Cowork issues on macOS — page 3
Issues the maintainers labelled both platform:macos and area:cowork.
819 issues · 138 open · 681 resolved (83%) · first seen Jan 15, 2026
Is this getting better or worse?
This class of problem is converging. 179 new reports in the last 90 days vs 345 in the 90 before — -48%. The open backlog peaked at 194 in 2026-04 and sits at 138 today.
Derived by counting each matching issue from its creation date until it closed. First-party
computation over the anthropics/claude-code tracker — the trend is not published
anywhere upstream.
Which builds report this
292 of these reports name the Claude Code build they were running, spanning 107 releases. Heaviest reporters:
- Claude Code v2.1.111
- Claude Code v2.1.92
- Claude Code v2.1.81
- Claude Code v2.1.229
- Claude Code v2.1.177
- Claude Code v2.1.87
- Claude Code v2.1.202
- Claude Code v2.1.121
Report volume, not a defect count: an issue can mention a build without that build having caused the failure. Versions come from the version string in the bug-report template, matched against real published tags.
Do these get fixed?
Median time to close is 34 days across 681 closures. Of the 681 closures with a recorded reason, 17% were closed as completed and 566 as not-planned or duplicate. The most recent completed fix landed in 2026-10.
Workarounds reported by the community
248 of these issues post a workaround someone says worked. The highest-engagement ones:
- [BUG] Google Drive connector shows connected but tools not exposed in Cowork
- Workaround that resolved this for me (macOS, Claude Desktop, one login belonging to two workspaces: a personal one and a Team org). Symptom matched this issue exactly: Drive showed as connected in the UI, but no Drive to…
Found in the thread of #30457 · still open - [BUG] Cowork Can't add private GitHub marketplace
- …ll org-internal plugin distribution through Cowork. The CLI workaround works but leaves teammates unable to install without terminal tooling.
Found in the thread of #28125 · still open - [FEATURE] Model switching for existing Cowork tasks within Projects
- …des instead of fearing them. Alternative Solutions The only workaround I have found is manually copying persona instructions and key decisions into a brand-new task. This loses the live conversation history and the per-t…
Found in the description of #49649 · still open - [BUG] Cowork (Not Claude Code) 1M context window unavailable on Max 5x — regression from March 20
- …ks has been broken since March 19 19:33 UTC. No client-side workaround exists. This requires a server-side fix.
Found in the thread of #37413 · still open - [BUG] Cowork: new projects lost "Choose a folder" — Context menu replaced with Chat-style upload-only knowledge menu after Chat/Cowork merge
- …er-session and not persisted as project context — a partial workaround, not a substitute. <img width="1306" height="735" alt="Image" src=" / <img width="1306" height="735" alt="Image" src=" / What Should Happen? The Cont…
Found in the description of #76694 · still open
Excerpts are quoted from the linked issue so you can judge relevance before opening it. Threads that only ask for a workaround, or report that there is none, are excluded. These are community suggestions, not official guidance from Anthropic — read the full thread before applying one.
Matching issues 201–300
Ranked by community engagement (reactions weighted over comments). Listing the top 300 of 819 matches; the statistics above cover all 819.
- Plugin MCP OAuth is per-session and not durable; Cowork sessions can never authenticate one at all
- [BUG] Cowork: create_artifact / update_artifact / list_artifacts selectively removed from an otherwise fully healthy remote-devices bridge
- [BUG] Cowork: VM boots but guest_vsock_connect never completes on Intel Mac — "Direct-boot artifacts not present in bundle", 60s timeout
- [BUG] Cowork: account-scoped git marketplace "Check for updates" always fails first attempt with MARKETPLACE_ERROR:NOT_REGISTERED, recovers only via refreshMarketplaceViaRemote
- [BUG] Cowork project groups disappeared after update (desktop + web), v1.22209.3
- [BUG] Cowork: folders attached in Project → Context are not mounted in new chat sessions
- [BUG] Desktop 1.20186: "Projects" (Cowork/epitaxy) redirects to Claude Code — new "Code" entitlement gate blocks the surface on Bedrock/3p
- [BUG] Cowork: cannot remove a project's original folder from project context (no remove control)
- [BUG] Dispatch stuck in infinite self-loop: system repeatedly injects "[Your previous response had no visible output]" after long context
- [BUG] Cowork sandbox unbootable, needs backend reprovision (known bug)
- [BUG] Cowork: personal GitHub marketplace never updates — clone silently fails, runtime serves stale version despite correct metadata
- [BUG] Cowork macOS — MCP tools listed in session config but absent from active tool list (mcp__workspace__bash, cowork tools, all connectors)
