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claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [BUG] RPC Error in claude co-work [1 comments, 2 participants]

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anthropics/claude-code#49021•Fetched 2026-04-17 08:53:03
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Error Message

RPC error: ensure user: useradd failed: exit status 12: useradd: cannot create directory /sessions/elegant-eloquent-gauss
  • Session slug: elegant-eloquent-gauss

Code Example

RPC error: ensure user: useradd failed: exit status 12: useradd: cannot create directory /sessions/elegant-eloquent-gauss

---

RPC error: ensure user: useradd failed: exit status 12: useradd: cannot create directory /sessions/elegant-eloquent-gauss
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Preflight Checklist

  • I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
  • This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
  • I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

Environment

  • Date/time: 2026-04-16 09:19:03 CEST
  • macOS: 26.4.1 (25E253)
  • Arch: arm64
  • Claude Code: 2.1.92 (Claude Code)

Error

RPC error: ensure user: useradd failed: exit status 12: useradd: cannot create directory /sessions/elegant-eloquent-gauss
  • Session slug: elegant-eloquent-gauss

Recent Claude Code logs

total 9320 -rw-r--r-- 1 davehamelink staff 1264 16 apr. 08:00 launchd-session.err -rw-r--r-- 1 davehamelink staff 345 16 apr. 07:01 launchd-stop.log -rw-r--r-- 1 davehamelink staff 644 15 apr. 22:03 launchd-nightmode.log -rw-r--r-- 1 davehamelink staff 4751775 11 apr. 12:21 claude-bot-launchd.err.log

What Should Happen?

Claude co-work should execute my command, it is only returning this error: RPC error: ensure user: useradd failed: exit status 12: useradd: cannot create directory /sessions/elegant-eloquent-gauss

Error Messages/Logs

RPC error: ensure user: useradd failed: exit status 12: useradd: cannot create directory /sessions/elegant-eloquent-gauss

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Open Claude CoWork (where I have a daily Outlook ↔ Notion sync configured).
  2. Trigger any task — either: a. The scheduled daily Outlook/Notion sync runs on its own, OR b. I manually start a brand-new task (any prompt, any kind).
  3. CoWork attempts to provision a session container.
  4. Provisioning fails with: "RPC error: ensure user: useradd failed: exit status 12: useradd: cannot create directory /sessions/<session-slug>" (example slug observed: elegant-eloquent-gauss)

Expected: Session provisions and the task runs. Actual: Every task — scheduled or new — fails at provisioning with the useradd error. No tasks have completed since the failure started.

Reproducibility: 100% — every CoWork task fails this way right now.

Scope:

  • Affects all tasks, not a specific one (existing scheduled sync AND brand-new ad-hoc tasks both fail).
  • Each failed run produces a different /sessions/<slug> path, so it's not a stuck/stale slug — the provisioner is failing to mkdir under /sessions for every fresh user it tries to create.
  • Local environment unchanged; nothing I can do client-side fixes it.

Cannot provide a minimal local repro — the failure is in CoWork's hosted session provisioner (useradd is running on Anthropic's infrastructure, not mine).

Claude Model

Sonnet (default)

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

No response

Claude Code Version

  • Claude Code: 2.1.92 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

iTerm2

Additional Information

No response

extent analysis

TL;DR

The issue is likely due to a permission or configuration problem with the /sessions directory on the Anthropic infrastructure, preventing the useradd command from creating a new directory.

Guidance

  • Verify the ownership and permissions of the /sessions directory to ensure that the user running the useradd command has sufficient privileges to create new directories.
  • Check the Anthropic infrastructure configuration to see if there are any restrictions or limitations on creating new directories or users.
  • Investigate if there are any recent changes to the Anthropic infrastructure or Claude Code that could be causing this issue, as the problem is reported to be a regression.
  • Consider reaching out to Anthropic support for further assistance, as the issue appears to be related to their hosted session provisioner.

Notes

The issue is specific to the Anthropic infrastructure and Claude Code, and the provided information does not allow for a straightforward code-based solution. The guidance provided is based on the error message and the context of the issue.

Recommendation

Apply workaround: Reach out to Anthropic support for assistance in resolving the permission or configuration issue with the /sessions directory, as the problem is likely related to their infrastructure.

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claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix [BUG] RPC Error in claude co-work [1 comments, 2 participants]