The shared directory picker is used from right-aligned controls such as the MCP target project selector. Its portal menu previously used the trigger's raw left coordinate, so a trigger near the window edge could render the 400px menu partly off-screen.
Clamp the fixed-position menu against the viewport while preserving the existing width where space allows, and cover the right-edge case with a focused component test.
Constraint: DirectoryPicker is shared by MCP settings, task prompts, adapter settings, and launch controls.
Rejected: Special-case the MCP form layout | the overflow comes from the shared portal positioning and would remain in other right-aligned uses.
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: narrow
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test -- src/components/shared/DirectoryPicker.test.tsx
Tested: bun run check:desktop
Not-tested: Manual browser smoke; local agent-browser automation hung during startup/command evaluation.
The composer context rail should read as one compact group, not three stretched controls. This change removes flex growth from the repository picker, caps branch width by content, softens the active worktree state, and removes hover borders that made secondary state controls look primary.
Constraint: Keep the existing composer and session layout unchanged.
Rejected: Use a prominent active outline for worktree | it made the state look like the primary action.
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: narrow
Directive: Keep this rail content-sized; long names should truncate inside chips instead of spreading across the bar.
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test -- --run src/components/shared/DirectoryPicker.test.tsx src/components/chat/ChatInput.test.tsx src/pages/EmptySession.test.tsx
Tested: bun run check:desktop
Tested: agent-browser desktop screenshot /tmp/cc-haha-repo-controls-compact-worktree-active-final.png and mobile overflow check /tmp/cc-haha-repo-controls-compact-mobile-final.png
Not-tested: Native Tauri packaged window visual check
The launch controls live directly under the composer, so they need to read as a compact context rail rather than a second card. The styling now uses a lighter surface, shorter controls, bounded flex sizing, and explicit hover titles for long repository and branch names. Git repo status is passed into the picker so a freshly opened Git project does not briefly look like a plain folder.
Constraint: Keep the existing session/composer layout untouched; only refine the context bar under the input.
Rejected: Redesign the empty session layout | user explicitly scoped this to the lower context bar.
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: narrow
Directive: Do not grow this rail vertically without browser-checking long repo and branch names.
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test -- --run src/components/shared/DirectoryPicker.test.tsx src/components/chat/ChatInput.test.tsx src/pages/EmptySession.test.tsx
Tested: bun run check:desktop
Tested: agent-browser long repo and long branch screenshots at /tmp/cc-haha-repo-controls-polished-git-long-branch-selected.png and /tmp/cc-haha-repo-controls-polished-mobile-long.png
Not-tested: Native Tauri packaged window visual check
The empty-session launch surface needed to behave like a real coding-agent entry point: project, branch, and worktree choices are now visible together, and branch choices that cannot safely run in-place force an isolated worktree before session creation.
Constraint: Desktop launch flows must preserve repository safety when a target branch is dirty or checked out elsewhere
Rejected: Keep branch and worktree controls as detached chips | the selection state was easy to miss and visually inconsistent with the launcher
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: moderate
Directive: Do not remove the automatic worktree requirement without rechecking dirty and checked-out branch launches through the desktop UI
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test -- --run src/components/shared/DirectoryPicker.test.tsx src/pages/EmptySession.test.tsx
Tested: cd desktop && bun run lint
Tested: bun run check:desktop
Tested: browser-driven desktop smoke on ports 4789/4790
Not-tested: bun run verify still has the pre-existing agent-utils coverage ratchet failure outside desktop
The desktop test package was able to reuse stale Tauri target output even after the frontend and sidecar were rebuilt, which made UI changes look missing after a build. The local macOS build script now clears that cache by default while retaining an opt-in incremental path.
The project selector also no longer repeats the active branch because branch and worktree are now first-class launch controls beside it.
Constraint: Local macOS test packages must prioritize freshness over incremental build speed
Rejected: Keep branch text in the project chip | duplicated the dedicated branch selector and made the launch row harder to scan
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: narrow
Directive: Keep branch selection behavior in RepositoryLaunchControls; DirectoryPicker should only identify the project
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test -- DirectoryPicker.test.tsx
Tested: cd desktop && bun run lint
Tested: SKIP_INSTALL=1 ./desktop/scripts/build-macos-arm64.sh
Tested: Opened built app and confirmed sidecar /health returned ok
Desktop sessions now resolve repository launch intent before creation, so users can pick a branch, choose whether to isolate it in a worktree, and get stable error messages instead of silent branch-switch failures. The server owns the Git safety checks and session metadata so the UI and real agent runtime agree on the actual working directory.
Constraint: Direct branch switching must not overwrite or hide uncommitted user changes
Constraint: Desktop worktree branches must stay out of normal branch selection and recent-project labels
Rejected: Let the UI call git directly | server-side checks keep session metadata and runtime launch paths consistent
Rejected: Auto-switch dirty checkouts | users need an explicit isolated-worktree choice to protect local edits
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: moderate
Directive: Do not relax dirty-worktree or checked-out-branch guards without adding equivalent business-flow tests
Tested: ALLOW_CLI_CORE_CHANGE=1 bun run quality:pr
Tested: /tmp business-flow script with dirty checkout, checked-out branch, isolated worktree, missing branch, non-git, missing directory, and real LLM session
Tested: agent-browser desktop UI flow across dirty, checked-out, non-git, branch search, recent-project, and Run scenarios
