fix(ui): restore session card navigation and preserve session scope across tabs

- When clicking a session card, switch to the correct project and viewMode
  ('chat' for home sessions, 'experts' for expert sessions) instead of only
  setting the active session ID
- Persist session scope via sticky ref so switching to non-conversation tabs
  (knowledge, tasks, etc.) no longer jumps to the first expert's sessions
- Prevent project switch during active streaming to avoid disrupting AI output
- Keep useMemo pure by extracting ref writes into useEffect
- Remove redundant ternary in openSession
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>

apps/ui/src/App.tsx

@@ -297,6 +297,7 @@ export default function App() {
   const copiedTokenResetRef = useRef<number | null>(null);
   const lastLoadedWorkspacePathRef = useRef<string | null>(null);
   const categoryPopupRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement | null>(null);
+  const stickySessionScopeRef = useRef<string | undefined>(undefined);
   const isConversationView = viewMode === "chat" || viewMode === "experts";
   const {
     config,
@@ -673,12 +674,29 @@ export default function App() {
     viewMode,
     defaultChatName: ui.defaultChat
   });
+
+  // Persist the session scope so non-conversation tabs donʼt jump to a different project
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (viewMode === "chat") {
+      stickySessionScopeRef.current = HOME_CHAT_PROJECT_ID;
+    } else if (viewMode === "experts" && workspace?.currentProjectId) {
+      stickySessionScopeRef.current = workspace.currentProjectId;
+    }
+  }, [viewMode, workspace?.currentProjectId]);
+
   const sessionScopeProjectId = useMemo(() => {
     if (bindingRequired) {
       return undefined;
     }
-    return viewMode === "chat" ? HOME_CHAT_PROJECT_ID : activeProject?.id;
-  }, [activeProject?.id, bindingRequired, viewMode]);
+    if (viewMode === "chat") {
+      return HOME_CHAT_PROJECT_ID;
+    }
+    if (viewMode === "experts") {
+      return workspace?.currentProjectId;
+    }
+    // Preserve the last conversation session scope when on non-conversation tabs
+    return stickySessionScopeRef.current ?? HOME_CHAT_PROJECT_ID;
+  }, [bindingRequired, viewMode, workspace?.currentProjectId]);
   const scopedSessions = useMemo(
     () => sessionScopeProjectId
       ? sessions.filter((session) => session.projectId === sessionScopeProjectId)
@@ -925,6 +943,7 @@ export default function App() {
     setSessions,
     clearSessions,
     clearAllSessionMessages,
+    setViewMode,
     setActiveProjectSession: setActiveSessionId,
     upsertSession,
     setWorkspace,
@@ -1281,7 +1300,10 @@ export default function App() {
     if (workspace?.currentProjectId === projectId && viewMode === "experts") {
       return;
     }
-    await switchProject(projectId);
+    const switched = await switchProject(projectId);
+    if (!switched) {
+      return;
+    }
     setViewMode("experts");
   }
 

apps/ui/src/features/chat/useChatSessionsController.ts

-import { useCallback, useEffect, useState } from "react"
-import type { DesktopApi, WorkspaceSummary } from "@qjclaw/shared-types"
+import { useCallback, useEffect, useState, type Dispatch, type SetStateAction } from "react"
+import type { DesktopApi, ProjectSessionSummary, WorkspaceSummary } from "@qjclaw/shared-types"
 import { EMPTY_SESSION_ID, HOME_CHAT_PROJECT_ID } from "../../lib/constants"
 import { resolvePreferredSessionId } from "../../lib/chat-utils"
 
@@ -17,9 +17,10 @@ interface UseChatSessionsControllerDeps {
   activeStreamSessionId?: string
   workspace: WorkspaceSummary | null
   homeSessionTitle: string
-  setSessions: (sessions: WorkspaceSummary["sessions"]) => void
+  setSessions: Dispatch<SetStateAction<WorkspaceSummary["sessions"]>>
   clearSessions: () => void
   clearAllSessionMessages: () => void
+  setViewMode: (viewMode: ViewMode | ((current: ViewMode) => ViewMode)) => void
   setActiveProjectSession: (sessionId: string) => void
   upsertSession: (session: WorkspaceSummary["sessions"][number]) => void
   setWorkspace: (workspace: WorkspaceSummary | null) => void
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ export function useChatSessionsController(deps: UseChatSessionsControllerDeps) {
     setSessions,
     clearSessions,
     clearAllSessionMessages,
+    setViewMode,
     setActiveProjectSession,
     upsertSession,
     setWorkspace,
@@ -171,53 +173,35 @@ export function useChatSessionsController(deps: UseChatSessionsControllerDeps) {
     upsertSession
   ])
 
-  const switchProject = useCallback(async (projectId: string) => {
+  const switchProject = useCallback(async (projectId: string, preferredProjectSessionId = activeSessionId) => {
     if (projectActionPending) {
-      return
+      return false
     }
 
