fix: drop the Cowork glow switch, claude.ai removed the glow

AGENTS.md

@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ Runtime logs are in `~/.config/Claude/logs/`. When 3P mode is active (an `infere
 ```
 patches/           # Nim patch sources (.nim) + Makefile, compiled to native binaries (ls patches/*/*.nim)
 patches/linux/     #   Linux compatibility - always on, not user-configurable (37)
-patches/community/ #   Opt-in features, each with a switch in Settings -> Extra -> Community Features (17)
+patches/community/ #   Opt-in features, each with a switch in Settings -> Extra -> Community Features (16)
 patches/core/      #   Always-on infrastructure: Extra settings pages, theme engine, GrowthBook overrides, multi-profile (7)
 js/                # Shared JS snippets embedded by Nim patches via staticRead ("../../js/..." from a patch)
 scripts/           # Build, validation, and launcher scripts

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -2,6 +2,12 @@
 
 All notable changes to the claude-desktop-extra packages will be documented in this file.
 
+## 2026-10-29
+
+### The "Calm the Cowork glow" switch is gone
+
+- **claude.ai no longer has the glow it calmed.** Cowork now lives in the Claude tab, and the pulsing hero glow went with the old Cowork home: `.cowork-hero-glow` and its `cowork-hero-glow-pulse` keyframes are in none of claude.ai's current stylesheets, so the switch matched nothing and changed nothing. `add_feature_cowork_glow` and its Community Features row are removed; a leftover `coworkGlow` / `coworkGlowOpacity` key in `claude-desktop-extra.json(c)` is ignored.
+
 ## 2026-10-28
 
 ### Upstream v4.29.0

README.md

@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ Override Anthropic's server-side feature flags in `~/.config/Claude/claude-deskt
 
 ## Patches
 
-We patch the official `app.asar` at repackage time: [`patches/community/`](docs/patches.md#community-features) (17 patches, opt-in features), [`patches/core/`](docs/patches.md#core-infrastructure) (7, infrastructure) and [`patches/linux/`](docs/patches.md#linux-compatibility) (37, Linux fixes). A patch that stops matching fails the build, and a patch is removed once upstream ships the behavior. Catalog: [docs/patches.md](docs/patches.md).
+We patch the official `app.asar` at repackage time: [`patches/community/`](docs/patches.md#community-features) (16 patches, opt-in features), [`patches/core/`](docs/patches.md#core-infrastructure) (7, infrastructure) and [`patches/linux/`](docs/patches.md#linux-compatibility) (37, Linux fixes). A patch that stops matching fails the build, and a patch is removed once upstream ships the behavior. Catalog: [docs/patches.md](docs/patches.md).
 
 ## Command-line flags
 

docs/claude-desktop-extra.jsonc

@@ -33,21 +33,6 @@
 {
   // "activeTheme": "mario",
 
-  // coworkGlow: for laptops and machines without much graphics power. The glow
-  // behind the Cowork hero pulses between 55% and 100% opacity every 3.2s and
-  // never stops, so the compositor never settles - and where the launcher falls
-  // back to software rendering (--disable-gpu-compositing / --disable-gpu) those
-  // frames are redrawn on the CPU. "calm" stops the pulse and holds the glow at a
-  // fixed opacity; omit it (or "pulse") for claude.ai's own behaviour.
-  // Settings -> Extra -> Features has a switch for this and applies it live; a
-  // value set HERE wins the merge, so that switch shows itself as locked while
-  // this line is active.
-  // "coworkGlow": "calm",
-
-  // coworkGlowOpacity: the fixed opacity "calm" holds, 0..1 (default 0.55, the
-  // dim end of upstream's own pulse). Hand edits need a restart.
