Desktop Code sidebar: "Group by Project" removed and no alphabetical sorting of groups – hours lost restoring the workspace (Windows, 2.37337.1)

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 an automatic update this morning (Windows, Claude desktop 2.37337.1, Oct 15 2026), the Code sidebar changed without any action on our side. Related to #102177.

1) "Group by" now only offers None / Status / Date / Environment. "Group by Project" (folder) is gone.

2) Dozens of sessions from our project folders were lumped into a single "This computer" group. To get per-project groups back I had to register each folder manually as a new environment (Choose environment > New environment), one by one: 19 folders, about two hours of work this morning.

3) Groups are ordered by last activity only. "Sort by > Name" sorts sessions inside a group, not the groups themselves, so a project not touched for a month ends up at the bottom of a long list. There is no way to sort groups alphabetically or reorder them manually.

4) Another machine of ours, on an older build, still shows the old behaviour: grouped by project folder, in alphabetical order.

We are a team on a Max plan. We cannot ask colleagues to lose hours rebuilding their work environment after a silent update, and if this is not fixed we will cancel our Max subscription.

What Should Happen?

1) Restore "Group by Project" (folder) in the Code sidebar, so every project folder gets its own group automatically, as before, without registering each folder as an environment by hand.

2) Add an option to sort the groups themselves alphabetically (or let users pin/reorder groups), so projects not used for weeks can be found immediately.

3) Do not change sidebar organisation silently: keep the user's existing grouping on update, or at least announce the change.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Step 1: Use Claude desktop on Windows with Code sessions in several local project folders.
Step 2: Let the app auto-update to 2.37337.1.
Step 3: Open the Code tab, hover a group header and open the filter/sort icon > Group by: only None / Status / Date / Environment are available, no Project.
Step 4: Sessions from folders not registered as environments are all listed under "This computer".
Step 5: Set Sort by > Name: sessions are sorted inside each group, but the groups stay ordered by last activity.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.295 (Claude Code) – Claude desktop 2.37337.1, Windows

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_