Desktop search results were visually misleading when many directories shared the same basename, because the UI emphasized the basename and the server ranking allowed deep basename matches to outrank direct path-prefix matches. This makes search rows show the insertable relative path and ranks direct path-prefix matches before unrelated same-name directories.
Constraint: Desktop @ file suggestions should match the CLI mental model for path search.
Rejected: Keep basename plus parent-path rows | it hides the distinction between src/, src/hooks/, and desktop/src in the primary text.
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: narrow
Directive: Preserve path-prefix ranking ahead of basename-only matches for directory searches.
Tested: bun test src/server/__tests__/filesystem.test.ts
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test -- FileSearchMenu.test.tsx ChatInput.test.tsx
Tested: bun run check:server
Tested: bun run check:desktop
Desktop @ file search was recursively walking the filesystem with a local skip list, which let Python and Node generated directories leak into results and diverged from CLI behavior. Route candidate discovery through the same git-first model: tracked files, untracked files with exclude-standard, and ripgrep fallback for non-git folders, then derive selectable directories from those candidates.
Constraint: Desktop picker must select both files and directories without surfacing ignored project artifacts.
Constraint: No new dependencies; reuse the existing git, ripgrep, settings, and ignore utilities.
Rejected: Maintain a hardcoded directory denylist | it would drift from CLI and miss project-specific ignore rules.
Rejected: Full recursive readdir scanning | it ignores git index semantics and makes large dependency trees visible.
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: moderate
Directive: Keep desktop @ file candidate discovery aligned with src/hooks/fileSuggestions.ts before changing ranking or ignore behavior.
Tested: bun test src/server/__tests__/filesystem.test.ts
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test -- FileSearchMenu.test.tsx ChatInput.test.tsx
Tested: cd desktop && bun run lint && bun run test -- --run && bun run build
Tested: bun run check:server
Tested: bun run check:coverage
Tested: bun run verify
Not-tested: Native Windows/Linux manual UI smoke; path handling relies on cross-platform git/ripgrep wrappers and normalized relative paths.
The desktop workspace panel and chat transcript were mixing project-level file state with per-turn session history, which made rewind, file attachment, and changed-file previews brittle across multi-turn and historical sessions. This keeps turn checkpoints durable in the transcript, makes workspace refreshes happen at the right lifecycle points, and hardens long file previews without blocking the UI.
Constraint: Right-side workspace changes are project working-tree state, while chat turn cards are session checkpoint state.
Rejected: Treat every changed-file panel entry as session-local | new sessions must still reveal existing dirty project files.
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: moderate
Directive: Do not couple global workspace status to session checkpoint cards without preserving both product meanings.
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test src/components/workspace/WorkspacePanel.test.tsx
Tested: cd desktop && bun run lint
Tested: git diff --check
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test
Not-tested: Packaged Tauri runtime smoke test
The chat surface now relies on the current-turn changes card for file rollback, so the older per-message hover rewind affordance was removed to avoid two competing rollback models.
Constraint: Current-turn undo still depends on the existing checkpoint rewind API.
Rejected: Keep both rewind entry points | duplicate rollback affordances make the product harder to explain and test.
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: moderate
Directive: Prefer adding rollback behavior through the current-turn change card instead of restoring per-message hover rewind.
Tested: bun test src/server/__tests__/sessions.test.ts
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test
Tested: cd desktop && bun run lint
Tested: cd desktop && bun run build
Not-tested: Browser E2E scripts were updated but not executed in this commit.
Desktop @-mentions were collapsing filesystem browse failures into an empty
state, which made /private/tmp aliases on macOS look like real empty
directories. The server now treats /private/tmp as the same temp root as
/tmp on Darwin, and the menu surfaces explicit access/load errors instead of
pretending the directory has no files.
Constraint: Desktop browse/file APIs must stay restricted to approved roots
Constraint: Native macOS pickers and realpath() may canonicalize /tmp to /private/tmp
Rejected: Expanding filesystem access to arbitrary system paths | too broad for this targeted fix
Rejected: Keeping silent empty-state fallback | hides permission and path bugs from users
Confidence: high
Scope-risk: narrow
Reversibility: clean
Directive: Keep filesystem error states visible in the composer; do not collapse API failures back into empty-directory messaging
Tested: bun test src/server/__tests__/filesystem.test.ts
Tested: cd desktop && bun run test -- FileSearchMenu.test.tsx
Tested: cd desktop && bun run lint
Not-tested: Manual desktop packaging or end-to-end Tauri app run after this patch
