Folders inside a project to classify chats

[leo-3889]

Saved to ~/.nanobot/workspace/github-discussion/nanobot-folders-discussion.md. Paste-ready for HKUDS/nanobot → Discussions → category "Feature request":

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Folders inside a project to classify chats

Version: nanobot-ai 0.3.5 (WebUI gateway)

The problem

Running nanobot as a daily driver across several domains (fleet ops, 3D printing, media, family/school, admin) the sidebar becomes the product. After ~20 chats, pin / archive / rename / sort are not enough: there is no way to classify chats into folders inside a project, e.g.

Strix (project)
├── inference/   → Halogen Ops, Benchmarks, Voice
├── images/      → Qwen-Image, comfy-front
└── admin/       → Updates, Security

How it works today (checked against v0.3.5 source)

• webui/workspaces.py — a project is only a workspace scope (project_path) stamped on each chat. One project per chat; no child structure below it.
• webui/sidebar_state.py — the complete classification vocabulary is pinned_keys, archived_keys, session_order, title_overrides, project_name_overrides, collapsed_groups, workbench.tabs.
• workbench.tabs is the only grouping primitive, and it is built for split-pane layouts, not classification: one level only (no nesting), hard cap of 4 chats per tab (_MAX_WORKBENCH_PANES = 4), and claimed_panes makes membership exclusive — a chat can live in at most one tab.
• tags_by_key already exists in the persisted sidebar schema (server sanitizes, persists and prunes it per chat), but the shipped bundle references it only in the state serializer — no UI renders tags as chips, filters, or groups. A latent hook waiting for a UI.

Proposal

1. Folder tree in sidebar state (core ask). Add to sidebar state, bumping WEBUI_SIDEBAR_STATE_SCHEMA_VERSION:

"folders": { "<folder_id>": { "title": "inference", "parent_id": null } },
"folder_by_chat_key": { "<chat_key>": "<folder_id>" }

Sidebar renders chats as a collapsible folder tree (default: flat list, so existing users see no change). Limits mirroring existing sanitizers: depth ≤ 2, titles ≤ _MAX_TITLE_LEN, ≤ 2000 folders, chat_keys validated against live sessions (reuse the existing prune pass so deleted chats drop out).

2. Reuse existing machinery, not new plumbing. Everything needed is there: the set_sidebar_state WS round-trip (no new protocol verb), _clean_string / list caps / prune (validation for free), and collapsed_groups (collapse state per folder id, same shape). Implementation = schema add + tree renderer + "Move to folder…" / "New folder" context menu; drag-and-drop later.

3. Cheaper first step (optional). Ship the tag layer that's already persisted: render tags_by_key as chips, add a tag editor, add "group by tag" as a sidebar view. Zero schema migration, and chats can carry multiple tags (which folders cannot).

UX details worth fixing in the same pass

If tabs remain a grouping substrate, the three hard limits (no nesting, 4-pane cap, exclusive membership) are exactly what blocks folder use — separating "layout tabs" from "classification groups", or making the caps configurable, is worth deciding together with this feature.

Alternatives considered

• One project per topic — breaks the point of a project (shared workspace/scope), multiplies sessions; not viable for 8+ topics.
• Community sidecar driving set_sidebar_state over the live WebSocket works today, but patches around the caps and is fragile across app updates. Native folders remove that patch class.

Willing to contribute

I can prototype #1 (schema + renderer + context menu) — the backend half is mostly sanitizers that already exist. Happy to align on the schema shape before sending a PR.

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Before posting: _MAX_WORKBENCH_PANES = 4 is from your install — spot-check it against main so the claim ages well. I can't post it (no auth for HKUDS/nanobot on this host, and it should carry your account), so it's yours to paste.