[BUG] Fail to reauthenticate my account, Claude Desktop on Ubuntu Linux

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?

Related to #94884 (same symptom, different root cause — that report predates the Linux beta and assumes no desktop app exists; here the app is installed and the failure is in the package's desktop-database registration).

Different root cause from the original report, same dead-end symptom. This one is a packaging bug and has a one-line fix.

Environment

• Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS (noble), GNOME Shell 46.0, Wayland
• claude-desktop 2.2553.1, installed from Anthropic's apt repository
• Google Chrome 153.0.8010.52, native /usr/bin/google-chrome (not Snap/Flatpak)

Unlike the original report, the desktop app is installed, so there is an app for the deep link to open. Sign-in still dead-ends at GNOME's "Open With… / No Apps Available" chooser.

Root cause

postinst never runs update-desktop-database, so x-scheme-handler/claude is never indexed in /usr/share/applications/mimeinfo.cache:

$ grep -l 'update-desktop-database' /var/lib/dpkg/info/claude-desktop.*
(no match — not called in postinst or postrm)

The result is a default that points at an unindexed application. Chrome delegates to GIO, GIO reads the cache, finds nothing registered, falls through to the chooser:

$ gio mime x-scheme-handler/claude
Default application for "x-scheme-handler/claude": com.anthropic.Claude.desktop
No registered applications
No recommended applications

Why this is easy to misdiagnose

Two things report success while the handoff is broken:

$ xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/claude
com.anthropic.Claude.desktop          # reads mimeapps.list — the preference, not the index

$ xdg-open 'claude://claude.ai/new'
(launches the app fine)

Chrome also shows its "Open Claude?" confirmation dialog before failing. That dialog is derived from the scheme string and is not evidence that a handler resolved — clicking through it produces the GNOME "No Apps Available" chooser.

gio mime is the only one of the three that reflects what Chrome actually uses.

Fix

sudo update-desktop-database /usr/share/applications

Then fully restart Chrome (it caches the handler lookup at startup). Browser sign-in completes normally afterward.

Ruled out

• Shadowing user entry. The app writes ~/.local/share/applications/com.anthropic.Claude.desktop (X-Claude-Generated=true), which shadows the packaged copy. I removed it during debugging, then restored it after rebuilding the cache — gio mime lists it as registered and recommended and the launch works. Not a factor.
• TryExec. The generated user entry adds TryExec=claude-desktop, absent from the packaged copy. Resolves fine (/usr/bin/claude-desktop), so GIO does not discard the entry.
• Chrome policy (chrome://policy empty), protocol_handler.excluded_schemes (key absent), Snap/Flatpak sandboxing (neither), desktop portal.

Suggested fix

Add to postinst:

if command -v update-desktop-database >/dev/null 2>&1; then
    update-desktop-database -q /usr/share/applications || true
fi

This affects every fresh install of the Linux beta on GNOME — the deep link cannot work until a user happens to run update-desktop-database for an unrelated reason.

Temporary workaround

A dpkg trigger hook:

sudo tee /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/99-claude-desktop-mime >/dev/null <<'EOF'
DPkg::Post-Invoke { "if [ -x /usr/bin/update-desktop-database ]; then /usr/bin/update-desktop-database -q /usr/share/applications || true; fi"; };
EOF

That runs after every apt transaction, not just Claude's, and is harmless — update-desktop-database is cheap and idempotent. It also covers any other package with the same omission. Remove the file if Anthropic fixes the postinst.

Diagnostic for anyone else hitting this

xdg-mime query is not sufficient. Check with:

gio mime x-scheme-handler/claude

A named default alongside "No registered applications" is the signature.

What Should Happen?

Claude desktop should allow registration to work

Error Messages/Logs

Nothing is obvious. Just Chrome can't open Claude after logging in.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open Claude desktop.
2. Attempt to login.
3. Redirect to Chrome.
4. Login successfully.
5. Attempt to use xdg-open to launch Claude with the URL that has the nonce.
6. Failed to launch Claude.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

Unsure

Claude Code Version

command not found - claude desktop

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Ubuntu/Debian Linux

Terminal/Shell

Xterm

Additional Information

_No response_