Open in editor on a remote environment ignores workspaceFile and opens the containing folder #234

Symptom

With a project whose workspaceFile is set (a .code-workspace listing several repo roots), Open in VS Code opens the directory containing the workspace file rather than the workspace itself, so the editor shows a single folder instead of the multi-root workspace.

This only happens when the environment is remote — i.e. when the client is not on the environment's machine and open-in has to emit a vscode://vscode-remote/ssh-remote+… deep link. The same project opened from a local environment opens correctly as a workspace.

Reproduced on multi-repo-workspaces @ 5b02511cd, macOS desktop client, remote environment added through the SSH launch flow (Settings → Connections → Remote Environments), project pointed at a .code-workspace on the remote host.

Root cause

OpenInPicker has two branches and only the local one passes workspaceFile — apps/web/src/components/chat/OpenInPicker.tsx:214-241:

if (remote.mode === "remote-links") {
  const url = buildRemoteOpenUrl({
    editor,
    host: remote.host.host,
    absolutePath: openInCwd,        // <-- cwd only; openInWorkspaceFile never consulted
  });
  if (url === undefined) return;
  void openRemoteEditorUrl(url).then(...);
  return;
}
const result = openInEditorMutation({
  environmentId,
  input: {
    cwd: openInCwd,
    editor,
    ...(openInWorkspaceFile ? { workspaceFile: openInWorkspaceFile } : {}),   // <-- local path uses it
  },

openInWorkspaceFile is plumbed correctly all the way to this component (ChatView.tsx:2915 → ChatHeader.tsx:434 → OpenInPicker.tsx:181), so the value is available at the point the remote branch runs — it is simply not read.

Why it is not a one-line fix

buildRemoteOpenUrl builds a folder URI (packages/contracts/src/editor.ts:139-153):

return `${scheme}://vscode-remote/ssh-remote+${encodeURIComponent(input.host)}${encodedPath}`;

vscode://vscode-remote/ssh-remote+<host><path> asks VS Code to open <path> as a folder. Opening a .code-workspace over Remote-SSH needs a different URI form, so the builder needs to distinguish "open this folder" from "open this workspace file" rather than the call site just passing a different path. I have not verified which URI form VS Code accepts for a remote workspace file, so I have deliberately not proposed a patch.

Relationship to other issues

#185 fixed workspaceFile reaching the client, and that fix is working — the local branch above consumes it. This is the remote branch, which was never wired up, so it is a separate gap rather than a regression.

It is also adjacent to #125 (isolated runs don't open as a multi-root workspace): both end with the editor showing a folder where a multi-root workspace was intended, though the causes differ.

Verified vs not

• Verified: the code paths above, the plumbing of openInWorkspaceFile, and the reproduction on a remote SSH-launched environment.
• Not verified: the correct vscode-remote URI form for opening a workspace file, and whether Cursor and the other remote-capable editors accept the same form.

Reported from Claude Opus 4.6 running in Claude Code.