[BUG] Desktop: Project folder picker keeps browsing local macOS paths after selecting an SSH environment

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 Desktop app's Code tab, after adding an SSH connection and selecting it as the session Environment, the Project folder picker still browses the local macOS filesystem.

It never queries the remote host over the SSH connection that Test connection just verified, so remote directories cannot be discovered or browsed. The picker keeps showing the same local paths carried over from the Local environment, and nothing in the UI indicates that the listing is local rather than remote.

The only way to start the session was to already know the remote absolute path and type /home/myuser/ in by hand. Selecting a local path while an SSH environment is active is also accepted silently, which produces an inconsistent session configuration.

What Should Happen?

With an SSH connection selected as the environment, the Project folder picker should browse the remote host's filesystem over that connection, rooted at the remote user's home directory (e.g. /home/myuser), so remote directories can be discovered and selected without prior knowledge of the path.

Additionally:

• The picker should re-root and refresh whenever the selected environment changes.
• The active environment should be visible inside the picker (e.g. a header reading Ubuntu — /home/myuser) so local vs. remote is never ambiguous.
• Choosing a path that does not exist on the currently selected environment should warn or be refused, rather than being accepted silently.

Error Messages/Logs

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open the Desktop app and go to the Code tab.
2. Open the environment dropdown and select + Add SSH connection.
3. Fill in the dialog: Name Ubuntu, SSH Host myuser@192.168.10.xx (a Linux box on the local network running Ubuntu). Leave SSH Port and SSH Key empty so the defaults / ~/.ssh/config are used.
4. Click Test connection. It returns green: "Connected. This host is ready to use."
5. Save the connection.
6. Open the environment dropdown and select Ubuntu.
7. Open the Project folder picker.

Result: the picker lists directories from the local Mac (the same ones shown under the Local environment), not from the Ubuntu host. There is no way to browse to /home/myuser on the server; the path has to be typed in manually.

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

Yes, this worked in a previous version

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

Claude Desktop app 1.40609.0 (Code tab) — Electron 42.10.0, Node 24.18.1. Not the terminal CLI.

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

macOS

Terminal/Shell

Other

Additional Information

Client: MacBook Air M1 (2020), macOS Tahoe 26.2, Apple Silicon (arm64).
Remote host: Ubuntu on the local network, myuser@192.168.10.xx, port 22, key-based auth. (Username and the last octet of the private IP are masked; the connection itself works — ssh from Terminal and the app's own Test connection both succeed.)

Why this matters: selecting the project folder is the first thing a user does after configuring SSH, and it fails without any signal. The green "Connected. This host is ready to use." makes the feature look broken rather than pointing at a missing step. The docs state that "Claude runs on the remote machine with access to its files and tools", which sets the expectation that the folder picker is remote-aware.

Possibly related (different surface): #69333 covered the in-session @ file picker in SSH sessions and was closed as completed. This report is about the pre-session Project folder picker in the environment/session setup, which still lists local paths.