Codex sidebar state parity

The Wework desktop app follows the Codex App sidebar state model. Project and live task content comes from the Codex app-server, while sidebar metadata comes from .codex-global-state.json in the target device's CODEX_HOME. While a remote device is online, Wework also stores a local task-list summary for startup recovery after that device goes offline.

State ownership

Data	Source of truth	Notes
Project names, roots, and kinds	Codex global state	Covers legacy roots, multi-root local-projects, and remote-projects
Project order, pins, and appearance	Codex global state	Uses project-order, pinned-project-ids, and project-appearances
Task title, timestamps, and runtime status	Codex app-server + Wework remote summary cache	Task bodies are not cached; cached runtime status is always stopped
Task grouping, order, and pins	Codex global state	Uses assignments, workspace hints, per-project thread order, and pinned thread IDs
Expansion and scroll preferences	Wework localStorage	UI-only preferences that do not affect Codex

A project UI identity combines the state-owning device with the project key. Identical paths on different devices therefore remain isolated.

A task UI identity combines the state-owning device with the task ID. Live-list refreshes merge tasks only by that identity; title, workspace path, and runtime kind are not identity fields. Distinct tasks can share a title, such as consecutive attachment-only submissions with no text, so neither the frontend nor Executor may infer duplicates from those display fields.

Tasks without a manual order are sorted by the completion time of their latest turn; a new task that has never completed uses its creation time. When an existing task starts another streaming turn, it retains the previous turn's completion time until the current turn completes. Opening or resuming a running task, receiving streaming deltas, and ordinary task-summary synchronization must therefore not move a task row solely because updatedAt changed.

Project model

Executor merges three Codex project representations:

1. electron-saved-workspace-roots and electron-workspace-root-labels for legacy single-root projects.
2. local-projects and project-writable-roots for current local multi-root projects.
3. remote-projects for projects on remote hosts.

Thread grouping applies this precedence: exclusion through projectless-thread-ids, explicit thread-project-assignments, thread-workspace-root-hints, then longest-root path matching. Explicit metadata always wins over path inference.

Writes and concurrency

Wework sends semantic mutations such as “move project A before B” or “pin thread T”; the frontend never overwrites the complete JSON document. Executor reads the latest state and computes the affected arrays for each mutation.

When Codex App is not running, Executor writes a same-directory temporary file, flushes it, and atomically replaces global state. While Codex App is running, mutations are appended to a JSONL oplog. Reads overlay pending mutations on disk state for immediate UI feedback. After Codex exits, Executor merges the oplog into the latest disk state. Unknown fields are preserved by every write.

Local projects are mutated by the local Executor in the local CODEX_HOME. Remote projects are mutated by the Executor on the owning device. Backend does not persist sidebar state.

Offline remote task recovery

After a cloud or remote task-list sync succeeds, Wework stores a per-user, allowlisted summary in local localStorage. It includes task IDs, titles, update times, workspace paths, repository and branch hints, and sidebar ordering metadata. The cache excludes conversation bodies, tool calls, runtime handles, model configuration, and parent or child task trees. Full details remain only on the remote device.

At startup, the cached summary is merged as stale data with the local Codex remote-project descriptors. When the remote device is unavailable, the project, last known IP, and task summaries remain visible with a gray status dot. Task rows cannot be opened, pinned, renamed, subscribed, or archived. After the device reconnects, the live list becomes authoritative and updates or removes cached entries. A failed device discovery or task-list sync keeps the previous summary so a temporary network error does not empty the sidebar.

An unavailable remote device and an explicitly disconnected cloud session are different states. As long as Wework remains connected to the cloud, projects for offline devices stay visible under the rules above. When the user explicitly disconnects the cloud session, Wework temporarily hides remote projects, remote tasks, and remote chats without deleting the local summary cache or remote-projects in Codex global state. Reconnecting first restores the saved remote projects from the cache, then refreshes them from the live device and task lists. Local projects are unaffected.

Interaction boundary

• When the Cloud Work entry reports Available, clicking the row opens the dedicated Cloud work page. Its trailing settings action still opens Connections settings.
• Clicking a project only expands or collapses its tasks and does not change the center pane.
• Clicking a task or creating a project task changes the main content.
• Projects, pinned projects, pinned tasks, and tasks within one project support semantic drag ordering.
• Tasks can only be reordered within their current project. There is no cross-project drop target, and dragging never changes thread-project-assignments.
• Ellipsis menus and context menus share the same project or task action set.