Claude Desktop launches (main + gpu-process + network helper) but renderer never spawns — no window — macOS 26.5.2 (25F84), Desktop v1.24012.9

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?

Confirmed — same result even with --use-gl=disabled applied to the gpu-process. Main + gpu-process + network helper, no renderer, no window. So GPU isn't the blocker; the renderer process itself simply isn't being created, regardless of GPU state. That's a more specific and useful finding for the report. Final version:

---

Title: Claude Desktop launches (main + gpu-process + network helper) but renderer never spawns — no window — macOS 26.5.2 (25F84), Desktop v1.24012.9

Environment

• macOS: 26.5.2 (Build 25F84) — Tahoe
• Claude Desktop version: 1.24012.9
• Hardware: MacBook Pro, Apple M3

What's wrong
Claude Desktop launches and appears in the Dock, but no window ever renders. Confirmed via ps aux that the main process, Claude Helper (gpu-process), and Claude Helper (network.mojom.NetworkService) all start and stay running — but no renderer process is ever spawned. No crash, no error dialog, no output when launched from Terminal.

This matches existing open reports:

• #49164 (identical process signature: main + gpu-process + network helper, no renderer)
• #69412 (same symptom on macOS 26.4.1)

Steps to reproduce

1. Fully quit Claude Desktop
2. open -a Claude (or launch via Dock/Finder)
3. Wait 10+ seconds
4. No window appears; ps aux | grep -i claude shows main process + gpu-process + network helper, but no renderer

Already tried (no effect)

• Full state wipe: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude, ~/Library/Caches/Claude, saved application state
• defaults delete com.anthropic.claudefordesktop
• xattr -cr /Applications/Claude.app + codesign verify (passes)
• Killing and relaunching, killing zombie helper processes first
• Reinstalling from claude.ai/download
• open -a Claude --args --disable-gpu — gpu-process correctly relaunches with --use-gl=disabled, but still no renderer/window. Rules out GPU as the blocker; the renderer process is failing to spawn regardless of GPU state.

Expected behavior
Main chat window should render on launch.

---

That's ready to paste at github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/new. As before, I can't submit it for you directly — no tool I have posts to GitHub — but this is copy-paste complete.

One more avenue while you wait on that: Claude Code CLI would give you a working way to use Claude from this same machine right now, since the failure is isolated to the Desktop app's renderer, not your account or network. Want the install command for that as a stopgap?

What Should Happen?

Cowork should open a window

Error Messages/Logs

Confirmed — same result even with `--use-gl=disabled` applied to the gpu-process. Main + gpu-process + network helper, no renderer, no window. So GPU isn't the blocker; the renderer process itself simply isn't being created, regardless of GPU state. That's a more specific and useful finding for the report. Final version:

---

**Title:** Claude Desktop launches (main + gpu-process + network helper) but renderer never spawns — no window — macOS 26.5.2 (25F84), Desktop v1.24012.9

**Environment**
- macOS: 26.5.2 (Build 25F84) — Tahoe
- Claude Desktop version: 1.24012.9
- Hardware: MacBook Pro, Apple M3

**What's wrong**
Claude Desktop launches and appears in the Dock, but no window ever renders. Confirmed via `ps aux` that the main process, `Claude Helper (gpu-process)`, and `Claude Helper (network.mojom.NetworkService)` all start and stay running — but no renderer process is ever spawned. No crash, no error dialog, no output when launched from Terminal.

**This matches existing open reports:**
- #49164 (identical process signature: main + gpu-process + network helper, no renderer)
- #69412 (same symptom on macOS 26.4.1)

**Steps to reproduce**
1. Fully quit Claude Desktop
2. `open -a Claude` (or launch via Dock/Finder)
3. Wait 10+ seconds
4. No window appears; `ps aux | grep -i claude` shows main process + gpu-process + network helper, but no renderer

**Already tried (no effect)**
- Full state wipe: `~/Library/Application Support/Claude`, `~/Library/Caches/Claude`, saved application state
- `defaults delete com.anthropic.claudefordesktop`
- `xattr -cr /Applications/Claude.app` + codesign verify (passes)
- Killing and relaunching, killing zombie helper processes first
- Reinstalling from claude.ai/download
- `open -a Claude --args --disable-gpu` — gpu-process correctly relaunches with `--use-gl=disabled`, but still no renderer/window. Rules out GPU as the blocker; the renderer process is failing to spawn regardless of GPU state.

**Expected behavior**
Main chat window should render on launch.

---

That's ready to paste at `github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/new`. As before, I can't submit it for you directly — no tool I have posts to GitHub — but this is copy-paste complete.

One more avenue while you wait on that: **Claude Code CLI** would give you a working way to use Claude from this same machine right now, since the failure is isolated to the Desktop app's renderer, not your account or network. Want the install command for that as a stopgap?

Steps to Reproduce

1. Fully quit Claude Desktop
2. Launch via open -a Claude (or Dock/Finder)
3. Wait 10+ seconds
4. No window appears. Running ps aux | grep -i claude shows the main process, Claude Helper (gpu-process), and Claude Helper (network.mojom.NetworkService) all running — but no renderer process is ever spawned
5. Tried launching with open -a Claude --args --disable-gpu — gpu-process correctly relaunches with --use-gl=disabled, but the same result occurs: no renderer, no window. This rules out GPU as the cause.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude sonnet 5

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_