[BUG] Desktop app: previously saved sessions not displayed in UI after reopening project (Windows v2.1.128)

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?

The Claude Code desktop app on Windows does not display previously-saved sessions in the UI after closing and reopening a project, even though the sessions are correctly persisted on disk.

Verified clean test:

1. Created fresh local folder D:\01my-work (pure ASCII, no spaces, no sync drive, no case mismatch with previous sessions)
2. Opened it via Code tab → New session
3. Had a conversation (e.g., sent "你好"). Session saved as 51ee17ce-fe80-4608-b3b8-da565fd6e42c.jsonl at 11:06.
4. Closed the desktop app.
5. Reopened the desktop app, navigated back to D:\01my-work via New session.
6. Expected: the previous session appears in the project's session list (as it does in the Cursor / VS Code Claude Code extension reading the same data).
7. Actual: the session list shows nothing from the previous run; the only way forward is to start a new session, which creates a second .jsonl file alongside the first.

Evidence the data is intact, only the UI fails:

• C:\Users\pc\.claude\projects\D--01my-work\ contains both .jsonl files
• .session_cache.json (version 8) correctly indexes them with proper session_id, message_count, summary, etc.
• claude --resume from PowerShell lists both sessions correctly
• The same .jsonl files are visible and resumable in the Cursor Claude Code extension
• Third-party "Claude Code History Viewer" reads them fine

So the bug is purely in the desktop app's session-listing UI, not in persistence.

Other ruled-out causes (tested):

• ❌ Sync drives (OneDrive / WPS Cloud) — reproduced on a non-synced local path
• ❌ Drive letter case mismatch (d: vs D:) — path was uppercase D throughout
• ❌ Non-ASCII / Chinese characters in path — path was pure ASCII
• ❌ Tool mixing (Cursor vs desktop) — only desktop app was used in the clean test

What Should Happen?

Reopening a project should display all previously-saved sessions for that cwd, the same way the Cursor/VS Code extension does.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Created fresh local folder D:\01my-work (pure ASCII, no spaces, no sync drive, no case mismatch with previous sessions)
2. Opened it via Code tab → New session
3. Had a conversation (e.g., sent "你好"). Session saved as 51ee17ce-fe80-4608-b3b8-da565fd6e42c.jsonl at 11:06.
4. Closed the desktop app.
5. Reopened the desktop app, navigated back to D:\01my-work via New session.
6. Expected: the previous session appears in the project's session list (as it does in the Cursor / VS Code Claude Code extension reading the same data).
7. Actual: the session list shows nothing from the previous run; the only way forward is to start a new session, which creates a second .jsonl file alongside the first.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

• Claude Code version: 2.1.128 (claude-desktop entrypoint)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

The same desktop app version writes new sessions correctly with cwd in uppercase D:\... and entrypoint claude-desktop. session_cache.json is also written. Only the read/display logic on app restart appears broken.