claude-code - 💡(How to fix) Fix Desktop "+ New session": cwd picker + stable cross-device session naming

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• This is a single feature request (not multiple features)

Problem Statement

I work across multiple projects organized in separate folders on disk, each with its own CLAUDE.md and project-scoped knowledge. Claude Code Desktop's session creation flow makes this painful:

1. The "+ New session" button has no working-directory picker. It defaults to the last-used cwd (in my case, Downloads). There's no UI to set the cwd to a specific project folder at session creation. Result: every new session opens in the wrong directory and can't load the target project's CLAUDE.md without a manual chdir.

2. Sessions launched via the claude CLI from project folders don't register in Desktop's project tracker. Verified empirically — after launching multiple sessions from project cwds, Desktop's project dropdown still only shows "All projects" and "Downloads." CLI workarounds don't surface to the Desktop UI.

3. Phone session titles drift after creation, unless the session was started with claude remote-control --name. Documented in #36077, #23610, #33165, #52352, #59242. The only known stable cross-device naming method conflicts with point 2 (it requires CLI).

Together, these gaps force a choice between (a) CLI-only and losing the Desktop UI, (b) accepting wrong-cwd sessions and pasting project-load instructions every time, or (c) building custom launcher infrastructure. For multi-project users, none of these should be necessary.

Proposed Solution

The "+ New session" button in Desktop should open a small dialog (or have an inline field) with:

• A working-directory picker — folder chooser defaulting to a configurable root instead of last-used cwd.
• An optional session name field that registers with the cloud session metadata at creation, so the name is stable across Desktop, web, and mobile.

CLI-launched sessions should automatically register in Desktop's project tracker, so they appear in the project dropdown alongside Desktop-created sessions. Today they're invisible to the Desktop UI.

If --name (or equivalent) isn't supported at Desktop session creation, then fixing the underlying phone-title derivation logic — so the title set at creation time persists instead of being re-derived from conversation content — would also close the gap.

Alternative Solutions

• Tried CLI launches with explicit cwd — works for filesystem context but sessions never appear in Desktop's project list.
• Tried claude remote-control --name '<project>' hidden launches via Task Scheduler — registers cloud-side and phone shows the session, but message delivery is unreliable (hidden launches break the IPC/TTY chain even though the connection registers).
• Considered VS Code with the Claude Code extension — folder-aware by design — but would fragment my Code workflow across two apps.
• Considered Claude Code on the web (claude.ai/code) — solves multi-tab session juggling but runs in cloud sandbox, no direct local filesystem access for the project files I work on daily.
• Building a custom session-picker GUI on top of CLI is feasible (~30 min), but shouldn't be necessary for a basic multi-project user need.

Priority

High - Significant impact on productivity

Feature Category

CLI commands and flags

Use Case Example

1. I have multiple project folders on my PC: C:\Riker\Projects\Riker Stack, C:\Riker\Projects\Media Management, C:\Riker\Projects\Automating Lead Workflows, and others. Each has a CLAUDE.md with project-scoped rules and knowledge file pointers.

2. I open Claude Code Desktop and click "+ New session" to start working on Media Management.

3. Today's behavior: session opens with cwd = Downloads. CLAUDE.md from Media Management doesn't auto-load. I either paste "load CLAUDE.md from C:\Riker\Projects\Media Management" as my first message, or I drop to a terminal, run claude from inside the folder, and lose Desktop's session UI.

4. With this feature: I click "+ New session," pick "Media Management" from a folder picker, and the session opens with that folder as cwd. CLAUDE.md auto-loads. The session appears in Desktop's project list and on my phone with a stable name. Switching projects later is one click.

5. Why this saves time: I work across 4-6 active projects on any given day. Today that means 4-6 instances of manual project-loading, manual naming, and lost-context sessions. With the feature, multi-project work becomes one click per project.

Additional Context

Empirical observation worth investigating: some Desktop-launched sessions DO get stable cross-device naming despite none of the above. One of mine ("Media Management") has held its name across Desktop and phone since creation while others drift. The mechanism isn't documented or reproducible — if this is a bug in the existing naming logic, fixing it might close part of the gap automatically.

Similar feature in other tools: VS Code's "Open Folder" is the obvious parallel — picking a folder at workspace creation sets cwd, persists context, and is reflected in the UI. Claude Code Desktop's "+ New session" doesn't have an equivalent.

Environment: Claude Code Desktop on Windows 11 Pro. Claude mobile app on Android (Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7). Use case is multi-project automation infrastructure organized on local disk with per-project CLAUDE.md files.