- Cowork: third-party private-repo marketplaces permanently stale per-account — version label frozen at first-add value, re-add doesn't refresh, releases not picked up
- [BUG] Claude Cowork blocked by "Usage credits required for 1M context" — usage credits enabled, /model workaround non-functional, triggers at 7% session usage during compaction
- [BUG] Skill name conflict persists after full local cleanup — registry appears server-side
- [Bug] org-plugins skills unavailable until 10-minute periodic sync fires — race condition between SkillsPlugin sync and custom-3p:org-plugins install on every startup
- In-flight /btw side conversation silently lost on Code -> Cowork -> Code switch (data loss)
- Claude Desktop 3P mode — inferenceCustomHeaders not applied to HTTP requests
- [BUG] Claude Desktop 1.8089.1: marketplace migration race makes user-installed skills unreachable via slash-command
- [BUG] owork Domain allowlist UI not honored by sandbox proxy
- [BUG] Cowork MCP client times out long-running tool calls despite server progress notifications
- [BUG] Invalid API key · Fix external API key
- [BUG] [Cowork] Scheduled-task sandboxes cannot mount Drive folder; Drive writes blocked at canonical AND Library/CloudStorage paths
- [BUG] Cowork stuck on "Authenticating..." forever — Mac16,10 (M4 Mac mini 2024), macOS Tahoe 26.4.1
- Cowork default animated background causes ~275x idle GPU power draw on M4 Pro
- [BUG] Desktop Code/Cowork mode crashes instantly with OOM error — persists after fresh install, empty chats, confirmed not RAM-related (macOS Tahoe 26.4.1, v1.3036.0)
- [BUG] Cowork "Failed to create bridge sockets" — every spawn exits code 1, persists after full VM rebuild (v1.3036.0, macOS)
- Cowork: Failed to create bridge sockets after 5 attempts (v1.3036.0)
- [Bug] Claude Code process exits with code 1 in Cowork environment
- [BUG] Claude Cowork crashes with "exited with code 1" on first message — all sessions affected (new and existing), v1.3036.0 macOS
- [BUG] Claude Code process exited with code 1
- [BUG] Cowork session crashes immediately on macOS 26.3.1 — VM kernel panic "Attempted to kill the idle task!"
- MS365 connector auth broken: duplicate `prompt` parameter & random redirect URI port mismatch
- [BUG] Issues using Dispatch in cowork
- [BUG] Failed to start Claude's workspace version 2.1.92
- /ultraplan reuses stale remote session from a different project, mixing unrelated context
- Scheduled tasks never execute automatically — wakeScheduler feature flag unavailable
- [BUG] Cowork shows infinite 'Thinking...' spinner after switching back from Code mode
- Cowork: virtiofs mount fails when 'Documents' exists as file in virtual root
- [BUG] Help --> Troubleshooting --> Delete Cowork VM Sessions and Restart is deletes more than just sessions.
- [BUG] Cowork fails with Network status: NOT_CONNECTED even when API reachability: REACHABLE
- Cowork macOS: VirtioFS mount fails for all folders — "mkdir /mnt/.virtiofs-root/Gerald: operation not permitted"
- Claude in Chrome: account mismatch on cold Chrome start from Cowork (no retry on bridge connect)
- [BUG] Cowork MCP connectors lose auth after context compaction — not just server restarts"
- [BUG] Cowork crashes on startup: apply-seccomp Killed in VM sandbox (macOS ARM64)
- Cowork scheduled tasks: action classifier intermittently denies authorized browser writes to a logged-in CRM; same action succeeds when user is present; no trusted-site setting
- [Bug] Plugin orphaned after sync: cannot uninstall due to missing marketplace backing
- [BUG] macOS Cowork: "Couldn't link this session to a computer" since Desktop 2.9939.2 — Secure Enclave sign fails with OSStatus -25308, td-v2 attestation mint unavailable
- Cowork Desktop: local "Additional allowed domains" / "All domains" egress stopped being enforced after 2026-09-11 update (VM 2.1.260 worked, 2.1.266 blocks)
- [BUG] Cowork: agent-created scheduled tasks can never be device-bound, and "Require this computer" cannot be enabled afterwards
- [BUG] Claude in Chrome file_upload fails in interactive Cowork session — rejects paths before reaching the page
- [BUG] Desktop/Cowork: model selection reverts to Fable 5 in an existing session until the app is restarted (silent extra-credit spend)
- Cowork: scheduled-task prompt cannot be updated — even a single-paragraph prompt is rejected ("path traversal detected" / "failed to update")
- Claude in Chrome extension never pairs with cloud Cowork session (all documented conditions met)
- [BUG] Cowork: update retroactively invalidated custom Cowork files root; "Change location" then copied 12.87GB incl. credentials and git repo to world-readable /Library/Application Support/Claude
- [BUG] Cowork "Add folder" rejects Google Drive Mirror root (~/My Drive) as a "protected location" — regression
- [BUG]
- [BUG] MCP server '...' is a local/stdio server. Plugins may only declare remote (http/sse/ws) or MCPB servers.
