Developer finds folder-creation fix for Claude Code's broken /desktop command on Windows
Windows users of Anthropic's Claude Code CLI have been encountering a false 'Claude Desktop is not installed' error when using the /desktop command, even with the app already running. The root cause is a version-detection mismatch: CLI version 2.1.224 looks for a legacy Win32 installer folder structure under %LOCALAPPDATA%\AnthropicClaude\, which Microsoft Store (MSIX) installations never create. A developer traced the issue by having Claude Code inspect its own binary, revealing the CLI checks a version-named subfolder rather than querying the app's actual installed state. The temporary fix involves manually creating a folder named with the user's installed Desktop version number, which satisfies the CLI's version gate and restores full functionality. The underlying bug has been reported to Anthropic via a GitHub issue, with the proper fix suggested being a fallback to the MSIX package query method.
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