[BUG] Projects "Last updated" sort ignores chat activity — reproduces on web (claude.ai), not desktop-only

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?

Summary

On the Projects page, sorting by "Last updated" does not reflect activity inside a project. The timestamp appears to track only project-configuration changes (name, description, instructions, knowledge files). Chatting in a project — which is where the actual work happens — never bumps it.

The result is inverted: projects that are settled and actively used sink to the bottom precisely because their configuration is stable, while dormant projects float to the top after any minor settings tweak.

Refiling per the stale-bot's instruction on #59282 (closed as not planned on Jul 5). Important difference from that report: #59282 was filed as desktop-macOS-specific, on the basis that the web app sorted correctly. It does not. This reproduces on claude.ai in the browser, which suggests the fault is server-side rather than in the desktop client, and that the area:desktop / platform:macos labelling on the original was misleading.

Environment

• Client: claude.ai web app, Firefox
• OS: WIN11 Home
• Plan: Max
• Also reproduces in the Claude desktop app, Claude 1.25927.0 (003700) 2026-08-04T05:34:55.000Z, same account
• Account has ~44 projects

Suggested fix

Write updated_at on the project record when a chat within it is created or receives a message, or have the sort key use MAX(project.updated_at, most recent chat updated_at).

Related open issues

This looks like one of a cluster of Projects-sorting defects rather than an isolated bug:

• #56060 — Sort by Recency has no effect when Group by: Project
• #78236 — "Sort by" selection not persisted, resets to "Recent"
• #81884 — "Sort by" has no effect on project group ordering in the Code tab sidebar
• #59282 — the closed predecessor to this report

Workaround

Starring pins a project to the sidebar and avoids the sort entirely, but only scales to a handful of projects and does not fix the default view. Editing a project's description to bump its timestamp also works, but is obviously not a fix.

What Should Happen?

Expected behaviour

Creating or updating a chat within a project updates that project's updated_at, so sort by "Last updated" surfaces the projects being actively worked in.

Actual behaviour

One project on my account:

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Date created (per sort dropdown) | Feb 27 |
| Last updated (per sort dropdown) | Mar 9 |
| Most recent chat inside the project | 6 days ago |

Mar 9 corresponds to the last time I edited that project's configuration. Roughly two dozen conversations since then, including one six days ago, left the timestamp untouched. Under the default sort the project sits several screens down, below projects I have not opened in months.

Note that the two sort options do produce different orderings, so the dropdown itself works and updated_at is a genuinely distinct field from created_at — it is simply never written on chat activity. This narrows the fault considerably versus "sorting is broken".

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

Steps to reproduce

1. Open claude.ai → Projects.
2. Set the sort dropdown to "Last updated".
3. Identify a project you have chatted in recently but whose instructions/knowledge files you have not edited for some time.
4. Compare its displayed timestamp against the date of the most recent chat inside it (visible under Recents on the project page).
5. Switch the dropdown to "Date created" and compare the two orderings.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

1.25927.0 (003700) 2026-08-04T05:34:55.000Z

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

_No response_