[Desktop] "Open links in built-in browser" is ignored for some chat links: same URL opens in-app from one message, in system browser from another

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?

In the desktop app (Code tab), with Settings → Browser → "Open links in built-in browser" turned on, clicking external links in Claude's chat replies is inconsistent: some links open in the built-in Browser pane, others open in the system default browser (Chrome), even when they point to the exact same URL.

Observed in one session (all plain clicks, no Cmd/modifier):

• https://code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop placed in a "Sources:" bullet list at the end of an earlier reply → opens in the built-in Browser pane.
• The same URL written as an inline markdown link inside a sentence in later replies (e.g. [official docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop)) → opens in Chrome. This stays true after newer messages arrive, so it is not about the link being in the latest message.
• https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues/... links behave the same way: in-app from the Sources list, Chrome when inline in other replies.

No chooser dialog appeared for the links that went to Chrome.

What Should Happen?

With "Open links in built-in browser" on, every external http(s) link clicked in the chat transcript should open in the built-in Browser pane (or show the Open in app / Default browser chooser), regardless of which message it is in or where it sits in the message. Cmd-click should be the only way to go straight to the system browser.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. macOS desktop app, Code tab. Settings → Browser → turn on "Open links in built-in browser". Be signed in inside the Browser pane.
2. Ask Claude a question that makes it answer with a "Sources:" bullet list of URLs (e.g. anything that uses WebSearch).
3. Ask a follow-up so Claude writes the same URL again as an inline markdown link inside a sentence, e.g. see the [docs](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/desktop).
4. Plain-click the URL in the Sources list → opens in the built-in Browser pane.
5. Plain-click the same URL inline in the later reply → opens in the system default browser (Chrome).
6. Send another message so that reply is no longer the latest, then click the inline link again → still opens in Chrome.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.282 (Claude Code); Claude desktop app 2.7032.0

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

• macOS 26.3.1, Claude desktop app 2.7032.0, Claude Code 2.1.282
• System default browser: Google Chrome
• Related: #96344 (same URL, different UI surface → different routing; closed), #86484 (right-click "Open in Browser panel" opens the system browser instead; auto-closed as inactive, not fixed), #79315 (file:// links ignore the setting in the other direction). This report is about plain clicks on markdown links inside chat replies, which none of those cover.
• Separately, localhost URLs (http://localhost:8770/, http://127.0.0.1:8770/) still open in the system browser in this version; that is #78225, mentioned only as context.
• On the very first try right after enabling the setting, the first two Sources links also went to Chrome and later opened in-app; that may just be the setting not yet applied, so I am not counting it.