[nwparker]

	Files	Added	Deleted	Net
Test	1	$\color{#1a7f37}{\Huge{\mathbf{+}}}$​133	0	$\color{#1a7f37}{\Huge{\mathbf{+}}}$​133
Prod	2	$\color{#1a7f37}{\Huge{\mathbf{+}}}$​113	0	$\color{#1a7f37}{\Huge{\mathbf{+}}}$​113

ELI5

When someone whose default runtime is WSL adds a project that lives on a Windows drive (C:\…), Orca runs that project's Git through WSL today. That is about 300 times slower than Git for Windows and misses edits made from Windows. After this PR, such a brand-new project starts out using Git for Windows, and its terminals and agents still run in WSL. It matches what the "Git" setting from #33090 / #33097 switches an existing project to.

What Changed

• Before: a new C:\ project under a global WSL default inherits WSL for everything, Git included.
• After: the project saves the same setting the conversion writes, { kind: 'wsl', distro: <the global default's distro>, git: 'windows-host' }. Terminals, agents, accounts and hooks still run in that distro. Git, and where new worktrees go, move to Windows.
• Mechanism: src/main/wsl/wsl-drive-project-new-default.ts, called from the store's addRepo. Every add path ends there: add, create, clone, nested import, the runtime RPC and paired clients. It writes the default only when all of these hold:
  • Windows, with the internal WSL hosts gate open (the conversion is gated the same way);
  • a local git project (not a folder project) whose path is on a Windows drive;
  • the new project has no runtime setting of its own;
  • the global default is WSL with a named distro;
  • no linked worktree was made by WSL Git. Those links are Linux paths that Git for Windows can't read. feat(wsl): run Git for Windows for a WSL project on a Windows drive (D1c-2) #33090's preflight refuses them for the same reason. The links are read from .git/worktrees/*/gitdir. A checkout whose .git is a file (a linked worktree or a submodule) counts as unknown and keeps today's behaviour.

Why

• Owner decision: repos on a Windows drive use Windows Git, keeping WSL terminals. Existing projects convert through feat(wsl): run Git for Windows for a WSL project on a Windows drive (D1c-2) #33090's checked flow. Only brand-new projects get the default.
• Why pin the distro, not inherit. This is the same shape feat(wsl): run Git for Windows for a WSL project on a Windows drive (D1c-2) #33090's conversion saves. Without the pin, a later change of the global default could quietly move the project's Git back to WSL. The alternative was a new "inherit, but Windows Git" setting. It would need new resolution rules and a new settings UI state, and older peers would read it as plain inherit.
• Why in addRepo and not each add path. There are about ten add paths. One hook covers all of them, plus future ones. The check it runs is a few small file reads, and only on Windows when the gate is open.
• Compatibility. This uses no new field. An older build reads the saved setting as a plain WSL project, the same as for a converted project.

Linked Issue

Part of the WSL re-write, step D1c, decision (b) (risk rows R36, R6). Stacked on #33143 (the top of D1c), so that branch holds every D1c PR.

Visual Proof

N/A: no UI change. The project's settings show #33097's existing "Orca runs Git on Windows" row.

Testing

• Automated tests: src/main/wsl/wsl-drive-project-new-default.test.ts covers:
  • the default itself;
  • each case where it is skipped: off Windows, Windows default, no distro, inside a distro, folder project, another host, WSL-made worktrees, unreadable links;
  • an existing preference is kept;
  • the closed gate;
  • link reading from a real temp checkout.
• pnpm test src/main/persistence and pnpm tc:node pass locally.
• Manual on Windows: not run (no Windows box assigned to this work).

Review

Self-reviewed.

Agent skill upstream boundary

• Not applicable.

Notes

• Flag-off: no change. addRepo now calls applyNewWindowsDriveProjectDefault, whose first check returns false while the gate is closed (wsl-drive-project-new-default.ts): no filesystem read, no project change, no extra save. Even with the gate open it skips SSH, folder workspaces, macOS and Linux.
• SSH: remote projects are skipped (local only).
• Folder workspaces: skipped; they run no Git.
• Mobile and paired clients: the default is applied by the desktop that owns the project.

Status

• 2026-10-28, head 167b6010b14: rebased onto main 64344142fa0, which has feat(wsl): run Git for Windows for a WSL project on a Windows drive (D1c-2) #33090 squash-merged (fix(wsl-host): tell users how to fix a distro Orca can't host (D1c-1) #33085 earlier) and fix(wsl-mover): hold an app update install while a moved project comes back #35357; feat(wsl): offer Git for Windows in a Windows-drive WSL project's settings (D1c-3) #33097 now targets main. Every commit is kept. CI: running on this head.
• Restacked only; no change to this PR's diff.
• Review follow-up: a new project's worktree links are judged with the prune guard's isForeignLink, so a //wsl.localhost link counts as Windows Git's.
• pnpm tc, pnpm run typecheck:ci, the PR's tests, check:code-quality:changed, the anti-slop oxlint, repo oxlint and ast-grep (including the no-real-time-sleep test rules) and the e2e typecheck ratchet all pass locally on this head, run one branch at a time.

[greptile-apps]

Confidence Score: 2/5

[Medium impact] The change affects setup for eligible new Windows-drive projects.

The PR is not ready to merge because all three previously reported failures remain.

