# Session Persistence Bug - Scratchpad

## Task Overview
Fix bug where sessions disappear from manually created projects after page refresh.

## Root Cause Analysis

When a session is created in a manually created project:
1. `createSessionInFolder()` creates the session via API
2. It calls `await this.loadProjects()` - fetches fresh session data from API
3. **BUG**: It then calls `await this.initialize()`
4. `initialize()` calls `loadManuallyCreatedProjects()` which RESTores projects with STALE session data from localStorage
5. Then `loadProjects()` is called again, but the damage is done

The problem is that `saveManuallyCreatedProjects()` saves the entire project object including its sessions array. When the page refreshes:
1. `loadManuallyCreatedProjects()` restores projects with their saved (stale) sessions
2. The merge logic in `loadProjects()` tries to add virtual sessions to these projects
3. BUT the session array from localStorage already exists and may be empty/stale

## The Fix

The session arrays stored in localStorage for manually created projects are stale and should be ignored. The `loadManuallyCreatedProjects()` function should:
1. Load the project metadata (name, id, workingDir, manuallyCreated flag)
2. **NOT** load the sessions array - it should start empty
3. Let `loadProjects()` populate the sessions from the API

This ensures sessions always come from the authoritative source (the backend API) rather than stale localStorage data.

## Implementation

### Fix 1: Reset sessions in loadManuallyCreatedProjects()
File: `project-manager.js` lines 52-87

Modified `loadManuallyCreatedProjects()` to create a sanitized project object with:
- `sessions: []` - Reset to empty array
- `activeSessionId: null` - Reset active session

This prevents stale localStorage session data from overriding fresh API data.

### Fix 2: Remove redundant initialize() call
File: `project-manager.js` lines 542-563

Modified `createSessionInFolder()` to:
- Remove `await this.initialize()` call
- Add `this.renderProjectTabs()` to update UI
- Make `switchProject()` call await properly

This prevents reloading stale localStorage data after fetching fresh API data.

## Commit
Commit: c5dbb6c
"Fix session persistence after page refresh"

## Testing Steps

To verify the fix works:

1. Create new project named 'test'
2. Start new session in 'test' project
3. Check that session appears in left sidebar
4. Refresh page
5. Verify session still appears in 'test' project's session list
6. Verify session is correctly displayed in left sidebar

## Status
**FIX IMPLEMENTED AND COMMITTED**

The fix ensures:
1. Session data always comes from the API (authoritative source)
2. localStorage only stores project metadata (name, id, workingDir)
3. No stale session data can override fresh API data