[BUG] After updating to 2.37337.1, most of my projects disappeared from the Code tab sidebar. The sessions are all still there, but they're dumped into one "Default" pile instead of grouped by project.

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

After updating to 2.37337.1, most of my projects disappeared from the Code tab sidebar. Sessions are all still there, but dumped into one "Default" pile instead of grouped by project.

What it looked like before the update

My sidebar listed every project I work on as its own group, with that project's sessions underneath it. About 20 projects. I could open any project and see all of its sessions in one place.

What it looks like after the update

Only 8 of those project groups are still there. Every other project is gone from the sidebar. Their sessions are not deleted. They're all piled together under a single group called "Default", mixed in with each other, one session after another. Each session still shows its old project name in small text under the title (for example "last-beacon-survival"), so the app clearly still knows which project each session belongs to. It just doesn't group them anymore.

If I switch the sidebar to group by date instead, every session shows up. So nothing is lost. The sidebar just stopped organizing them by project.

I did not change any settings. The app updated itself overnight and this is how it came up.

What I think happened

The update replaced "group by project" with "group by environment". The Group by menu now offers None, Status, Date and Environment. "Project" isn't an option anymore.

The update then created 8 "environments" for me automatically (I never created any). Only the projects that happened to get one of those 8 environments still show as a group. Every project that didn't get one lost its group and fell into "Default".

Also: clicking the "+" on any of the 8 groups the update created pops up a message saying "Couldn't switch environments: the Local environment isn't available anymore." The session still starts fine. Clicking "+ New" at the top of the sidebar does not show the message.

What Should Happen?

My projects should still be grouped the way they were before the update. If the app now needs an "environment" for each project in order to group it, the update should have made one for every project that has sessions, not just 8 of them. And creating one by hand should always bring the group back.

Error Messages/Logs

Error message: Couldn't switch environments: the Local environment isn't available anymore.

(Shown when clicking "+" on any of the 8 project groups the update created. Nothing about the grouping or this message appears in %LOCALAPPDATA%\Claude\Logs\main.log.)

Steps to Reproduce

1. On Claude desktop 1.x on Windows, have sessions in around 20 different project folders. Sidebar is set to Group by: Project and shows one group per project.
2. Let the app auto-update to 2.37337.1.
3. Open the Code tab. Only 8 project groups remain. All other sessions are under one group called "Default", each still showing its project name in small text under the title.
4. Switch Group by to Date. Every session is listed, so nothing was deleted.
5. Try to fix it: on the new-session page, Choose environment > New environment, name it after a missing project, point it at that project's folder.

• For two projects (Moot, StickyBoard) this worked: the group came back and its sessions moved into it.
• For a third (Last Beacon Survival, 108 sessions) it did not: the environment shows in the list, but no group appears and the sessions stay in "Default". Also tried naming it "last-beacon-survival" to match the small text. Also toggled Group by off and on, and restarted the app. No change.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

Claude desktop 1.28929.0 (the version before the auto-update)

Claude Code Version

2.1.295 (bundled in the desktop app)

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Claude desktop 2.37337.1, Windows 11 Pro, Microsoft Store install, updated 2026-10-13.

The 8 environments the update created (working and show up in the sidebar) are in %APPDATA%\Claude\ccd-session-presets.json, all with the same creation timestamp and "seededFromDraft": true. I never made any presets before this update.