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[Bug]: iPhone chat shows "Image unavailable" for host-path Markdown images outside the project #17668
Closed as not planned
Description
What happened
An assistant message embeds a screenshot stored on the host with a Markdown image and an absolute path. In the iPhone app the image is replaced by "Image unavailable".
Two messages in the same thread, same PNG (1309×1410, 292 KB), both fail on the iPhone:
The second path is the folder preview_snapshot with save=true writes to, which its tool description says is the way to show the user a screenshot. The file there was copied in by the agent, not written by preview_snapshot.
Expected
The image renders in the iPhone chat, as host-path embeds are meant to through the signed media-file URL (#9023).
Environment
| Host | macOS (Darwin 27.0.0), T3 Code (Nightly) 0.0.46-nightly.20261009.2886 |
| Client | iPhone, T3 Code app |
| Provider | Claude Code harness |
| Thread workspace | a project's main checkout; both image paths are outside it |
Not verified
- iOS app version and iOS version.
- How the phone reaches the host (T3 Connect or local network).
- Whether the same two messages render on desktop.
- Whether an in-project relative path or an HTTPS image renders on the same phone.
Related
- Android host-path Markdown image is blank while desktop and HTTPS embeds work #10322: same shape on Android (blank tile), closed as fixed in Android 1.0.4.
- fix(mobile): iPhone chat pictures were empty gray boxes #9087: open PR for empty gray boxes on iPhone. This report shows the explicit "Image unavailable" state instead, so the request for the image is being refused or failing rather than never made.
- [Bug]: preview_snapshot returns raw Windows backslash path breaking chat image rendering (Image unavailable) #14839, [Bug]: Images and file links with Windows paths like C:\Users\me\.t3\... don't load #14261: "Image unavailable" caused by Windows backslash paths; these paths are POSIX.
Activity
juliusmarminge commentedon Oct 27, 2026
Tried this on current main (401b017) with the iOS dev client on an iPhone 17 Pro simulator, connected straight to a Linux host. One assistant message embedded the same 1309×1410 PNG from three host paths outside the project, plus an in-project control:
/tmp/.../synara-shot/synara-now.png/tmp→/private/tmp<T3 home>/userdata/browser-artifacts/synara-now.pngshot.png, inside the projectWith a normal pairing, all four render on the phone and on web:
The only way I got "Image unavailable" was a connection without host-file access. It then hits every host image, the in-project one too. Builds from 2026-10-14 on show the reason in the placeholder: "This connection cannot read host files. Pair again with a new link to view it."
The 2026-10-09 build in the report sends absolute paths the same way, so a path outside the project should not be the cause. To narrow it down:
) render in the same thread on the phone?github-actions commentedon Nov 3, 2026
Closing: no reply in 7 days after we asked for more information. Comment with the missing details and we will reopen.