Skip to content

Agent browser session stays on a hidden desktop after the user shows its tab on another desktop #14171

Description

@mkiera

Before submitting

  • I searched existing issues and did not find a duplicate.
  • I included enough detail to reproduce or investigate the problem.

Area

apps/server

Steps to reproduce

  1. Run one environment on machine A (here a Windows VM) and open the T3 Code desktop app on machine A and on machine B. Both connect to the environment.
  2. In a thread on that environment, have the agent open a preview tab while machine A's window is focused. The agent's session is now assigned to machine A.
  3. On machine B, open the same thread's browser panel on that tab and sign in to a site there, for example Discord.
  4. Ask the agent to check the page.

Expected behavior

The agent reads and drives the copy of the tab the user is looking at, on machine B.

Actual behavior

The agent keeps using machine A's copy, which nobody is looking at. Each desktop renders its own copy of a preview tab with its own cookies, so the agent reported "signed out" on every check while machine B's panel showed a signed-in page. New tabs opened by the agent were also signed out. B's panel showed the agent's URL (discord.com/login) in the address bar over a signed-in Applications page, because the URL comes from the shared tab state and the picture comes from B's own copy.

Trace logs from both apps over the same 8 minutes: every PreviewManager.automationClick, automationEvaluate and automationSnapshot span ran in machine A's app. Machine B's app only ran registerWebview and navigate for its own copies.

#13051 reported the same symptom. #13064 fixed it for new sessions only and says: "it does not move a session already pinned to another browser."

Impact

The user cannot sign in, pass a captcha, or see what the agent sees, and the agent repeats confident but wrong conclusions about the page. The existing session never moves while machine A stays connected.

Version or commit

Private builds of main from 2026-09-26. The routing code is unchanged on main at 72330e2.

Environment

Windows 11 x64 desktop and a Windows 11 x64 VM, both running the T3 Code desktop app (Electron 44.4.2). The environment runs on the VM. Claude Code provider.

Workaround

None reliable. A new provider session started while only machine B displays the tab goes to B, per #13064. The existing session never moves.

Activity

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    No labels
    No labels

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

      Milestone

      No milestone

      Relationships

      None yet

      Development

      No branches or pull requests

      Issue actions