diff --git a/src/lib/desktop.test.ts b/src/lib/desktop.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..922cfbf827
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/desktop.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+import { vi, describe, it, expect, beforeEach } from 'vitest'
+import { listProjects } from './desktop'
+import { DeepPartial } from './types'
+import { Configuration } from 'wasm-lib/kcl/bindings/Configuration'
+
+// Mock the electron window global
+const mockElectron = {
+  readdir: vi.fn(),
+  path: {
+    join: vi.fn(),
+    basename: vi.fn(),
+    dirname: vi.fn(),
+  },
+  stat: vi.fn(),
+  statIsDirectory: vi.fn(),
+  exists: vi.fn(),
+  writeFile: vi.fn(),
+  readFile: vi.fn(),
+  os: {
+    isMac: false,
+    isWindows: false,
+  },
+  process: {
+    env: {},
+  },
+  getPath: vi.fn(),
+  kittycad: vi.fn(),
+}
+
+vi.stubGlobal('window', { electron: mockElectron })
+
+describe('desktop utilities', () => {
+  const mockConfig: DeepPartial<Configuration> = {
+    settings: {
+      project: {
+        directory: '/test/projects',
+      },
+    },
+  }
+
+  const mockFileSystem: { [key: string]: string[] } = {
+    '/test/projects': [
+      '.hidden-project',
+      'valid-project',
+      '.git',
+      'project-without-kcl-files',
+      'another-valid-project',
+    ],
+    '/test/projects/valid-project': ['file1.kcl', 'file2.stp'],
+    '/test/projects/project-without-kcl-files': ['file3.glb'],
+    '/test/projects/another-valid-project': ['file4.kcl'],
+  }
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    vi.clearAllMocks()
+
+    // Setup default mock implementations
+    mockElectron.path.join.mockImplementation((...parts: string[]) =>
+      parts.join('/')
+    )
+    mockElectron.path.basename.mockImplementation((path: string) =>
+      path.split('/').pop()
+    )
+    mockElectron.path.dirname.mockImplementation((path: string) =>
+      path.split('/').slice(0, -1).join('/')
+    )
+
+    // Mock readdir to return the entries for the given path
+    mockElectron.readdir.mockImplementation(async (path: string) => {
+      return mockFileSystem[path] || []
+    })
+
+    // Mock statIsDirectory to return true if the path exists in mockFileSystem
+    mockElectron.statIsDirectory.mockImplementation(async (path: string) => {
+      return path in mockFileSystem
+    })
+
+    // Mock stat to always resolve with dummy metadata
+    mockElectron.stat.mockResolvedValue({
+      mtimeMs: 123,
+      atimeMs: 456,
+      ctimeMs: 789,
+      size: 100,
+      mode: 0o666,
+    })
+
+    mockElectron.exists.mockResolvedValue(true)
+    mockElectron.readFile.mockResolvedValue('')
+    mockElectron.writeFile.mockResolvedValue(undefined)
+    mockElectron.getPath.mockResolvedValue('/appData')
+    mockElectron.kittycad.mockResolvedValue({})
+  })
+
+  describe('listProjects', () => {
+    it('does not list .git directories', async () => {
+      const projects = await listProjects(mockConfig)
+      expect(projects.map((p) => p.name)).not.toContain('.git')
+    })
+    it('lists projects excluding hidden and without .kcl files', async () => {
+      const projects = await listProjects(mockConfig)
+
+      // Verify only non-dot projects with .kcl files were included
+      expect(projects.map((p) => p.name)).toEqual([
+        'valid-project',
+        'another-valid-project',
+      ])
+
+      // Verify we didn't try to get project info for dot directories
+      expect(mockElectron.stat).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining('/.hidden-project')
+      )
+      expect(mockElectron.stat).not.toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        expect.stringContaining('/.git')
+      )
+
+      // Verify that projects without .kcl files are not included
+      expect(projects.map((p) => p.name)).not.toContain(
+        'project-without-kcl-files'
+      )
+    })
+
+    it('handles empty project directory', async () => {
+      // Adjust mockFileSystem to simulate empty directory
+      mockFileSystem['/test/projects'] = []
+
+      const projects = await listProjects(mockConfig)
+
+      expect(projects).toEqual([])
+    })
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/lib/desktop.ts b/src/lib/desktop.ts
index 247c36dd2b..3e4c1e08d0 100644
--- a/src/lib/desktop.ts
+++ b/src/lib/desktop.ts
@@ -139,6 +139,11 @@ export async function listProjects(
 
   const entries = await window.electron.readdir(projectDir)
   for (let entry of entries) {
+    // Skip directories that start with a dot
+    if (entry.startsWith('.')) {
+      continue
+    }
+
     const projectPath = window.electron.path.join(projectDir, entry)
     // if it's not a directory ignore.
     const isDirectory = await window.electron.statIsDirectory(projectPath)
diff --git a/src/routes/Home.tsx b/src/routes/Home.tsx
index 0a5331fd78..7132e72ad0 100644
--- a/src/routes/Home.tsx
+++ b/src/routes/Home.tsx
@@ -221,6 +221,11 @@ const Home = () => {
       new FormData(e.target as HTMLFormElement)
     )
 
+    if (typeof newProjectName === 'string' && newProjectName.startsWith('.')) {
+      toast.error('Project names cannot start with a dot (.)')
+      return
+    }
+
     if (newProjectName !== project.name) {
       send({
         type: 'Rename project',