feat: make accessible_paths optional during agent creation by DeJeune · Pull Request #13126 · CherryHQ/cherry-studio

DeJeune · 2026-03-01T11:38:46Z

What this PR does

Before this PR:
Users were required to manually select at least one workspace folder via the OS file picker when creating an agent. The creation form would block submission if no accessible_paths were provided.

After this PR:
The accessible_paths field is optional during agent creation. When no paths are provided, the backend automatically creates a default workspace at {userData}/Data/agents/{agentId}/. Users can still optionally add paths during creation or change them later in Agent Settings.

Why we need it and why it was done in this way

The mandatory folder picker adds friction to agent creation — especially for new users who may not know what folder to pick. The backend already had fallback logic to create a default workspace when accessible_paths is empty, so this change simply removes the frontend enforcement that prevented that path from being reached.

The following tradeoffs were made:

The Zod schema accessible_paths constraint was relaxed from .nonempty() to .array(z.string()). This is safe because the backend handles the empty case.

The following alternatives were considered:

Having the frontend auto-fill a placeholder path before submission — rejected because the backend already handles this cleanly.

Breaking changes

None. The backend behavior is unchanged — it already supported empty accessible_paths and auto-created a default workspace.

Special notes for your reviewer

The backend AgentService.createAgent() (lines 40-43) already had the default workspace logic. No backend changes were needed.
In AccessibleDirsSetting.tsx, the restriction preventing removal of the last path was also removed, since the backend always ensures a valid workspace exists.

Checklist

PR: The PR description is expressive enough and will help future contributors
Code: Write code that humans can understand and Keep it simple
Refactor: You have left the code cleaner than you found it (Boy Scout Rule)
Upgrade: Impact of this change on upgrade flows was considered and addressed if required
Documentation: A user-guide update was considered and is present (link) or not required. Check this only when the PR introduces or changes a user-facing feature or behavior.
Self-review: I have reviewed my own code (e.g., via /gh-pr-review, gh pr diff, or GitHub UI) before requesting review from others

Release note

Agent creation no longer requires selecting a workspace folder. A default workspace is automatically created under the app's data directory. Users can change or add workspace paths later in Agent Settings.

Default workspace is auto-created at {userData}/Data/agents/{agentId}/ when no paths are provided. Users can still optionally add paths during creation or change them later in agent settings. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[email protected]>

DeJeune

Review Summary

The intent of this PR is solid — removing friction from agent creation by making accessible_paths optional is a good UX improvement, and the backend's createAgent() already handles the empty case with a default workspace.

Critical

Empty paths on update: The frontend guard in AccessibleDirsSetting.tsx that prevented removing the last path was removed, but the backend updateAgent() and updateSession() methods do not have the same default-workspace fallback that createAgent() has. If a user removes all paths via Agent Settings, the agent will be left with an empty accessible_paths array, causing PluginService.getWorkdirOrThrow() and the Claude Code service to throw errors.

Minor

Stale t in the removeAccessiblePath dependency array after toast removal.

Positives

Clean, minimal diff — only touches what's necessary.
Good PR description with clear before/after, tradeoffs, and backend cross-references.
Schema change propagates correctly through all derived types.

DeJeune · 2026-03-01T11:46:01Z

    (path: string) => {
      if (!base) return
      const newPaths = base.accessible_paths.filter((p) => p !== path)


Bug: The frontend guard preventing removal of the last path is removed, but the backend AgentService.updateAgent() does NOT auto-assign a default workspace when accessible_paths is set to an empty array — the default-path logic only exists in createAgent() (lines 40-43 of AgentService.ts).

This means: if a user removes all accessible paths via Agent Settings, the agent ends up with accessible_paths: [] in the database. Downstream code like PluginService.getWorkdirOrThrow() and ClaudeCodeService (session.accessible_paths[0]) will then throw or error.

Suggested fix options:

Add the same default-path fallback to AgentService.updateAgent() (and SessionService.updateSession()) when accessible_paths is set to an empty array.

Keep the frontend guard here in the settings page (remove-last prevention) while still making it optional during creation.

