diff --git a/ui/src/components/AgentConfigForm.tsx b/ui/src/components/AgentConfigForm.tsx
index 086c0c13..0b515dca 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/AgentConfigForm.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/AgentConfigForm.tsx
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import { ClaudeLocalAdvancedFields } from "../adapters/claude-local/config-field
 import { MarkdownEditor } from "./MarkdownEditor";
 import { ChoosePathButton } from "./PathInstructionsModal";
 import { OpenCodeLogoIcon } from "./OpenCodeLogoIcon";
+import { shouldShowLegacyWorkingDirectoryField } from "../lib/legacy-agent-config";
 
 /* ---- Create mode values ---- */
 
@@ -297,6 +298,8 @@ export function AgentConfigForm(props: AgentConfigFormProps) {
     adapterType === "opencode_local" ||
     adapterType === "pi_local" ||
     adapterType === "cursor";
+  const showLegacyWorkingDirectoryField =
+    isLocal && shouldShowLegacyWorkingDirectoryField({ isCreate, adapterConfig: config });
   const uiAdapter = useMemo(() => getUIAdapter(adapterType), [adapterType]);
 
   // Fetch adapter models for the effective adapter type
@@ -590,8 +593,8 @@ export function AgentConfigForm(props: AgentConfigFormProps) {
           )}
 
           {/* Working directory */}
-          {isLocal && (
-            <Field label="Working directory" hint={help.cwd}>
+          {showLegacyWorkingDirectoryField && (
+            <Field label="Working directory (deprecated)" hint={help.cwd}>
               <div className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border border-border px-2.5 py-1.5">
                 <FolderOpen className="h-3.5 w-3.5 text-muted-foreground shrink-0" />
                 <DraftInput
diff --git a/ui/src/components/OnboardingWizard.tsx b/ui/src/components/OnboardingWizard.tsx
index dbce861e..f8f35e5b 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/OnboardingWizard.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/OnboardingWizard.tsx
@@ -32,8 +32,6 @@ import { DEFAULT_CURSOR_LOCAL_MODEL } from "@paperclipai/adapter-cursor-local";
 import { DEFAULT_GEMINI_LOCAL_MODEL } from "@paperclipai/adapter-gemini-local";
 import { resolveRouteOnboardingOptions } from "../lib/onboarding-route";
 import { AsciiArtAnimation } from "./AsciiArtAnimation";
-import { ChoosePathButton } from "./PathInstructionsModal";
-import { HintIcon } from "./agent-config-primitives";
 import { OpenCodeLogoIcon } from "./OpenCodeLogoIcon";
 import {
   Building2,
@@ -49,7 +47,6 @@ import {
   MousePointer2,
   Check,
   Loader2,
-  FolderOpen,
   ChevronDown,
   X
 } from "lucide-react";
@@ -113,7 +110,6 @@ export function OnboardingWizard() {
   // Step 2
   const [agentName, setAgentName] = useState("CEO");
   const [adapterType, setAdapterType] = useState<AdapterType>("claude_local");
-  const [cwd, setCwd] = useState("");
   const [model, setModel] = useState("");
   const [command, setCommand] = useState("");
   const [args, setArgs] = useState("");
@@ -217,7 +213,7 @@ export function OnboardingWizard() {
     if (step !== 2) return;
     setAdapterEnvResult(null);
     setAdapterEnvError(null);
-  }, [step, adapterType, cwd, model, command, args, url]);
+  }, [step, adapterType, model, command, args, url]);
 
