Claude Desktop (macOS): opening any link in built-in browser hangs entire app, requires force quit

Environment

• Claude Desktop: 1.22209.3 (macOS)
• macOS: 26.5.2 (build 25F84), Apple Silicon MacBook Pro
• Started after the update that added the built-in browser pane (early July 2026)

Steps to reproduce

1. Receive or click any link in a chat
2. Choose "Open in app" (built-in browser pane)
3. App stops responding immediately — full beachball, whole app not just the pane

Expected

Link opens in the browser pane; app stays responsive.

Actual

Entire app hangs and must be force quit. Reproduces every time a link is opened
in the built-in browser. Opening the same links in the system browser works fine.

Additional diagnostics

• No crash reports in ~/Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/ (consistent with a hang,

not a crash — force quit leaves no report)

• ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ measured 8.6 GB, but visible contents

summed to only ~1.4 GB; the missing ~7 GB was in a transient Retired/ folder
that was deleted by the app between two consecutive checks minutes apart —
the app is churning multi-GB of transient VM/retired data in the background

• Possibly related to the cache-bloat freeze family: #32263 (vm_bundles 10GB+

per session → hang), #68316 (corrupted app data → persistent freeze)

Workaround

Cmd-clicking links / "Default browser" option works normally; only the
built-in browser pane triggers the hang.