[BUG] Windows: mapped network drives produce inconsistent project keys between CLI and VS Code extension
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?
Claude Code derives a project-specific directory name under ~\.claude\projects\ from the resolved project path.
On Windows with mapped drives, the CLI and the VS Code extension resolve paths differently.
What Should Happen?
Chat history should be read from the file share.
Error Messages/Logs
Steps to Reproduce
Use Windows 11, multiple workstations
Project files on a shared network drive (DFS/DFSR), mapped as R:
R: resolves to a UNC path like \\SERVERNAME\share\...\
Claude Code used both from the terminal (CLI) and the VS Code extension
Claude Model
None
Is this a regression?
I don't know
Last Working Version
_No response_
Claude Code Version
Claude Code for VS Code v2.1.191
Platform
Anthropic API
Operating System
Windows
Terminal/Shell
VS Code integrated terminal
Additional Information
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<!--StartFragment--><h2 style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Goal</h2><p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Work on the same VS Code project from multiple Windows workstations, sharing Claude Code chat history, memory, and settings across machines via a mapped network drive.</p><h2 style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Environment</h2><ul style="padding-inline-start: 2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><li>Windows 11, multiple workstations</li><li>Project files on a shared network drive (DFS/DFSR), mapped as<span> </span><code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">R:</code></li><li><code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">R:</code><span> </span>resolves to a UNC path like<span> </span><code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">\\SERVERNAME\share\...\</code></li><li>Claude Code used both from the terminal (CLI) and the VS Code extension</li></ul><h2 style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Issues encountered</h2><h3 style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">1. CLI and extension generate different project keys</h3><p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Claude Code derives a project-specific directory name under <code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">~\.claude\projects\</code> from the resolved project path. On Windows with mapped drives, the CLI and the VS Code extension resolve paths differently:</p>
Component | API used | Resolves R:\... to | Example project key
-- | -- | -- | --
CLI | fs.realpathSync | R:\... (keeps drive letter) | r--VS-Visual-Studio-2026-Projects-MyProject
VS Code extension | fs.promises.realpath | \\SERVERNAME\... (UNC) | --SERVERNAME-share-VS-Visual-Studio-2026-Projects-MyProject
<p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong>Result:</strong> Sessions created in the terminal are invisible in the VS Code chat history panel, and vice versa. Memory files written by one are not found by the other. They are effectively two separate project contexts for the same project.</p><h3 style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">2. Multi-workstation UNC paths differ</h3><p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Even within the extension alone, different workstations may resolve the same DFS path to different physical file servers (e.g. <code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">\\SERVERA\...</code> vs <code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">\\SERVERB\...</code>), producing yet another project key per machine.</p><h3 style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">3. Local project directories block symlink creation</h3><p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The CLI creates the project directory as a real folder on first use. Replacing it with a symlink requires manually deleting the folder first (after moving its contents to the shared location).