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### Cowork workspace or Claude CLI fails to download
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106106The report contains the configuration state, application logs, and environment details needed to investigate. It does not include user data or conversation content.
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108### Cowork workspace or Claude CLI fails to download
109
110Claude Desktop downloads the VM workspace bundle that Cowork uses and the Claude CLI binary (the agent helper described under [Endpoint security software](#endpoint-security-software)) from `downloads.claude.ai` whenever a device does not have the versions the app needs. When the workspace download fails or the downloaded file does not pass verification, the app shows **Failed to start Claude's workspace** with the download error under it, for example a message that begins "Checksum/decompress failed", "Download failed", or "Request error". When the Claude CLI download fails on a device that has no earlier copy, Chat conversations and Cowork tasks fail to start with "Host Claude Code binary not available. Check that the download completed."
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112Restarting the app tries the download again, which is enough when an earlier attempt was only interrupted. When the same message returns on every attempt, the usual cause is a proxy, secure web gateway, or web filter between the device and `downloads.claude.ai`. Such equipment can block the app's requests, cut off the transfer partway (the workspace bundle is more than 1 GB), or return its own page in place of the file. Less often, security software on the device locks or quarantines the downloaded files.
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114* Allow Claude Desktop itself, not only browsers, to reach `downloads.claude.ai`, as listed under [Required egress paths](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/telemetry#required-egress-paths). The download follows the app's proxy settings, described under [Network proxy](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/network-proxy).
115* If a proxy or secure web gateway inspects this traffic, make sure files from `downloads.claude.ai` reach the device complete and unchanged.
116* On a network that cannot allow these downloads, deploy the [offline installer](#offline-installation), which includes both components.
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118Once the device can download from `downloads.claude.ai`, have the user restart Claude Desktop and start a new conversation or task, so that the app downloads what is missing. If the messages persist, generate the diagnostic report described under [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting) and send it to your Anthropic representative. It includes the errors the app logged for these downloads.
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108120## Endpoint security software
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110122Claude Desktop runs Chat conversations, Cowork tasks, and Code sessions through an agent helper, a signed binary that it keeps under its user-data directory (with the standard installer) and launches when a user works in Chat, Cowork, or Code. If your organization runs binary-authorization or EDR software (such as [Santa](https://santa.dev), CrowdStrike Falcon, or Microsoft Defender ASR) with path-based deny rules, the agent helper may be blocked from launching. The symptom is that Claude Desktop opens normally and reads the managed configuration, but Chat conversations, Cowork tasks, and Code sessions fail to start.
government/config/plugins-and-connectors Changed · +1 / -1 lines
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2727Content sits in a fixed set of folders, all lowercase and case-sensitive: `skills/`, `commands/`, `agents/`, `hooks/`, and `monitors/`, plus `.claude-plugin/` for the manifest and an optional `icon.png`. Each folder accepts specific file types. `commands/` and `agents/` take `.md` files, `hooks/` and `monitors/` take `.json` files, and `skills/` takes six text formats (`.md`, `.txt`, `.json`, `.yaml`, `.yml`, `.csv`). The root can also hold `README.md`, `LICENSE`, `LICENSE.txt`, `CLAUDE.md`, `CONNECTORS.md`, and `.mcp.json`. Other text files in those six formats, at the root or in folders of your own, are accepted but not used by Claude. Any other file type, anywhere in the archive, is rejected.
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29Apart from the optional icon, everything in an archive must be text in UTF-8. There is no way to ship a script, or any other binary asset such as an image, through the card, which is narrower than what members can add to skills on their own devices. File and folder names must be ASCII. Nothing in the archive may start with a dot apart from `.claude-plugin/` and a root `.mcp.json`: repository files such as `.github/` or `.gitattributes` must be left out, while `.gitignore` and `.DS_Store` are dropped for you.
29Apart from the optional icon, everything in an archive must be text in UTF-8. There is no way to ship a script, or any other binary asset such as an image, through the card. File and folder names must be ASCII. Nothing in the archive may start with a dot apart from `.claude-plugin/` and a root `.mcp.json`: repository files such as `.github/` or `.gitattributes` must be left out, while `.gitignore` and `.DS_Store` are dropped for you.
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3131Paths inside the zip must use forward slashes: File Explorer's **Compress to ZIP file**, 7-Zip, `tar.exe`, PowerShell 7, and Python's `zipfile` all write them, while Windows PowerShell 5.1's `Compress-Archive` can write backslash paths, which the upload rejects. A zip that wraps everything in one top folder, which is what zipping the plugin folder or downloading a repository as a ZIP produces, works, as long as the repository holds no other dot-prefixed files. The upload looks inside the wrapper. Apple's `__MACOSX/` folders are dropped quietly too. A plugin package can hold up to 50 MB of uncompressed content, whether you upload it on its own or inside a marketplace archive.
