›_ Claude Code Issues
Claude Code Issues / #87617

[BUG] Cowork VM connection timeout after 60 seconds — Intel Mac, guest kernel stalls ~2.2s into boot

Status Closed — duplicate
Maintainer reply None cached
Activity 3 comments · opened Aug 18, 2026 · closed Aug 20, 2026

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?

What's wrong: Cowork fails to start: "Failed to start Claude's workspace — VM connection timeout after 60 seconds." Worked previously; failed spontaneously today (2026-08-17) with no Claude app update or user-initiated change.

Persists through: app restart, full machine reboot, fresh Claude app install, in-app workspace reinstall, manual deletion of vm_bundles (fresh bundle was re-downloaded and provisioned — identical failure), and a macOS update applied after the failure began.

Host: MacBook Pro 13" 2020 (Intel Core i5-1038NG7), macOS 26.6.2 (25G83), Claude app version: [FILL IN]. 16GB RAM, 838GB free disk, CPU ~70% idle, no VPN (confirmed via scutil --nc list), macOS firewall off, no third-party AV, machine cool (active laptop cooler).

Log evidence:

  • cowork_vm_node.log: repeated Connection timeout, last completed step: vm_boot → Startup failed: Error: VM connection timeout after 60 seconds
  • cowork_vm_swift.log: "Direct-boot artifacts not present in bundle; using EFI (GRUB) boot"; gvisor user-mode networking starts OK; "Linux VM started successfully"; then guest_vsock_connect starts and never completes
  • coworkd.log (guest console): kernel boots normally to ~2.25s, last normal line xor: automatically using best checksumming function avx, then only hrtimer: interrupt took 11323583 ns at ~64s — guest alive but stalled, apparently before rootfs mount
  • Stall point is identical on the freshly downloaded bundle (version 2a762adfc2eea13eca0d113a2e6452ff00ae3f62)

Is this a regression: Yes — worked until 2026-08-17, broke without any known trigger.

What Should Happen?

  1. Launch Claude Desktop
  2. Open the Cowork tab
  3. Error appears automatically after ~60 seconds; no user action triggers it

Error Messages/Logs

=== cowork_vm_node.log ===
	member: en1 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>
	        ifmaxaddr 0 port 13 priority 0 path cost 0
	member: en2 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>
	        ifmaxaddr 0 port 12 priority 0 path cost 0
	member: en3 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>
	        ifmaxaddr 0 port 11 priority 0 path cost 0
	member: en4 flags=3<LEARNING,DISCOVER>
	        ifmaxaddr 0 port 10 priority 0 path cost 0
	nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
	media: <unknown type>
	status: inactive
utun0: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1500
	inet6 fe80::f45d:87ad:7643:593a%utun0 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0xf 
	nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun1: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380
	inet6 fe80::4bd4:763f:cf0e:688f%utun1 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x10 
	nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun2: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 2000
	inet6 fe80::9dbc:36e5:7348:5bea%utun2 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x11 
	nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun3: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1000
	inet6 fe80::ce81:b1c:bd2c:69e%utun3 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x12 
	nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun4: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380
	inet6 fe80::73b3:6c14:e9e2:9418%utun4 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x13 
	nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
utun5: flags=8051<UP,POINTOPOINT,RUNNING,MULTICAST> mtu 1380
	inet6 fe80::446f:a39a:6cb2:484d%utun5 prefixlen 64 scopeid 0x14 
	nd6 options=201<PERFORMNUD,DAD>
2026-08-18 06:23:44 [info] [networkDiagnostics] === Network configuration ===
2026-08-18 06:23:44 [info] Network information

IPv4 network interface information
     en6 : flags      : 0x7 (IPv4,IPv6,DNS)
           address    : 192.168.1.155
           reach      : 0x00000002 (Reachable)
     en0 : flags      : 0x7 (IPv4,IPv6,DNS)
           address    : 192.168.1.129
           reach      : 0x00000002 (Reachable)

   REACH : flags 0x00000002 (Reachable)

IPv6 network interface information
     en6 : flags      : 0x7 (IPv4,IPv6,DNS)
           address    : 2600:1700:70d0:1550:18c2:8aa6:7d39:9b10
           reach      : 0x00000002 (Reachable)
     en0 : flags      : 0x7 (IPv4,IPv6,DNS)
           address    : fd40:5c04:e851:f256:6d:b64e:c5d0:b789
           reach      : 0x00000002 (Reachable)

   REACH : flags 0x00000002 (Reachable)

Network interfaces: en6 en0
2026-08-18 06:23:44 [info] [networkDiagnostics] === vmnet kext status ===
2026-08-18 06:23:45 [info] Index Refs Address            Size       Wired      Name (Version) UUID <Linked Against>
2026-08-18 06:23:45 [info] [networkDiagnostics] === System logs (bootpd/vmnet) ===
2026-08-18 06:23:45 [info] Index Refs Address            Size       Wired      Name (Version) UUID <Linked Against>
2026-08-18 06:23:45 [info] [networkDiagnostics] === System logs (bootpd/vmnet) ===
2026-08-18 06:23:46 [info] Timestamp               Ty Process[PID:TID]
2026-08-18 06:23:46 [info] [networkDiagnostics] === End Comprehensive Diagnostics ===
2026-08-18 06:23:46 [info] Timestamp               Ty Process[PID:TID]
2026-08-18 06:23:46 [info] [networkDiagnostics] === End Comprehensive Diagnostics ===
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [KernelBugMonitor] State reset
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [VM:start] Beginning startup, bundlePath=/Users/drweaver1990/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [VM:start] Bundle version: 2a762adfc2eea13eca0d113a2e6452ff00ae3f62
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [VM:start] VM instance ID: 8b12616b-e566-412c-9f67-d905fb91c871
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [VM:steps] download_and_sdk_prepare started
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [VM:steps] download_and_sdk_prepare completed (8ms)
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [VM:steps] load_swift_api started
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [VM:steps] load_swift_api completed (1ms)
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [VM:start] memory=4GB tier=flat
2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] [VM:steps] stop_existing_vm started
2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] [VM:steps] stop_existing_vm completed (60201ms)
2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] [VM:steps] create_vm_config started
2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] [VM:steps] create_network started
2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] [VM:steps] create_network completed (0ms)
2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] [VM:steps] create_vm_config completed (0ms)
2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] [VM:steps] vm_boot started
2026-08-18 06:25:22 [info] [VM:steps] vm_boot completed (197ms)
2026-08-18 06:25:22 [info] [VM:steps] guest_vsock_connect started

=== cowork_vm_swift.log ===
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] VM startup step: stop_existing_vm completed
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Using bundle at /Users/drweaver1990/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] VM startup step: create_vm_config started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Direct-boot artifacts not present in bundle; using EFI (GRUB) boot
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Found smol-bin image at /Applications/Claude.app/Contents/Resources/smol-bin.x64.img
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Added smol-bin.img as read-only virtio-blk device
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] VM startup step: create_network started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Using gvisor user-mode networking
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Created gvisor network socket pair (vm=45, go=214)
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Starting gvisor usernet on fd=214 mac=86:d4:43:24:78:bd
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Gvisor usernet started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] VM startup step: create_network completed
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Console device attached: port 0 (coworkd/hvc0), port 1 (kernel boot/hvc1)
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Configuration created:
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info]   - CPUs: 4
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info]   - Memory: 4GB
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info]   - Boot: EFI (GRUB)
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info]   - Rootfs: /Users/drweaver1990/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle/rootfs.img
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info]   - Session data: /Users/drweaver1990/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle/sessiondata.img
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info]   - MAC address: 86:d4:43:24:78:bd
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info]   - Shared directory: /
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] VM startup step: create_vm_config completed
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] VM startup step: vm_boot started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] Linux VM started successfully
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] VM startup step: vm_boot completed
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:22:44 [info] VM startup step: guest_vsock_connect started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] startVM called for /Users/drweaver1990/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle with memoryGB=4 cpuCount=auto networkMode=gvisor
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] VM startup step: stop_existing_vm started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] Stopping VM (isAppQuit: false)...
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:24:21 [info] VM requestStop() completed
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [warn] Timeout waiting for VM to stop (state: 1), proceeding with cleanup
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] 🎈 [Balloon] Monitoring stopped
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Gvisor network attachment stopped
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] VM stopped successfully
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] VM startup step: stop_existing_vm completed
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Using bundle at /Users/drweaver1990/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] VM startup step: create_vm_config started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Direct-boot artifacts not present in bundle; using EFI (GRUB) boot
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Found smol-bin image at /Applications/Claude.app/Contents/Resources/smol-bin.x64.img
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Added smol-bin.img as read-only virtio-blk device
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] VM startup step: create_network started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Using gvisor user-mode networking
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Created gvisor network socket pair (vm=45, go=214)
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Starting gvisor usernet on fd=214 mac=86:d4:43:24:78:bd
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Gvisor usernet started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] VM startup step: create_network completed
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Console device attached: port 0 (coworkd/hvc0), port 1 (kernel boot/hvc1)
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] Configuration created:
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info]   - CPUs: 4
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info]   - Memory: 4GB
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info]   - Boot: EFI (GRUB)
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info]   - Rootfs: /Users/drweaver1990/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle/rootfs.img
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info]   - Session data: /Users/drweaver1990/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle/sessiondata.img
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info]   - MAC address: 86:d4:43:24:78:bd
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info]   - Shared directory: /
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] VM startup step: create_vm_config completed
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:21 [info] VM startup step: vm_boot started
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:22 [info] Linux VM started successfully
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:22 [info] VM startup step: vm_boot completed
[VM] 2026-08-18 06:25:22 [info] VM startup step: guest_vsock_connect started