-    const preserveVisibleConversation = sendPhase !== "idle"
     setProjectActionPending(true)
     setErrorText("")
     try {
       const nextWorkspace = await desktopApi.projects.setActive(projectId)
+      const nextSessions = (nextWorkspace.sessions ?? []).filter((s) => s.projectId === projectId)
+      const nextSessionId = resolvePreferredSessionId(nextSessions, preferredProjectSessionId) ?? EMPTY_SESSION_ID
       setWorkspace(nextWorkspace)
-
-      if (nextWorkspace.currentProjectId === projectId) {
-        const nextSessions = nextWorkspace.sessions.filter((session) => session.projectId === projectId)
-        if (nextSessions.length) {
-          setSessions(nextSessions)
-          const nextSessionId = resolvePreferredSessionId(nextSessions, activeSessionId)
-          if (nextSessionId) {
-            setActiveProjectSession(nextSessionId)
-          }
-        } else if (!preserveVisibleConversation) {
-          clearSessions()
-          clearAllSessionMessages()
-          setActiveProjectSession(EMPTY_SESSION_ID)
-        }
-      } else if (!preserveVisibleConversation) {
-        clearSessions()
+      setSessions(nextSessions)
+      setActiveProjectSession(nextSessionId)
+      if (!nextSessionId) {
         clearAllSessionMessages()
-        setActiveProjectSession(EMPTY_SESSION_ID)
       }
+      return true
     } catch (error) {
-      if (!preserveVisibleConversation) {
-        clearSessions()
-        clearAllSessionMessages()
-        setActiveProjectSession(EMPTY_SESSION_ID)
-      }
       setErrorText(error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error))
+      return false
     } finally {
       setProjectActionPending(false)
     }
   }, [
     activeSessionId,
     clearAllSessionMessages,
-    clearSessions,
     desktopApi.projects,
     projectActionPending,
-    sendPhase,
     setActiveProjectSession,
     setErrorText,
     setSessions,
@@ -311,9 +295,17 @@ export function useChatSessionsController(deps: UseChatSessionsControllerDeps) {
     viewMode
   ])
 
-  const openSession = useCallback((sessionId: string) => {
-    setActiveProjectSession(sessionId)
-  }, [setActiveProjectSession])
+  const openSession = useCallback(async (session: ProjectSessionSummary) => {
+    if (sendPhase !== "idle") {
+      return
+    }
+    const nextViewMode = session.projectId === HOME_CHAT_PROJECT_ID ? "chat" : "experts"
+    const switched = await switchProject(session.projectId, session.id)
+    if (!switched) {
+      return
+    }
+    setViewMode(nextViewMode)
+  }, [sendPhase, setViewMode, switchProject])
 
   const isCloseProjectSessionDisabled = useCallback((sessionId: string) => {
     return projectActionPending || (sendPhase !== "idle" && activeStreamSessionId === sessionId)

apps/ui/src/features/shell/AppSidebar.tsx

 import type { ReactNode } from "react"
-import type { SessionSummary } from "@qjclaw/shared-types"
+import type { ProjectSessionSummary } from "@qjclaw/shared-types"
 import { Sidebar } from "./Sidebar"
 import { ExpertTree, type ExpertCategoryId, type ExpertVisualKey, type SidebarExpertEntry } from "./ExpertTree"
 import { SessionList } from "./SessionList"
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ interface AppSidebarProps {
   }
   showBindEntry: boolean
   projectActionPending: boolean
-  sessions: SessionSummary[]
+  sessions: ProjectSessionSummary[]
   activeSessionId: string
   sidebarSessionTitles: Record<string, string>
   sendPhase: SendPhase
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ interface AppSidebarProps {
   onExpertSelect(entry: SidebarExpertEntry): void
   renderCategoryIcon(categoryId: ExpertCategoryId): ReactNode
   renderExpertIcon(expertKey: ExpertVisualKey): ReactNode
-  onOpenSession(sessionId: string): void
+  onOpenSession(session: ProjectSessionSummary): void
   onCloseSession(sessionId: string): void
 }
 

apps/ui/src/features/shell/SessionList.tsx

-import type { SessionSummary } from "@qjclaw/shared-types"
+import type { ProjectSessionSummary } from "@qjclaw/shared-types"
 
 type SendPhase = "idle" | "preparing" | "streaming" | "finalizing"
 
 interface SessionListProps {
   visible: boolean
   label: string
-  sessions: SessionSummary[]
+  sessions: ProjectSessionSummary[]
   activeSessionId: string
   sessionTitles: Record<string, string>
   projectActionPending: boolean
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ interface SessionListProps {
   activeStreamSessionId?: string
   closeLabel: string
   formatSessionTitle(title: string, index: number): string
-  onOpenSession(sessionId: string): void
+  onOpenSession(session: ProjectSessionSummary): void
   onCloseSession(sessionId: string): void
 }
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ export function SessionList({
               className="sidebar-session-main app-no-drag"
               aria-current={activeSessionId === session.id ? "true" : undefined}
               disabled={projectActionPending}
-              onClick={() => onOpenSession(session.id)}
+              onClick={() => onOpenSession(session)}
             >
               <strong>{sessionTitles[session.id] ?? formatSessionTitle(session.title, index)}</strong>
             </button>

apps/ui/src/features/shell/useHomeNavigation.ts

@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ interface UseHomeNavigationDeps {
   setPrompt: (value: string | ((current: string) => string)) => void
   clearSessions: () => void
   clearAllSessionMessages: () => void
-  switchProject: (projectId: string) => Promise<void>
+  switchProject: (projectId: string, preferredProjectSessionId?: string) => Promise<boolean>
   switchProjectPreservingMessages?: (projectId: string) => Promise<void>
   buildShortcutPrompt: (definition: ExpertDefinition) => string
 }