diff --git a/packages/app-bundle/manifest.json b/packages/app-bundle/manifest.json
index 281c576c..1974a600 100644
--- a/packages/app-bundle/manifest.json
+++ b/packages/app-bundle/manifest.json
@@ -948,7 +948,7 @@
     "packages/ui/package.json": "b1d168d0371e9094faae1107fc6c00be197f09bc69daa2247a3890d607f4b629",
     "packages/app/public/amico.svg": "a14b9d543d895bcdf0758f7b9ef5908ee0acaac794446494af059b159247db8f",
     "packages/app/public/oc-theme-preload.js": "27227e802b3494e7c545da903e679efdb30ccc754cd4eb5cdf08005a40d560b6",
-    "packages/app/src/app.tsx": "26db81a03c2f303701037cd2d3f0bf91b585193f01b6b31db5f869f4f8e76fc7",
+    "packages/app/src/app.tsx": "c4ae567006dcc0fd1a530ac5ccf837444e67534fbe08dda1dc85ca9e25d822bd",
     "packages/app/src/design-polish.css": "42cc6efaefe9a71dedd12fcb0bf2549453d9a46097cb025cf087064b29d3ccce",
     "packages/app/src/entry.tsx": "f35e1017f4c9d478d254b2a38043e5750064b6bef25169c3e07ae9f72ff1049c",
     "packages/app/src/index.css": "08179e06ce2d419a2d98acc96025f91c7709062ea9f3ad245e88dc35e75ff9f7",
@@ -1062,7 +1062,7 @@
     "packages/app/src/context/server.tsx": "08e978e4b4b3094221a2a0b92e069f39cbedb6d6cf95935881e21cde52265ee2",
     "packages/app/src/context/settings.tsx": "050f1831173d9f337bb00d54c034670553cd22bb457c7b536e4d799eb35de8a3",
     "packages/app/src/context/split.tsx": "891aeb290b369b327a63ce548dcaab1daca08e41fab430648787be7f84e53ec0",
-    "packages/app/src/context/tabs.tsx": "6ca4ae0d85d5456cdda6f9aaec7e6aab0ca8aef0296b61f8bae7ee51da150a0a",
+    "packages/app/src/context/tabs.tsx": "eb494b5785defdd3a4901874be355ba8ddd7bab4c009359b558c413f9ee63ffa",
     "packages/app/src/context/vault-panel.ts": "f91cb5fb49a9f0d46bd2a1b131f9a218b30147e2ad3617d2a2dc4f1e14599a53",
     "packages/app/src/context/workbench.tsx": "69a44da2b69989bd2c67ebffdb49941841f3f4718d6a70d659c828b57928d9eb",
     "packages/app/src/context/zoom-keybind.test.ts": "a1385c93639687a7dac7d21f8f02841d82a55e42465ce3836b97b16c82b52469",
@@ -1107,7 +1107,7 @@
     "packages/app/src/utils/amicode-hidden-project.ts": "d845a80ecad2d497528a5071f55cffab72e7b451f16d106cdb594f5bbd62c0ee",
     "packages/app/src/utils/amicode-pane.ts": "46c18a2dc47c5db154f70272d25031e6834539ad03f6ab25613f082426f7c642",
     "packages/app/src/utils/amicode-route-info.ts": "a0268a223e8de09fae9d4de8bee6a7774c14c87c6254cb4ed1d921db18587f44",
-    "packages/app/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.test.ts": "8d6f68cfec613bd470c991dcb5f49f6171606b09cbbd37c2fabd37a9129a3896",
+    "packages/app/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.test.ts": "8b5c32172e2039b3d9c52f2257023263fc846132e7c185e4a63ae014bc2e2bfb",
     "packages/app/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.ts": "cbe091c463177375c93cb43676c202bd7bf06baf36fdec779f7d641558ff6bee",
     "packages/app/src/utils/boot-parity.ts": "5231be428fc832cd941aafbe70e4620b696321b87a2769d28372ecd2feb9dc41",
     "packages/app/src/utils/chrome-dropdown.ts": "f8b878c5df4e1afd96b0751c73daaad0a8127411030724cb8f9a5089ebb29eac",
diff --git a/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/app.tsx b/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/app.tsx
index fa39019c..dbf3b624 100644
--- a/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/app.tsx
+++ b/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/app.tsx
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import "@/index.css"
 import * as Sentry from "@sentry/solid"
 import { requestComputeConnect } from "@/components/amicode-defaults-capsule"
-import { adoptWorkspaceProjects } from "@/utils/amicode-workspace-projects"
+import { adoptWorkspaceProjects, workspaceProjects } from "@/utils/amicode-workspace-projects"
 import { I18nProvider } from "@opencode-ai/ui/context"
 import { DialogProvider } from "@opencode-ai/ui/context/dialog"
 import { FileComponentProvider } from "@opencode-ai/ui/context/file"
@@ -482,7 +482,13 @@ function AmicodeNavigateBridge() {
       if (url.pathname === "/new-session") {
         const prompt = url.searchParams.get("prompt") || undefined
         const autoSend = url.searchParams.get("autoSend") === "1"
-        await tabs.newDraft({ server: server.key, directory: server.projects.list()[0]?.worktree ?? "" }, prompt)
+        // amicode#872: prefer workspace-projects (real VS Code folders) over
+        // the engine's project list (which returns the scaffold dir).
