diff --git a/tests/tui_gateway/test_projects_rpc.py b/tests/tui_gateway/test_projects_rpc.py
index cb9638420fc52..e3dcf61a51e61 100644
--- a/tests/tui_gateway/test_projects_rpc.py
+++ b/tests/tui_gateway/test_projects_rpc.py
@@ -301,6 +301,28 @@ def test_desktop_launch_cwd_is_not_persisted_as_a_workspace():
     ) == "/picked/repo"
 
 
+def test_home_container_dirs_are_never_a_workspace(tmp_path):
+    """`/home` and `/Users` hold homes; they are not workspaces themselves.
+
+    A session whose cwd is one of them used to be promoted to its own auto
+    project, so the sidebar showed a second row labelled "home" sitting right
+    next to the synthetic Home bucket. Both POSIX spellings are excluded on
+    every host: either can reach a local row (macOS ships an empty `/home`
+    stub) or arrive from a container/remote shell.
+    """
+    home = os.path.realpath(os.path.expanduser("~"))
+
+    for path in (os.sep, home, os.path.dirname(home), "/home", "/Users"):
+        assert server._is_session_cwd_junk(path), path
+        assert server._is_repo_junk(path), path
+
+    # An ordinary directory is still a workspace.
+    workspace = tmp_path / "a-repo"
+    workspace.mkdir()
+    assert not server._is_session_cwd_junk(str(workspace))
+    assert not server._is_repo_junk(str(workspace))
+
+
 def test_disabled_discovery_clears_cache_and_rejects_new_scan(monkeypatch, tmp_path):
     repo = tmp_path / "cached-repo"
     repo.mkdir()
diff --git a/tui_gateway/server.py b/tui_gateway/server.py
index c33cba50ea977..1631441bfbfa8 100644
--- a/tui_gateway/server.py
+++ b/tui_gateway/server.py
@@ -11510,20 +11510,41 @@ def _(rid, params, pdb, conn) -> dict:
     return _ok(rid, {"project": proj.to_dict() if proj else None, "cwd": cwd, "branch": _git_branch_for_cwd(cwd)})
 
 
+def _non_workspace_dirs() -> set[str]:
+    """Directories that are never a workspace, whichever tier proposes them.
+
+    The filesystem root, the user's home, and the directory homes live in —
+    ``/home`` on Linux, ``/Users`` on macOS, ``C:\\Users`` on Windows. Both
+    POSIX spellings are excluded on every host because both are reachable as a
+    cwd anywhere: macOS ships an empty ``/home`` autofs stub, and a container or
+    remote shell hands back Linux paths. Promoting one of these mints a
+    catch-all project that swallows unplaced sessions, and ``/home`` in
+    particular renders as a second row reading "home" next to the Home bucket.
+    """
+    home = os.path.realpath(os.path.expanduser("~"))
+    candidates = (os.sep, home, os.path.dirname(home), "/home", "/Users")
+
+    return {os.path.normcase(os.path.realpath(path)) for path in candidates if path}
+
+
 def _is_repo_junk(root: str) -> bool:
-    """A git root we never auto-surface as a project: the bare home dir or
-    anything under HERMES_HOME (~/.hermes by default) — config/sessions/skills,
-    not a workspace. User-created projects pointing there are still honored."""
+    """A git root we never auto-surface as a project: a non-workspace dir (see
+    :func:`_non_workspace_dirs`) or anything under HERMES_HOME (~/.hermes by
+    default) — config/sessions/skills, not a workspace. User-created projects
+    pointing there are still honored."""
     if not root:
         return True
 
     from hermes_constants import get_hermes_home
 
     real = os.path.realpath(root)
-    home = os.path.realpath(os.path.expanduser("~"))
     hermes_home = os.path.realpath(str(get_hermes_home()))
 
-    return real == home or real == hermes_home or real.startswith(hermes_home + os.sep)
+    return (
+        os.path.normcase(real) in _non_workspace_dirs()
+        or real == hermes_home
+        or real.startswith(hermes_home + os.sep)
+    )
 
 
 def _is_session_cwd_junk(cwd: str) -> bool:
@@ -11531,8 +11552,9 @@ def _is_session_cwd_junk(cwd: str) -> bool:
 
     Unlike discovered git roots, an explicitly selected descendant of
     HERMES_HOME may be an intentional prose/data workspace. The pre-Projects
-    desktop surfaced every such cwd, so exclude only the two broad defaults
-    that would create catch-all projects.
+    desktop surfaced every such cwd, so exclude only the broad defaults that
+    would create catch-all projects: HERMES_HOME itself and the dirs in
+    :func:`_non_workspace_dirs`.
     """
     if not cwd:
         return True
@@ -11540,9 +11562,8 @@ def _is_session_cwd_junk(cwd: str) -> bool:
     from hermes_constants import get_hermes_home
 
     real = os.path.normcase(os.path.realpath(cwd))
-    home = os.path.normcase(os.path.realpath(os.path.expanduser("~")))
     hermes_home = os.path.normcase(os.path.realpath(str(get_hermes_home())))
-    return real == home or real == hermes_home
+    return real in _non_workspace_dirs() or real == hermes_home
 
 
 def _repo_discovery_policy(raw: dict | None = None) -> dict: