[BUG] Cowork: workspace directory names should not contain spaces (causes build/tool failures)

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?

Cowork mode creates per-project workspace directories using the UI project name verbatim, e.g. ~/Documents/Claude/Projects/GS Express/. The space in the directory name causes tool failures across a wide swath of dev tooling that doesn't quote paths correctly.

What Should Happen?

slug-ify the UI project name when materializing the on-disk directory. Keep the human label as display metadata, separate from the path. Example: project "GS Express" → directory gs-express/ or GS_Express/

Error Messages/Logs

clang: error: no such file or directory: 'Express/gssquared/vendored/SDL_net/src/SDL_net.exports'
make[2]: *** [lib/libSDL3_net.0.0.0.dylib] Error 1

Steps to Reproduce

clone and build GSSquared inside a spaces-containing path. SDL_net's vendored CMakeLists fails with an unquoted path:

clang: error: no such file or directory: 'Express/gssquared/vendored/SDL_net/src/SDL_net.exports'
make[2]: *** [lib/libSDL3_net.0.0.0.dylib] Error 1

That's just one example — the same class of breakage hits cmake exports, autoconf projects, plenty of shell scripts, anything constructing command lines without disciplined quoting. A large fraction of OSS tooling has at least one such bug, and Cowork forcing dev projects into a spaces-containing path effectively guarantees users will hit them.Compounding issue: the default location is ~/Documents/Claude/Projects/, which is iCloud-synced for the substantial fraction of macOS users who have Documents-syncing on. Combined with the spaces-in-paths issue and bug #32637 (Cowork destroys iCloud-offloaded files), the default Cowork workspace location is hostile to dev workflows in three independent ways.
A reasonable default would be ~/ClaudeWork/<slugified-name>/ — outside any sync service, no spaces, predictable.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.122 (Claude Code)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

Compounding issue: the default location is ~/Documents/Claude/Projects/, which is iCloud-synced for the substantial fraction of macOS users who have Documents-syncing on. Combined with the spaces-in-paths issue and bug #32637 (Cowork destroys iCloud-offloaded files), the default Cowork workspace location is hostile to dev workflows in three independent ways.
A reasonable default would be ~/ClaudeWork/<slugified-name>/ — outside any sync service, no spaces, predictable.