fix: preserve desktop workspace cwd across continuations

[kemaldoganay]

Summary

• Preserve the parent session cwd when context compression rotates into a continuation session.
• Separate declared workspace cwd from execution/runtime cwd in TUI gateway session metadata so legacy/no-workspace sessions do not get grouped under the gateway launch directory.
• Hydrate live Desktop sidebar payloads from the stored SessionDB row when a resumed/live session has a persisted cwd but no in-memory explicit marker.
• Sync the Desktop default project dir before resolving cwd for new local sessions and branches.
• Tighten regression coverage for workspace/no-workspace semantics, DB isolation, compression cwd inheritance, Desktop cwd resolution, and an environment-dependent browser hint test.

Test plan

• venv/bin/python -m pytest tests/test_tui_gateway_server.py tests/agent/test_compression_logging_session_context.py -q
  • 289 passed, 8 warnings
• npm --prefix apps/desktop run typecheck
  • passed
• npm --prefix apps/desktop run test:ui -- src/store/session.test.ts
  • 21 passed

Notes

This fixes a Desktop sidebar drift case where compression continuation sessions could reappear under No workspace after app restart even though their parent session belonged to a concrete workspace.

[alt-glitch]

Related: #42228 (issue — compressed sessions drift to "No workspace" when continuation cwd is null), #42240 / #42233 (narrower compression-cwd-inheritance fixes in agent/conversation_compression.py), #41678 (Desktop compression session lineage overhaul), #45744 (no-workspace sidebar new sessions).

This PR is the multi-layer fix: it combines the compression-rotation cwd inheritance (agent/conversation_compression.py), the TUI gateway declared-vs-runtime workspace cwd separation (tui_gateway/server.py), and Desktop sidebar hydration from the persisted SessionDB row (apps/desktop/*). Not a duplicate of the single-layer PRs above — it spans the union of those layers.

[rzyns]

Thanks for working on this. I reproduced the core bug on current main: rotated compression continuations are still supported, compression.in_place still defaults to false, and the continuation create_session(...) path does not carry cwd/git workspace metadata. The root-to-tip projection then replaces valid root metadata with null tip metadata.

We need the narrow fix locally now, but do not want to create an uncoordinated competing PR. I’m preparing a clean, minimal branch from current upstream that will:

• inherit cwd, git_branch, and git_repo_root when a continuation row is created;
• preserve nearest non-null lineage workspace metadata when projecting historical rows;
• add focused regression tests only.

Are you planning to rebase #49860? If so, I’m happy to keep our branch local and share tests/evidence. Otherwise, would you or the maintainers prefer a small superseding PR that credits and references this work plus #42240/#41678?

[teknium1]

Thanks for pursuing the cross-layer workspace-drift issue. The underlying rotation defect remains on current main, but this branch needs a focused salvage.

Problems

• The new continuation call copies only cwd (agent/conversation_compression.py:606 in this PR). Current rows also carry git_branch and git_repo_root through SessionDB.update_session_cwd() (hermes_state.py:2126-2162), so workspace metadata remains incomplete after rotation.
• Current projection replaces root metadata with every tip field, including null cwd, git_branch, and git_repo_root (hermes_state.py:3517-3524). The PR does not change that persisted historical-list path, so existing null-tip continuations can still lose their workspace grouping.

Suggested changes

• Preserve or recompute the full workspace metadata when creating the continuation, and retain nearest non-null lineage metadata during tip projection.
• Add focused tests for a null-metadata continuation and a multi-rotation lineage; the current test only covers a non-null tip cwd (tests/test_hermes_state.py:4105-4121).
• Reapply the gateway/Desktop portion to current deferred-resume/session-action structure before salvage.

Automated hermes-sweeper review.

[teknium1]

This preserves only cwd. Current session rows also retain git_branch and git_repo_root (hermes_state.py:2126-2162), while projected sidebar rows replace all three from the continuation (hermes_state.py:3517-3524). Please preserve or recompute the git metadata here as well, and add the null-tip projection fallback.