Claude Desktop jumped to v5.1231 in two steps yesterday, both bundling Claude Code 2.1.321. v5.1231.2 brings nothing users will see; the work sits in v5.1231.0.
Scheduled tasks finally say what happened
A task card in Cowork and in the Code tab now carries a run status: ‘Last run failed’, ‘Last run failed, will try again’, ‘Needs input’, ‘Didn’t run’ — or the reason a due run has not started, such as ‘Waiting for its previous run to finish’.
A matching fix landed in notifications. They used to say ‘Scheduled task completed’ even when the run had skipped a step. Now they say ‘Scheduled task skipped a step’ when the step needed approval and nobody was there to give it, and ‘A safety check blocked a step’ when Auto mode refused. If you run anything unattended, that is the most useful part of this release.
Unified Claude gets a date
The Chat, Cowork, and Advanced file analysis switches disappear from the Setup window at 12:00 PM PT on November 10. A switch called Unified Claude takes their place, setting desktopHome behind the scenes.
Which moment applies depends on your version. Builds 4.4212.0 through 4.23118.1 turn Unified Claude on from that same time where desktopHome is unset. v5.1231.0 waits until 12:00 PM PT on December 17, 2026. To keep the Code tab alone, set desktopHome to off wherever your settings come from.
Windows gets tidied up
The app’s data moves to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude-Data. New installs start there, and existing data migrates on Windows 10 21H2 or later. The Microsoft Store version and third-party deployments stay where they are.
Two hardening changes come with it. Claude no longer opens Windows file types that install or apply something on a double click — .msix, .appx, their bundles and encrypted forms, .msu, .ppkg, .xbap, .gadget, .sct, themes, styles, and troubleshooter packs. And computer use needs the ‘Use system shortcuts’ permission before it presses the Windows key with Tab, a number, or a symbol.
Cowork and administration
Edits Claude makes to a session’s CLAUDE.md no longer change your global instructions — that is what Settings are for. An earlier Cowork task on a computer that cannot run Cowork now opens read-only and says why, instead of silently doing nothing.
There is a lot here for admins. A few lines with consequences:
- ‘Allow for 30 days’ on the prompt before a scheduled Cowork task deletes files in one of its own folders;
mcpScheduledTaskApprovalLifetimeDayssets the number, and 0 turns the option off organizationAnnouncement: a message from your organisation that each person can closeautoModeEnabled: falsenow takes effect without a restart, at the next configuration check — every ten minutes by default- Cowork tasks in Auto mode wait for the Auto check before every shell command, usually one more request to your provider; a command the check blocks, or cannot check, does not run
- scheduled tasks retry a run that fails on a provider server error such as 500 or 529, for up to six hours after the first failure
- each model ID in
inferenceModelsnow allows only the version it names:claude-opus-5no longer letsclaude-opus-5-5through
Two fewer switches is a decision
The Setup switches were the last place where chat, Cowork, and file analysis were separate products. With desktopHome there is only on or off, and the default flips — in five weeks for this version, yesterday midday for its predecessors. If you deploy Claude Desktop across a company, put December 17 in the calendar.