diff --git a/.claude/hooks/session-start.sh b/.claude/hooks/session-start.sh
index eb7dfba9ce..5b1409249a 100755
--- a/.claude/hooks/session-start.sh
+++ b/.claude/hooks/session-start.sh
@@ -172,10 +172,6 @@ if [ -n "${CLAUDE_ENV_FILE:-}" ]; then
   echo "export ANDROID_HOME=$ANDROID_SDK_DIR" >> "$CLAUDE_ENV_FILE"
   echo "export ANDROID_SDK_ROOT=$ANDROID_SDK_DIR" >> "$CLAUDE_ENV_FILE"
   echo "export PATH=\$PATH:$ANDROID_SDK_DIR/platform-tools" >> "$CLAUDE_ENV_FILE"
-  # get.videolan.org is unreachable / heavily rate-limited from CCW egress,
-  # so disable the desktopApp vlcDownload / upxDownload / vlcSetup tasks by
-  # default. See desktopApp/build.gradle.kts for the opt-out wiring.
-  echo "export AMETHYST_SKIP_VLC=true" >> "$CLAUDE_ENV_FILE"
 fi
 
 # --- Kotlin/Native: pre-install native dependencies (GCC sysroot, LLDB) ---
diff --git a/desktopApp/build.gradle.kts b/desktopApp/build.gradle.kts
index 803a0379bb..9afb1a8b59 100644
--- a/desktopApp/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/desktopApp/build.gradle.kts
@@ -164,33 +164,6 @@ tasks.withType<Download>().configureEach {
     tempAndMove(true)
 }
 
-// Opt-out for VLC bundling. CI (build.yml) and ephemeral build sandboxes
-// (Claude Code web) routinely lose connectivity to get.videolan.org and the
-// retry budget above is not enough to mask it. Setting `-PskipVlcSetup=true`
-// (or env `AMETHYST_SKIP_VLC=true`) disables the vlc/upx download + extract
-// tasks so packaging proceeds without bundling VLC. The release workflow
-// (create-release.yml) does NOT set this, so production artifacts still ship
-// with VLC bundled.
-val skipVlcSetup =
-    (project.findProperty("skipVlcSetup") as? String)?.toBoolean() == true ||
-        System.getenv("AMETHYST_SKIP_VLC") == "true"
-
-if (skipVlcSetup) {
-    logger.lifecycle("desktopApp: skipVlcSetup=true — disabling vlc-setup plugin tasks. Built artifacts will NOT bundle VLC.")
-    val vlcPluginTasks = setOf(
-        "vlcDownload",
-        "vlcExtract",
-        "vlcFilterPlugins",
-        "vlcCompressPlugins",
-        "upxDownload",
-        "upxExtract",
-        "vlcSetup",
-    )
-    tasks.matching { it.name in vlcPluginTasks }.configureEach {
-        enabled = false
-    }
-}
-
 // --- AppImage packaging (Linux) ---
 //
 // Compose Multiplatform's TargetFormat.AppImage is known-broken in 1.10.x (CMP-7101).