[BUG] Claude Code Desktop: spinner verbs absent on Windows 11 (CLI unaffected)

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?

Desktop-hosted Claude Code shows no spinner verb text. The activity indicator, elapsed time, and token counters render normally — only the rotating verb is missing. The CLI on the same machine, reading the same ~/.claude/settings.json, shows verbs correctly.

Environment: Windows 11, Claude Code v2.1.xxx, autoUpdatesChannel: latest, Desktop app.

Config: spinnerVerbs with mode: "replace" and ~185 custom verbs in ~/.claude/settings.json. Desktop shows no verbs at all, including built-in defaults — so this isn't a settings-merge failure.

What Should Happen?

Desktop should render the spinner verb text alongside the activity indicator, elapsed time, and token counters, cycling through the verbs configured in spinnerVerbs — the same as the CLI does on the same machine with the same settings file. With mode: "replace", only the custom verbs should appear.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Start any task that streams for several seconds in Desktop; observe the status row. Repeat in the CLI on the same machine for contrast.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.233

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

Prior report: #53447 described identical symptoms on macOS at 2.1.119, and was closed/locked. Still reproducing on Windows at a much later version. That report traced it to Desktop receiving CLAUDE_CODE_EMIT_TOOL_USE_SUMMARIES=false; forcing the variable via settings.json was ineffective. I have not re-tested that.