-  // "coworkGlowOpacity": 0.55,
-
   // transcriptLimits: for long Code sessions, especially ones with many browser
   // screenshots. The app only loads the last 50 MiB of a session's transcript, plus
   // one shared 32 MiB for all of its subagents' transcripts, and hides the rest behind

docs/patches.md

@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ Each row below says what a patch does and why you would want it. The mechanism -
 
 ## Community features
 
-**17 patches**, each with a switch in Settings → **Extra** → **Community Features**. They reshape first-party surfaces, so they are asked for rather than assumed: turning one off is a full retreat to upstream's own behavior. Off by default, except the theme picker.
+**16 patches**, each with a switch in Settings → **Extra** → **Community Features**. They reshape first-party surfaces, so they are asked for rather than assumed: turning one off is a full retreat to upstream's own behavior. Off by default, except the theme picker.
 
 The Community Features panel also holds one **Experimental** switch that has no patch of its own: [Computer Use on a background display](computer-use.md#computer-use-on-a-background-display-experimental), drawn by the Extra settings page and read by the Computer Use executor.
 
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ The Community Features panel also holds one **Experimental** switch that has no
 | [`add_feature_theme_picker.nim`](../patches/community/add_feature_theme_picker.nim) | <kbd>Ctrl</kbd>+<kbd>Shift</kbd>+<kbd>T</kbd> opens a [searchable gallery](../themes/README.md#theme-picker-ctrlshiftt) of every bundled theme; one click applies it live in every open window and saves your choice |
 | [`add_feature_allow_non_anthropic_models.nim`](../patches/community/add_feature_allow_non_anthropic_models.nim) | Opt-in **Allow non-Anthropic models** switch for third-party gateways: relaxes Anthropic's built-in name check that drops model IDs which do not look Anthropic, so a gateway route like `deepseek-v4.1-flash` or `zai-org/glm-5.3` is kept instead of being silently removed with the session falling back to the default model. Covers every gateway check: the Setup model list, the picker filter, the runtime session gate, `/v1/models` discovery and the tier pins. Off by default (behaves exactly as stock); the hand-owned `<userData>/claude-desktop-extra.jsonc` key `allowNonAnthropicModels` locks the switch. The setting is per mode, so set it while in 3P mode (`~/.config/Claude-3p`). The model list is built at startup, so the switch takes effect on the next start. Only the Anthropic-shape check is relaxed - the HIPAA (`model_restricted`), admin allowlist (`not_in_allowed_models`) and app-catalog (`desktop_update_required`) gates are untouched |
 | [`add_feature_allow_non_anthropic_models_ion.nim`](../patches/community/add_feature_allow_non_anthropic_models_ion.nim) | The Setup window half of **Allow non-Anthropic models**: Developer → Configure Third-Party Inference checks the Model list in the window itself, so with the switch on it no longer marks a gateway route as "Doesn't look like an Anthropic model" or blocks **Apply Changes** with "Invalid: Model list". Like the rest of the feature, a change to the switch takes effect on the next start |
-| [`add_feature_cowork_glow.nim`](../patches/community/add_feature_cowork_glow.nim) | Holds the pulsing Cowork glow still - it otherwise never stops redrawing, which costs real power on laptops and machines without much graphics muscle |
 | [`add_feature_dev_tools_toggle.nim`](../patches/community/add_feature_dev_tools_toggle.nim) | Adds a **Developer tools** switch: writes the official build's own opt-in file (`developer_settings.json` in the profile directory, `allowDevTools`), after which Ctrl+Alt+I opens Chromium DevTools for the focused window and "Toggle Dev Tools" appears in the app menu after a restart. The upstream gate itself is untouched: a workspace with developer mode disabled keeps DevTools off |
 | [`add_feature_diff_views.nim`](../patches/community/add_feature_diff_views.nim) | Adds a scope dropdown to the Code tab's diff panel (working tree, branch changes, latest turn), an expand/collapse-all button, and picks the base branch your work actually forked from |
 | [`add_feature_diff_views_bridge.nim`](../patches/community/add_feature_diff_views_bridge.nim) | The narrow preload bridge the diff dropdown talks through: one fixed channel per call, because the page behind it is remote code |
@@ -111,7 +110,7 @@ Every feature on this page started as one `.nim` file. If Claude Desktop doesn't
 Pick where it goes: `patches/community/` if users should be able to turn it off - it gets a switch in Settings → **Extra** → **Community Features** for the cost of one `renderToggleRow` spec, and the setting is persisted per profile in `<userData>/claude-desktop-extra.jsonc`/`.json`, so people change their mind without rebuilding anything. `patches/core/` if it is always-on infrastructure others build on, and `patches/linux/` if it is a compatibility fix that everyone needs and nobody should have to find. The five steps below cover the community case; drop steps 2 and 3 for the other two. `add_feature_panel_tabs.nim` and its `js/panel_tabs_*.js` modules are the reference implementation to copy from.
