claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Native binary approach breaks Claude Code on QNX and BSD platforms

Platform

• QNX 8.0.0 x86_64 (QEMU VM)
• Affects BSD as well (FreeBSD/NetBSD)

Problem

Since the switch to platform-native binaries, Claude Code is broken on QNX and BSD. The last working version was 2.1.211.

The install script (install.cjs) copies a platform-specific native binary over bin/claude.exe. QNX and BSD are not in the supported platforms list, so the stub remains in place and every invocation prints:

Error: claude native binary not installed.

The cli-wrapper.cjs file is documented as a Node.js fallback for --ignore-scripts environments, but it also requires the native binary — it is not a true Node.js fallback. On QNX, Linux binaries cannot run (QNX is a separate RTOS, not Linux).

Impact

• Claude Code completely non-functional on QNX out of the box
• Workaround is to pin to 2.1.211 and block auto-updates — fragile and penalises users on an old version
• freebsd-x64 and freebsd-arm64 appear in the PLATFORMS map in cli-wrapper.cjs but there are no corresponding entries in package.json optionalDependencies — so FreeBSD users are equally broken

Request

1. Make cli-wrapper.cjs a true Node.js fallback — if no native binary is found for the platform, fall through to launching the Claude Code JS directly via Node rather than exiting 1. This would restore functionality on any POSIX platform with Node.js, which is the behaviour before 2.1.211.

2. Alternatively, provide a QNX native binary — QNX 8.0 runs on x86_64 and aarch64. A Bun/native build targeting QNX would be a proper long-term fix.

3. Add a CLAUDE_CODE_USE_NODE_FALLBACK=1 env var as an escape hatch for unsupported platforms while native builds are in progress.

Environment

• Node.js v24.14.1 (working fine)
• apk package manager (Alpine-compatible)
• Vulkan GPU workloads running successfully via workaround — QNX is a real deployment target, not a niche use case