feat: add setting to control default project expansion on startup

[alecramos-sudo]

Summary

Closes #1910

• Projects now default to collapsed in the sidebar on restart, fixing the issue where all projects expand and make the sidebar unreadable
• Adds a new "Expand projects on startup" toggle in Settings > General so users can choose their preferred default
• The setting is persisted as a client-side preference via localStorage

Changes

• packages/contracts/src/settings.ts — new sidebarProjectsDefaultExpanded boolean in ClientSettingsSchema (defaults to false)
• apps/web/src/uiStateStore.ts — syncProjects, toggleProject, setProjectExpanded accept the setting as defaultExpanded parameter
• apps/web/src/components/Sidebar.tsx — uses the setting as the fallback for expansion state
• apps/web/src/components/settings/SettingsPanels.tsx — settings UI toggle with reset support
• apps/web/src/environments/runtime/service.ts — passes the setting to syncProjects calls
• apps/web/src/hooks/useSettings.ts — exports getClientSettingsSnapshot for non-React contexts

Test plan

• All existing tests pass (764/764)
• Typecheck passes across all 8 packages
• Lint passes with 0 errors
• Build succeeds (web + desktop)
• Desktop app launches locally
• Verify projects default to collapsed on fresh start
• Verify toggling the setting to "on" restores the old always-expanded behavior
• Verify manually expanded/collapsed projects persist across restarts regardless of the setting

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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Note

Low Risk
Low risk: adds a new client-side setting and threads it through sidebar/UI state defaults; main impact is a behavioral default change for project expansion on startup.

Overview
Projects in the sidebar now default to the user’s preferred expansion state on startup instead of always expanding; the new default is collapsed.

Adds a new client setting sidebarProjectsDefaultExpanded (persisted with existing client settings) and exposes it as an “Expand projects on startup” toggle in General settings with reset support. The sidebar and uiStateStore now use this setting as the fallback when no per-project expansion state has been stored, including during project syncing and when toggling a project.

^{Reviewed by Cursor Bugbot for commit 9c493cf. Bugbot is set up for automated code reviews on this repo. Configure here.}

Note

Add setting to control default project expansion on sidebar startup

• Adds a sidebarProjectsDefaultExpanded boolean field to ClientSettingsSchema (default: false), replacing the previously hardcoded true default throughout the sidebar and UI state store.
• Exposes a toggle in General Settings so users can choose whether projects are expanded or collapsed when the app starts.
• Updates syncProjects and toggleProject in uiStateStore.ts to accept a defaultExpanded parameter, and threads the client setting value through from runtime/service.ts and Sidebar.tsx.
• Behavioral Change: Projects that had no persisted expansion state previously defaulted to expanded; they now default to collapsed unless the user enables the new setting.

^{Macroscope summarized 9c493cf.}

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Approvability

Verdict: Approved

Adds a new user preference setting for sidebar project expansion with straightforward implementation following existing patterns. Changes are self-contained to UI behavior, include appropriate tests, and don't affect security or critical paths.

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