[BUG] Desktop app sidebar does not restore session list after reinstall (sessions exist on disk but are missing from Recents)

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?

After reinstalling the Claude Code desktop app on Windows, the sidebar "Recents" list is empty even though all session .jsonl files are intact on disk under ~/.claude/projects/. Running claude --resume in the terminal correctly finds and lists all 26 sessions, but the desktop sidebar shows none of them.

What Should Happen?

The desktop app should scan ~/.claude/projects/ on startup and rebuild the sidebar session list from existing files, so a reinstall does not cause sessions to "disappear" from the UI.

Error Messages/Logs

The sidebar Recents list is empty after reinstall. The session data is intact and accessible via `claude --resume`, but the sidebar index (stored in `%APPDATA%\Claude\`) was wiped during reinstall and is not rebuilt from the source files.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Use Claude Code desktop app and accumulate local sessions
2. Uninstall and reinstall the desktop app
3. Reopen the app — sidebar Recents is empty
4. Run claude --resume in terminal — all sessions are still found

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

idk

Platform

Other

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

_No response_