[BUG] Session Filter Settings Are Inaccessible at the Top Level in the Claude Desktop Code Tab

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?

Surface: Claude Desktop → Code tab → Sessions sidebar
Version: Claude 1.3109.0 (35cbf6) 2026-04-16T20:32:01.000Z on Windows

Description:

In the Code tab's session sidebar, filtering options (Status, Project, Environment, Last activity, Group by):

<img width="416" height="287" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/7eb57f2a-57bc-4801-98c2-21b5a603092e" />

are accessible only via a settings button that appears on hover over project group headers — the labels that organize sessions by associated project. These group headers are content-level elements, not top-level navigation. Nothing about them visually or semantically indicates they are the access point for global session filter settings, as seen by the settings button appearing next to "origamidb" at the bottom of this screenshot:
<img width="714" height="574" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/ab3c8448-ac2c-4b33-b348-0bd58f13d782" />

When no sessions are visible — either because the sidebar is empty or all sessions are pinned — the sidebar displays a top-level "Recents" label instead of project group headers. The settings button appears on hover over "Recents," which is intuitive: a top-level container label is a reasonable place to expect list-level controls.
<img width="785" height="273" alt="Image" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c779c03e-4d7e-4056-b3c5-e778d718a11a" />

When sessions are present and grouped by project, the settings button migrates from this top-level position down onto individual group headers. Its location becomes inconsistent with its function: the button controls the entire session list, but it is only reachable through elements that represent subsets of that list.

What Should Happen?

Expected behavior: Session filter settings should be accessible from a persistent, top-level control in the session sidebar regardless of how many sessions are visible or how they are grouped.

Actual behavior: Session filter settings are only accessible on hover over whichever project group headers happen to be rendering at the time.

Error Messages/Logs

N/A

Steps to Reproduce

**Scenario A: One or more sessions exist (grouped by project)

1. Open Claude Desktop and navigate to the Code tab.
2. Confirm that at least one session is visible in the sidebar, listed under a project group header (e.g. a project name like "my-project").
3. Look for a way to access session filter settings (Status, Project, Environment, Last activity, Group by) from the sidebar — without hovering over anything.
4. Observe that no top-level filter control is visible.
5. Hover over a project group header.
6. Observe that a settings button appears on that group header — this is the only access point for filter settings that apply to the entire session list.

Scenario B: No unpinned sessions are visible

(If you have no existing sessions, or want to reproduce from scratch: pin all currently visible sessions by hovering over the session(s) and clicking the kebab menu (the vertical three-dot icon that appears on hover). Alternatively, apply a filter such that no sessions match — e.g. set Status to Active when all sessions have completed work.)

1. Confirm the sidebar shows no unpinned sessions under any project group header.
2. Observe that the sidebar now displays a top-level "Recents" label where project group headers previously appeared.
3. Hover over the "Recents" label.
4. Observe that the settings button appears here — in a top-level position that is intuitive and consistent with the label's role as a container.

Summary of inconsistency:
The settings button controls the entire session list in both scenarios, but its location changes based on sidebar state. In Scenario B it appears at the top level, which is discoverable and semantically appropriate. In Scenario A it is demoted to individual project group headers, which are content-level groupings — nothing about them signals that they are the access point for global filter settings.**

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

1.3109.0 (Claude Desktop)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

This may be related to the archive/unarchive problems noted in other issues but it is its own broader category. It's specific to Claude Desktop however. Cowork does not have this problem and even has a full page menu you can visit to see all sessions. The archive issues mentioned by others may be resolvable at the same time.