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government/config/settings Changed · +2 / -2 lines
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133133When Chat and Cowork are both available, Claude Desktop presents them together as **Home** in its sidebar, next to **Code**. From Home, a member chooses **Chat** or **Cowork** in the message box, and the sidebar lists their chats and tasks together.
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135Turning a switch off also changes this layout. For example, with **Chat in Claude Desktop** off, the sidebar shows **Cowork** in place of Home and the message box offers no choice, and with **Cowork in Claude Desktop** off, the message box offers Chat only. If Chat, Cowork, and Code are all turned off, Claude Desktop keeps Cowork on. There is no setting that chooses what Claude Desktop opens to, or whether the message box starts on Chat or Cowork.
135Turning a switch off also changes this layout. For example, with **Chat in Claude Desktop** off, the sidebar shows **Cowork** in place of Home and the message box offers no choice, and with **Cowork in Claude Desktop** off, the message box offers Chat only. If Chat, Cowork, and Code are all turned off, Claude Desktop keeps Cowork on.
136136
137137<Note>
138138 This layout applies to Claude Desktop 1.26832.0 and later. Earlier versions show **Chat**, **Cowork**, and **Code** as three separate tabs, controlled by the same switches.
139139</Note>
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141The **Claude Desktop home** setting chooses what members see in Claude Desktop. **Standard** gives them Chat with file analysis, plus Cowork. **Simple** gives them Chat with file analysis, without Cowork. **Off** gives them neither, which leaves only Code. If you choose **Off**, keep Code turned on, or Claude Desktop has nothing to open. While the setting has a value, it overrides the separate Chat, file analysis, and Cowork switches at every level, including a directory group's. By default it is not set, and those switches apply.
141The **Claude Desktop home** setting chooses what members see in Claude Desktop. **Standard** gives them Chat with file analysis, plus Cowork. **Simple** gives them Chat with file analysis, without Cowork. **Off** gives them neither, which leaves only Code. If you choose **Off**, keep Code turned on, or Claude Desktop has nothing to open. While the setting has a value, it overrides the separate Chat, file analysis, and Cowork switches, including a directory group's. By default it is not set, and those switches apply.
142142
143143<Note>
144144 **Claude Desktop home** needs Claude Desktop 1.52386.0 or later. Earlier versions ignore it and follow the switches.
government/deploy-desktop/configure Changed · +2 / -0 lines
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2828* **Browsers can reach sign-in.** Sign-in happens in the user's default web browser, not in the app. Browsers on each device must reach the Claude for Government host, its sign-in service (a separate host that your Anthropic representative provides), and your agency's identity provider.
2929* **The device meets Claude Desktop's requirements.** See the Claude Desktop [system requirements](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/installation#system-requirements) for macOS and Windows device requirements. For a Windows fleet, work through the [Windows fleet checklist](/docs/government/deploy-desktop/windows-checklist), which covers the Virtual Machine Platform feature that Cowork needs along with the installer, policy, and network prerequisites.
3030* **Windows devices used for Code have Git for Windows.** On Windows, only the Code part of Claude Desktop needs Git for Windows. Chat and Cowork work without it. Install Git on the devices whose users will work in Code, or turn **Code in Claude Desktop** off under [Product availability](/docs/government/config/settings#product-availability) so that users are not prompted to install Git.
31* **Devices used for Code have the software your users' work needs.** Code runs its commands with the software installed on the device. Cowork and Advanced file analysis in Chat run theirs in the app's own virtual machine, which includes Python.
3132* **You can install the app.** Installing by hand needs administrator rights on each device; see [Configure a single machine](#configure-a-single-machine) for what that means on each platform. Installing through your device management system does not, because the management system installs with elevated rights. The [macOS deployment guide](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12611117-deploy-claude-desktop-for-macos) and the [Windows deployment guide](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12622703-deploy-claude-desktop-for-windows) cover where to download the installer and how to distribute it.
3233* **The app is current.** Deploy Claude Desktop 1.46388.1 or later.
