[Bug] Claude Code Desktop App Code tab crashes on startup with exit code 1 after macOS user migration

[Tiberias1988]

Bug Description
Claude Code Desktop App Code tab crashes immediately with exit code 1. Cowork tab works fine. Fresh install doesn't help. Sentry Event ID: 71fa24a370234268a670f4ed7f562246. Hash-suffixed Keychain entries (Claude Code-credentials-XXXXXXXX) are never created. Binary works fine when called directly from Terminal. Problem started after macOS user migration from AgentTiberius to stefan.prandl.

Environment Info

• Platform: darwin
• Terminal: Apple_Terminal
• Version: 2.1.128
• Feedback ID: b542c061-e4bc-4162-9d32-c6ae3a4e44fa

Errors

[]

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. [BUG] Code tab: local sessions crash immediately (exit code 1) — ccd_session/ccd_directory IPC failure #53281
2. [BUG] Desktop App Code tab crashes immediately on macOS 15 Sequoia #55918
3. Claude Desktop Code mode crashes immediately (exit code 1) — works fine from CLI #40450

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

• If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
• To prevent auto-closure, add a comment or 👎 this comment

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[riaditelstvo1063]

Same issue here on macOS 26.3.1, Claude Desktop 1.6608.2, SDK 2.1.128, Apple
Silicon (Mac16,13). Code mode crashes immediately, binary works from Terminal.
My report at #57972 has additional diagnostic findings:

CDN download corruption — on the affected profile, the SDK binary
downloaded from downloads.claude.ai/claude-code-releases/2.1.128/darwin-arm64/claude.app.tar.zst
arrives corrupted (157 MB extracted vs 216,953,600 bytes expected,
"code object is not signed at all" per codesign -dvv, spctl --assess
fails). Side-by-side on the same Mac, a fresh user account downloads the
same URL correctly. Verified no MITM proxy, no AV, no MDM, no system
extensions, no custom root CAs.

VM rootfs.img also corrupted — ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/vm_bundles/claudevm.bundle/rootfs.img
download from CDN exhibits the same corruption pattern. Native crash via
@ant/claude-swift → Virtualization.framework when trying to mount.

Sentry event IDs: 549c7a023f8948d0882905f83c0a9501, ae2ac82acf27463b9d578524f28ba585
Crashpad dumps: multiple, latest 4e7db2b8-c1f1-4d15-9d18-03a3d8746c3d.dmp

Even after manually replacing the corrupted binary with a verified signed
copy (cf445faf...) from the working profile, Claude Desktop still crashes
on Code mode — suggesting the corruption is just the most visible symptom
of a deeper user-account-state issue (auth/keychain/sandbox).

👍 to support — same root cause IMO.

[Tiberias1988]

My Solution

Problem: Claude Desktop App "Code" tab crashes immediately with exit code 1

Symptoms:

• Code tab shows "Claude Code is abgestürzt / has crashed" with retry button
• Cowork tab works normally
• Terminal claude binary works fine when called directly
• Login is valid (claude auth status confirms Max subscription)
• Fresh installation does not fix the issue
• Log shows: Claude Code process exited with code 1
• Log shows: oauth failed (not_logged_in): cache cleared mid-flow
• Occurs especially after macOS user migration or on fresh user accounts

Root cause:
Missing TCC (Privacy & Security) entries for com.anthropic.claude-code. A working installation has ~12 entries; a broken one has only ~4. Most critically the SystemPolicyAppData entry (App Management permission) is missing. macOS additionally caches TCC decisions in memory, so database changes alone do not take effect — a full system reboot is required.

Diagnosis — check current TCC entries:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db \
  "SELECT service, client, auth_value FROM access WHERE client LIKE '%nthropic%';"

If you see only 3–4 entries instead of ~12, this is the issue.

Fix — add missing TCC entries:

sudo sqlite3 ~/Library/Application\ Support/com.apple.TCC/TCC.db <<'SQL'
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO access (service, client, client_type, auth_value, auth_reason, auth_version, indirect_object_identifier_type, indirect_object_identifier, flags, last_modified) VALUES ('kTCCServiceSystemPolicyAppData', 'com.anthropic.claude-code', 0, 5, 0, 1, 0, 'UNUSED', 0, strftime('%s','now'));
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO access (service, client, client_type, auth_value, auth_reason, auth_version, indirect_object_identifier_type, indirect_object_identifier, flags, last_modified) VALUES ('kTCCServiceMediaLibrary', 'com.anthropic.claude-code', 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 'UNUSED', 0, strftime('%s','now'));
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO access (service, client, client_type, auth_value, auth_reason, auth_version, indirect_object_identifier_type, indirect_object_identifier, flags, last_modified) VALUES ('kTCCServiceSystemPolicyDocumentsFolder', 'com.anthropic.claude-code', 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 'UNUSED', 0, strftime('%s','now'));
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO access (service, client, client_type, auth_value, auth_reason, auth_version, indirect_object_identifier_type, indirect_object_identifier, flags, last_modified) VALUES ('kTCCServiceSystemPolicyDesktopFolder', 'com.anthropic.claude-code', 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 'UNUSED', 0, strftime('%s','now'));
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO access (service, client, client_type, auth_value, auth_reason, auth_version, indirect_object_identifier_type, indirect_object_identifier, flags, last_modified) VALUES ('kTCCServiceFileProviderDomain', 'com.anthropic.claude-code', 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 'UNUSED', 0, strftime('%s','now'));
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO access (service, client, client_type, auth_value, auth_reason, auth_version, indirect_object_identifier_type, indirect_object_identifier, flags, last_modified) VALUES ('kTCCServiceSystemPolicyDownloadsFolder', 'com.anthropic.claude-code', 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 'UNUSED', 0, strftime('%s','now'));
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO access (service, client, client_type, auth_value, auth_reason, auth_version, indirect_object_identifier_type, indirect_object_identifier, flags, last_modified) VALUES ('kTCCServiceSystemPolicyNetworkVolumes', 'com.anthropic.claude-code', 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 'UNUSED', 0, strftime('%s','now'));
INSERT OR REPLACE INTO access (service, client, client_type, auth_value, auth_reason, auth_version, indirect_object_identifier_type, indirect_object_identifier, flags, last_modified) VALUES ('kTCCServiceMicrophone', 'com.anthropic.claudefordesktop', 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 'UNUSED', 0, strftime('%s','now'));
SQL

Then — critical step — reboot macOS:

App restart alone is NOT sufficient. macOS caches TCC decisions in memory and only refreshes on full system reboot.

Apple menu → Restart

After reboot:

1. Open Claude Desktop App
2. If macOS prompts for permissions, allow all
3. System Settings → Privacy & Security → App Management → verify Claude is enabled
4. Test the Code tab — should now work

Why fresh install does not help:
The Desktop App expects these TCC entries to be created during first-time setup by macOS itself when the embedded claude binary spawns. On certain system states (post-user-migration, new user accounts), this trigger does not fire, leaving the binary unable to spawn child processes → exit code 1.

[github-actions]

Closing for now — inactive for too long. Please open a new issue if this is still relevant.

[github-actions]

This issue has been automatically locked since it was closed and has not had any activity for 7 days. If you're experiencing a similar issue, please file a new issue and reference this one if it's relevant.