- [BUG] macOS: Cowork scheduled-tasks / local-agent-mode leak orphaned `claude` processes until app restart
- [BUG] Cowork/Code sessions hang on load after update to desktop 1.14271.0 (macOS 26.5.1)
- [BUG] Server is Busy & "API Error: Unable to connect to API (ECONNRESET)" errors for 48+ hours in cowork
- [BUG] Cowork installs stale cached plugin version; ignores all marketplace repo updates
- [BUG] Cowork in-session task list (Progress widget) does not repaint rows after TaskUpdate marks them completed
- [BUG] Custom mcpb is not picked up by Claude in cowork
- [BUG] Claude Code crashes in desktop app cowork window on Mac
- [BUG] Claude CoWork 1M context error on a Max plan
- [BUG] Claude Desktop crashes after ~7-8s on macOS 26 (Tahoe) — disk-writes resource limit exceeded by Code/Cowork VM init
- Claude desktop app closes unexpectedly on 8 GB M2 Mac — OOM due to 4 GB VM allocation
- Remote Claude Code session (desktop app): GitHubPrManager spawns local `gh` with remote cwd → misleading ENOENT
- /ultraplan deterministically fails: "seed bundle import: firestore: not found"
- [BUG] CLI output was not valid JSON. This may indicate an error during startup. Output: Invalid configuration in /etc/srt-settings/f64bc828-10de-4853-8c01-44a45d9c86b5.json:
- [BUG] Cowork: "Claude Code process exited with code 127" on macOS Intel, App Store Claude Desktop, native CLI 2.1.139
- [BUG] Cowork "Download failed' on macOS Taho 26.4.1 M4
- [Bug] Project-local skill override not loaded by runtime
- [Bug] Cowork: ghost plugin from hidden marketplace can't be uninstalled, triggers OAuth popup on every launch
- MCPB-installed MCP servers not exposed on first turn of Cowork (works on second turn; works first-turn via claude_desktop_config.json)
- [Regression] Korean text broken in pptx/docx preview after recent update (macOS)
- [BUG] Dispatch session wedged after April 28 app update; server-side pairing state stuck
- [FEATURE] Cowork: deterministic VM filesystem mounts that survive Claude Desktop restart
- Custom MCP HTTP connector handshake stalls after notifications/initialized and GET /mcp — "Couldn't reach the MCP server"
- [BUG] Cowork scheduled tasks auto-mount telegram connector not configured by user, conflicts with Claude Code Telegram plugin
- [BUG]
- Cowork: gvisor network daemon stalls at AcceptBess on every VM boot, causing immediate keepalive failure and session termination
- [BUG] Claude Desktop 1.3036.0 — chat exits code 1 on every message, Projects list renders empty despite intact data
- [BUG] Cowork session transcripts and outputs are not durable, and the UX strongly implies they are — weeks of professional work lost
- [BUG] CoWork fails to start on macOS — checksum mismatch downloading claude-code-vm 2.1.111 (linux-arm64)
- [BUG] COWORK not working after recent update
- Cowork/Dispatch: backend drops env/session records, UI shows misleading 'Another device connected' / 'Desktop offline' / 'Session can't be created'
- [BUG] Cowork renders MCP App iframes but never delivers tool results (ontoolresult never fires)
- [BUG] Claude Desktop Cowork hangs on launch and crashes on macOS 26.3.1 (Apple Silicon)
- [BUG] Cowork/Code tab: exit code 126 on VM spawn — missing com.apple.vm.networking entitlement (M5 Max, macOS)
- [BUG] coworkd_upstream_failed connection_refused - persistent across 2 days on Mac
- Cowork UI: messages render out-of-order / require scroll to find — regression on 1.569.0
- Cowork: skills visible in Customize but not loaded in chat (context budget)
- [BUG] Dispatch stop replying. I sent an instruction, desktop agent reads it, but it completely ignores not and no response back
- [BUG] Claude CoWork showing Content Security Policy error after Mac OS update
- [BUG] Cowork: "CLI output was not valid JSON" when MCP tool result contains rich-text characters (runtime, not startup)
- [BUG] Claude in Chrome: Tab groups don't persist, connection drops during long tasks
- [BUG] Cowork VM creates new OAuth token on every session (token accumulation)
- [BUG] Cowork: MCP elicitation/create silently auto-cancels (reproduced with a different MCP server than #56243/#48164)