[BUG] Cloud session started from the Desktop app has no `gh` CLI, although the cloud-environments docs list `gh` as pre-installed

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet. The closest matches (#73782, #72933) are about the GitHub proxy returning 403, not about gh being absent from the image.
• [x] This is a single bug report. The proxy 403 that co-occurred in the same session is already tracked in #73782 / #72933 and is included below only as context.
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code. The cloud container runs whatever the service provisions; claude --version inside it reports 2.1.259.

What's Wrong?

The cloud-environments docs list gh as a pre-installed utility and describe using it through the proxy-injected token:

Utilities | git, gh, jq, yq, ripgrep, tmux, vim, nano — https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cloud-environments#installed-tools

GitHub's gh CLI is pre-installed. If you need a gh command the built-in tools don't cover, like gh release or gh workflow run, ask Claude to run it. gh reads GH_TOKEN automatically, so you don't need to run gh auth login. — https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cloud-environments#work-with-github-issues-and-pull-requests

In a cloud session started from the Claude Desktop app (Code tab, Environment = Cloud, default Anthropic-hosted environment), gh does not exist anywhere in the container:

• which gh / command -v gh print nothing
• a filesystem-wide find for a file named gh (excluding /proc, /sys, node_modules) returns only /usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/gh
• dpkg -l has no gh package and there is no apt source for cli.github.com

Everything else in the Installed tools table is present (check-tools runs, /opt/node20–/opt/node22, jq, yq, ripgrep, tmux, docker, psql), so this is the documented standard image (ANT_IMAGE_REPOSITORY=sandbox-ccr-default) minus gh.

The harness system prompt in the session also tells the agent: "You do NOT have access to the gh CLI, hub CLI, or direct GitHub API access. Instead, use the GitHub MCP server tools". So the omission looks deliberate for this session flavour, but the docs promise the opposite. The GitHub MCP server cannot edit or dismiss a submitted pull-request review or edit a comment, which is exactly the kind of gap the docs say gh is there to cover.

What Should Happen?

One of:

• gh is present in the cloud image, as the docs state, and works through the proxy-injected GH_TOKEN placeholder; or
• the Installed tools table and the "Work with GitHub issues and pull requests" section say that gh is not available in sessions started from the Desktop app (or whichever session flavour this is), and that the GitHub MCP server is the only route.

Error Messages/Logs

$ which gh; command -v gh; echo "exit=$?"
exit=1

$ find / -xdev \( -path /proc -o -path /sys -o -path '*/node_modules' \) -prune -o -type f -name gh -print
/usr/share/X11/xkb/symbols/gh

$ dpkg -l | awk '$2=="gh"'
(no output)

$ grep -rl cli.github.com /etc/apt
(no output)

$ command -v check-tools; ls -d /opt/node*
/usr/local/bin/check-tools
/opt/node20 /opt/node21 /opt/node22

$ echo "$GH_TOKEN"
proxy-injected

$ claude --version
2.1.259 (Claude Code)

# session markers (no identifiers)
CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE=true
CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE_ENVIRONMENT_TYPE=cloud_default
CLAUDE_CODE_ENTRYPOINT=remote_desktop
CLAUDE_CODE_DISABLE_BUILTIN_ANTMCP=1
CLAUDE_CODE_REMOTE_HERMETIC_MODE=0
CLAUDE_CODE_USE_CCR_V2=true
ANT_IMAGE_REPOSITORY=sandbox-ccr-default
CLAUDE_CODE_ENVIRONMENT_RUNNER_VERSION=release-0b91c7974-ext
CLAUDE_CODE_VERSION=2.1.42   # env var; the binary itself reports 2.1.259
OS: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS

Steps to Reproduce

1. In the Claude Desktop app, open the Code tab and start a new session with Environment set to Cloud (default Anthropic-hosted environment) and any GitHub repository as the project. The environment used here allowed all domains, so network access level is not the cause.
2. Ask Claude to run which gh; echo $GH_TOKEN; check-tools | head -20.
3. Observe: which gh prints nothing, GH_TOKEN is proxy-injected, and check-tools runs and lists the other documented tools.
4. Compare with https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cloud-environments#installed-tools, which lists gh under Utilities.

Claude Model

Not applicable (environment/tooling issue).

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version. Earlier cloud sessions started from the web had gh available. I don't have the exact version.

Last Working Version

Unknown.

Claude Code Version

2.1.259 (Claude Code), as provisioned in the cloud container.

Platform

Anthropic API (claude.ai subscription, Anthropic-hosted cloud environment).

Operating System

Container: Ubuntu 24.04.4 LTS. Session launched from the Claude Desktop app.

Terminal/Shell

Other: Claude Desktop app, Code tab, cloud session.

Additional Information

Related and already tracked (context only). In the same session the GitHub proxy also refused every /repos/<org>/<repo>/... REST call for the session's own attached source repository, while /user and /rate_limit succeeded with the account's credentials. This is the same symptom as #73782 and #72933, so it is not refiled here, but the data point may help triage: the session was started from the Desktop app, GitHub is connected through the Claude GitHub App (Connectors shows it connected and the app is installed on the org), and the GitHub MCP server could read from and write to the same repository without trouble.

| request through the proxy | result |
| --- | --- |
| GET /rate_limit | 200, core limit 5000 |
| GET /user | 200, correct login |
| GET /repos/<org>/<repo> (the attached source repo) | 403 |
| GET /repos/<org>/<repo>/pulls/N | 403 |
| GET /repos/<org>/<repo>/pulls/N/reviews | 403 |
| GET /repos/<org>/<repo>/issues/N/comments | 403 |

403 body:

{"message":"GitHub access is not enabled for this session. An org admin must connect the Claude GitHub App for this organization.","documentation_url":"https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/github-actions"}

The docs' GitHub proxy section (https://code.claude.com/docs/en/cloud-environments#github-proxy) says "GitHub API and release-asset requests reach only repositories attached to the session", and this repository was attached. So even with gh installed it would fail on the same gate; both halves need to line up for the documented "ask Claude to run gh ..." workflow to work.

Also, add_repo in that session refused to attach a repository from a different owner ("cross-tier adds are not supported in v1"), which is why this report was filed from a separate session. That matches #78277.