[BUG] claude code desktop keeps asking me to download claude code desktop
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?
Claude Desktop Code tab renders the web environment picker and offers to download Claude Desktop; %APPDATA%\Claude\claude-code-sessions never created
Preflight Checklist
I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
This is a single bug report
I am using the latest version of Claude Code
What's Wrong?
In the Claude Desktop app (not a browser), the Code tab renders the claude.ai/code web surface instead of its native local session UI. Consequences:
The environment picker shows Local greyed out and labelled Download / Desktop only — i.e. the desktop app is instructing me to download the desktop app I am currently running.
The only selectable environments are Cloud and Remote Control.
It presents a GitHub repository picker ("Select repository…"), which is the cloud-session flow. It has no access to the local filesystem and no knowledge of prior local sessions.
Repeated login prompts. Completing login opens a browser tab that attempts to reconnect and then hangs.
Local Claude Code sessions started earlier from this app are not listed anywhere in the app UI.
Likely root cause
The desktop app's own session store does not exist on disk:
powershell
PS> dir "$env:APPDATA\Claude\claude-code-sessions"
dir : Cannot find path 'C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Claude\claude-code-sessions'
because it does not exist.
The CLI's store is intact and contains the prior sessions:
powershell
PS> dir "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude\projects"
5 project directories present, most recent writes 9/6/2026
So the sessions survive on disk; the app has lost its window onto them. My guess is that the app fails to initialize or locate its bundled Claude Code runtime and silently degrades to the embedded claude.ai web view, which by design has no local config — producing the "Desktop only" label inside the desktop app.
What Should Happen?
The Code tab in Claude Desktop should offer Local as a selectable environment and list local sessions. It should never present the Desktop only / Download affordance, which is a web-surface label.
Steps to Reproduce
Open Claude Desktop on Windows.
Go to the Code tab.
Click the environment picker below the prompt box.
Observe: Local is disabled with Download / Desktop only; a GitHub repo picker is shown; no local sessions are listed.
Environment
Operating System: Windows <!-- fill in: 10 / 11, and build -->
Claude Desktop version: <!-- Settings → About -->
Claude Code (bundled in Desktop): <!-- if shown -->
Claude Code CLI: 2.1.267 (installed standalone afterwards; works correctly)
Plan: Claude Max
Terminal/Shell: Windows PowerShell
Auth: claude.ai subscription (no ANTHROPIC_API_KEY set)
Additional Information
Installing the standalone CLI (irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex) works. claude --resume from a project directory reaches the prior sessions normally, confirming the sessions themselves are intact and the fault is app-side.
This machine was running three local Claude Code agent sessions concurrently. One terminated mid-output with garbled text around the time the login loop began. Possibly related; possibly separate.
claude doctor output: <!-- paste here -->
Is this a regression?
<!-- Yes / No / I don't know — it worked before the trio of sessions was running -->
What Should Happen?
claude code desktop should resume session where i left off. instead it thinks its the browser and keeps asking me to download desktop.
Claude Desktop Code tab renders the web environment picker and offers to download Claude Desktop; %APPDATA%\Claude\claude-code-sessions never created
Preflight Checklist
I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
This is a single bug report
I am using the latest version of Claude Code
What's Wrong?
In the Claude Desktop app (not a browser), the Code tab renders the claude.ai/code web surface instead of its native local session UI. Consequences:
The environment picker shows Local greyed out and labelled Download / Desktop only — i.e. the desktop app is instructing me to download the desktop app I am currently running.
The only selectable environments are Cloud and Remote Control.
It presents a GitHub repository picker ("Select repository…"), which is the cloud-session flow. It has no access to the local filesystem and no knowledge of prior local sessions.
Repeated login prompts. Completing login opens a browser tab that attempts to reconnect and then hangs.
Local Claude Code sessions started earlier from this app are not listed anywhere in the app UI.
Likely root cause
The desktop app's own session store does not exist on disk:
powershell
PS> dir "$env:APPDATA\Claude\claude-code-sessions"
dir : Cannot find path 'C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Claude\claude-code-sessions'
because it does not exist.
The CLI's store is intact and contains the prior sessions:
powershell
PS> dir "$env:USERPROFILE\.claude\projects"
5 project directories present, most recent writes 9/6/2026
So the sessions survive on disk; the app has lost its window onto them. My guess is that the app fails to initialize or locate its bundled Claude Code runtime and silently degrades to the embedded claude.ai web view, which by design has no local config — producing the "Desktop only" label inside the desktop app.
What Should Happen?
The Code tab in Claude Desktop should offer Local as a selectable environment and list local sessions. It should never present the Desktop only / Download affordance, which is a web-surface label.
Steps to Reproduce
Open Claude Desktop on Windows.
Go to the Code tab.
Click the environment picker below the prompt box.
Observe: Local is disabled with Download / Desktop only; a GitHub repo picker is shown; no local sessions are listed.
Environment
Operating System: Windows <!-- fill in: 10 / 11, and build -->
Claude Desktop version: <!-- Settings → About -->
Claude Code (bundled in Desktop): <!-- if shown -->
Claude Code CLI: 2.1.267 (installed standalone afterwards; works correctly)
Plan: Claude Max
Terminal/Shell: Windows PowerShell
Auth: claude.ai subscription (no ANTHROPIC_API_KEY set)
Additional Information
Installing the standalone CLI (irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex) works. claude --resume from a project directory reaches the prior sessions normally, confirming the sessions themselves are intact and the fault is app-side.
This machine was running three local Claude Code agent sessions concurrently. One terminated mid-output with garbled text around the time the login loop began. Possibly related; possibly separate.
claude doctor output: <!-- paste here -->
Is this a regression?
yes
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
claude-desktop-code-tab-bug-report.md
Claude Model
Not sure / Multiple models
Is this a regression?
Yes, this worked in a previous version
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
native (2.1.267)
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
Other
Additional Information
claude-desktop-code-tab-bug-report.md
PS C:\Users\bhiks\Dropbox\claude-hosts> claude doctor
Claude Code doctor
Running: native (2.1.267)
Commit: a9e1808c8204
Platform: win32-x64
Path: C:\Users\bhiks\.local\bin\claude.exe
Config install method: native
Search: OK (bundled)
Auto-updates: enabled
Auto-update channel: latest
Last update attempt: none recorded
Managed settings (remote): not fetched — requires an Enterprise or Team subscription
Organization policy: not applicable to Pro and Max accounts
Remote Control
Control this session from claude.ai/code or the Claude mobile app
No installation issues found.
For a full setup checkup that can also fix issues, run /doctor in a Claude Code session.