diff --git a/packages/app/src/app.tsx b/packages/app/src/app.tsx
index fa39019ce..dbf3b6244 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/app.tsx
+++ b/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/src/context/tabs.tsx b/packages/app/src/context/tabs.tsx
index 5640fc8c2..1a304e82e 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/context/tabs.tsx
+++ b/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/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.test.ts b/packages/app/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.test.ts
index 8f0614d96..980e59fdb 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/utils/amicode-workspace-projects.test.ts
+++ b/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"),