[BUG] Desktop app (Mac): Sidebar Recents list empty after every restart, session data intact on disk

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

After restarting the Claude Code Desktop app on Mac, the sidebar "Recents" section is always empty — no session history is shown. This happens on every restart, not just occasionally.

The dashboard stats page still correctly shows cumulative usage (129 sessions, 21,577 messages, 18.8M tokens, 31 active days), confirming the data exists. The session .jsonl transcript files are all intact on disk (127 files in ~/.claude/projects/). Only the sidebar UI fails to load them.

Expected Behavior

The Recents sidebar should display past sessions after app restart, matching the data that exists on disk and in the stats view.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Use Claude Code Desktop app normally (many sessions accumulated over 31 active days)
2. Quit the app (Cmd+Q)
3. Reopen the app
4. Sidebar "Recents" section is empty

Workaround

Sessions can be resumed from the CLI using claude --resume.

Environment

• Plan: Claude Max
• OS: macOS 26.3.1 (Darwin 25.3.0, Apple Silicon)
• App: Claude Code Desktop (Code tab)
• Session count on disk: 127 .jsonl files
• Stats display: 129 sessions shown correctly in dashboard