diff --git a/packages/app/src/stores/session-store.test.ts b/packages/app/src/stores/session-store.test.ts
index 1588fd114..2743e5d08 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/stores/session-store.test.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/stores/session-store.test.ts
@@ -263,6 +263,41 @@ describe("normalizeWorkspaceDescriptor", () => {
         mainRepoRoot: null,
       },
     });
+    expect(workspace.projectKey).toBe("remote:github.com/acme/app");
+  });
+
+  it("leaves legacy path-shaped placement keys host-local", () => {
+    const workspace = normalizeWorkspaceDescriptor({
+      id: "1",
+      projectId: "/repo/app",
+      projectDisplayName: "app",
+      projectRootPath: "/repo/app",
+      workspaceDirectory: "/repo/app",
+      projectKind: "git",
+      workspaceKind: "local_checkout",
+      name: "main",
+      archivingAt: null,
+      status: "done",
+      statusEnteredAt: null,
+      activityAt: null,
+      diffStat: null,
+      scripts: [],
+      project: {
+        projectKey: "/repo/app",
+        projectName: "app",
+        checkout: {
+          cwd: "/repo/app",
+          isGit: false,
+          currentBranch: null,
+          remoteUrl: null,
+          worktreeRoot: null,
+          isPaseoOwnedWorktree: false,
+          mainRepoRoot: null,
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    expect(workspace.projectKey).toBeNull();
   });
 });
 
diff --git a/packages/app/src/stores/session-store.ts b/packages/app/src/stores/session-store.ts
index c838ee662..482830284 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/stores/session-store.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/stores/session-store.ts
@@ -170,8 +170,7 @@ export function normalizeWorkspaceDescriptor(
   return {
     id: normalizeWorkspaceOpaqueId(payload.id) ?? payload.id,
     projectId: payload.projectId,
-    // COMPAT(projectKey): added in v0.2.4 on 2026-07-29; remove after 2027-01-29.
-    projectKey: payload.projectKey ?? payload.project?.projectKey ?? null,
+    projectKey: normalizeWorkspaceProjectKey(payload),
     projectDisplayName: payload.projectDisplayName,
     projectCustomName: payload.projectCustomName ?? null,
     projectRootPath: payload.projectRootPath,
@@ -196,6 +195,15 @@ export function normalizeWorkspaceDescriptor(
   };
 }
 
+function normalizeWorkspaceProjectKey(payload: WorkspaceDescriptorPayload): string | null {
+  if (payload.projectKey !== undefined) return payload.projectKey;
+  // COMPAT(projectKey): added in v0.2.4 on 2026-07-29; remove after 2027-01-29.
+  // Older daemons used remote-shaped placement keys for cross-host identity. Their path-shaped
+  // placement keys remain absent here so resolveProjectKey can scope them to the host.
+  const legacyProjectKey = payload.project?.projectKey;
+  return legacyProjectKey?.startsWith("remote:") ? legacyProjectKey : null;
+}
+
 export interface EmptyProjectDescriptor {
   projectId: string;
   projectKey?: string | null;
diff --git a/packages/server/src/server/project-key.test.ts b/packages/server/src/server/project-key.test.ts
index 84717ac6f..d44f702a8 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/server/project-key.test.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/server/project-key.test.ts
@@ -219,6 +219,20 @@ describe("deriveProjectKey", () => {
     );
   });
 
+  test("preserves an explicit git user on generic SSH hosts", () => {
+    const rootPath = path.resolve("repo");
+    const derive = (remoteUrl: string) =>
+      deriveProjectKey({
+        rootPath,
+        remoteUrl,
+        worktreeRoot: rootPath,
+        mainRepoRoot: null,
+      });
+
+    expect(derive("git@example.com:repo.git")).not.toBe(derive("example.com:repo.git"));
+    expect(derive("ssh://git@example.com/repo.git")).not.toBe(derive("ssh://example.com/repo.git"));
+  });
+
   test("normalizes equivalent absolute SSH remote forms", () => {
     const rootPath = path.resolve("repo");
     const derive = (remoteUrl: string) =>
@@ -317,7 +331,7 @@ describe("deriveProjectKey", () => {
         worktreeRoot: rootPath,
         mainRepoRoot: null,
       }),
-    ).toBe("remote:[2001:db8::1]/getpaseo/paseo.git");
+    ).toBe("remote:git@[2001:db8::1]/getpaseo/paseo.git");
   });
 
   test("includes the selected path within a repository", () => {
@@ -422,6 +436,19 @@ describe("deriveProjectKey", () => {
     ).toBe("remote:github.com/getpaseo/paseo#subdir:Packages/App");
   });
 
