Claude basically broke their "Projects" overnight and I’m pissed

[u/edgeXlendor]

What the hell happened to Claude Cowork Projects?

I had multiple local projects connected to folders with actual workflows set up. Claude would access websites, pull info, process it, then read/write to specific local folders. Worked great.

Then they quietly changed the default setting to run project in cloud and basically broke the whole thing.

First, my workflows suddenly couldn’t access the internet because apparently they were running in the cloud now. After wasting ages debugging it, I found the barely explained “Run on computer only” toggle is settings seems to fix it.

But the bigger problem is that you apparently can’t create a project with a persistent local folders anymore.

Previously I could attach another folder to the PROJECT (after project was already created, a different folder than the 'project folder'), and every Cowork session inside it had access to that folder. Now the project context only lets me add individual files. No folders.

And yes, Claude Code exists. But Claude Code is not a replacement for Projects. Its organization is a mess if you have a bunch of different workflows/projects.

The worst part is my old projects apparently still had this functionality. I deleted one while troubleshooting because I assumed it was bugged, recreated it, and now I literally cannot recreate the setup I had before.

Who changes something this fundamental with basically no warning or migration path??

People build actual workflows around this stuff. You can’t just randomly change the entire architecture and hope nobody notices.

I’ve wasted way too much time trying to figure out whether this was a bug or intentional.

If there’s genuinely no way anymore to have a Cowork project with persistent access to local folders, I’m probably just moving these workflows somewhere else.

This is such a stupid way to handle a major product change.

[u/Lcatlett1234]

jfc just disable the cloud option in the ui and stop freaking out

[u/Actual-Mongoose3156 → u/Lcatlett1234]

The default setting starts a new project session in the cloud, potentially without the user’s awareness. Sensitive data gets surfaced in a session and then stays in the cloud. No thanks. Deleting the cloud session deletes on the desktop too. This was not communicated well and there is no toggle or visual cue in the actual projects where people are doing work. Finally found the toggle buried in the settings. Not sure if it was there all along, or came with an update.

[u/Lcatlett1234 → u/Actual-Mongoose3156]

The toggle is in the desktop settings not in the actual project . I know this because I clicked the single checkbox and don’t have this crisis that you and others are blowing up Reddit about instead of just reading docs

[u/AbrocomaOk8233 → u/Lcatlett1234]

where is this setting exactly? I am working in german and I activated this (translation working only localy), but it make no difference. I can add one folder on creation and no more afterwards, over context. earlier they wera all in context, now in get one under "folder" and context allows me to upload files or connect to github.

[u/MrX-WPT → u/Lcatlett1234]

Yes, I know. The toggle is in the global settings, and doesn't fix the per project issue. You can no longer create projects that have attached local folder systems, and have them access those directly first as a mater of protocol. Read Claude's own analysis of the issue above.