Workspace activity panel doesn't remember being hidden: reopens in new workspaces and after restart #9417

Activity

1. l16i

   added

   bugSomething isn't workingSomething isn't working

   on Nov 6, 2026
2. github-actions commented on Nov 6, 2026

   

   github-actionsBot

   on Nov 6, 2026 – with GitHub Actions

   Contributor

   More actions

   The report is accurate. The workspace activity panel docks by default whenever the center pane is wide enough. Hiding it is recorded per workspace, in memory only, so it shows again in every new workspace and after every restart. There is no preference to keep it hidden. The behavior comes from how the store is designed, not from a regression. On a wide screen it looks like a bug, because the panel almost always fits.

   Affected code

   All paths are under apps/desktop/src/renderer/routes/_authenticated/_dashboard/v2-workspace/$workspaceId/.

   • components/WorkspaceActivityMenu/stores/activityPanelStore/activityPanelStore.ts:21-22, 49-55: hidden: Record<string, true> uses the workspace ID as its key. The store is a plain zustand create(...) with no persist middleware, so it starts empty on every app start and has no entry for a new workspace.
   • components/WorkspaceActivityMenu/WorkspaceActivityMenu.tsx:152-167: docked = fits && !hidden, so the panel opens by default whenever fits is true.
   • components/WorkspaceActivityMenu/WorkspaceActivityMenu.tsx:463-469: when the panel fits, onTriggerClick only calls setHidden(workspaceId, !hidden). This is the in-memory, per-workspace toggle.
   • components/WorkspaceActivityMenu/components/ActivityPanelAside/ActivityPanelAside.tsx:14, 34-48: fits is true when the host is at least CENTERED_CONTENT_WIDTH_PX + 2 * INSET_PX wide. That is 816 + 2 × (320 + 12 + 8) = 1496px, which matches the report.
   • components/WorkspaceActivityMenu/components/ActivityPanelAside/ActivityPanelAside.tsx:50-57: while the panel is shown, this sets --pane-aside-inset: 340px on the host. packages/panes/src/react/components/Workspace/components/Tab/components/Pane/components/PaneContent/PaneContent.tsx:21 then applies pr-[var(--pane-aside-inset,0px)] to every pane that does not opt out, which reduces the usable width of non-chat panes.
   • page.tsx:748-750: renderPaneAside always mounts <ActivityPanelAside>. No setting or flag controls it.

   Root cause

   The "hidden" choice lives in a non-persisted, per-workspace map whose default is "shown when it fits":

   • A new workspace has no entry, so hidden is false and the panel docks.
   • A restart rebuilds the store with an empty map, so every workspace docks again.
   • New tabs keep the choice because the key is the workspace ID, not the tab.

   I ruled out a bug in measuring the width. The threshold and the ResizeObserver logic work as intended.

   Reproduction

   Manual:

   1. Make the center pane at least 1496px wide.
   2. Open a workspace. The panel is docked.
   3. Click the activity button to hide it.
   4. Open a different workspace, or restart the app. The panel is docked again.

   Store-level bun:test sketch:

   import { useActivityPanelStore } from "./activityPanelStore";
   test("hiding in one workspace does not carry to another", () => {
     useActivityPanelStore.getState().setHidden("ws-a", true);
     expect(useActivityPanelStore.getState().hidden["ws-b"]).toBeUndefined(); // docks by default
   });

   The restart case follows from the store having no persist wrapper.

   Fix direction

   One option (pick one or combine them):

   1. Global persisted preference. Add a small singleton store, for example { autoShowActivityPanel: boolean }, using zustand persist like apps/desktop/src/renderer/stores/workspace-agents-row.ts. Then use something like docked = fits && (hidden[workspaceId] === undefined ? autoShow : !hidden[workspaceId]). Make the per-workspace map tri-state (an explicit "shown" as well as "hidden") so one workspace can override the global default.
   2. Remember the last choice. In the fits branch of onTriggerClick, also write the global default, so hiding once keeps the panel hidden in new workspaces and after restarts.
   3. Settings toggle. Add "Show activity panel automatically" in Settings, backed by the same store, with a settings-search entry and Lingui strings plus check:i18n.

   Keep it a fixed-size singleton, not a map keyed by workspace. apps/desktop/AGENTS.md requires every localStorage writer to be added to persisted-key-registry.test-data.ts, and keys by workspace would grow without bound. Leave the transient fits, floatingOpen and asideNodes state in memory.