 
 1. **Write the patch.** Create `patches/community/<name>.nim` with the usual `# @patch-target:` and `# @patch-type: nim` headers. Match minified code with `[\w$]+` wildcards and capture/replace rather than hardcoded names, and keep the real logic in a `js/` file embedded with `staticRead("../../js/<name>_main.js")` so it stays readable and testable. Every sub-patch must fail loud and the "already patched" branch must assert your own injected result is present - see the patch strictness rules in [AGENTS.md](../AGENTS.md#patch-strictness-rules). If the patch embeds any `js/` file, add a prerequisite line for it in `patches/Makefile`, otherwise editing the JS will not rebuild the binary.
-2. **Give it one config key.** Pick a single top-level key in `<userData>/claude-desktop-extra.jsonc` (hand-owned, wins) / `.json` (written by the UI), named after the feature - `panelTabs`, `diffViewModes`, `coworkGlow`, `themePicker`. Read it leniently at runtime: a missing key means the default, a hand-set key in the `.jsonc` locks the switch. `PREF_KEY` in [`js/panel_tabs_main.js`](../js/panel_tabs_main.js) is the reference reader.
+2. **Give it one config key.** Pick a single top-level key in `<userData>/claude-desktop-extra.jsonc` (hand-owned, wins) / `.json` (written by the UI), named after the feature - `panelTabs`, `diffViewModes`, `themePicker`. Read it leniently at runtime: a missing key means the default, a hand-set key in the `.jsonc` locks the switch. `PREF_KEY` in [`js/panel_tabs_main.js`](../js/panel_tabs_main.js) is the reference reader.
 3. **Add the switch.** Three small pieces: an IPC read/set handler pair in your own patch (`cdb-tabs:pref-read` / `cdb-tabs:pref-set` is the pattern), two wrapper methods in [`js/extra_settings_bridge.js`](../js/extra_settings_bridge.js), and one `renderToggleRow` spec in the Community Features panel of [`js/extra_settings_page.js`](../js/extra_settings_page.js). The row handles the locked-by-`.jsonc` state and the restart notice for you.
 4. **Register it.** Bump `EXPECTED_PATCH_COUNT` in `scripts/apply_patches.py` - the orchestrator refuses to run if discovery and that number disagree.
 5. **Document it.** Add a row to the Community features table above stating what the patch does and why it exists, and a `CHANGELOG.md` entry.

js/diff_views_main.js

@@ -243,8 +243,8 @@
   var prefEnabled = PREF_DEFAULT;
   var prefSource = "default";          // "default" | "json" | "jsonc-locked"
 
-  // Same stripper and the same .json-then-.jsonc precedence the cowork-glow
-  // patch uses, legacy claude-desktop-bin.* fallback included: the one-time
+  // Same stripper and the same .json-then-.jsonc precedence the theme engine
+  // uses, legacy claude-desktop-bin.* fallback included: the one-time
   // rename migration lives in the custom-themes patch and same-anchor
   // injections stack in reverse, so it may not have run yet when we read.
   function cfgStrip(s) {
@@ -2424,8 +2424,8 @@
         // as locked instead of silently disagreeing with the file. A separate
         // boolean rather than a value-or-null field, because the value here IS a
         // boolean and `false` must not read as "not locked". The FIELD NAME
-        // matches the glow handler's (js/extra_settings_main.js) so the settings
-        // page speaks of exactly one spelling.
