[BUG] Claude Desktop (Linux): sign-in not persisted on headless/xrdp sessions; error misattributes cause to missing keyring

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?

Sign-in is not persisted across restarts on a headless Linux session. Every launch shows:

"Your sign-in won't be saved on this device. Install and unlock a system keyring (such as GNOME Keyring), then restart the app."

The keyring was installed, running with --components=pkcs11,secrets, and unlocked the entire time. The real fault is Chromium's password-store backend selection, not a missing keyring.

Chromium detects the backend from XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP / DESKTOP_SESSION. Neither is populated in an XFCE-over-xrdp session, so detection falls back to a store that cannot reach the secret service and the token is never written.

Launching with --password-store=gnome-libsecret fixes it completely. The flag must be applied to every launch path — menu entry, desktop shortcut, autostart entry, and any script-driven restart. Missing one reproduces the failure: an app update replaced /usr/share/applications/com.anthropic.Claude.desktop and silently reverted one path, and a separate ~/Desktop/*.desktop shortcut carried its own hardcoded Exec=.

Environment

| | |
|---|---|
| claude-desktop | 1.30096.1 (amd64, official Anthropic apt repo — not a community repackage) |
| OS | Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS, kernel 7.0.0-28-generic |
| Session | XFCE over xrdp, headless VM (Proxmox guest, no physical display) |
| Keyring | gnome-keyring 46.1-2ubuntu0.2, libsecret-1-0 0.21.4-1build3 |

Prior art — the same detection failure is documented for community builds, with the fix already analysed:

• The Arch AUR claude-desktop package lists it as a known caveat: on desktops Chromium doesn't recognise (Hyprland, Sway, …) sign-in is stored insecurely and switching DEs logs you out; remedy is a ~/.local/share/applications/ override adding --password-store=gnome-libsecret, followed by update-desktop-database (skipping that breaks the claude:// sign-in redirect).
• aaddrick/claude-desktop-debian #719 covers the mirror case (kwallet6 wrongly chosen on a non-KDE session) and proposes: prefer whichever backend actually owns org.freedesktop.secrets.

This report is against the official Linux package, where the same detection path is in use.

What Should Happen?

1. Correct the error text. "Install and unlock a system keyring" is factually wrong when the keyring is installed, running, and unlocked. It sent me investigating keyring configuration, daemon components, and D-Bus reachability for hours when the fault was backend selection. Something like:

> "Could not select a credential store for this session — try launching with --password-store=gnome-libsecret"

...would have resolved this in minutes. Highest-value fix even if nothing else changes.

1. Probe the secret service before declaring it unavailable. When desktop detection yields nothing, query whoever owns org.freedesktop.secrets and use it, instead of falling back to a store that cannot reach it.

1. Expose the backend as a setting, so it doesn't require a command-line flag replicated across every launcher and re-applied after each app update.

Error Messages/Logs

**In-app message (every launch):**


Your sign-in won't be saved on this device. Install and unlock a system keyring
(such as GNOME Keyring), then restart the app.


**`~/.config/Claude/Local State` — detection failure recorded directly:**


{"os_crypt":{"portal":{"prev_desktop":"","prev_init_success":false}},"uninstall_metrics":{"installation_date2":"1776531875"}}


`prev_desktop` is empty and `prev_init_success` is false — no desktop identified, so no usable backend selected.

**Secret service is reachable and unlocked (contradicting the error):**


$ python3 -c "import secretstorage; b=secretstorage.dbus_init(); c=secretstorage.get_default_collection(b); print('locked:', c.is_locked())"
locked: False


**gnome-keyring is running with the secrets component:**


$ pgrep -af gnome-keyring-daemon
1218 /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --foreground --components=pkcs11,secrets --control-directory=/run/user/123/keyring
2652 /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --foreground --components=secrets
2653 /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --foreground --components=pkcs11,secrets --control-directory=/run/user/1000/keyring


**Failing launch (no flag) vs. working launch (flag present):**


$ pgrep -af "/usr/lib/claude-desktop/claude-desktop" | head -1
18728 /usr/lib/claude-desktop/claude-desktop                                  # prompts for sign-in

$ pgrep -af "/usr/lib/claude-desktop/claude-desktop" | head -1
3313 /usr/lib/claude-desktop/claude-desktop --password-store=gnome-libsecret  # sign-in persists


**Session environment — the variables detection relies on are absent:**


$ systemctl --user show-environment | grep -E "XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP|DESKTOP_SESSION"
(no output)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Provision an Ubuntu 24.04 VM with no physical display; install XFCE and xrdp.
2. Connect over RDP and confirm XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP is unset:

systemctl --user show-environment | grep XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP → no output

1. Install claude-desktop from the official apt repo (downloads.claude.ai/claude-desktop/apt/stable).
2. Confirm gnome-keyring is running and unlocked:

pgrep -af gnome-keyring-daemon → shows --components=pkcs11,secrets
secret-tool / secretstorage query → collection reports locked: False

1. Launch Claude Desktop from the applications menu or desktop icon. Sign in.
2. Quit the app and relaunch it the same way.

Result: prompted to sign in again, with the "install and unlock a system keyring" message — despite the keyring being installed and unlocked.

Control: quit, then launch with /usr/bin/claude-desktop --password-store=gnome-libsecret. Sign in once; the session now persists across restarts.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

version 1.30096.1 (194d93) - claude desktop for linux

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Xterm

Additional Information

_No response_