[BUG] Desktop sidebar regression: per-project chat nesting removed, projects no longer expandable

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?

This is a regression in the Claude desktop app sidebar. Behaviour that worked
previously stopped working from one day to the next.

Until 15 August 2026, the sidebar showed each project as a collapsible entry with
its conversations nested underneath. Projects were pinned at the top and one click
away, and each project could be expanded or collapsed independently — so I kept the
two projects I work in daily expanded, collapsed the rest, and every relevant
conversation was visible without an extra click.

On 16 August 2026 the sidebar changed on its own. Projects are now a list of project
entries only, and all conversations are flattened into a single "Chats and tasks"
list. Project conversations are mixed in with standalone ones, ordered by recency,
with no indication of which project any of them belongs to. Reaching a project
conversation now requires opening the project first.

The new "Group by" menu offers Date, Type, Unread, Status, Custom groups and None —
but not Project, which is the only grouping that matches how the workspace is
actually structured.

I did not update the app and did not change any setting. The layout simply changed,
which points to a server-side rollout or A/B test.

What Should Happen?

Each project in the sidebar should be expandable and collapsible in place, showing its conversations nested underneath, with the expanded/collapsed state remembered per project — exactly as it worked until 15 August 2026.

That layout let me keep the two projects I work in daily expanded, collapse the rest, and reach any relevant conversation in a single click, while still seeing at a glance which project each conversation belonged to.

At minimum, "Project" should be available as a Group by option in the "Chats and tasks" list, so the project affiliation of each conversation is visible and usable for sorting.

Error Messages/Logs

No error messages — this is a UI/UX regression, not a runtime error. Nothing is logged; the sidebar simply renders with a different structure than before.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open the Claude desktop app on an account that has two or more Projects, each containing several conversations.
2. Look at the sidebar. The "Projects" section lists project entries only — no conversations underneath.
3. Try to expand a project row in place to reveal its conversations. There is no way to do this; clicking the project navigates away to the project page instead.
4. Look at the "Chats and tasks" list below. It contains conversations from all projects mixed together with standalone conversations, ordered by recency, with no indication of which project any of them belongs to.
5. Open the sort/filter control to the right of the "Chats and tasks" header, then open "Group by". The available options are Date, Type, Unread, Status, Custom groups and None. "Project" is not offered.
6. To reach a conversation that belongs to a project, you must first open the project, then pick the conversation from inside it — an extra step that did not exist before 16 August 2026.

Note: this layout appears to be a server-side rollout or A/B test, so it may not be active on every account. It appeared on mine on 16 August 2026 with no app update and no setting change on my side.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

N/A — server-side UI change, not tied to an app version. Last worked on 15 August 2026; the new layout appeared on 16 August 2026 with no app update on my side.

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Note on this form: the Bug Report template has no option for the Claude desktop app — Platform, Terminal/Shell and Claude Code Version are all CLI-specific, so I filled them with the closest available values. Since this repo does receive desktop reports (there is an area:desktop label), the template may be worth extending.