</p><h2 style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Workaround (for users)</h2><p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Store all project session/memory data on the network share, then create directory symlinks so that every key variant points to the same location. Run as administrator:</p><div class="codeBlockWrapper_-a7MRw" style="position: relative; margin: 8px 0px; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><button class="copyButton_CEmTFw copyButton_-a7MRw" title="Copy code" aria-label="Copy code to clipboard" style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background: none 0% 0% / auto repeat scroll padding-box border-box rgb(18, 19, 20); border-color: rgb(42, 43, 44); border-style: solid; border-width: 0.666667px; border-image: none 100% / 1 / 0 stretch; cursor: pointer; opacity: 0; display: flex; border-radius: 4px; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 4px; transition: opacity 0.15s, background 0.15s; position: absolute; top: 4px; right: 4px;"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 20 20" fill="currentColor" aria-hidden="true" data-slot="icon" class="copyIcon_CEmTFw"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M15.988 3.012A2.25 2.25 0 0 1 18 5.25v6.5A2.25 2.25 0 0 1 15.75 14H13.5v-3.379a3 3 0 0 0-.879-2.121l-3.12-3.121a3 3 0 0 0-1.402-.791 2.252 2.252 0 0 1 1.913-1.576A2.25 2.25 0 0 1 12.25 1h1.5a2.25 2.25 0 0 1 2.238 2.012ZM11.5 3.25a.75.75 0 0 1 .75-.75h1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.75v.25h-3v-.25Z" clip-rule="evenodd"></path><path d="M3.5 6A1.5 1.5 0 0 0 2 7.5v9A1.5 1.5 0 0 0 3.5 18h7a1.5 1.5 0 0 0 1.5-1.5v-5.879a1.5 1.5 0 0 0-.44-1.06L8.44 6.439A1.5 1.5 0 0 0 7.378 6H3.5Z"></path></svg></button><pre style="overflow-x: auto; white-space: pre; box-sizing: border-box; border-radius: 4px; max-width: 100%; margin: 0px; padding: 8px;"><code class="language-cmd" style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 0px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">:: Step 0: Move existing local data to the network share (one-time)
:: Move contents of C:\Users\<you>\.claude\projects\r--<ProjectKey>\
:: to R:\Claude Code\<you>\.claude\projects\r--<ProjectKey>\
:: Then delete the now-empty local directory.
:: Step 1: Symlink for the drive-letter key (used by CLI)
mklink /D "C:\Users\<you>\.claude\projects\r--<ProjectKey>" ^
"R:\Claude Code\<you>\.claude\projects\r--<ProjectKey>"
:: Step 2: Symlink for the UNC key (used by extension on this workstation)
:: Check the actual key name by inspecting
:: C:\Users\<you>\.claude\projects\ after a first extension session.
mklink /D "C:\Users\<you>\.claude\projects\--SERVERNAME-share-<ProjectKey>" ^
"R:\Claude Code\<you>\.claude\projects\r--<ProjectKey>"
:: Step 3: On other workstations, repeat steps 1-2
:: (step 2 will use that workstation's server name)
</code></pre></div><p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Restart VS Code after creating the symlinks.</p><h2 style="color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Suggested fix (for the core team)</h2><p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">The root cause is that <code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">fs.realpathSync</code> and <code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">fs.promises.realpath</code> return different results on Windows when the path involves a mapped network drive. The sync version preserves the drive letter; the async version resolves it to the underlying UNC path.</p><p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><strong>Minimal fix:</strong> Normalise the project path in one place before deriving the project key, so both the CLI and the extension always use the same value. Options:</p><ol style="padding-inline-start: 2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><li><strong>Always use the drive-letter path</strong><span> </span>— call<span> </span><code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">fs.realpathSync</code><span> </span>(or skip realpath entirely and just use<span> </span><code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">path.resolve</code>) in both code paths. This is the simplest change and keeps keys short and readable.</li><li><strong>Always resolve to UNC</strong><span> </span>— use a Windows API call (e.g.<span> </span><code style="font-family: monospace; color: rgb(140, 140, 140); background-color: rgb(38, 38, 38); padding: 2px 4px; border-radius: 3px; word-break: break-word; font-size: 0.9em;">WNetGetConnection</code><span> </span>via FFI or a small native addon) to resolve drive letters to UNC, then use that everywhere. More correct, but heavier.</li><li><strong>Canonicalise after resolving</strong><span> </span>— resolve both drive-letter and UNC paths to a common canonical form (e.g. lowercase the drive-letter form, or detect and strip the UNC prefix when a drive mapping exists).</li></ol><p style="white-space: pre-wrap; margin-top: 0.1em; margin-bottom: 0.2em; color: rgb(191, 191, 191); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(25, 26, 27); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Option 1 is probably the lowest-risk change. It would also eliminate the multi-workstation divergence (issue 2), since the drive letter is the same on every machine.</p><!--EndFragment-->
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