   const selectedModel = (adapterModels ?? []).find((m) => m.id === model);
   const hasAnthropicApiKeyOverrideCheck =
@@ -273,7 +269,6 @@ export function OnboardingWizard() {
     setCompanyGoal("");
     setAgentName("CEO");
     setAdapterType("claude_local");
-    setCwd("");
     setModel("");
     setCommand("");
     setArgs("");
@@ -301,7 +296,6 @@ export function OnboardingWizard() {
     const config = adapter.buildAdapterConfig({
       ...defaultCreateValues,
       adapterType,
-      cwd,
       model:
         adapterType === "codex_local"
           ? model || DEFAULT_CODEX_LOCAL_MODEL
@@ -874,24 +868,6 @@ export function OnboardingWizard() {
                     adapterType === "pi_local" ||
                     adapterType === "cursor") && (
                     <div className="space-y-3">
-                      <div>
-                        <div className="flex items-center gap-1.5 mb-1">
-                          <label className="text-xs text-muted-foreground">
-                            Working directory
-                          </label>
-                          <HintIcon text="Paperclip works best if you create a new folder for your agents to keep their memories and stay organized. Create a new folder and put the path here." />
-                        </div>
-                        <div className="flex items-center gap-2 rounded-md border border-border px-2.5 py-1.5">
-                          <FolderOpen className="h-3.5 w-3.5 text-muted-foreground shrink-0" />
-                          <input
-                            className="w-full bg-transparent outline-none text-sm font-mono placeholder:text-muted-foreground/50"
-                            placeholder="/path/to/project"
-                            value={cwd}
-                            onChange={(e) => setCwd(e.target.value)}
-                          />
-                          <ChoosePathButton />
-                        </div>
-                      </div>
                       <div>
                         <label className="text-xs text-muted-foreground mb-1 block">
                           Model
diff --git a/ui/src/components/agent-config-primitives.tsx b/ui/src/components/agent-config-primitives.tsx
index 3384c366..a9efa7c7 100644
--- a/ui/src/components/agent-config-primitives.tsx
+++ b/ui/src/components/agent-config-primitives.tsx
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ export const help: Record<string, string> = {
   reportsTo: "The agent this one reports to in the org hierarchy.",
   capabilities: "Describes what this agent can do. Shown in the org chart and used for task routing.",
   adapterType: "How this agent runs: local CLI (Claude/Codex/OpenCode), OpenClaw Gateway, spawned process, or generic HTTP webhook.",
-  cwd: "Default working directory fallback for local adapters. Use an absolute path on the machine running Paperclip.",
+  cwd: "Deprecated legacy working directory fallback for local adapters. Existing agents may still carry this value, but new configurations should use project workspaces instead.",
   promptTemplate: "Sent on every heartbeat. Keep this small and dynamic. Use it for current-task framing, not large static instructions. Supports {{ agent.id }}, {{ agent.name }}, {{ agent.role }} and other template variables.",
   model: "Override the default model used by the adapter.",
   thinkingEffort: "Control model reasoning depth. Supported values vary by adapter/model.",
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/legacy-agent-config.test.ts b/ui/src/lib/legacy-agent-config.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..f8e8c391
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/lib/legacy-agent-config.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+import {
+  hasLegacyWorkingDirectory,
+  shouldShowLegacyWorkingDirectoryField,
+} from "./legacy-agent-config";
+
+describe("legacy agent config helpers", () => {
+  it("treats non-empty cwd values as legacy working directories", () => {
+    expect(hasLegacyWorkingDirectory("/tmp/workspace")).toBe(true);
+    expect(hasLegacyWorkingDirectory("  /tmp/workspace  ")).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  it("ignores nullish and blank cwd values", () => {
+    expect(hasLegacyWorkingDirectory("")).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasLegacyWorkingDirectory("   ")).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasLegacyWorkingDirectory(null)).toBe(false);
+    expect(hasLegacyWorkingDirectory(undefined)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("shows the deprecated field only for edit forms with an existing cwd", () => {
+    expect(
+      shouldShowLegacyWorkingDirectoryField({
+        isCreate: true,
+        adapterConfig: { cwd: "/tmp/workspace" },
+      }),
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      shouldShowLegacyWorkingDirectoryField({
+        isCreate: false,
+        adapterConfig: { cwd: "" },
+      }),
+    ).toBe(false);
+    expect(
+      shouldShowLegacyWorkingDirectoryField({
+        isCreate: false,
+        adapterConfig: { cwd: "/tmp/workspace" },
+      }),
+    ).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/ui/src/lib/legacy-agent-config.ts b/ui/src/lib/legacy-agent-config.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a4a9be72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ui/src/lib/legacy-agent-config.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+function asNonEmptyString(value: unknown): string | null {
+  if (typeof value !== "string") return null;
+  const trimmed = value.trim();
+  return trimmed.length > 0 ? trimmed : null;
+}
+
+export function hasLegacyWorkingDirectory(value: unknown): boolean {
+  return asNonEmptyString(value) !== null;
+}
+
+export function shouldShowLegacyWorkingDirectoryField(input: {
+  isCreate: boolean;
+  adapterConfig: Record<string, unknown> | null | undefined;
+}): boolean {
+  if (input.isCreate) return false;
+  return hasLegacyWorkingDirectory(input.adapterConfig?.cwd);
+}