+        // matches the other rows' handlers so the settings page speaks of
+        // exactly one spelling.
         lockedByJsonc: prefSource === "jsonc-locked",
         key: PREF_KEY,
         jsonPath: p.json,

js/extra_settings_bridge.js

@@ -74,16 +74,6 @@
       return ipcRenderer.invoke("cdb-flags:unset", id);
     },
 
-    // Cowork glow. set() takes only the fixed strings "pulse"/"calm"; the main
-    // side re-validates and rejects anything else, so the page cannot smuggle a
-    // stylesheet or an arbitrary opacity through here.
-    glowRead: function () {
-      return ipcRenderer.invoke("cdb-glow:read");
-    },
-    glowSet: function (mode) {
-      return ipcRenderer.invoke("cdb-glow:set", String(mode));
-    },
-
     // Theme picker (Ctrl+Shift+T). The window and the hotkey are owned by
     // patches/community/add_feature_theme_picker.nim; these two channels only
     // read and persist the pref, which that patch re-reads on every press.

js/extra_settings_main.js

@@ -2118,44 +2118,10 @@
       return { ok: true, paths: __cdbEx_paths() };
     },
 
-    // Cowork glow. The live half lives in patches/add_feature_cowork_glow.nim
-    // (globalThis.__cdbCoworkGlow); persistence is ours because this file is the
-    // single writer of the .json.
-    "cdb-glow:read": function () {
-      var g = globalThis.__cdbCoworkGlow;
-      if (!g) return { ok: false, error: "the Cowork glow patch is not installed in this build" };
-      var s = g.read();
-      var jsonc = __cdbEx_readFileKey(__cdbEx_paths().jsonc, "coworkGlow");
-      return {
-        ok: true,
-        mode: s.mode,
-        opacity: s.opacity,
-        defaultOpacity: s.defaultOpacity,
-        // A hand-edited .jsonc wins the per-key merge at startup, so the switch
-        // must show itself as locked rather than silently disagree with the file.
-        lockedByJsonc: jsonc === "pulse" || jsonc === "calm" ? jsonc : null
-      };
-    },
-
-    "cdb-glow:set": function (mode) {
-      var g = globalThis.__cdbCoworkGlow;
-      if (!g) return { ok: false, error: "the Cowork glow patch is not installed in this build" };
-      if (mode !== "pulse" && mode !== "calm") return { ok: false, error: "mode must be \"pulse\" or \"calm\"" };
-      var live = g.set(mode);
-      if (!live || live.ok !== true) return live || { ok: false, error: "could not apply the glow mode" };
-      var res = __cdbEx_writeCfg(function (cfg) {
-        if (mode === "calm") cfg.coworkGlow = "calm";
-        else delete cfg.coworkGlow;
-        return mode;
-      });
-      if (!res.ok) return { ok: false, error: "applied to " + live.windows + " window(s) but could not save: " + res.error };
-      return { ok: true, mode: mode, windows: live.windows, path: res.path };
-    },
-
     // Theme picker (Ctrl+Shift+T). The window and the hotkey live in
     // patches/community/add_feature_theme_picker.nim, which reads this same key
     // itself on every press - persistence is ours because this file is the
-    // single writer of the .json, the same cross-patch split as the glow above.
+    // single writer of the .json.
     //
     // ON IS THE DEFAULT: the shortcut is how a fresh install finds the themes,
     // so an absent key means enabled and only an explicit false takes it away.

js/extra_settings_page.js

@@ -1179,9 +1179,8 @@
 
       // A hand-edited .jsonc wins the startup merge, so the switch must not
       // pretend it can override it.
-      // Truthy, not === true: the two handlers answer differently in KIND - the
-      // diff-views one with a boolean, the glow one with the locking value
-      // itself ("pulse"/"calm") or null. Both mean "the .jsonc decided this".