Findings

1.  Existing projects switch Git unexpectedly ▶
2.  Unread links allow incompatible Git ▶
3.  Missing Windows Git breaks projects ▶

Summary

Gives eligible Windows-drive projects Windows Git while keeping terminals and agents in the chosen WSL distro.

• New Windows-drive projects use Windows Git and keep their WSL runtime.

_{Reviews (7) · Last reviewed commit: "fix(wsl): judge a new project's worktree..." · Reviewed by Greptile}

[greptile-apps]

Existing projects switch Git unexpectedly

Adding another checkout of an existing project can silently switch that project's Git to Windows. addRepo merges checkouts with the same remote into one project before this helper runs. An existing project with no saved runtime choice passes this check, so adding a clean second checkout changes Git for the first checkout too, without checking its WSL-authored worktrees. Those worktrees can become unusable in Orca.

Capture whether the project existed before registration and apply this default only to a genuinely new project.

Knowledge Base Used: Desktop persistence and lifecycle

[greptile-apps]

Unread links allow incompatible Git

If reading worktrees or one of its gitdir files fails, this function returns an empty or incomplete list. The caller treats that as safe and saves git: 'windows-host', even when an unread link belongs to WSL Git. Windows Git cannot follow that link, so the linked worktree becomes unusable even after the read error clears.

Return [] only when the worktrees directory is absent. Return null for other directory errors or any failed link read so the project keeps its current behavior.

Knowledge Base Used:

• Git operations and status
• Workspace and worktree lifecycle

[greptile-apps]

Missing Windows Git breaks projects

If a Windows user has Git installed only in WSL, they can still add an existing checkout because registration accepts a valid .git marker when Git cannot run. This helper then saves git: 'windows-host' without checking that Windows Git exists. Git actions that previously worked through WSL now fail.

Check that Windows Git can run before saving this default. If it cannot, leave the project inheriting its runtime.

[coderabbitai]

Walkthrough

The change adds Windows drive-project runtime preference selection and worktree-link reading. It applies a selected WSL preference to a project only when the WSL host gate is open and the project has no local preference. Repository addition schedules a save when the preference is written. Tests cover eligibility conditions, existing preferences, the host gate, and worktree-link states.

Priority: Normal

Merge Risk: Moderate · up to 549af

New Windows-drive projects on a WSL-default setup can be pinned to Windows Git in cases the feature is meant to skip: when the project already holds other repos, or when worktree link files cannot be read. This could cause worktree operations to fail or behave unexpectedly for affected users. Restrict the default to single-repo projects and treat unreadable worktree metadata as unknown before merging.

Pre-merge checks: 4 · 1

Failed checks: 1 warning

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage		Docstring coverage is 50.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff with cyclomatic complexity of at least 2. Documenta…	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

Passed checks: 4 passed

Check name	Status	Explanation
Title check		The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: applying a WSL-related default for new Windows-drive projects. The issue identifier is relevant.
Description check		The description is detailed and covers the user-facing change, mechanism, rationale, scope, compatibility, testing, and platform limitations. It provides N/A visual proof and documents that manual Win…
Linked Issues check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.

Full details: Description check

Explanation

The description is detailed and covers the user-facing change, mechanism, rationale, scope, compatibility, testing, and platform limitations. It provides N/A visual proof and documents that manual Windows testing was not performed. The Linked Issue section references #33143 but does not provide the template's explicit Fixes line or a direct issue link.

Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

Docstring coverage is 50.00% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff with cyclomatic complexity of at least 2. Documentation-only edits and deletions within surviving functions are included; unchanged diff context and fully deleted functions are excluded. Analyzed 4 functions across 3 files.

Resolution

Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

Finishing Touches: 💡 1

📝 Generate docstrings: 💡

• Commit to this branch
• Create a new PR

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[coderabbitai]

Actionable comments posted: 2

---

Review info

Run configuration

• Source mode: Auto
• Repository: Unavailable
• Branch: Unavailable
• File: No configuration file from this repository applied
• Commit: Unavailable
• Layers: Repository UI
• Review profile: CHILL
• Plan: Advanced
• Run ID: 82401549-a288-4f00-89f5-35dce3d5a835

Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 084c765 and 549afa7.

Files selected for processing: 3

• src/main/persistence/loading-store/repo-lifecycle-operations.ts
• src/main/wsl/wsl-drive-project-new-default.test.ts
• src/main/wsl/wsl-drive-project-new-default.ts

Included review availability: This review used your included allowance. Your plan provides up to 10 included reviews per hour; 0 remain after this review.

[coderabbitai]

Major · Data Integrity & Integration · Heavy lift

Do not change an existing project based on one added repo.

A project can contain multiple sourceRepoIds. If addRepo adds a Windows-drive repo to an existing project with no local preference, this search selects that project and pins Windows Git for all its repos. The selector checks only the newly added repo, so the other repos may not meet the Windows-drive or worktree-link conditions. Apply this default only to a newly created, single-repo project, or validate every repo in the project before writing the project-wide preference. (raw.githubusercontent.com)

[coderabbitai]

Major · Data Integrity & Integration · Quick win

Treat unreadable worktree metadata as unknown.

If listing .git/worktrees fails for a reason other than ENOENT, returning [] tells the selector that there are no links. If one gitdir read fails, flatMap silently removes that link. Either case can hide a WSL-authored link and persist a Windows Git preference that the worktree preflight would reject. Return null for these failures; reserve [] for a missing worktrees directory. (raw.githubusercontent.com)

Also applies to: 100-102

Source: Learnings