[BUG] Cannot get file list from current dir

[TesseractLHY]

Problem (one or two sentences)

If roo tries to read current dir it always outputs "No files found."

Context (who is affected and when)

When reading current dir

Reproduction steps

1. Wsl ubuntu
2. Reading current dir
3. No files found.

Expected result

Show full file list of current dir

Actual result

No files found.

Variations tried (optional)

No response

App Version

3.52.1

API Provider (optional)

None

Model Used (optional)

No response

Roo Code Task Links (optional)

No response

Relevant logs or errors (optional)

I've analyzed this issue and identified a likely root cause.

Root Cause Analysis

When a user opens VS Code with their home directory as the workspace (common on WSL Ubuntu), the listFiles function in src/services/glob/list-files.ts hits a special-case check in handleSpecialDirectories() (line 163-181). This function detects that the target path is the home directory and returns [[homeDir], false] -- i.e., a single-element array containing the home directory path itself.

This result then flows into formatResponse.formatFilesList() in src/core/prompts/responses.ts, which converts the absolute path to a relative path via path.relative(absolutePath, file). Since the file path equals the base path, this produces an empty string "". The function then hits the check at line 186:

} else if (rooIgnoreParsed.length === 0 || (rooIgnoreParsed.length === 1 && rooIgnoreParsed[0] === "")) {
    return "No files found."
}

...and returns "No files found." even though the directory has files in it.

This affects both the initial environment details listing (the file tree shown to the model at the start of a task) and the list_files tool when targeting the workspace directory.

Proposed Implementation Plan

1. Remove the home directory restriction from handleSpecialDirectories() in src/services/glob/list-files.ts. The limit parameter already protects against performance issues (200 files for tool use, configurable for environment details). The root directory (/) check should remain since that is a genuinely dangerous case.

2. Add a home directory check in getEnvironmentDetails() (in src/core/environment/getEnvironmentDetails.ts) similar to the existing Desktop check, with a message like "(Home directory files not shown automatically. Use list_files to explore if needed.)". This keeps the initial system prompt lightweight for home-directory workspaces while still allowing explicit list_files calls to work correctly.

3. Update or add tests in src/services/glob/__tests__/list-files.spec.ts and src/core/prompts/__tests__/responses-rooignore.spec.ts to cover the home-directory scenario.

This approach fixes the core problem (explicit list_files calls on the workspace returning "No files found.") while keeping the environment details listing safe for home directory workspaces.

Please mention @roomote in a comment saying that you approve this plan, and I'll proceed with the implementation.

[TesseractLHY]

@roomote approve

I've seen your approval and will proceed with the implementation plan. I'll open a PR to share progress shortly.

Opened PR #12127 with my attempt at addressing this. The fix removes the home directory restriction from handleSpecialDirectories() so that list_files works correctly, while adding a lightweight skip in getEnvironmentDetails() to avoid automatically listing a huge home directory on task start. Feedback welcome!