=== coworkd.log ===
[KERNEL] [    1.229544] evm: security.SMACK64MMAP
[KERNEL] [    1.230140] evm: security.app[KERNEL] armor
[KERNEL] [    1.230875] evm: security.ima
[KERNEL] [    1.231443] evm: security.capability
[KERNEL] [    1.232195] evm: HMAC attrs: [KERNEL] 0x1
[KERNEL] [    1.233398] PM:   Magic number: 6:904:428
[KERNEL] [    1.238219] RAS: Correctable Errors collector initialized.
[KERNEL] [    1.239234] clk: Disabling unused clocks
[KERNEL] [    1.247940] Freeing unused decrypted memory: 2028K
[KERNEL] [    1.249341] Freeing unused kernel image (initmem) memory: 492[KERNEL] 8K
[KERNEL] [    1.250497] Write protecting the kernel read-only data: 36864k
[KERNEL] [    1.252155] Freeing unused kernel image (rodata/data gap) memory: 328K
[KERNEL] [    1.311003] x86/mm: Checked W+X mappings: passed, no W+X pages found.
[KERNEL] [    1.312102] x86/mm: Checking user space page tables
[KERNEL] [    1.367592] x86/mm: Checked W+X mappings: passed, no W+X pages found.
[KERNEL] [    1.368668] Run /init as init process
[KERNEL] [    1.462819] NET: Registered PF_VSOCK protocol family
[KERNEL] [    1.464112] virtio_net virtio0 enp0s1: renamed from eth0
[KERNEL] [    1.475876] [drm] pci: virtio[KERNEL] -gpu-pci detected at 0000:00:0a.0
[KERNEL] [    1.479547] [drm] features: -virgl -edid -res[KERNEL] ource_blob -host_visible
[KERNEL] [    1.479551] [drm] features: -[KERNEL] context_init
[KERNEL] [    1.486100] [drm] number of scanouts: 1
[KERNEL] [    1.487374] [drm] number of c[KERNEL] ap sets: 0
[KERNEL] [    1.489268] [drm] Initialized virtio_gpu 0.1.0 0 for 0000:00:0a.0 on minor 0
[KERNEL] [    1.518539] Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 160x50
[KERNEL] [    1.520861] virtio-pci 0000:00:0a.0: [drm] fb0: virtio_gpudrmfb frame buffer [KERNEL] device
[KERNEL] [    1.750834] tsc: Refined TSC clocksource calibration: 1996.809 MHz
[KERNEL] [    1.752420] clocksource: tsc: mask: 0xfffffff[KERNEL] fffffffff max_cycles: 0x3990cfc58e1, max_idle_ns: 881590731383 ns
[KERNEL] [    1.754980] clocksource: Swit[KERNEL] ched to clocksource tsc
[KERNEL] [    1.831782] raid6: avx512x4 gen() 47431 MB/s
[KERNEL] [    1.848771] raid6: avx512x2 gen() 51036 MB/s
[KERNEL] [    1.865845] raid6: avx512x1 gen() 47542 MB/s
[KERNEL] [    1.882728] raid6: avx2x4   gen() 37133 MB/s
[KERNEL] 
[KERNEL] [    1.899787] raid6: avx2x2   gen() 39963 MB/s
[KERNEL] [    1.917789] raid6: avx2x1   gen() 30818 MB/s
[KERNEL] 
[KERNEL] [    1.918669] raid6: using algorithm avx512x2 gen() 51036 MB/s
[KERNEL] [    1.935843] raid6: .... xor() 31981 MB/s, rmw enabled
[KERNEL] [    1.936848] raid6: using avx512x2 recovery algorithm
[KERNEL] [    1.939737] async_tx: api initialized (async)
[KERNEL] [    1.942802] xor: automatically using best checksumming function   avx

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Launch Claude Desktop
  2. Open the Cowork tab
  3. Error appears automatically after ~60 seconds; no user action triggers it

Claude Model

Not sure / Multiple models

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

1.32352.1

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Confirmed still broken — three fresh timeouts this morning (06:23, 06:26, 06:28), all at the same vm_boot step. The model switch didn't change anything; my shell calls fail identically.

So the bug report stands as drafted. Add today's date to it — the failure recurring on 2026-08-18 after the overnight reboot strengthens the "persistent, not transient" case.

View original on GitHub ↗

This issue has 3 comments on GitHub. Read the full discussion on GitHub ↗

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