The desktop app issues on macOS
Issues the maintainers labelled both platform:macos and area:desktop.
1,578 issues · 427 open · 1,151 resolved (73%) · first seen Nov 6, 2025
Is this getting better or worse?
This class of problem is holding steady. 788 new reports in the last 90 days vs 766 in the 90 before — +3%. The open backlog peaked at 427 in 2026-08 and sits at 427 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
763 of these reports name the Claude Code build they were running, spanning 135 releases. Heaviest reporters:
- Claude Code v2.1.111
- Claude Code v2.1.229
- Claude Code v2.1.197
- Claude Code v2.1.92
- Claude Code v2.1.227
- Claude Code v2.1.142
- Claude Code v2.1.170
- Claude Code v2.1.209
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 1,151 closures. Of the 1,151 closures with a recorded reason, 28% were closed as completed and 829 as not-planned or duplicate. The most recent completed fix landed in 2026-08.
Workarounds reported by the community
457 of these issues post a workaround someone says worked. The highest-engagement ones:
- FEATURE: Multi-window support in Claude Code Desktop
- …essions, but forcing single-window view limits productivity Workarounds (all suboptimal) 1. — works but doubles memory usage 2. Desktop + CLI terminal side by side — inconsistent experience 3. Desktop + claude.ai/code in…
Found in the description of #30154 · still open - [FEATURE] Menu Bar Only Mode (Hide Dock Icon Option)
- …s or menu bar Additional Context: This would also provide a workaround for the current quit bug (issue 14951) where Cmd+Q doesn't properly close the app, since menu bar apps typically have a "Quit" option in their menu.…
Found in the description of #16082 · still open - [BUG] Inline KaTeX math (`$...$`) no longer renders in chat output — only block `$$...$$` works (regression)
- …ub-Flavored Markdown, Obsidian, and KaTeX/MathJax defaults. In the meantime the only workaround is Unicode ( ) or accepting display blocks — neither produces real inline math.
Found in the thread of #65632 · still open - [BUG] Opus 4.6 removed from Claude Desktop Code tab model picker after Opus 4.7 release
- …he option to use Opus 4.6 but not the "Coding" tab? Anyone has a workaround for the Desktop App?
Found in the thread of #49689 · resolved - [BUG] Claude Code defaults to 1M context on fresh session with no workaround on Pro plan
- …ars immediately without any prompt or file loaded Attempted workarounds — none resolved it: - — same error - — same error - → with Pro credentials only — same error Expected behavior: Standard context window used by defa…
Found in the description of #62063 · resolved
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 1–100
Ranked by community engagement (reactions weighted over comments). Listing the top 300 of 1,578 matches; the statistics above cover all 1,578.
- FEATURE: Multi-window support in Claude Code Desktop
- [FEATURE] Menu Bar Only Mode (Hide Dock Icon Option)
- [BUG] Inline KaTeX math (`$...$`) no longer renders in chat output — only block `$$...$$` works (regression)
- [BUG] Opus 4.6 removed from Claude Desktop Code tab model picker after Opus 4.7 release
- [BUG] Claude Code defaults to 1M context on fresh session with no workaround on Pro plan
- [BUG] Inline $...$ LaTeX does not render in Claude Code desktop tab (macOS/Windows) — display $$...$$ works
- [BUG] Desktop: Bypass Permissions mode can't be enabled on macOS — reverts to Accept Edits, "Permission mode couldn't be changed" (2.1.148)
- [BUG] Cowork Can't add private GitHub marketplace
- [FEATURE] Model switching for existing Cowork tasks within Projects
- [Regression] Desktop app: session time-range filter only appears when Group by is set to State
- Desktop app ignores settings.json permissions.allow and defaultMode: bypassPermissions
- [BUG] Claude on MacOS does not use default browser for logging in
- macOS: PTY file descriptors leaked across a long Bash-heavy session, exhausting kern.tty.ptmx_max (forkpty / posix_openpt fail with ENXIO system-wide)
