missing; extends locked #42784

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?

Filing as a new issue because #42784 is locked. Same symptom cluster as #42784 (ARM/Snapdragon) and #64592 (Windows features dependency).

Another repro — Snapdragon (ARM64) + Windows 11 Home. Question for the thread: does anyone have Cowork working on Snapdragon + Windows 11 Pro?

Environment

• Windows 11 Home, build 10.0.26200.8655, ARM64 (Snapdragon)
• Claude Desktop MSIX (Store package Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc), arm64 build, app 1.19367 → 1.20186
• VM bundle hash: 6d1538ba6fecc4e5c5583993c4b30bb1875f0f5a

Symptom

"VM connection timeout after 60 seconds" on every start since May 25.

From cowork_vm_node.log: all steps complete (create_network, create_vm_config, vm_boot ~135ms, add_plan9_shares) — then the guest never connects, timeout after 101 polls. When CoworkVMService is stopped, error changes to "VM service not running" with connect ENOENT \\.\pipe\cowork-vm-service. Also recurring smol-bin.vhdx locked by running VM (EBUSY) — a stale VM process holds the disk between retries.

Root cause found (partial?)

Get-Service vmms → not found → Windows 11 Home. Home lacks the vmms service Cowork reportedly requires, which would explain the guest never connecting despite vm_boot "completing."

Open question: is Home the whole story, or does the ARM64 image fail even on Pro? Before paying for a Pro upgrade I'd like to hear from anyone running Cowork successfully on Snapdragon + Windows 11 Pro. And @anthropic — the error message should say "requires Windows Pro/Hyper-V" instead of "restart your computer."

What Should Happen?

Cowork workspace should start and connect successfully on Snapdragon ARM64 + Windows 11 Home, the same as it does on other supported configurations.

Error Messages/Logs

Failed to start Claude's workspace — VM connection timeout after 60 seconds

VM service not running (connect ENOENT \\.\pipe\cowork-vm-service)

EBUSY: resource busy or locked, open 'smol-bin.vhdx' (locked by a stale VM process between retries)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Install latest Claude Desktop (arm64 MSIX build) on Windows 11 Home, Snapdragon ARM64
2. Open the Cowork tab / start a workspace
3. Observe: "VM connection timeout after 60 seconds"
4. Tried: deleted claude-code-vm + vm_bundles folders → bundle re-downloaded cleanly, same timeout
5. Tried: started CoworkVMService manually → service runs, same timeout
6. Tried: enabled VirtualMachinePlatform + HypervisorPlatform + WSL feature, ran bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype auto, wsl --install, rebooted
7. Verified: "A hypervisor has been detected" and WSL default version 2
8. Checked Get-Service vmms → service not found (not available on Windows 11 Home)

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

No, this never worked

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

N/A - Claude Desktop app

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

_No response_