Claude Code only recognizes the first folder in a VS Code multi-root workspace
Resolved 💬 2 comments Opened Mar 4, 2026 by aeadedoyin Closed Mar 4, 2026
When opening a .code-workspace file with multiple folders, Claude Code only sets the first folder as the primary working directory and has no awareness of the other folders in the workspace.
Steps to reproduce
- Create a
.code-workspacefile with two folders:
{
"folders": [
{ "path": "project-a" },
{ "path": "project-b" }
]
}
- Open the workspace in VS Code
- Start a Claude Code conversation
- Ask "what projects are in this workspace?"
Expected behavior
Claude Code should be aware of all folders in the workspace and list them in its environment context.
Actual behavior
Only the first folder (project-a) is recognized as the primary working directory. Claude has no context about project-b and must manually discover it.
Downstream impact
- Project-scoped memory is only created for the first folder, not shared across the workspace
- Claude defaults to only answering about the first project unless explicitly corrected
CLAUDE.mdfiles in other workspace folders may not be loaded
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