Issue Station
Sign In
Tools hereToolbox

claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Desktop app launches claude with --permission-mode default hardcoded; auto mode toggle fails

Official PRs (…)
ON THIS PAGE

Recommended Tools

×6

Utilities matched from this issue’s tags and category — try them while you read without losing context.

GitHub issue graph ai analysis

Paste a GitHub issue URL. We fetch that issue, discover linked issues from bodies/comments/timeline, collect linked pull requests, and produce a structured English report.

The report is written in English Markdown for sharing and archival.

Helpful · Quick feedback

Loading…

Root Cause

Inspecting the running process confirms the desktop app passes --permission-mode default explicitly on launch:

/Users/.../claude.app/Contents/MacOS/claude \
  --permission-mode default \
  --model claude-sonnet-4-6 \
  ...

The UI toggle is supposed to relaunch the process with --permission-mode auto, but fails to do so. Settings files (~/.claude/settings.json with "defaultMode": "auto") have no effect because the command-line flag overrides them.

Sessions that were already in auto mode before this regression continue to work — they have --permission-mode auto in their process args. Only newly initiated sessions are affected.

Code Example

/Users/.../claude.app/Contents/MacOS/claude \
  --permission-mode default \
  --model claude-sonnet-4-6 \
  ...
RAW_BUFFERClick to expand / collapse

Bug description

When Claude Code is launched via the Claude desktop app, it is started with --permission-mode default hardcoded in the process arguments. The UI toggle to switch to auto mode fails with "Permission mode couldn't be changed. You can try again." and never successfully enables auto mode.

Steps to reproduce

  1. Open Claude Code in the Claude desktop app (v1.8555.0)
  2. Ensure you are on a Max plan with Claude Sonnet 4.6 (all auto mode requirements met)
  3. Click the permission mode dropdown and select Auto
  4. Observe: "Permission mode couldn't be changed. You can try again."

Root cause

Inspecting the running process confirms the desktop app passes --permission-mode default explicitly on launch:

/Users/.../claude.app/Contents/MacOS/claude \
  --permission-mode default \
  --model claude-sonnet-4-6 \
  ...

The UI toggle is supposed to relaunch the process with --permission-mode auto, but fails to do so. Settings files (~/.claude/settings.json with "defaultMode": "auto") have no effect because the command-line flag overrides them.

Sessions that were already in auto mode before this regression continue to work — they have --permission-mode auto in their process args. Only newly initiated sessions are affected.

Environment

  • Claude desktop app version: 1.8555.0
  • Claude Code version: 2.1.146
  • OS: macOS
  • Plan: Max
  • Model: Claude Sonnet 4.6

Expected behavior

The UI toggle successfully relaunches the Claude Code process with --permission-mode auto.

Vote matrix · Quick signals

Works
Did the solution work? Tap to confirm.
Easy Fix
Was it a quick fix?
Time Saver
Did it save you time?
Blocking
Was it severely blocking?
Common Issue
Are others likely hitting this too?
Flaky / Intermittent
Is it intermittent?
Verified / Reproducible
Can you reproduce it reliably?
Loading…

FAQ

Expected behavior

The UI toggle successfully relaunches the Claude Code process with --permission-mode auto.

Still need to ship something?

×6

Another batch ranked right after the header list — different links, same matching logic.

Back to top recommendations

TRENDING

claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Desktop app launches claude with --permission-mode default hardcoded; auto mode toggle fails