#7626·superset

CLI: projects created via the CLI never appear in the desktop sidebar

Author: infra-akshay-gulatiCreated Sep 17, 2026Updated Sep 17, 2026

Summary

  • Projects created with superset projects create never show up in the desktop sidebar, though they appear immediately in Settings > Projects
  • The CLI reports success and superset projects list confirms the project, so nothing signals that a further step is needed
  • The missing step is superset ws open <mainWorkspaceId>, which is not mentioned in the create output or in projects --help
  • Reproduced on 7 projects; ws open fixed all 7

Steps to reproduce

  1. Create a project from an existing local clone:
    superset projects create --local --name <name> --import <repo path>
    
    Returns {"projectId": "...", "mainWorkspaceId": "...", "created": true}
  2. Open the desktop app and look at the sidebar — the project is absent
  3. Open Settings > Projects — the project is listed
  4. Run:
    superset ws open <mainWorkspaceId>
    
    Returns {"url": "superset://v2-workspace/<id>"}
  5. The project now appears in the sidebar

Expected

A successfully created project appears in the sidebar, or the CLI says what else is required.

Actual

The project is absent from the sidebar until ws open fires its superset://v2-workspace/<id> deep link. Settings > Projects shows it the whole time.

What I ruled out

  • Version skew — CLI, desktop app and host service all on 1.29.0; auto-updater confirms that is latest
  • Stale app process — full quit and relaunch; app log shows a clean start with no errors
  • superset update — no-op by design, the CLI is bundled with the desktop app
  • Host state — in the host service DB, a sidebar-visible (app-created) project and a hidden (CLI-created) one are identical across every non-identity column (repo_provider, repo_owner, remote_name, worktree_base_dir, branch_prefix_mode, branch_prefix_custom, icon, sparse_checkout_paths, naming_instructions, color). Only id, name, repo_name, repo_url, repo_path, created_at, updated_at differ
  • local.db — an empty legacy v1 store (0 rows in every table, has a v1_migration_state table), so not the sidebar source
  • Renderer Local Storage — no project UUIDs present
  • Tags/foldersworkspace_tags and tag_folder_settings both empty
  • Open/terminal history — created a terminal in a hidden project's workspace; no effect (terminal disposed afterwards)

Hypothesis

projects create / projects setup write host-service state only and never perform the app-side registration step. ws open is currently the only CLI command that talks to the desktop app rather than the host service.

Related

This looks like the project-level analog of an already-documented family:

  • #5329 — CLI-created workspaces never appear in the sidebar. Closed as completed, and describes the same mechanism: "the in-app create path performs a GUI-side registration step that the CLI create path skips… the gap is at the GUI state-management layer, not the database layer." The project create path still shows this behaviour on 1.29.0.
  • #7366 — CLI-created remote workspaces never appear (open)
  • #5103 — CLI-created terminals not visible in the desktop UI

Suggested fix

Have projects create / projects setup perform the app-side registration, or print a next-step hint pointing at ws open.

Environment

Superset 1.29.0 (CLI, desktop app, host service), macOS arm64