[BUG] Desktop file viewer blocks files in permissions.additionalDirectories ("This file is outside the working directory") — regression
Summary
In the Claude desktop app, clicking a file that lives inside one of thepermissions.additionalDirectories paths opens the in-app file tab with:
This file is outside the working directory: It can't be opened here, but it may still exist on disk. {path}
The agent itself can read and edit these files without issue (theadditionalDirectories permission works for tools). Only the in-app file
viewer/sidepane refuses to render them, even though the directory is an
explicitly-granted additional working directory.
This is a regression — opening these files in the viewer worked until
~last week.
Environment
- Claude desktop app: 1.15962.1
- Claude Code: 2.1.158
- macOS: 26.5.1 (build 25F80), Apple Silicon
permissions.additionalDirectoriesset in project.claude/settings.json,
e.g.:
``json``
{
"permissions": {
"additionalDirectories": ["..", "../sibling-repo-a", "../sibling-repo-b"]
}
}
Repro
- In a project, add a sibling directory to
permissions.additionalDirectories (or launch with --add-dir).
- Ask the agent to read a file in that additional directory — it succeeds.
- Click that file (e.g. from a clickable
file_pathreference, or via the
file tab) to open it in the in-app viewer.
- Expected: the viewer renders the file, since the directory is a granted
additional working directory the agent can already access.
- Actual: the viewer shows *"This file is outside the working directory:
It can't be opened here, but it may still exist on disk. {path}"*
Impact
The viewer's access scope is narrower than the agent's. A user can't open /
review the very files the agent is editing in an additional directory, which
breaks the multi-repo workspace workflow (reviewing cross-repo changes in the
app). This worked previously, so it reads as an unintended regression in the
viewer's path-scoping check.
Related (not duplicates)
- #50798 — desktop sidepane blocks plan files in
~/.claude/plans/("outside
session folder"). Same viewer-scoping component, different path.
- #57153 / #64300 — about Read/Edit permissions on additionalDirectories,
not the file viewer.
3 Comments
Still reproducible on desktop app v1.17377.2 (macOS). The issue was closed as COMPLETED but the file viewer still shows "This file is outside the working directory" for paths listed in
permissions.additionalDirectories.Still reproducible on desktop v1.17377.2 (macOS) — this was closed as COMPLETED, but the File Pane still shows "This file is outside the working directory" for paths listed in
permissions.additionalDirectories(thanks @sohta3 for confirming).This appears to be a subset of the broader, still-open #73338 ("file paths outside the working directory no longer open inline" — same regression, any external path). Suggest either reopening this or tracking the fix via #73338.
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