[BUG] Desktop app: clicking the project selector opens the OS folder picker instead of the projects dropdown (keyboard activation works)

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 (Cowork / Claude Code task launcher on Windows 11), the button row above the prompt input has two separate controls:

1. a project selector button showing the current project name (e.g. Document), which should open the dropdown list of recent projects
2. a folder button immediately to its right, which should open the native OS folder picker

Clicking the project selector with the mouse opens the native Windows folder picker dialog ("Ordner für lokale Sitzung auswählen") — i.e. the action belonging to the neighbouring button. To get the intended projects dropdown, I have to click the button, click somewhere else, click it again, over and over — often 20–30 attempts before the dropdown finally appears.

Activating the exact same button via keyboard (Tab to focus, then Space or Enter) opens the projects dropdown correctly, every time.

So the dropdown handler itself works fine; only the pointer/click path is wrong.

What Should Happen?

Clicking the project selector button opens the projects dropdown — the same list that keyboard activation (Space/Enter) reliably produces.

The native OS folder picker should open only via the dedicated folder button to the right of the project selector.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open the Claude Desktop app on Windows 11 and start a new Cowork / Claude Code task.
2. In the button row above the prompt input, click the project selector button (the one labelled with the current project name, e.g. Document) with the mouse.
3. Observed: the native Windows folder picker dialog "Ordner für lokale Sitzung auswählen" opens instead of the projects dropdown.
4. Close the dialog and click the same button again. Repeat. The projects dropdown appears only sporadically — in my case typically after 20–30 clicks, interleaved with clicks elsewhere on the page.
5. Now use the keyboard instead: press Tab until that same button has focus, then press Space (or Enter).
6. Observed: the projects dropdown opens immediately and correctly, listing all recent projects.

Steps 2–4 vs. 5–6 use the same control; only the input method differs.

Notes that may help narrow it down:

• My projects dropdown has 50+ entries and is scrollable, in case list size or async loading of the list is a factor.
• The reliable keyboard path plus the unreliable mouse path suggests the pointer event is being routed to the folder-picker action (overlapping/adjacent hit area), or a click-outside handler is closing the popover in the same event cycle in which it opens.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Code desktop app — latest version, updated 2026-08-12 (bug is in the desktop app UI, not the CLI)

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

PowerShell

Additional Information

This is the desktop app, not the CLI. The Terminal/Shell field doesn't really apply — I picked the closest option.

Very likely the same defect as #60450 ("Folder chip opens OS folder picker on first click instead of Recent dropdown (Windows desktop app)"), which was auto-closed as stale by the bot with "Please open a new issue if this is still relevant." It is still relevant — I am on the latest desktop app as of 2026-08-12 and it reproduces every session.

New information compared to #60450:

• Keyboard activation is a reliable workaround. Tab to focus the project chip, then press Space or Enter — the Recent/projects dropdown opens correctly every time. This strongly suggests the defect is specific to the pointer event path, not to the dropdown component itself.
• Severity is worse than "second click works" in my case. Cancelling the OS dialog and clicking again usually re-opens the OS dialog. I frequently need 20–30 clicks (interleaved with clicks elsewhere in the window) before the dropdown appears.
• My projects list has 50+ entries and is scrollable, in case list size or async population of the list is a factor in the race.

Environment: Windows 11, Claude Code desktop app (latest, updated today), German UI — the OS dialog title reads "Ordner für lokale Sitzung auswählen".

Possibly related: #65655 (desktop app Windows, folder picker cannot navigate folders).