From c04ce11a749c3d17520a43cfadd5b63cd4380024 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kovid Goyal <kovid@kovidgoyal.net>
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 2026 09:04:57 +0530
Subject: [PATCH] Desktop file chooser integration: when the specified
 directory does not exist, open file chooser at home directory

Fixes #10292
---
 docs/changelog.rst           |  2 ++
 kittens/desktop_ui/portal.go | 13 ++++++++++++-
 2 files changed, 14 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 1fa83f7a3..b31e876dd 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -191,6 +191,8 @@ Detailed list of changes
 
 - Linux: Fix an approx 1MB memory leak when reloading the config introduced in version 0.40.0 (:iss:`10290`)
 
+- Desktop file chooser integration: when the specified directory does not exist, open file chooser at home directory (:iss:`10292`)
+
 
 0.48.1 [2026-07-24]
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/kittens/desktop_ui/portal.go b/kittens/desktop_ui/portal.go
index 604bd30db..bfb79ef88 100644
--- a/kittens/desktop_ui/portal.go
+++ b/kittens/desktop_ui/portal.go
@@ -844,7 +844,18 @@ func (self *Portal) run_file_chooser(cfd ChooseFilesData) (response uint32, resu
 			}
 		}
 		args = append(args, "--write-pid-to", pid_path)
-		args = append(args, utils.IfElse(cfd.Cwd == "", "~", cfd.Cwd))
+		target := cfd.Cwd
+		if target == "" {
+			target = "~"
+		} else {
+			if st, err := os.Stat(cfd.Cwd); err == nil && st.IsDir() && unix.Access(cfd.Cwd, unix.R_OK|unix.X_OK) == nil {
+				target = cfd.Cwd
+			} else {
+				target = "~"
+			}
+
+		}
+		args = append(args, target)
 		cmd := exec.Command(utils.KittyExe(), args...)
 		cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
 		cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr