Workspaces nav item missing from left sidebar #5881

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1. MacKevinroe

   added

   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   on Jul 22, 2026
2. github-actions

   added a commit that references this issue on Jul 22, 2026

   fix(desktop): preserve pane layout when removing a workspace from the…

   ...

   This issue will close once commit 3488c8f is merged into the 'main' branch.

   3488c8f
3. MacKevinroe commented on Jul 23, 2026

   

   MacKevinroe

   on Jul 23, 2026

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   Digging into the source, this splits into two separate things — and the first one is working as designed, so I'll narrow this issue to the second.

   1. The missing nav item is deliberate, not a regression. It's gated by a build-time constant:

   // Temporarily hidden, not removed — flip to true to restore the Workspaces tab.
   const SHOW_WORKSPACES_TAB = false;
   

   apps/desktop/.../DashboardSidebarHeader/DashboardSidebarHeader.tsx:45, gating the collapsed rail (:174) and the expanded row (:354). apps/desktop/plans/20260721-sidebar-header-reorg-notes.md records it as intentional in the sidebar/header reorg ("Workspaces tab hidden, not deleted"), alongside the new collapsible Workspaces header and the Search row. So — not a bug, and Remove from Sidebar was a red herring on my part; the two are unrelated.

   The gap I'd still flag is that "flip to true to restore" is only available when compiling from source. In a released build there's no way to get the entry back, and because the const is module-scope with {FLAG && …} guards it's constant-folded out of the production bundle, so there's no patch-level workaround either.

   I've opened #5901 for that: a device-local Appearance → Show Workspaces tab toggle, defaulting to false so the shipped default is untouched. Small (6 files, no migration), and it deliberately doesn't relitigate the reorg decision.

   2. The part I'd still call a bug — step 5 above: opening a workspace from the command palette presented it without its attached live Claude session, where opening the same workspace from the sidebar shows the session. Same destination, different entry point, different result.

   I'm holding off on splitting that into its own issue until I can retest it properly. My working theory is that easier workspace visibility plus pinning makes it moot, in which case there's nothing to file — I'll confirm once I can get at the list again and report back either way. Happy to close this as intended-behaviour in the meantime if you'd prefer to track #5901 on its own.
4. saddlepaddle

   closed this as completedin #5908on Jul 24, 2026