Sidebar project headings disappear after upgrading to 0.43.3 (unset organization default became Custom)

[s-alfahdawi]

Summary

After upgrading the desktop app to 0.43.3, every project heading disappeared from the sidebar even though the projects and their threads are still on the server. The install never persisted sidebar.organizationMode, so 0.43.3 now serves the new unset default Custom (chronological) instead of By project. Custom mode does not render project rows.

Versions and environment

• bb 0.43.3 (desktop app /Applications/bb.app, bb --version 0.43.3; Settings → About current=latest, updateAvailable: false)
• Install source from bb settings version: npm / npx bb-app@latest; desktop tag desktop-v0.43.3 at e865697f56bea89f3413dd4cc7fae964850d20a0
• macOS 27.0 (Darwin 27.0.0), Apple Silicon
• Local server, data dir ~/.bb, primary machine host_t4sr396ivq connected
• Not a provider bug (no agent turn required)
• Investigation thread: thr_dier33yh94

Steps to reproduce

This is a live upgraded install, not a clean data dir. Smallest faithful repro:

1. Use a bb install that already has multiple ordinary projects and had been running 0.43.1 or earlier, where the user never opened Organize and never wrote sidebar.organizationMode (no row in ui_preferences).
2. Confirm projects exist:

bb project list --json
bb settings ui get sidebar.organizationMode --json

3. Upgrade to desktop 0.43.3 (first release that contains Default unset sidebar organization to Custom #3742).
4. Open the desktop app sidebar.

Did not reproduce as data loss: bb project list still returns every project, and unarchived visible threads still exist.

Did not need: sidebarProgressiveDisclosure (it is false here).

Workaround (not required to see the bug): sidebar header Organize → By project, or:

bb settings ui set sidebar.organizationMode project

Expected vs actual

Expected: After upgrade, an existing install that never saved an organization choice keeps By project, so each project remains a sidebar heading (collapsed or expanded). #3742 said existing server preferences and legacy browser choices retain their values.

Actual: On 0.43.3 this install reports:

{
  "key": "sidebar.organizationMode",
  "revision": 0,
  "value": "chronological"
}

SQLite has zero rows for sidebar.organizationMode. The API therefore returns the new unset default. The sidebar is in Custom / Manually mode, which calls renderChronological() and never mounts project rows:

bb/apps/app/src/components/sidebar/ProjectList.tsx

Lines 539 to 543 in e865697

	}: ActiveSidebarModeSectionsProps) {
	if (mode === "machine") return renderMachine();
	if (mode === "chronological") return renderChronological();
	return renderProject();
	}

bb project list still returns 8 ordinary projects (hayat, asfar, tv_time, ahead, db, tal, UoITC, almufasir) plus Personal. Unarchived visible thread counts are unchanged (example: hayat 54, asfar 46, ahead 32).

By-project section order is still stored (revision 1) with every project:proj_… id. Collapsed project ids are also still stored (revision 72, all 8 ids). Those prefs are unused while organization is Custom.

Could not attach a screenshot: macOS screen capture from this agent session failed (could not create image from display).

Evidence

• Live bb settings ui get sidebar.organizationMode --json → revision 0, value "chronological".
• SELECT COUNT(*) FROM ui_preferences WHERE key='sidebar.organizationMode' → 0.
• bb project list still lists all 8 standard projects. Example ids: proj_9v4n6mmkre (hayat), proj_fyv7fzj6fm (asfar), proj_9bkht5zszt (ahead).
• Default change that shipped in 0.43.3:

  bb/packages/domain/src/ui-preferences.ts

  Lines 78 to 82 in 0313e87

  	sidebarOrganizationModeSchema,
  	"chronological",
  	"How the sidebar groups threads: by project, Custom (chronological), or by machine. Defaults to Custom when unset.",
  	),
  	"sidebar.chronologicalSort": defineUiPreference(

"sidebar.organizationMode": defineUiPreference(
  sidebarOrganizationModeSchema,
  "chronological",
  "How the sidebar groups threads: by project, Custom (chronological), or by machine. Defaults to Custom when unset.",
),

• PR that introduced it: Default unset sidebar organization to Custom #3742 (0313e8754f, merged 2026-09-15). Compare desktop-v0.43.1...desktop-v0.43.3 includes that commit; 0.43.3 released 2026-09-18.
• App bundle on this machine: /Applications/bb.app version 0.43.3.

What you ruled out

• Not deleted projects: all 8 still in bb project list and in projects / threads tables.
• Not UI preferences sync crashes when list response omits an entry #3629 (UI preferences sync crash): this session is on 0.43.3 after that fix; the app is running, the preference list is complete, organization is simply the new unset default.
• Not sidebarProgressiveDisclosure: experiment is false.
• Not collapsed-only: collapsed project rows would still show headings in By project mode; Custom mode omits the project list entirely.
• No existing GitHub issue found for this symptom. Open PR Preserve sidebar organization across upgrades without overriding saved choices #3945 describes the same upgrade/default bug and is not linked to an issue.

Suggested priority and effort (optional)

High for anyone who upgraded to 0.43.3 without ever clicking Organize — looks like projects vanished; no data loss. Workaround: Organize → By project, or bb settings ui set sidebar.organizationMode project. Fix is probably the upgrade fallback already drafted in #3945.

Checks

• I reproduced this on the latest release or on main, or I say above that I could not.
• I searched open and closed issues for the same problem.
• If an agent wrote this, the body ends with > AGENT GENERATED and links the thread or report.

AGENT GENERATED

Live verification on upgraded desktop 0.43.3 from bb thread thr_dier33yh94. Projects and threads still present; only the unset organization default changed.