- Allow reordering/pinning of session groups in the sidebar
- [BUG] Copy/Paste from Mac Command C/V stop working frequently in latest Claude Code desktop
- [FEATURE] Desktop app: setting to auto-expand Edit/Write diffs by default
- [FEATURE] Option to disable Launch preview panel auto-open on Write/Edit
- [BUG] Dispatch-spawned Claude Code sessions ignore user's model and permission-mode settings — no way to change from mobile
- SSH: CC_ENV_EXTRACT_LIST missing SSH_AUTH_SOCK breaks 1Password SSH agent
- Dispatch main conversation permanently offline despite working Cowork tasks
- [BUG] Cowork crashes since v1.3036.0 is installed
- Desktop app ignores env.PATH from settings.json (sandbox overrides)
- [FEATURE] macOS desktop app: change font size without scaling the whole UI
- [BUG] Claude Code process exited with code 1
- [FEATURE] Allow scheduled agent / Routine runs to appear in Recents or be pinnable in the sidebar
- Desktop app (macOS) ignores PATH from all sources — Read tool cannot find poppler/pdftoppm
- Scheduled task ignores model setting, always runs Sonnet
- MCP servers declaring draft-07 outputSchema are entirely unusable: "unsupported dialect" rejected client-side before dispatch
- [Regression, Windows+macOS] Cross-session messaging silently broken since CCD 2.1.224+ — messages dropped, recipient sessions wedged 15-20 min (hadFirstResponse=false); fixed in 2.1.237 for some installs, stable channel still affected
- [BUG] Dispatch responses generated but never delivered to clients (desktop Cowork & mobile)
- [BUG] Desktop 1.22209.0: sidebar project filter removed — docs still document it
- [BUG] Claude Code process exited with code 1 - happening with cowork on Desktop
- [BUG] REGRESSION: Cannot switch between Opus and Sonnet mid-thread in Cowork after April 15 desktop redesign
- [BUG] Claude Desktop: Web session mode lacks MCP server access despite configuration
- Claude Desktop: 'All domains' network egress setting triggers invalid pattern error
- [Feature] Reconnect/restart MCP servers from Claude Code in Claude Desktop without Cmd+Q (expose /mcp UI or auto-reconnect)
- [BUG] Error on opening coworkers session and posting a new prompt
- [BUG] Permission mode toggle broken on desktop app - "Permission mode couldn't be changed" – AUTO MODE not staying on
- [FEATURE] Open Claude Desktop in a specific folder via CLI flag or deep link (new Code session, not Cowork home)
- [BUG] Layout clipping in macOS desktop app
- [BUG] Claude Code Mac Desktop App — messages sent but no response, screen stays blank
- [Bug] Branch picker search fails to find existing branches in Claude Code Desktop
- [BUG] Stale "Pull request status couldn't be checked" on archived sessions whose repo/worktree was deleted
- [Desktop] Display current worktree/cwd name in app UI (statusLine equivalent)
- [BUG] Cowork: new projects lost "Choose a folder" — Context menu replaced with Chat-style upload-only knowledge menu after Chat/Cowork merge
- [BUG] Claude Desktop falls back to Safari for SSO login when default browser is Arc
- [BUG] Mac desktop app: 'Your previous message wasn't sent' toast fires after successful response, caused by postMessage origin mismatch to claudeusercontent.com
- [BUG] No option to hide/disable the extended thinking display on desktop app (shows inconsistently: visible while streaming, hidden after restart)
- Desktop Code tab doesn't honor `remoteControlAtStartup` from ~/.claude/settings.json
- [BUG] Claude Code Desktop is crashing with new version
- Effort/model selection ("ultracode") reverts to "extra" when switching chats
- [BUG] Claude Dispatch permanently showing "desktop appears offline" for multiple weeks
- [BUG] Syntax Highlighting of C# disappears after a brief moment
- [FEATURE] Desktop file panel: show hidden files, resolve symlinks, and handle binary files gracefully
- [BUG] Claude Desktop code mode crashes instantly with exit code 1 — VM never boots (macOS Tahoe, v1.1.7714)
- [BUG] Desktop app cannot rewind the first message.
