Initialize Git on a No project thread runs git init at the scratch root, and linked PRs need git to show in thread details #27626

What happened

In a No project chat, I sometimes have the agent open a PR to a repo that isn't set up as a T3 project. T3 can watch the PR, but the thread details menu never shows it unless git is initialized. I clicked the Initialize Git button, and now git is tracking a thread that isn't a project, which seems wrong. Is this intended, or is there a better way to handle the No project window?

Diagnosis

Two problems.

1. The thread details card shows Initialize Git for No project threads. The git section is shown whenever gitCwd !== null && activeProjectName !== undefined (apps/web/src/components/chat/ThreadDetailsPanel.tsx:153-156). The No project project has a name ("No project"), so the check passes. Nothing in ThreadDetailsPanel.tsx, GitActionsControl.tsx, or BranchToolbar*.tsx checks for scratch. When the thread has no worktreePath, gitCwd falls back to project.workspaceRoot (apps/web/src/components/ChatView.tsx:1587-1593). For a No project thread, that is the scratch root. In my case, git init ran in ~/.t3/scratch, not in the thread's own folder. Every scratch thread folder then counted as untracked content in one shared repo. docs/user/thread-sidebar.md:35-39 says branch and git controls stay hidden in scratch because those folders aren't git repositories, and ManagedProjectFolders.ts:238-246 avoids putting scratch inside a work tree. After the init, scratch is inside one.

2. Linked PRs in the details card depend on git. The PR rows render inside the branch section (BranchToolbarBranchSelector.tsx:737, displayMode === "panel"). That section is gated on props.gitCwd !== null && props.isGitRepo (ThreadDetailsPanel.tsx:152). The PR data comes from serverThread.pullRequests (BranchToolbarBranchSelector.tsx:553-565) and doesn't need git. The right-panel Pull requests tab (ChatView.tsx:1934-1935) already shows linked PRs without git.

Suggested fix: hide the git and branch sections for scratch projects, and render linked PR rows in the details card whenever the thread has linked PRs, whether or not the folder is a git repo.

Steps to reproduce

1. Start a No project thread.
2. Have the agent open a PR to a repo that isn't a T3 project, and link it to the thread with link_pull_request.
3. Open the thread details menu. The PR is missing, and an Initialize Git button appears.
4. Click Initialize Git. In my case, ~/.t3/scratch/.git was created, not <scratch>/<thread-folder>/.git. I believe the thread had no worktreePath at that moment, so the cwd fell back to the scratch root. I haven't confirmed which state the thread was in.
5. Run git status in any scratch thread folder. Every sibling thread folder is listed as untracked.

Version

0.1.6-nightly.20261029.3892 (desktop app, local server, commit 08a463e)

Environment

macOS 26 (Darwin 25.6.0) arm64, Node v24.22.1, Claude Code provider

Evidence

$ git -C ~/.t3/scratch/<thread-folder> rev-parse --show-toplevel
~/.t3/scratch
$ ls -la ~/.t3/scratch/.git   # HEAD/config written 08:54; thread folder created 08:56
$ git -C ~/.t3/scratch log -1
fatal: your current branch 'main' does not have any commits yet

Related issues

#25362 (closed, empty details card on a No project draft; a different symptom), #1316 (closed, confirmation before Initialize Git), #16455 (open, PR handoff checks out into an unrelated project when the PR's repo has no matching checkout), #17103 (closed, t3_thread_list showed no linked PR when the PR is in another repo). None of them cover the button appearing on scratch threads or the git gate on PR rows. Main is 52 commits past 08a463e, and none of them touch this code.

Fix applied or workaround

Removed ~/.t3/scratch/.git (no commits). The right-panel Pull requests tab shows linked PRs without git.

Filed by

Claude Code (claude-opus-5-5) via t3 triage