+  test("stabilizes host-local Windows paths across equivalent spellings", () => {
+    const derive = (rootPath: string) =>
+      deriveProjectKey({
+        rootPath,
+        remoteUrl: null,
+        worktreeRoot: null,
+        mainRepoRoot: null,
+        serverId: "host-a",
+      });
+
+    expect(derive("C:\\Users\\Paseo\\Repo")).toBe(derive("c:/users/paseo/repo/."));
+  });
+
   test.skipIf(process.platform === "win32")(
     "preserves a selected subproject reached through a symlink",
     () => {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/server/project-key.ts b/packages/server/src/server/project-key.ts
index bd04c5c68..00f7c07c1 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/server/project-key.ts
+++ b/packages/server/src/server/project-key.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { resolve } from "node:path";
+import { resolve, win32 } from "node:path";
 import { FORGE_DEFINITIONS } from "@getpaseo/protocol/forge-manifest";
 import { getRealpathAwareRelativePath } from "../utils/path.js";
 
@@ -33,10 +33,11 @@ export function deriveProjectKey(input: {
   const remoteKey = deriveRemoteProjectKey(input.remoteUrl);
   const selectedPath = deriveSelectedPath(input.rootPath, input.worktreeRoot);
   if (!remoteKey) {
-    const localPath =
+    const localPathParts =
       selectedPath && input.mainRepoRoot
-        ? resolve(input.mainRepoRoot, selectedPath)
-        : resolve(input.mainRepoRoot ?? input.rootPath);
+        ? [input.mainRepoRoot, selectedPath]
+        : [input.mainRepoRoot ?? input.rootPath];
+    const localPath = resolveLocalProjectPath(...localPathParts);
     return input.serverId
       ? `host:${input.serverId.length}:${input.serverId}:path:${localPath}`
       : localPath;
@@ -47,6 +48,12 @@ export function deriveProjectKey(input: {
     : remoteKey;
 }
 
+function resolveLocalProjectPath(...parts: string[]): string {
+  return parts.some(looksLikeWindowsPath)
+    ? win32.resolve(...parts).toLowerCase()
+    : resolve(...parts);
+}
+
 function deriveSelectedPath(rootPath: string, worktreeRoot: string | null): string | null {
   if (!worktreeRoot) return null;
   return getRealpathAwareRelativePath(worktreeRoot, rootPath) || null;
@@ -105,7 +112,7 @@ function parseScpRemote(remoteUrl: string): RemoteLocation | null {
     host: normalizedHost,
     path: remotePath,
     transport: null,
-    user: user && user !== "git" ? user : null,
+    user: user && (user !== "git" || !CLOUD_FORGE_HOSTS.has(host.toLowerCase())) ? user : null,
     preserveLeadingSlash,
     decodePercentEncoding: false,
     stripDotGitSuffix: CLOUD_FORGE_HOSTS.has(host.toLowerCase()),
@@ -128,10 +135,7 @@ function parseUrlRemote(remoteUrl: string): RemoteLocation | null {
       host,
       path: remotePath,
       transport: forgeHost || isSsh ? null : parsed.protocol.toLowerCase(),
-      user:
-        isSsh && !forgeHost && parsed.username && parsed.username !== "git"
-          ? decodeUrlComponent(parsed.username)
-          : null,
+      user: isSsh && !forgeHost && parsed.username ? decodeUrlComponent(parsed.username) : null,
       preserveLeadingSlash,
       decodePercentEncoding: true,
       stripDotGitSuffix: forgeHost !== null,