connect Chrome to Claude...no luck

The Claude for Chrome extension will not connect to my Claude session. Every attempt from the Claude side returns:

Browser extension is not connected. Please ensure the Claude browser extension is installed and running, and that you are logged into claude.ai with the same account as Claude Code.

Steps taken so far (none resolved the issue):

Confirmed the extension is installed from https://claude.ai/chrome
Confirmed the extension is toggled on/enabled in chrome://extensions
Confirmed I'm logged into the correct Claude account
Restarted Chrome
Performed a full system reboot
Retried the connection multiple times after each step above

Expected behavior: The extension should connect and allow the session to drive Chrome (navigate, click, read pages, etc.).

Actual behavior: Connection consistently fails with the "Browser extension is not connected" error, with no change across restarts or reboot.

Environment:

Client: Claude desktop app (Cowork)
Device: ben-tlathrop-02 (if relevant, session device ID)