[BUG] Cowork "Add folder" rejects Google Drive Mirror root (~/My Drive) as a "protected location" — regression

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?

In the Claude desktop app's Cowork mode, "Add folder" now refuses my Google Drive for Desktop Mirror root at ~/My Drive, returning: "1 Folder was skipped because it overlaps a protected location in the home/root directory."

This same folder was connected and working ~2 days ago and broke after the desktop app auto-updated — so it's a regression.

The block is specific to the Mirror root. The app still connects, without complaint: real subfolders of it (e.g. ~/My Drive/01_personal-admin), and plain sibling folders at the same home level (~/DevProjects, ~/Downloads). So it isn't triggered by home-directory placement in general, nor by Google-Drive-managed paths in general — only the Drive Mirror root itself. ~/My Drive is a genuine local directory in Mirror mode (not a symlink; readlink/realpath resolve to itself), so it isn't resolving into ~/Library. One filesystem difference vs. a folder that connects: ~/My Drive carries a com.apple.FinderInfo xattr and ~/DevProjects does not — offered as a possible signal, not a confirmed cause.

What Should Happen?

~/My Drive should connect as a single folder, as it did before the update. If the "protected location" check is intentional, it shouldn't hard-block a user-owned Drive Mirror root with no override — a warning-with-continue, or treating Mirror roots as allowed, would restore the prior workflow.

Error Messages/Logs

Add-folder UI error: 1 Folder was skipped because it overlaps a protected location in the home/root directory.

File-bridge error when trying the CloudStorage container workaround: ~/Library/CloudStorage/GoogleDrive-<your-account>/My Drive is not inside a folder connected to Cowork on this device.

Steps to Reproduce

1. On macOS, run Google Drive for Desktop in Mirror files mode with the mirror at ~/My Drive.
2. Claude desktop app → Cowork → Add folder → select ~/My Drive.
3. Rejected: "1 Folder was skipped because it overlaps a protected location in the home/root directory."
4. Controls that all succeed: add ~/My Drive/<any-subfolder>; add ~/DevProjects; add ~/Downloads.
5. Workaround that fails: add ~/Library/CloudStorage/GoogleDrive-<your-account>. It connects, but its My Drive entry is a symlink the bridge won't traverse, and .mirror-symlink holds only Drive-ID symlinks it also won't follow — so the workspace stays unreachable.

Note: ~/My Drive is confirmed a real directory (not a symlink; realpath = itself), carrying com.apple.FinderInfo which ~/DevProjects lacks.

Claude Model

Opus

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

Unknown exact build; worked ~July 8, 2026 (≈2 days before filing), before the desktop app auto-updated.

Claude Code Version

Claude desktop app 1.20186.0 (Cowork). Note: desktop-app issue, not the CLI — app version given as the closest analog.

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Terminal.app (macOS)

Additional Information

This is a Cowork / Claude desktop-app issue, not the Claude Code CLI — filed here as the closest public tracker; please redirect if there's a better venue.

Impact: my Cowork workspace root is ~/My Drive (Google Drive Mirror). With the root no longer connectable, the root instruction file and unified folder hierarchy can't be mounted — only individual subfolders, which flattens the workspace and drops root-level context.
Environment: macOS/Apple Silicon; Google Drive Mirror mode; app auto-updated within ~2 days of breakage (1.20186.0). Screenshots of the error available.