[BUG] Windows MSIX package never receives Trust Label ACE; Windows repeatedly force-terminates running app via NeedsRemediation loop

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?

On Windows 11, the Claude desktop MSIX package repeatedly enters
"Modified, NeedsRemediation" state within minutes of a clean install.
Windows then runs an automatic ACL repair with
ForceTargetApplicationShutdownOption, which force-terminates the running
app mid-session. This destroys in-progress Claude Code sessions.

Root cause appears to be that the Claude package is missing the process
trust label ACE (S-1-19-512-4096) that every other MSIX package on the
machine carries.

Evidence:

1. Claude's ACL is missing the trust label ACE. Every healthy package on

this machine ends with S-1-19-512-4096:(OI)(CI)(RX,D,WDAC,WO,WA).
Claude's has no such entry. Claude's inherited ACEs are also collapsed
into single (OI)(CI) entries where healthy packages have paired
(I)(F) + (I)(OI)(CI)(IO)(F) splits. Full icacls output attached.

1. Windows' Trust Label sweep skips Claude entirely. AppXDeploymentServer

/Operational at 13:07:27 shows events 8100/8101 setting Trust Labels on
OneDriveSync, Edge, MicrosoftOfficeHub, ActionsServer, MSTeams, Paint,
and Photos. Claude is absent - not even event 8106 ("has Trust Label
already").

1. Clean install to Modified in six minutes. 13:01:24 event 400: Add

operation finished successfully, no ACL repair. By 13:07 the package
reads Modified, NeedsRemediation.

1. The CoworkVMService packaged service repeatedly fails with "failed to

configure SCM recovery actions ... open service: Access is denied,"
which may be the same permission gap.

Ruled out: Windows Defender is the only AV with zero detections;
Controlled Folder Access disabled; chkdsk C: /scan clean with 0 bad
sectors; sfc /scannow found and repaired files but the issue persists;
an orphaned Claude_1.30096.5.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc directory in
WindowsApps was found and removed (this produced a temporary Ok status);
Repair, reinstall, and Reset-AppxPackage all tried.

Impact: two full working days lost. Every desktop Claude Code session
dies within minutes. The CLI is unaffected and stable, which isolates
this to MSIX packaging rather than Claude Code itself.

What Should Happen?

The MSIX package should receive the standard trust label ACE at install
time and remain in Ok status. Windows should not repeatedly flag it
Modified, NeedsRemediation and force-terminate the running application
during package servicing.

Error Messages/Logs

AppXDeploymentServer/Operational - remediation cycle, one minute apart:

12:45:49  649   Trying to repair ACLs for \\?\C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Claude_1.40609.0.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc
12:45:51  649   ACLs repaired successfully. Register next time should succeed.
12:46:56  603   Started deployment RegisterByPackageFullName operation ... Options ForceTargetApplicationShutdownOption,RepairAppRegistrationOption
12:46:57  9650  Successfully terminated service Claude_1.40609.0.0_x64__pzs8sxrjxfjjc in package CoworkVMService.
12:46:57  9643  TerminateApplications successful.

Application log, repeated:

Claude VM Service: failed to configure SCM recovery actions; if the service crashes it will not restart until the machine reboots: open service: Access is denied.

Claude package ACL (no S-1-19-512-4096 entry):

BUILTIN\Users:(OI)(CI)(Rc,S,RD,REA,X,RA)
S-1-15-3-3557520199-...:(OI)(CI)(RX)
BUILTIN\Users:(OI)(CI)(R)
NT SERVICE\TrustedInstaller:(I)(OI)(CI)(F)
NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM:(I)(OI)(CI)(F)
BUILTIN\Administrators:(I)(CI)(RX)

Healthy package on same machine (Canon printer utility), final line:

NT AUTHORITY\RESTRICTED:(I)(OI)(CI)(RX)
S-1-19-512-4096:(OI)(CI)(RX,D,WDAC,WO,WA)

Steps to Reproduce

1. Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers -Name Claude | Remove-AppxPackage -AllUsers
2. Remove any leftover C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Claude_* directories
3. Reboot
4. Install from claude.ai/download (non-elevated)
5. Get-AppxPackage -Name Claude | Select Status -> Ok
6. Open the app, start two Claude Code sessions, use for a few minutes
7. App force-closes and will not relaunch until claude.exe is killed in

Task Manager

1. Get-AppxPackage -Name Claude | Select Status -> Modified, NeedsRemediation
2. AppXDeploymentServer/Operational shows a 603 register operation with

ForceTargetApplicationShutdownOption and 649 ACL repair events

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

1.30096.5.0

Claude Code Version

2.1.252 (Claude Code) — the CLI is unaffected; the desktop app is 1.40609.1.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

Windows 11, build 10.0.26100.8972 (image 10.0.26200.9168), x64.
Desktop app 1.40609.1.0; same behavior on 1.40609.0.0.
Claude Code CLI 2.1.252 - unaffected and stable throughout.

Possibly related: #91300 (desktop app Resume Session finds no sessions
after app repair, while CLI claude --resume finds all of them). The
session loss there is downstream of the same forced repair behavior.

Attached: full AppXDeploymentServer event export and icacls output.

claude-acl.txt
appx-events.txt