Directory and Default Workspace Contract

Status: implemented and maintained. GitHub issues #1785 and #1795 are closed.

Ownership

src/main/project/ owns managed directory metadata, default workspace, archive/remove/reorder and project routes. Session only stores projectDir; Workspace owns filesystem authorization/tree/search. Directory management never deletes real files.

Active directory behavior

• Existing users without custom order see default directory first, then recent usage, then stable path order.
• Active non-temporary directories support persisted reorder from Settings and project-group sidebar mode.
• Sidebar reorder is disabled outside project grouping or while search is active; sessions inside a group keep their normal activity ordering.
• The Chat and project-group section actions create a new draft with the relevant workspace context.
• Missing directories remain visible through the existing filter. App-managed temporary directories stay hidden unless they are the default or the user explicitly requests them.

Archive, restore and remove

• Archive hides a directory from active management/project picker surfaces but preserves Session data and filesystem content.
• Restore returns it to the active list near the top.
• Remove requires confirmation and means “remove from DeepChat”, never filesystem deletion.
• Removing a regular directory clears projectDir on associated regular Sessions.
• ACP workdir needed for resume is not destructively cleared; a tombstone prevents a derived environment from immediately reappearing until the path is selected again.
• Removing the default directory clears the default in the same transaction.

Default workspace

The default workspace is optional, persisted by Project, and used when creating a draft without an explicit project. Users can set, clear or change it from environment settings. An invalid/missing default must not block opening DeepChat; the UI exposes the missing state and lets the user recover.

UI and compatibility

Settings provides active/archived views, accessible move actions and confirmation dialogs. Drag is only a shortcut; keyboard/menu actions must produce the same order. All strings use i18n and the route/client/store path remains typed.

Existing new_environments usage data is migrated without losing Session/project associations. Derived usage rows are not the sole source of archive/remove/order truth.

Non-goals: deleting filesystem folders, deleting all Sessions, nested directory hierarchies, rename and bulk archive/remove.