Docs

How the board finds your projects, and why a folder might not show up.

How Philote finds your projects

1. When you start Claude Code (in a terminal or VS Code) or Codex, Philote records the session and the folder it runs in. Codex in the ChatGPT app is picked up from the session files it writes.
2. Each session belongs to one project folder: a folder you already added (its subfolders included), otherwise the root of its Git repository, otherwise the folder the AI was started in.
3. Folders you added are cards on the board. A new folder where an AI ran is suggested under New folders in the board's header, and in empty slots on the board, until you add or ignore it. To add new folders straight away, turn on Settings › Behavior › Add new folders as projects.

Folders that are never suggested

An AI session in these folders runs normally. Philote just doesn't suggest the folder, so it won't appear on the board unless you add it yourself.

• Temporary folders, and everything inside them: /tmp, /private/tmp, /var/tmp, /var/folders, and in your home folder ~/tmp, ~/temp, ~/Temp, ~/.Trash, ~/Library/Caches. For example, a project in ~/tmp/my-app is not suggested.
• Your home folder itself, and anything above it. Sessions started directly in ~ aren't recorded at all, so open the AI inside a project folder.
• Folders you ignored. Bring them back in Settings › Projects › Ignored folders › Stop ignoring.

Add a folder yourself

Click + Add folder in the board's header and pick the folder. A folder you add yourself always shows, even inside a temporary folder like ~/tmp, and the sessions running there show on its card.

Or move the project out of the temporary folder, for example into ~/projects, and it will be suggested like any other folder.

Still not showing?

Write to us and we'll take a look — Support.