anthropics / anthropics/claude-code

[BUG] Cowork crashes repeatedly, forcing reinstall/reset and permanent loss of conversations

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#81,140 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
area:desktop bug
Dominant language
Python
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Description

### Preflight Checklist

- [x] I have searched [existing issues](https://github.com/anthropics/claude-code/issues?q=is%3Aissue%20state%3Aopen%20label%3Abug) 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?

Cowork mode crashes on a regular basis. The only way I've found to recover is to either uninstall and reinstall the app, or use "Reset Application Data." Each time, this permanently deletes all my Cowork conversations and session history — nothing is recoverable or synced afterward.

### What Should Happen?

cowork should not crash this frequently, and conversation history should be recoverable (or at minimum, warn clearly before any destructive reset) instead of being silently and permanently deleted.

### Error Messages/Logs

```shell

```

### Steps to Reproduce

1. Use Cowork mode normally for a period of time
2. App crashes / freezes / becomes unresponsive (please describe what happens right before the crash, e.g. switching tabs, running a task, opening settings)
3. Only way to recover is reinstalling the app or using "Reset Application Data"
4. All previous Cowork conversations and session history are lost — no local or server-side recovery

### Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

### Is this a regression?

I don't know

### Last Working Version

_No response_

### Claude Code Version

N/A - using Claude Desktop (Cowork)

### Platform

Anthropic API

### Operating System

Windows

### Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

### Additional Information

This appears related to other reported issues, e.g. #45076 (Cowork session history silently lost between sessions) and #65695 (Reset Application Data dialog understates destructiveness / not recoverable).

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

Research direction

No source file, test, or reproducible trigger is identified in the report. Start by reproducing the Cowork crash on Windows and review related issues #45076 and #65695; completion requires a specific trigger, preserved or recoverable history, or a clear warning before reset.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
python
Domain
desktop
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
30/100

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