Native installer deletes working npm install but fails to create ~/.local/bin/claude launcher

[rlueder]

Bug Description

Running curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash on macOS reports "successfully installed" but:

1. Never creates ~/.local/bin/claude (the native launcher)
2. Never creates ~/.claude/local/ (the local npm install directory)
3. Deletes the existing working npm global install as a "cleanup" step

This leaves the user with a completely broken claude command.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Have Claude Code installed via npm: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
2. Verify it works: claude --version → 2.1.42
3. Run the native installer: curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
4. Observe: output says "✔ Claude Code successfully installed!" with "Location: ~/.local/bin/claude"
5. Observe: warning says "installMethod is native, but claude command not found at /Users/rafael/.local/bin/claude"
6. Run claude --version → command not found
7. Check ls ~/.local/bin/claude → does not exist
8. Check ls ~/.claude/local/ → does not exist

What Happens Internally

From the debug log at ~/.claude/debug/:

Install: Starting installation process (force=false, target=undefined)
Install: Calling installLatest(channelOrVersion=stable, forceReinstall=false)
Checking for native installer update to version 2.1.32
Install: installLatest returned version=2.1.32, wasUpdated=true, lockFailed=false
Install: Setup launcher completed with 1 messages
Install: Setup message: installMethod is native, but claude command not found at /Users/rafael/.local/bin/claude
Install: Cleaning up npm installations after successful install
Removed global npm installation of @anthropic-ai/claude-code
Cleaned up 1 npm installation(s)

The flow is:

1. installLatest("stable") returns wasUpdated=true and version 2.1.32 — the install claims success
2. setupLauncher() fails to create ~/.local/bin/claude but returns a warning message instead of throwing an error
3. Because the install reported success, the cleanup function VdT() runs npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code, removing the user's working installation
4. The bootstrap script's cleanup then removes the downloaded binary with rm -f "$binary_path"

Net result: old install deleted, new install never materialized.

Expected Behavior

• If the launcher at ~/.local/bin/claude is not created, the install should fail (not report success)
• The cleanup step should not remove existing working installations if the native install didn't succeed
• At minimum, the cleanup should verify ~/.local/bin/claude exists and is executable before removing the npm global install

Environment

• macOS 26.2 (Tahoe / Darwin 25.2.0)
• Apple Silicon (arm64)
• Node.js v22.14.0 (via nvm)
• Claude Code 2.1.42 (was installed via npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code)
• Shell: zsh

Workaround

Reinstall via npm:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

[github-actions]

Found 3 possible duplicate issues:

1. install.sh appears stuck during download and fails silently when installMethod=native exists #20345
2. [BUG] claude install removes claude binary #21061
3. [BUG] Native installer reports success but fails to install binary on Raspberry Pi (ARM64) #20490

This issue will be automatically closed as a duplicate in 3 days.

• If your issue is a duplicate, please close it and 👍 the existing issue instead
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🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[rlueder]

Relates to #20968

[wrockey]

Same issue on WSL2 / Ubuntu (linux-x64)

Experiencing the same bug on WSL2. The native installer reports success but never creates ~/.local/bin/claude.

Environment:

• WSL2, Ubuntu, x86_64
• Node v20.20.0 (nvm)
• Claude Code 2.1.53
• Previously installed via npm (npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code)

Steps to reproduce:

1. npm uninstall -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
2. mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
3. curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Result:

Setting up Claude Code...
✔ Claude Code successfully installed!
  Version: 2.1.53
  Location: ~/.local/bin/claude
  Next: Run claude --help to get started
⚠ Setup notes:
  • installMethod is native, but claude command not found at /home/wrockey/.local/bin/claude
✅ Installation complete!

No binary at ~/.local/bin/claude. Nothing placed anywhere on the filesystem.

Debug trace (bash -x) confirms:

• Binary downloads to ~/.claude/downloads/claude-2.1.53-linux-x64 ✅
• SHA256 checksum passes ✅
• chmod +x succeeds ✅
• claude-2.1.53-linux-x64 install runs (this is where the silent failure occurs) ❌
• Downloaded binary is then deleted by the script via rm -f

The install subcommand of the downloaded binary reports the warning but does not actually place the file in ~/.local/bin/. Same root cause as described in this issue — setupLauncher() fails silently.

Workaround: Manually download and place the binary:

curl -fsSL -o ~/.local/bin/claude https://storage.googleapis.com/claude-code-dist-86c565f3-f756-42ad-8dfa-d59b1c096819/claude-code-releases/2.1.53/linux-x64/claude
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/claude

This confirms the issue is cross-platform (macOS in OP, Linux/WSL2 here), and lives in the install subcommand logic rather than the shell script.