Setting for where New project creates folders ("New projects are created in")

[areidyOTH]

Problem

New project always creates its folder at <T3 home>/projects/<slug> (normally ~/.t3/projects/<slug>). No setting changes this. If you keep your repositories somewhere else, like a data drive, you end up with projects in two places. The only ways to change the location today are:

• symlinking ~/.t3/projects, or
• moving the whole T3 home with T3CODE_HOME / --base-dir, which also moves the database.

In #14960 the maintainers agreed that this shouldn't reuse "Add project starts in", since that setting only controls where the folder browser opens. They suggested a separate setting instead. This is that proposal.

Proposal

Add a server-scoped setting, New projects are created in, next to "Add project starts in" in Settings.

• Empty (default): keep today's behaviour, <baseDir>/projects. Nothing changes for existing users.
• Set: New project creates <configured dir>/<slug>.
• Scope: per environment/server, like the root itself. Each machine has its own filesystem, so a single global value wouldn't make sense (see [Bug]: "Add project starts in" is a per-environment path exposed as a global setting, so local and remote environments cannot differ #11756).

How it fits what's already there

• The server already sends ServerConfig.newProjectsRoot to clients. The web, desktop and mobile apps already use it for the Goes in <root> / Creates <path> preview. If the server computes newProjectsRoot from the setting (falling back to <baseDir>/projects), the clients mostly just need the settings row.
• namedProjectsRoot in ManagedProjectFolders would read the setting instead of hard-coding path.resolve(config.baseDir, "projects").
• Existing projects aren't affected because their paths are stored. Changing the setting only applies to projects created after the change.

Edge cases to decide

• Validation: require an absolute path. If the folder is missing, either create it on first use or show an error in Settings.
• Not writable or unmounted (e.g. a removable drive): New project should fail with a clear error, not fall back to ~/.t3/projects without telling you.
• Root inside an existing git repo: this should be fine, because each new project runs its own git init. That's the same reasoning the code comment already gives for ~/.t3/projects.
• Same folder as "Add project starts in": allowed. The settings stay independent; a user can simply give both the same value.

Alternatives considered

• Reuse addProjectBaseDirectory: rejected in Create New Project ignores "Add project starts in" and always uses ~/.t3/projects #14960 because it mixes up "where the browser opens" with "where T3 creates repos".
• Symlink ~/.t3/projects: works, but it's invisible in the UI and easy to break.
• Move the T3 home: this moves the database and other data too, which is far more than needed.

Related: #14960, #14527, #14569, #11756

[jorgitin02]

I would also like an option to change the destination folder directly in the New project dialog, not only a setting for the default root.

Suggested flow:

• Enter the project name.
• Show the destination path, initially using the configured default (or the current <T3 home>/projects fallback).
• Offer Change folder / Browse to select a different parent folder for this project, with manual path entry as an alternative.
• Create the new project under the selected parent folder.

For a desktop client connected to a remote server, the folder picker should browse the selected server’s filesystem, rather than the client machine’s filesystem. For example, using T3 on macOS with a Linux homeserver should let me choose where the repository is created on that homeserver.

Keep the existing location as the default, and leave existing projects untouched. A configurable per-server default plus a per-project override would cover both workflows without needing to create a folder separately and then use Add project.

[derek-eliza]

I would also find a per-environment New projects are created in setting useful. It would let users keep new repositories in their preferred location without a symlink or relocating T3's application data.

The proposal above covers the request: show the configured destination in the New project dialog, apply it only to newly created projects, and report a clear error if the destination is unavailable.

[jakintosh]

My use case: T3 runs as a service on a headless Linux server, and I do a meaningful amount of development from the iOS app, including starting new projects. I keep all repositories in one folder on that server so that all dev work has a standard source of truth (~/src in the agent user's home folder), and I'd like New project to create them there.

This setting would be useful from T3 desktop too, but I want to add the mobile side: it should be editable from the mobile (iOS) app. It belongs to the server, so any client connected to that environment should be able to view and change it. Then I could set where new projects go and create them from my phone.

For now I've symlinked ~/.t3/projects to that folder, and I had an agent in T3 create the link for me. Shelling into the server to set this up is a much less appealing option than a native setting, or even than having an agent do it. The symlink works, but I'd rather not rely on a workaround, so the UI and project paths stay consistent with where the files actually live.

[TinBane]

+1, this would be really useful. I keep all my repositories in one projects folder, and I want New project to create them there instead of under the T3 home, without symlinking or moving the whole T3 home with T3CODE_HOME.

It looks simple to build: the server already resolves one root for named projects (<baseDir>/projects in ManagedProjectFolders), so the change is a server-scoped setting that overrides that root when set, with ~ expansion, the current default when empty, and a clear error if the folder is unavailable.

If maintainers approve this as a feature, I am happy to write the PR, either by rebasing #18905 (it has merge conflicts and no activity since 13 Oct) or as a fresh, smaller PR, whichever you prefer.

[davisonio]

+1 for the setting, plus the per-project choice that @jorgitin02 suggested above. I'd like both.

• Default location: feat(projects): configure the directory for new projects #18905 already implements the per-environment setting described here (empty keeps <T3 home>/projects, ~ expands, editable on web and mobile, also used by the MCP project tools). It's ready for review if the direction is approved.
• Per project: the New project name step already previews the destination with the same helper Clone uses (getNewProjectPathPreview calls getCloneDestinationPath). A Change action there could open the existing folder browser to pick the parent for this one project, as Clone's destination step does. projects.createNew would take an optional parent directory and fall back to the default root. It's small and works with or without the setting.

This keeps New project, Local folder and Clone as separate flows, and keeps "where the browser opens" apart from "where new projects go", as in #14960. Happy to open a PR for the per-project part once a maintainer is OK with the direction.