claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Cowork broken on latest 1.3036.0 — "Failed to create bridge sockets" on all sessions [3 comments, 3 participants]

What Should Happen?

Cowork sessions should start successfully and allow Claude Code to run inside the Cowork VM. Opening any Cowork project (new or resumed) should produce a working chat session. Error Messages/Logs

Claude Desktop: 1.3036.0 Claude Code CLI (inside VM): 2.1.111 macOS: [check Apple Menu → About This Mac] Every Cowork session fails immediately with exit code 1, ~900ms after spawn. From ~/Library/Logs/Claude/cowork_vm_node.log: 2026-04-16 14:54:42 [info] [Spawn:config] Creating spawn function for process=sweet-wonderful-faraday, isResume=false, allowedDomains=23 2026-04-16 14:54:43 [warn] [vm-stderr a251f4d1] Error: Failed to create bridge sockets after 5 attempts 2026-04-16 14:54:43 [info] [Process:a251f4d1-495d-48c4-b3e7-c06240ad25a0] Exited, code=1, signal=null, duration=813ms, oom=false From main.log: [error] Session local_xxx query error: Claude Code process exited with code 1 unhealthy_reason: 'system_error', error_message: 'Claude Code process exited with code 1', error_category: 'process_crashed', Reproduces on:

• New sessions (isResume=false) AND resumed sessions
• All Cowork projects
• After full Claude Desktop reinstall
• After full Mac reboot
• After clearing ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude-code-vm/ cache (redownloaded same 2.1.111) Ruled out:
• No VPN, no firewall active
• TMPDIR exists and is writable (/var/folders/...)
• No suspicious network extensions
• Regular Claude chat works fine
• Claude Code in terminal works fine
• Only Cowork VM-spawned Claude Code fails Related issues: #19503, #23746, #11079

TL;DR

The most likely fix is to investigate and resolve the "Failed to create bridge sockets" error in the Cowork VM, potentially related to version compatibility between Claude Code 2.1.111 and the Cowork environment.

Guidance

• Investigate the "Failed to create bridge sockets after 5 attempts" error in the cowork_vm_node.log to understand the root cause of the issue.
• Compare the versions of Claude Code used in the terminal (2.1.89) and the Cowork VM (2.1.111) to determine if there's a version compatibility issue.
• Check the related issues (#19503, #23746, #11079) to see if they provide any insights or solutions to the problem.
• Consider downgrading the Claude Code version in the Cowork VM to 2.1.89 to see if it resolves the issue.

Example

No code snippet is provided as the issue seems to be related to version compatibility and environment configuration rather than a specific code error.

Notes

The issue seems to be specific to the Cowork VM environment and the version of Claude Code used within it. The fact that Claude Code works fine in the terminal suggests that the issue is not with the Claude Code itself, but rather with the interaction between Claude Code and the Cowork VM.

Recommendation

Apply a workaround by downgrading the Claude Code version in the Cowork VM to 2.1.89, as it is known to work in the terminal and may resolve the compatibility issue.