[feature request] Project Groups: collapsible folders in the sidebar project list

[MHohlios]

Use case

I check out a lot of repos into Termic and many are similarly named (service prefixes, app variants). The flat project list gets hard to scan. I
want to group projects into UI-only collapsible folders, e.g. by product area, or Backend vs Frontend, without touching anything on disk.

Sketch

Today (flat, hard to scan):

app-android
app-ios
app-web
dotfiles
pty-probe
service-auth
service-platform
termic

With groups:

▼ Apps                        3
│   app-ios
│   app-android
│   app-web
▶ Services                ●   2
▼ External                    2
│   termic
│   pty-probe
dotfiles                          (ungrouped projects stay loose)

Folder headers collapse/expand and show a member count. A collapsed folder rolls up member agent state into a dot (orange = an agent needs
attention, blue = an agent finished) so hidden members can still call for you. Drag a project onto a header to file it; drag the header to move
the whole group.

Proposed behavior

• Projects carry an optional group label. A group is purely derived: it exists while at least one project has that label. No group entity, no
  filesystem effect.
• Grouped projects render under a collapsible folder header in the sidebar, at the group's position in the existing manual order. Collapse state
  persists locally.
• Manage membership via the project context menu (Move to group / New group / Remove from group) and via drag and drop: drag a project into, out
  of, or within a folder; drag a folder header to reorder whole groups.
• "Expand all agents" / "Collapse all agents" also expand/collapse group folders.

Where it'd live

• src-tauri/src/lib.rs: optional group field on Project (serde default + skip-if-none, so existing projects.json files load unchanged)
  plus one atomic project_set_group(ids, group) command so a rename/dissolve is a single write.
• src/components/sidebar/Sidebar.tsx: folder rendering and the pointer-event drag logic.
• src/lib/projectGroups.ts (new): shared visual-order helpers so keyboard navigation matches the rendered order.
• src/store/app.ts: collapsed-state map persisted to localStorage.

Status

I have a working change for this on a branch and will open a PR shortly. Happy to adjust the approach based on feedback here first or remove it if this is not the direction you would like to go.

[simion]

I have a different idea here. How about spaces, similar to https://arc.net spaces or zen browser spaces?

This is why I actually renamed workspace to task. Besides the fact that task is more relevant and intuitive, I wanted to free up the naming for spaces/workspaces.
Similar to browser workspaces.
Groups of related repos/work. Easily switched from bottom icons or horizontal scrolling the left sidebar just like in arc.

You could have groups of projects, personal spaces with personal projects, etc.

I would even like to add customizable accent colors for spaces so you easily visually identify on which space you're at right now.

Have a look at arc/ zen and tell
Me what you think 😁

[simion]

One more thing: until spaces are delivered, have a look at the "hide inactive projects" option. It might help you. It collapses projects without a created task into a bottom dedicated section. Useful when you have a lot of repos. And to launch a new task, use Cmd+N and search the repo there

[adamatan]

Great idea!
Can we consider something that is lighter than spaces - for example, tabs on the project left bar?

[simion]

They will kinda be the same. Like scrollable tabs horizontally. And current tab will be bigger and have the title visible. So yes. Will do. We can close this issues, spaces/tabs are next up in new features. I'll deliver it this weekend

[MHohlios]

Spaces look great and I'd use them, but I don't think they solve this need: spaces mask, and with parallel agents running I need to see everything at a glance. Hiding a space hides its attention/done signals, so you'd end up needing cross-space badges anyway. Groups keep everything visible, and collapsed folders roll up member agent state into the header dot.

Also not mutually exclusive: Arc itself has folders within spaces, Zen too. Groups here are just one optional label on Project (UI-only, no group entity), so if/when spaces land, a space id is orthogonal and groups nest inside with no migration. Happy to adjust the implementation to whatever makes spaces easier later.

Hide-inactive helps with dormant repos but doesn't cluster the active ones, which is where the pain is (the branch already plays nice with it, drag included).

I will defer to your preference tho.

Here is a WIP image.

[simion]

Agreed, not mutually exclusive and they look really nice, congrats. One thing: they should be optional. Otherwise we'd indent everything too much. Same level as other project which are in root level, nor part of any project. Just like you said about arc/zen folders, good example.

Happy to review, test and merge 🙌

[adamatan]

@MHohlios very good point! I like your design, and I would also set an indicator(s) to each group so that you can know if they are waiting for me, working, or just dead. It can be as subtle as the boldness of the font, or as extravagant as a glyph.

@simion Are you also open to discussing other changes to the projects list? Drag and drop to reoorder tasks, colors, smarter inactivity? This might call for a wider design overhaul (which we can play with on Claude design)

[MHohlios]

I have a change for folder colors that will play into colors for projects maybe in the future. Let me land this one.. then the colors after. then we can leverage those colors elsewhere if we want.

Drag and drop for tasks etc is probably not that hard either.