[BUG] Cowork VM service fails to start — Windows 10 Pro (pipe ENOENT)
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?
Cowork fails to start with: "Failed to start Claude's workspace — VM service not running. The service failed to start."
CoworkVMService shows as Stopped. Running Start-Service CoworkVMService manually returns "the service terminated unexpectedly."
The cowork_vm_node.log shows repeated warnings:
[vm-client] Event resubscribe failed: Error: connect ENOENT \\.\pipe\cowork-vm-service
This repeats continuously, consistent with the service failing to stay up and listen on its named pipe.
System info:
OS: Windows 10 Pro
Claude Desktop install: Microsoft Store (MSIX), package Claude_pzs8sxrjxfjjc
What Should Happen?
Cowork's workspace VM should start normally, allowing me to interact with local files (like Excel spreadsheets) on my computer as part of my daily tasks
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
Troubleshooting already attempted:
Restarted Claude Desktop (full quit from system tray)
Restarted the computer
Reinstalled the workspace via in-app option
Confirmed Hyper-V and Virtual Machine Platform are enabled in Windows Features
Manually attempted Start-Service CoworkVMService — starts then crashes immediately
Checked cowork_vm_node.log — shows continuous pipe connection failures
Claude Model
None
Is this a regression?
I don't know
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
Claude Desktop version: 1.25927.0.0
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
Windows Terminal
Additional Information
_No response_