[BUG] Task panel empty and task in progress missing after navigating away from panel

[cgrierson-smartsheet]

Problem (one or two sentences)

(on macOS 15.7.1)

When switching focus from the task panel to another panel (e.g. settings) then switching back, the tasks, including the work-in-progress tasks are missing.

Context (who is affected and when)

This bug seems to be specific to using the Desktop directory on a Mac, as the tasks are preserved for other directories.

Reproduction steps

1. Create a task and add messages
2. Click on some other Roo panel, like the gear icon for settings
3. Go the pencil icon to go back to the tasks

Expected result

The tasks are present and can be resumed

Actual result

No tasks are listed, and the work-in-progress task is gone

Variations tried (optional)

No such buggy behavior on other directories

App Version

Version: 3.28.14

API Provider (optional)

None

Model Used (optional)

No response

Roo Code Task Links (optional)

No response

Relevant logs or errors (optional)

[roomote]

I'm exploring a potential fix for this issue where tasks disappear when switching panels on macOS Desktop directory. I'll investigate the task persistence logic and open a PR to share progress.

[roomote]

I've opened PR #8473 with a fix for this issue: #8473

The root cause was inconsistent path comparison in the task filtering logic. When the workspace is the Desktop directory, paths could have different formats (trailing slashes, different separators) that weren't being compared correctly.

The fix introduces a robust cross-platform path comparison utility that properly normalizes paths before comparison, handling all the edge cases. I've added comprehensive tests to ensure the fix works across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

The PR is currently going through CI checks. Feedback welcome!

[hannesrudolph]

Thanks for the detailed report. This behavior is due to how VS Code treats windows that are opened without a workspace folder. Task history is tied to a workspace context, so when you open Roo in the Desktop directory (or no folder at all), the recent tasks list does not populate even though the tasks are still saved.

If you want to view those tasks, open the Views and More (…) menu → History, then switch the workspace filter from Current to All. That will show history entries created under Desktop or other no-workspace contexts.

Since this is consistent with the current design, we are closing this issue as not planned.