- [BUG] Plugin skills not appearing in `/` menu after v2.1.110 update — only `schedule` shows
- [FEATURE] Allow independent font size adjustment across Desktop modules (Chat / Cowork / Code)
- Claude Desktop Code mode crashes immediately (exit code 1) — works fine from CLI
- [BUG] Claude Desktop: extension install fully broken — "Install Extension" no-ops and drag-and-drop falls through the modal into the chat
- Permission mode reverts from bypassPermissions to acceptEdits on first prompt (Claude Desktop 2.1.149 / Cowork, macOS)
- Desktop app update deletes session history (sessions-index.json + .jsonl files)
- Add option to disable automatic worktree creation in Desktop app
- [BUG] Claude Code in the Claude Desktop app runs UserPromptSubmit hooks and enforces blocks, but renders no user-facing hook feedback (CLI renders all)
- [BUG] Claude Desktop - Code mode - macOS: Tahoe 26.3
- Desktop 1.30096.1: PR status icons missing from session list after update
- Cowork dictation stops ~2s after start on macOS Tahoe 26.4.1 — began immediately after auto-update to 1.15962.0 (039543); chat dictation unaffected
- Scheduled routines no longer have dedicated sidebar section; sessions mixed into regular list and pinning broken
- Desktop app: add split panes and numbered tab shortcuts (Cmd-1/2/3) for power users
- Desktop app: session history lost when switching accounts
- [BUG] Claude Desktop freezes on launch when scheduled-tasks.json exists in claude-code-sessions
- [BUG] Claude Code in Claude Desktop fails to work with local projects (macos)
- [Bug] Desktop app (Code tab) 1.9659.4: Opus 4.8 "tool call could not be parsed (retry also failed)" still reproduces
- [BUG] Cowork Desktop (macOS): AskUserQuestion card never reaches renderer; yellow-dot badge shows pending but no UI; on app quit, pending request silently resolves as "Dismissed"
- New Window option removed in desktop app — regression
- Claude Desktop: binaryName platform-switch causes macOS TCC prompt for 'Claude.exe'
- [BUG] Content area clipped/hidden when sidebar is open
- [BUG] Skills from ~/.claude/skills/ and plugins not shown in Customize -> Skills panel
- Desktop: file paths outside the working directory no longer open inline ("This file is outside the working directory" → Show in Finder) — regression after update
- [desktop] Add /reload-plugins command for in-process plugin refresh (parity with CLI)
- [BUG] Claude desktop app blocks new sessions with "Git is required" despite git being fully functional
- Auto mode cannot be enabled via UI despite meeting all requirements (Team plan, Sonnet 4.6, admin enabled)
- Desktop app: Claude Code plugin marketplace shows Co-Work plugins instead of CLI plugins
- [FEATURE] /sandbox command support in Claude Desktop app
- [BUG] Desktop global "Auto-fix CI and address comments" toggle never applies to PRs created via gh from local sessions, and doesn't persist in claude_desktop_config.json
- Desktop app leaks pseudo-terminals (ptys) until the system runs out (forkpty: Device not configured)
- Claude Desktop leaks pty (ptmx) fds -> system-wide pty exhaustion (terminals die with 'forkpty: Device not configured')
- [BUG] SSH option not available in Claude Code Desktop when using external API provider
- [Bug] Claude Desktop webview hangs on session switch with concurrent MCP server operations
- [BUG] PATH env var not respected in Claude Code
- Desktop app ignores bypassPermissions on macOS — every tool call prompts, every session, for months
- [BUG] Desktop activity dashboard streak/heatmap credits the session-start date, not each active calendar day - multi-day sessions wrongly break the streak
- Desktop app Code tab mode picker missing "auto" and "bypass" modes
- Claude desktop app's PR/CI panel can't find `gh` because PATH is `/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin` (LSEnvironment override)
- Bug: Remote Control initialization fails with "Remote Control failed to connect: Remote Control initialization failed"
- Desktop sidebar ignores UserPromptSubmit hook `sessionTitle` output
- Desktop app shows no recovery option when working directory has been moved or deleted
- [BUG] Error invoking remote method
- [BUG] Cowork on Intel Mac: guest bundle 2a762adf… hangs in early init — bisected on two machines, rolled out ~06:00 UTC 18 Aug
- [FEATURE] Sessions should follow a renamed/moved project folder (persistent project identity)