Troubleshooting

Last updated: 2026-08-05

Common Issues

The app won’t open

  1. Make sure you’re on macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) or later
  2. Try restarting your Mac
  3. If downloaded from the App Store, check if there’s an update available

Projects aren’t showing up

  1. Check if you added the right folder — Go to File → Add Directory and make sure you’ve selected the parent folder that contains your projects
  2. Refresh — Press ⌘R or go to View → Refresh
  3. Hidden projects? — Dev WorkDir looks for recognizable project markers (package.json, Cargo.toml, etc.). If a project doesn’t have these, it might not be detected. You can still add it manually.

Double-click doesn’t work

If double-clicking a project doesn’t run it:

  1. Check the detail view — Select the project and look at the “Double-Click Action” setting
  2. No script detected? — Some projects may not have standard run scripts. You can set a custom command.
  3. Terminal not opening? — Make sure Terminal.app is available on your system
  4. Script fails? — The script might have errors. Check the Terminal window for error messages.

My editor isn’t listed

Dev WorkDir auto-detects installed editors. If yours isn’t showing:

  1. Is it in Applications? — Dev WorkDir looks in /Applications/ for installed editors
  2. Try “Open With” — Right-click a project → “Open With” → “Other…” to choose any app
  3. Restart the app — Sometimes a restart helps with detection

Note: CLI-based editors (like Claude Code, Codex CLI) are detected separately from GUI apps.

Folder access issues

If you’re getting permission errors:

  1. Re-authorize — Go to Dev WorkDir → Settings → Folder Access and click “Re-authorize”
  2. Check System Settings — Go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Files and Folders and make sure Dev WorkDir has access to the right folders
  3. Full Disk Access — For Home directory access, you may need to enable Full Disk Access in System Settings

Git information not showing

If Git branch info isn’t displayed:

  1. Is it a Git repo? — Make sure the project has a .git folder
  2. Check .git/HEAD — Dev WorkDir reads .git/HEAD directly. If this file is missing or corrupted, branch info won’t show
  3. Worktrees — Git worktrees are supported. Make sure the worktree structure is standard.

Monorepo not detected

If your monorepo isn’t showing the MONO badge:

  1. Supported monorepo types — JS/TS (package.json workspaces), Rust (Cargo workspace), Go (go.work)
  2. Check structure — Make sure the workspace config is at the root level
  3. Sub-project depth — Dev WorkDir detects sub-projects at the first level of your workspace config

App crashes or freezes

  1. Restart the app — Quit and reopen
  2. Check for updates — Make sure you’re on the latest version
  3. Report it — If it keeps happening, please contact us with details about what you were doing when it crashed

Still Stuck?

If none of these solutions work, please contact us. We’ll help you out.

When you reach out, please include:

  • Your macOS version (About This Mac)
  • Dev WorkDir version (Dev WorkDir → About Dev WorkDir)
  • What you were doing when the problem occurred
  • Steps to reproduce the issue
  • Screenshots if helpful

We’re sorry you’re having trouble. We’ll get you sorted out!