[BUG] Cowork: File path confusion causes local folder sync failure + Korean folder name encoding issues

[BUG] Cowork: File path confusion causes local folder sync failure + Korean folder name encoding issues

Environment

• Cowork Version: Research Preview (January 2025)
• OS: macOS (local) + Linux container (session)
• Folder Name: Korean characters (크롤러)

Bug Description

Bug #1: File Path Confusion - Local Sync Failure (High Severity)

Symptom:

• User selects local folder (~/Downloads/dylan/크롤러) when starting Cowork session
• Claude creates files in session-internal path (/sessions/.../docs/) instead of mounted local path
• Files do not appear in local Finder

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Start Cowork → Select local folder (e.g., 크롤러)
2. Ask Claude to create a file (e.g., ~/docs/research/report.md)
3. File is created inside session, not synced to local folder

Root Cause Analysis:

• Mount path: /sessions/lucid-elegant-lovelace/mnt/크롤러 ← Actual local connection
• Path Claude used: /sessions/lucid-elegant-lovelace/docs/ ← Session internal (unrelated to local)
• Claude is not clearly informed of the mounted folder's exact path

Additional Finding:

• Two folders with identical names were created in mnt/ directory (different Unicode encodings)
• inode 20: 크롤러 (mounted, actual folder)
• inode 524313: 크롤러 (accidentally created separate folder)
• Appears as same name in ls -la but they are different folders

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Bug #2: Artifact UI Links Broken (Medium Severity)

Symptom:

• Clicking files in right panel Artifacts/Context list shows "Failed to load local file" error
• ALL file links are non-functional

Root Cause:

• Files initially created in wrong path → Later moved to correct path
• UI caches the original creation path and cannot find moved files
• Or Korean folder name encoding mismatch causing path matching failure

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Claude creates file at /sessions/.../docs/
2. Move file to /sessions/.../mnt/크롤러/docs/
3. Click file in UI → Load failure

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Bug #3: Korean Folder Name Encoding Issue (Medium Severity)

Symptom:

• Two folders appear with identical names in ls -la
• cat -v reveals different UTF-8 encodings (NFC vs NFD suspected)
• Read tool fails to access files with Korean paths

Details:

inode 20: 크롤러 (mounted, NFD encoding suspected)
inode 524313: 크롤러 (newly created, NFC encoding suspected)

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Suggested Fixes

For Bug #1 & #2:

1. Include exact absolute path of mounted local folder in System Prompt at session start

• Example: "User's local folder is mounted at /sessions/.../mnt/크롤러. Save all files to this path."

1. Or automatically map ~/ path to mounted folder
2. Auto-refresh artifact list when files are moved/deleted
3. Provide manual refresh button for artifact list

For Bug #3:

1. Force macOS standard encoding (NFD) when creating files/folders
2. Or apply Unicode Normalization when comparing paths
3. Improve Korean path handling in Read/Write tools

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Improvement Suggestions

Improvement #1: Cross-Session Context Continuity

• Currently: New session completely resets conversation history and context
• Suggestion: Project folder-based context storage (e.g., .cowork/context.json)

Improvement #2: Mount Folder Path Clarity

• Currently: Claude cannot clearly identify mounted local folder path; pwd returns /sessions/... causing confusion
• Suggestion: Provide environment variable at session start (e.g., $COWORK_LOCAL_DIR)

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Mount Information

/mnt/.virtiofs-root/shared/Downloads/Dylan/크롤러 on /sessions/lucid-elegant-lovelace/mnt/크롤러 type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,default_permissions,allow_other)

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Summary Table

| ID | Type | Title | Severity |
|----|------|-------|----------|
| Bug #1 | Bug | File path confusion causes local sync failure | High |
| Bug #2 | Bug | Artifact UI links broken | Medium |
| Bug #3 | Bug | Korean folder name encoding issue | Medium |
| Imp #1 | Improvement | Cross-session context continuity | Medium |
| Imp #2 | Improvement | Mount folder path clarity | High |

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This report was auto-generated by Claude based on user experience during a Cowork session.