From bb021d20040be96573fb9f797878da457fade940 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: liam <liam@scalzulli.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 07:57:02 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] workspace: Skip closed items that cannot be reopened (#56299)

Resolves https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/55600

This diff fixes `pane::ReopenClosedItem` getting stuck when the
closed-item stack contains entries that cannot be reopened, such as
Project Search, untitled buffers, or Default Settings. Previously,
`Workspace::navigate_history_impl` would pop the newest closed entry and
stop if that item was no longer present in the pane and had no path
recorded for reopening. That made `cmd- shift-t` appear to do nothing
until enough attempts had consumed those unreopenable entries.

With this change, closed-item navigation keeps scanning when it
encounters an entry that cannot be activated or reopened by path. This
preserves the current path-based reopening behavior for normal files,
while avoiding no-op shortcuts caused by non-file items in the closed
stack.

This made me wonder whether or not we'd eventually want full reopen
support for non-traditional items like Project Search or bundled
settings editors. Supporting that properly would require storing
item-specific restoration state, such as search query/options for
Project Search or a bundled-file descriptor for Default Settings, and
teaching closed-item navigation how to recreate those items from that
state. Something definitely out of scope for this PR.

| Before | After |
| --- | --- |
| <video
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c7044423-4531-4857-84f2-4e9651826c6a"
controls width="500" title="Before"></video> | <video
src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c89dcefb-1796-4cdf-bb21-f165145e678e"
controls width="500" title="After"></video> |

Release Notes:
- Fixed reopening closed tabs getting stuck on closed items that cannot
be reopened.
---
 crates/workspace/src/workspace.rs | 87 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 1 file changed, 83 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/crates/workspace/src/workspace.rs b/crates/workspace/src/workspace.rs
index 161f65974c..dd88d76741 100644
--- a/crates/workspace/src/workspace.rs
+++ b/crates/workspace/src/workspace.rs
@@ -2823,10 +2823,11 @@ impl Workspace {
                     } else {
                         // If the item is no longer present in this pane, then retrieve its
                         // path info in order to reopen it.
-                        break pane
-                            .nav_history()
-                            .path_for_item(entry.item.id())
-                            .map(|(project_path, abs_path)| (project_path, abs_path, entry));
+                        if let Some((project_path, abs_path)) =
+                            pane.nav_history().path_for_item(entry.item.id())
+                        {
+                            break Some((project_path, abs_path, entry));
+                        }
                     }
                 }
             })
@@ -15068,6 +15069,84 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[gpui::test]
+    async fn test_reopen_closed_item_skips_items_without_paths(cx: &mut TestAppContext) {
+        init_test(cx);
+
+        let fs = FakeFs::new(cx.background_executor.clone());
+
+        let project = Project::test(fs, [], cx).await;
+
+        let (workspace, cx) =
+            cx.add_window_view(|window, cx| Workspace::test_new(project, window, cx));
+
+        let pane = workspace.read_with(cx, |workspace, _| workspace.active_pane().clone());
+        let reopenable_item = cx.new(TestItem::new);
+
+        let active_item = cx.new(TestItem::new);
+        let unreopenable_item = cx.new(TestItem::new);
+
+        workspace.update_in(cx, |workspace, window, cx| {
+            workspace.add_item_to_active_pane(
+                Box::new(reopenable_item.clone()),
+                None,
+                true,
+                window,
+                cx,
+            );
+            workspace.add_item_to_active_pane(
+                Box::new(active_item.clone()),
+                None,
+                true,
+                window,
+                cx,
+            );
+        });
+
+        pane.update(cx, |pane, _| {
+            pane.nav_history_mut().set_mode(NavigationMode::ClosingItem);
+        });
+
+        reopenable_item.update_in(cx, |item, window, cx| {
+            item.deactivated(window, cx);
+        });
+
+        pane.update(cx, |pane, _| {
+            pane.nav_history_mut().set_mode(NavigationMode::Normal);
+        });
+
+        workspace.update_in(cx, |workspace, window, cx| {
+            workspace.add_item_to_active_pane(
+                Box::new(unreopenable_item.clone()),
+                None,
+                true,
+                window,
+                cx,
+            );
+        });
+
+        pane.update_in(cx, |pane, window, cx| {
+            pane.close_item_by_id(unreopenable_item.item_id(), SaveIntent::Skip, window, cx)
+                .detach_and_log_err(cx);
+        });
+
+        cx.run_until_parked();
+
+        workspace
+            .update_in(cx, |workspace, window, cx| {
+                workspace.reopen_closed_item(window, cx)
+            })
+            .await
+            .unwrap();
+
+        pane.read_with(cx, |pane, _| {
+            assert_eq!(
+                pane.active_item().unwrap().item_id(),
+                reopenable_item.item_id()
+            );
+        });
+    }
+
     #[gpui::test]
     async fn test_no_save_prompt_when_dirty_multi_buffer_closed_with_all_of_its_dirty_items_present_in_the_pane(
         cx: &mut TestAppContext,