+        const wsProjects = workspaceProjects()
+        const directory = wsProjects.length > 0
+          ? wsProjects[0].worktree
+          : server.projects.list()[0]?.worktree ?? ""
+        await tabs.newDraft({ server: server.key, directory }, prompt)
         if (autoSend) setPendingAutoSend(true)
       } else {
         // Navigate to an existing session by path (e.g. /session/:id)
diff --git a/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/context/tabs.tsx b/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/context/tabs.tsx
index 5640fc8c..1a304e82 100644
--- a/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/context/tabs.tsx
+++ b/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/context/tabs.tsx
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import { ServerConnection, useServer } from "./server"
 import { createEffect, getOwner, onCleanup, startTransition } from "solid-js"
 import { useLocation, useNavigate, useParams } from "@solidjs/router"
 import { usePlatform } from "./platform"
+import { workspaceProjects } from "@/utils/amicode-workspace-projects"
 import { uuid } from "@/utils/uuid"
 import { SessionTabsRemovedDetail } from "@/components/titlebar-session-events"
 import { sessionHref } from "@/utils/session-route"
@@ -60,9 +61,14 @@ export const { use: useTabs, provider: TabsProvider } = createSimpleContext({
     const platform = usePlatform()
     /** amicode(workbench): TabsProvider sits ABOVE the SDK/Sync providers, so
      *  a draft's project directory comes from the route or the server
-     *  context — never from useSDK (there is no provider above us). */
+     *  context — never from useSDK (there is no provider above us).
+     *  amicode#872: prefer the extension's workspace-projects signal over
+     *  the engine's project list — the engine's first project is the scaffold
+     *  dir, which the sidebar's orphan guard correctly rejects. */
     const draftDirectory = () => {
       if (params.dir) return base64Decode(params.dir) ?? ""
+      const wsProjects = workspaceProjects()
+      if (wsProjects.length > 0) return wsProjects[0].worktree
       return server.projects.list()[0]?.worktree ?? ""
     }
     const fallback = server.key
diff --git a/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.test.ts b/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.test.ts
index 8f0614d9..980e59fd 100644
--- a/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app-bundle/overlay/packages/app/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.test.ts
@@ -73,6 +73,79 @@ describe("prompt-project-selector — no false default (#673)", () => {
   })
 })
 
+// ── #872: draft directory defaults to workspace folder ──────────────────
+// Two code paths create drafts — tabs.tsx draftDirectory() and app.tsx
+// AmicodeNavigateBridge. Both must prefer workspaceProjects() over
+// server.projects.list() so the sidebar's orphan guard can match the path.
+
+describe("draft directory — tabs.tsx draftDirectory (#872)", () => {
+  const tabsSrc = readFileSync(
+    resolve(__dirname, "..", "context", "tabs.tsx"),
+    "utf8",
+  )
+
+  test("draftDirectory checks workspaceProjects before server.projects", () => {
+    // The draftDirectory function must reference workspaceProjects
+    const draftFn = tabsSrc.slice(tabsSrc.indexOf("const draftDirectory"))
+    const fnEnd = draftFn.indexOf("\n    const fallback")
+    const fnBody = draftFn.slice(0, fnEnd)
+    expect(fnBody).toContain("workspaceProjects")
+  })
+
+  test("tabs.tsx imports workspaceProjects from the amicode module", () => {
+    expect(tabsSrc).toMatch(/import\s.*workspaceProjects.*from\s+["']@\/utils\/amicode-workspace-projects["']/)
+  })
+
+  test("draftDirectory falls back to server.projects when workspaceProjects is empty", () => {
+    // The fallback path must still exist
+    const draftFn = tabsSrc.slice(tabsSrc.indexOf("const draftDirectory"))
+    const fnEnd = draftFn.indexOf("\n    const fallback")
+    const fnBody = draftFn.slice(0, fnEnd)
+    expect(fnBody).toContain("server.projects.list()")
+  })
+})
+
+describe("draft directory — app.tsx navigate bridge (#872)", () => {
+  const appSrc = readFileSync(
+    resolve(__dirname, "..", "app.tsx"),
+    "utf8",
+  )
+
+  test("navigate bridge checks workspaceProjects before server.projects for /new-session", () => {
+    // Find the new-session branch in the navigate bridge
+    const newSessionIdx = appSrc.indexOf('url.pathname === "/new-session"')
+    const bridgeSlice = appSrc.slice(newSessionIdx, newSessionIdx + 600)
+    expect(bridgeSlice).toContain("workspaceProjects")
+  })
+
+  test("navigate bridge falls back to server.projects when workspaceProjects is empty", () => {
+    const newSessionIdx = appSrc.indexOf('url.pathname === "/new-session"')
+    const bridgeSlice = appSrc.slice(newSessionIdx, newSessionIdx + 600)
+    expect(bridgeSlice).toContain("server.projects.list()")
+  })
+})
+
+describe("explicit project selection overrides the default (#872 AC4)", () => {
+  const ctrlSrc = readFileSync(
+    resolve(__dirname, "..", "pages", "session", "composer", "session-composer-controls.ts"),
+    "utf8",
+  )
+
+  test("selectProject writes the selected worktree directly to the draft (updateDraft)", () => {
+    // The explicit-selection path must call updateDraft with { directory: worktree }
+    // so it overrides the draftDirectory() default entirely.
+    const selectFn = ctrlSrc.slice(ctrlSrc.indexOf("const selectProject"))
+    expect(selectFn).toContain("tabs.updateDraft(search.draftId, { server: ServerConnection.key(conn), directory: worktree })")
+  })
+
+  test("selectProject does not re-invoke draftDirectory", () => {
+    // The explicit-selection path must not go through draftDirectory — it writes
+    // the selected worktree directly.
+    const selectFn = ctrlSrc.slice(ctrlSrc.indexOf("const selectProject"))
+    expect(selectFn).not.toContain("draftDirectory")
+  })
+})
+
 describe("session-composer-controls — toggle deselect (#673)", () => {
   const ctrlSrc = readFileSync(
     resolve(__dirname, "..", "pages", "session", "composer", "session-composer-controls.ts"),