Regression in 2.1.217: "Last Activity" (activity-days) filter missing when grouping sessions by Project

[Remenua]

Summary

After the desktop app auto-updated the bundled claude-code engine from 2.1.209 → 2.1.217 (same day), the "Last Activity" filter (show only projects/sessions active within the last N days) disappeared from the session sidebar when grouping by Project. It is still present when grouping by State.

This is a UI regression — the underlying setting still exists (see below), only the control is no longer exposed in the Project grouping.

Environment

• OS: Windows 11 Pro (26200)
• Claude desktop app (Microsoft Store): 1.24012.1.0
• Bundled claude-code engine: 2.1.217 (regressed) — previously 2.1.209 (worked)
• Both engine versions still cached under %APPDATA%\Claude\claude-code\

Steps to reproduce

1. Open the desktop app with many projects.
2. In the sessions sidebar, set grouping to Project.
3. Look for the "Last Activity" / activity-days filter (e.g. last 3 / 7 days).

Expected

The "Last Activity" (last N days) filter is available in Project grouping, as it was in 2.1.209.

Actual

• In Project grouping the "Last Activity" filter is gone.
• In State grouping it is still present.

Why this matters specifically for Project grouping

This is the core reason to have the filter in the Project view, not a nice-to-have:

• Heavy users accumulate dozens of projects over time (30+ in my case). At any given moment I actively work in only a handful.
• When grouping by Project, the sidebar shows every project I have ever opened, sorted alphabetically/arbitrarily — an enormous list to scroll through.
• The "Last Activity" filter is the only practical way to collapse that list down to just the projects I've touched in the last few days, which is exactly the set I need to navigate between day to day.
• Without it, Project grouping becomes unusable for its main purpose (quickly jumping between the projects I'm currently working on). State grouping is not a substitute — I want to organize by project, not by session state.

In short: the more projects you have, the more essential the activity filter is in Project grouping — and it's precisely the users with many projects who rely on this view.

Evidence the setting still exists

In %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json → preferences.epitaxyPrefs the keys are still present and populated:

• "code-sessions-activity-days-filter": 3
• "code-sessions-state-activity-days": 3

So the filter state persists; only the Project-grouping UI control was removed/hidden in 2.1.217.

Ask

Restore the "Last Activity" (activity-days) filter control in the Project grouping view.

[jaboko]

Confirming the same regression on macOS — same bundled engine version as this report (2.1.217).

Environment

• Claude Desktop: 1.24012.1 (macOS 26.5.2, build 25F84)
• Bundled claude-code engine: 2.1.217

Behavior: the "Last activity" (activity-days) filter is gone from the Sessions sidebar when Group by = Project (and when grouping by custom groups). It reappears only when I switch to Group by = State, which confirms this is UI gating rather than the setting being removed.

Switching to State works as a workaround but defeats the purpose: I organize by project and rely on the activity filter precisely to collapse a large project list down to the handful I've touched in the last few days. State grouping is not a substitute.

+1 for restoring the "Last activity" filter across all Group by modes (matching the Claude.ai Recents menu).

[Samuel-Oliveira]

Same thing here, open a Reddit and a lot of people related that too.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ClaudeAI/comments/1uzzjb6/was_the_last_activity_filter_removed_from_claude/

[Unkeptpride]

Needs to be fixed asap, my project list is way too big now!

[matcha-ai-test]

plase fix this ASAP!

[yoavanaki]

Much needed!

[exdeusmachina]

This really needs to be fixed.

[na-asc]

Missing filter costs a lot of time searching for relevant chats.