[BUG] Artifacts library never populates for a newly created Pro account — empty on web and desktop, while a Team account on the same machine lists unshared chat artifacts correctly

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?

The Artifacts library is permanently empty for a recently created account, on both claude.ai/artifacts and the desktop app's Code tab. Artifacts created in chat under that account never appear in it.

This is not a sync or client-rendering problem, and not a publish-gating behavior. Both are ruled out by an A/B comparison on one machine:

| | Account A (older, Team org) | Account B (created 2026-08-03, Pro) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| claude.ai/artifacts in a browser | Lists artifacts, including unshared ones. Clicking one opens it in its chat context. | Empty under All, Yours, and Shared with you. |
| Desktop app, Code tab → Artifacts | Lists artifacts. | Empty under All, Chat, and Code. |
| Artifacts that exist in chat | — | At least 2, both open in the artifact side panel. |

Same machine, same browser, same desktop build, the two accounts differing only in identity.

Account B's artifacts are ordinary chat artifacts: one code/JSON artifact rendered as a download card, and one interactive HTML dashboard. Both open in the side panel when clicked. Neither is published — the only artifact-level action offered is Publish, which warns that it "will make it accessible to anyone on the internet and potentially visible in search engine results", so it was deliberately not used. Account A's library proves publishing is not required for library membership, since it lists unshared artifacts.

The empty state reads "Your artifacts will be listed here once you create one", which is false for this account — artifacts have been created and are visible in their conversations.

What Should Happen?

Artifacts created in chat should appear in that account's Artifacts library, as they do for account A. Whatever indexes an artifact into the library should apply to accounts regardless of creation date or plan tier.

Error Messages/Logs

No error is surfaced in either client. The library renders its empty state rather than an error, so a failed or never-initialized index is indistinguishable from having no artifacts.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Create a new Claude account and subscribe to Pro.
2. In a chat under that account, create an artifact — both an interactive HTML page and a code/JSON artifact reproduce this.
3. Confirm the artifact renders in the conversation and opens in the artifact side panel. Do not publish it.
4. Open claude.ai/artifacts in a browser signed into that account. The library is empty under All, Yours, and Shared with you.
5. Open the desktop app's Code tab → Artifacts under the same account. Empty under All, Chat, and Code.
6. For contrast, sign into an older account with existing artifacts and repeat steps 4 and 5. Its library lists artifacts, including unshared ones, and clicking one opens it in its chat context.

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

Claude Code Version

Claude Desktop 1.26832.0 (embedded Claude Code 2.1.222); also reproduces on claude.ai in a browser

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. Reproduces in a browser as well as the desktop app, so this does not appear to be client-specific.

Account A is a long-standing Team account. Account B is a personal Pro account created 2026-08-03, with its subscription starting 2026-08-09. So the two candidate explanations are plan/org type (Team vs Pro) and account age.

Worth noting against a straightforward feature gate: the Artifacts UI is fully present on the Pro account. The page renders, the Filter by control offers All / Chat / Code, and the desktop sidebar entry is there. Only the contents are missing. A plan-gated feature would more likely hide the surface than ship it permanently empty, which points at the indexing layer rather than entitlement.

Related issues:

• #78095 — closed as invalid. Reported the same empty desktop Artifacts tab, but in that case claude.ai/artifacts in a browser did list the artifacts, making it a desktop-only sync problem. Here both surfaces are empty, so it is a different failure with a shared symptom.
• #84232 — enhancement request for one unified Artifacts library across surfaces. Adjacent, but that asks for galleries to be merged; this is a library that never populates at all for one account.

_Drafted by Claude (Anthropic AI assistant)._