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247248| The app shows **Your session has expired** or **You've been signed out** with a **Sign in again** button, or a device that was already set up opens to the sign-in screen | The user's Claude for Government session ended, most often because they had not used Claude for longer than your tenant's [Session idle timeout](/docs/government/config/settings#session-idle-timeout). A device left idle, locked, or asleep does not keep a session alive. A session also ends at the Maximum session length, or when the user or an administrator signs it out. A user can have at most six active Claude Desktop sessions. When they sign in to Claude Desktop again while six are active, Claude for Government ends the Claude Desktop session that is closest to expiring. | Have the user sign in again. The app keeps its configuration and reconnects. If the session limit is the cause, the user can go to their [Sessions](/docs/government/account/sessions) page and sign out of sessions they no longer use. If people are asked to sign in more often than you intend, ask a tenant administrator to review **Session idle timeout** and **Maximum session length** on the [Config](/docs/government/tenant-admin/configuration) page. On Claude Desktop versions earlier than 1.34493.0 the same situation can appear as a **Configuration sync issue** banner instead, so update the app. |
248249| On a Windows device, Cowork tasks fail, the app shows **Failed to start Claude's workspace** with a message under it about a Windows update, or Claude can't read some attached files in Chat, such as Word, Excel, or PowerPoint files | The device has installed the Windows update released September 8, 2026, but not Microsoft's later update that fixes the problem. The September 8 update stops Claude's workspace from reaching files on the device. Cowork tasks and Advanced file analysis in Chat need the workspace. | Install the latest Windows update on the device and restart it. On Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2, the fix is KB5129195. No Claude Desktop update is needed. See [Resolved: Cowork on Windows](/docs/cowork/changelog#resolved-cowork-on-windows) in the Claude Desktop changelog. |
249250| Web search is on for your organization, but a user does not have it, and under **Customize**, then **Connectors**, **Web Search** shows as not connected and **Connect** fails, while chat works | A firewall or secure web gateway on that user's network path filters traffic by application. Claude Desktop connects to web search on your Claude for Government host over HTTPS, and such equipment can classify that connection as Model Context Protocol (MCP) traffic and block it even when the host itself is allowed. | Ask your network team to allow this traffic to your Claude for Government host for the affected users. The user's `main.log` records each failed attempt, including any block page the network returned. Then have the user select **Connect** next to **Web Search**, or restart the app. |
251| The app shows **Failed to start Claude's workspace** with a download error under it, or Chat conversations and Cowork tasks fail to start with "Host Claude Code binary not available. Check that the download completed." | Claude Desktop could not download a complete, verified copy of the Cowork workspace or the [agent helper](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/installation#endpoint-security-software) from `downloads.claude.ai`. This usually means a proxy or web filter on the device's network path is blocking or altering the download. | Follow [Cowork workspace or Claude CLI fails to download](/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/installation#cowork-workspace-or-claude-cli-fails-to-download) in the Claude Desktop documentation. |
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251253For anything else, the app writes its log to `~/Library/Logs/Claude-3p/main.log` on macOS, `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude-3p\logs\main.log` on Windows, and `~/.config/Claude-3p/logs/main.log` on Linux. The log records which configuration keys were read or dropped and why. The diagnostic report from the verification checklist produces a bundle, without conversation content, that you can send to your Anthropic representative.
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3333**Write the skill.** A skill is a folder named after the skill, holding a `SKILL.md` file. The file starts with YAML frontmatter carrying `name` and `description`, followed by the instructions as markdown. The folder name must match the `name` in the frontmatter. The [skill authoring guide](/docs/skills/how-to) covers the format and what makes instructions work well. You can also have Claude help by asking Claude to draft the skill in a Cowork task, where that is available in your deployment. If Claude hands back a `.skill` file, keep the folder it came from instead. A `.skill` file is a zip of the bare skill folder, and the **Plugins** card accepts only plugin packages, so the folder needs the plugin wrapper described next.
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35**Mind the text-only rule.** A skill delivered through the admin portal can contain only text files, in these formats: `.md`, `.txt`, `.json`, `.yaml`, `.yml`, `.csv`. Skills you create on your own device can include scripts and binary assets such as images, and the skill authoring guide describes those, but a plugin upload that contains them is rejected, so keep a skill you plan to distribute textual.
35**Mind the text-only rule.** A skill delivered through the admin portal can contain only text files, in these formats: `.md`, `.txt`, `.json`, `.yaml`, `.yml`, `.csv`. The skill authoring guide describes scripts and binary assets such as images, but a plugin upload that contains them is rejected, so keep a skill you plan to distribute textual.
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3737**Package it as a plugin.** Arrange the skill inside a plugin and zip it. The smallest valid package is the manifest plus your skill folder under `skills/`:
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