DeJeune · 2026-03-01T11:46:18Z

  name: z.string().optional(),
  description: z.string().optional(),
-  accessible_paths: z.array(z.string()).nonempty(), // Array of directory paths the agent can access
+  accessible_paths: z.array(z.string()), // Array of directory paths the agent can access (empty = use default workspace)


Note: The schema change itself looks correct. Worth noting that this also affects AgentSessionEntitySchema (line 131), CreateAgentRequestSchema, UpdateAgentRequestSchema, etc. since they all extend AgentBaseSchema. The relaxation propagates cleanly to all derived schemas — just confirming this was intentional (and it makes sense that it is).

…via update The backend createAgent() already assigned a default workspace when accessible_paths was empty, but updateAgent() and updateSession() did not. This caused PluginService and ClaudeCodeService to throw when a user removed all paths via Agent Settings. Also removes a stale `t` dependency in AccessibleDirsSetting. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[email protected]>

Aligns with the existing convention used by other data directories (e.g., KnowledgeBase). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[email protected]>

GeorgeDong32

Code Review Summary

Overall this is a well-designed change that reduces friction in agent creation. The backend already had fallback logic for empty accessible_paths, so removing the frontend validation is a clean improvement.

Key Findings

Path Case Change: The directory name changed from agents to Agents. This may cause compatibility issues with existing agents. Consider keeping lowercase.
Code Duplication: The empty path handling logic is duplicated across 3 locations. A protected method in BaseService could reduce this.

What's Good

Frontend/backend consistency maintained
Security validation still happens on backend (absolute path check)
User experience improved by removing required folder selection
Graceful fallback to default workspace when no paths provided

Security

No security issues found. Backend properly validates that paths are absolute.

Consolidates the duplicated empty-path → default-workspace logic from AgentService.createAgent, AgentService.updateAgent, and SessionService.updateSession into a single BaseService method. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[email protected]>

kangfenmao · 2026-03-05T02:08:38Z

The names of automatically created directories are quite long; you can shorten them.
The directory location should be automatically displayed during creation.

- Use last 9 chars of agent ID as folder name instead of full ID - Show hint text in creation modal when no paths are selected - Add i18n keys for default workspace hint Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[email protected]>

DeJeune · 2026-03-05T03:39:55Z

@kangfenmao

…e languages

DeJeune requested review from EurFelux and kangfenmao March 1, 2026 11:39

DeJeune commented Mar 1, 2026

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DeJeune added this to the v1.7.22 milestone Mar 1, 2026

EurFelux approved these changes Mar 3, 2026

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fix: capitalize default workspace directory name to 'Agents'

20adbb9

Aligns with the existing convention used by other data directories (e.g., KnowledgeBase). Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[email protected]>

DeJeune requested a review from GeorgeDong32 March 4, 2026 16:18

GeorgeDong32 reviewed Mar 4, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/main/services/agents/services/AgentService.ts Outdated

Comment thread src/main/services/agents/services/AgentService.ts

DeJeune requested a review from GeorgeDong32 March 4, 2026 16:43

GeorgeDong32 reviewed Mar 5, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/main/services/agents/BaseService.ts Outdated

fix: shorten default workspace folder name and add creation hint

102d6a4

- Use last 9 chars of agent ID as folder name instead of full ID - Show hint text in creation modal when no paths are selected - Add i18n keys for default workspace hint Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <[email protected]>

fix: update default_hint translations for accessible_paths in multipl…

afe8434

…e languages

kangfenmao approved these changes Mar 5, 2026

View reviewed changes

kangfenmao merged commit a801801 into main Mar 5, 2026
9 checks passed

kangfenmao deleted the DeJeune/agent-default-workspace branch March 5, 2026 05:19

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feat: make accessible_paths optional during agent creation#13126

feat: make accessible_paths optional during agent creation#13126
kangfenmao merged 6 commits intomainfrom
DeJeune/agent-default-workspace

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DeJeune commented Mar 1, 2026

What this PR does

Why we need it and why it was done in this way

Breaking changes

Special notes for your reviewer

Checklist

Release note

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Review Summary

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Code Review Summary

Key Findings

What's Good

Security

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kangfenmao commented Mar 5, 2026

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DeJeune commented Mar 5, 2026

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