+      // Truthy, not === true: some handlers answer null rather than false when
+      // the .jsonc leaves the key alone.
       if (res.lockedByJsonc) {
         toggle.title = "Edit " + spec.lockFile + " to change this";
         stateLine.textContent = describe() + " - set in " + spec.lockFile;
@@ -1965,7 +1964,7 @@
   // activeSubagentMiB) next to the saved value, so describe() can say "after a
   // restart" for exactly as long as that is true, and stop saying it once the
   // app has been restarted. The numbers themselves stay hand-edited in the
-  // .jsonc (like coworkGlowOpacity); this row only shows them.
+  // .jsonc; this row only shows them.
   function renderTranscriptLimitsRow(panel) {
     return renderToggleRow(panel, {
       section: "Sessions",
@@ -2436,37 +2435,6 @@
     }
   }
 
-  // --- motion: the pulsing Cowork glow ------------------------------------
-  // Ours and it applies live, so it is a row in Community Features rather than a
-  // nav entry of its own.
-  function renderGlowRow(panel) {
-    return renderToggleRow(panel, {
-      section: "Motion",
-      title: "Calm the Cowork glow",
-      // Keep this short: the mechanism and the GPU reasoning belong in the README
-      // and the patch header, not in front of the user.
-      note: "Stops the Cowork hero glow from pulsing and dims it. Easier on laptops and weak GPUs. " +
-        "Applies live.",
-      ariaLabel: "calm the Cowork glow",
-      read: "glowRead",
-      write: "glowSet",
-      lockFile: "claude-desktop-extra.jsonc",
-      isOn: function (res) { return res.mode === "calm"; },
-      describe: function (on, res) {
-        return on
-          ? "calm - static at " + Math.round((res.opacity || 0) * 100) + "% opacity"
-          : "pulsing (claude.ai default)";
-      },
-      writeArg: function (next) { return next ? "calm" : "pulse"; },
-      toast: function (next, r) {
-        return next
-          ? "Cowork glow calmed in " + r.windows + " window(s)"
-          : "Cowork glow restored to pulsing";
-      },
-      errorPrefix: "Could not change the glow: "
-    });
-  }
-
   // --- shortcuts: the Ctrl+Shift+T theme gallery ---------------------------
   // The one row here that is ON unless you say otherwise: the shortcut is how a
   // fresh install finds the themes at all, so an absent key means on and only an
@@ -2770,8 +2738,6 @@
   //     expand button with it.
   //   * panel tabs - same shape: the page half polls state() every 5s and
   //     setEnabled(false) removes the tab bar and untags the columns.
-  //   * cowork glow - the set() handler insertCSS/removeInsertedCSS-es every
-  //     tracked claude.ai view immediately, so it is instant.
   //   * theme picker - the hotkey re-reads the config file on every press.
   // The two polled ones are the reason their notes promise "within a few
   // seconds" rather than "instantly".
@@ -2796,7 +2762,6 @@
     renderWindowControlsRow,
     renderNativeTitlebarRow,
     renderWindowTransparencyRow,
-    renderGlowRow,
     renderThemePickerRow,
     renderDevToolsRow,
     renderCuBackgroundRow

js/files_quick_open_main.js

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@
     try { return _app.getPath("userData"); } catch (e) { return null; }
   }
   // Same as every other config consumer (js/diff_views_main.js, extra_settings_main.js,
-  // growthbook_overrides.js, patches/add_feature_cowork_glow.nim): the one-time
+  // growthbook_overrides.js): the one-time
   // claude-desktop-bin.* -> claude-desktop-extra.* rename migration is installed by
   // the custom-themes patch and same-anchor prefix injections stack in reverse, so
   // it may not have run yet when we get here. Nudging it before every path
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@
   }
   mirrorEnv(readPrefFromDisk().value === true);
 
-  // Exact-origin allowlist, same posture as the diff-views and cowork-glow
+  // Exact-origin allowlist, same posture as the diff-views and Extra settings
   // sender checks: comparing parsed origins instead of testing whether the raw
   // URL STRING contains "claude.ai"/"claude.com" anywhere. A substring test
   // would also pass a lookalike host such as "https://evil.example/?next=