diff --git a/e2e/playwright/projects.spec.ts b/e2e/playwright/projects.spec.ts
index bb7636952..21c15a940 100644
--- a/e2e/playwright/projects.spec.ts
+++ b/e2e/playwright/projects.spec.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
-import { _electron as electron, test, expect } from '@playwright/test'
-import { getUtils, setup, tearDown } from './test-utils'
-import fs from 'fs/promises'
-import { join } from 'path'
+import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test'
+import { getUtils, setupElectron, tearDown } from './test-utils'
 
 test.afterEach(async ({ page }, testInfo) => {
   await tearDown(page, testInfo)
@@ -10,53 +8,10 @@ test.afterEach(async ({ page }, testInfo) => {
 test(
   'When the project folder is empty, user can create new project and open it.',
   { tag: '@electron' },
-  async ({ page: browserPage, context: browserContext }, testInfo) => {
-    // create or otherwise clear the folder ./electron-test-projects-dir
-    const settingsFileName = `./${testInfo.title
-      .replace(/\s/gi, '-')
-      .replace(/![\w-]/gi, '')}`
-    const projectDirName = settingsFileName + '-dir'
-    try {
-      await fs.rm(projectDirName, { recursive: true })
-    } catch (e) {
-      console.error(e)
-    }
-
-    await fs.mkdir(projectDirName)
-
-    // get full path for ./electron-test-projects-dir
-    const fullProjectPath = await fs.realpath(projectDirName)
-
-    const electronApp = await electron.launch({
-      args: ['.'],
-    })
-    const context = electronApp.context()
-    const page = await electronApp.firstWindow()
-
-    await page.goto('http://localhost:3000/')
-    const electronTempDirectory = await page.evaluate(async () => {
-      return await window.electron.getPath('temp')
-    })
-    const tempSettingsFilePath = join(electronTempDirectory, settingsFileName)
-    const settingsOverrides = `[settings.project]
-directory = "/Users/frankjohnson/Documents/zoo-modeling-app-projects-2"
-`
-
-    await fs.writeFile(tempSettingsFilePath + '.toml', settingsOverrides)
-
-    console.log('from within test setup', {
-      settingsFileName,
-      fullPath: fullProjectPath,
-      electronApp,
-      page,
-      settingsFilePath: tempSettingsFilePath + '.toml',
-    })
-
-    await setup(context, page, fullProjectPath)
-    // Set local storage directly using evaluate
-
+  async ({ page: _ }, testInfo) => {
+    const { electronApp, page } = await setupElectron({ testInfo })
+    
     const u = await getUtils(page)
-    await page.setViewportSize({ width: 1200, height: 500 })
     await page.goto('http://localhost:3000/')
 
     page.on('console', console.log)
diff --git a/e2e/playwright/test-utils.ts b/e2e/playwright/test-utils.ts
index a910f6ea3..89301cbad 100644
--- a/e2e/playwright/test-utils.ts
+++ b/e2e/playwright/test-utils.ts
@@ -4,20 +4,24 @@ import {
   Download,
   TestInfo,
   BrowserContext,
+  _electron as electron,
 } from '@playwright/test'
 import { EngineCommand } from 'lang/std/artifactGraph'
 import os from 'os'
 import fsp from 'fs/promises'
+import fsSync from 'fs'
+import { join } from 'path'
 import pixelMatch from 'pixelmatch'
 import { PNG } from 'pngjs'
 import { Protocol } from 'playwright-core/types/protocol'
 import type { Models } from '@kittycad/lib'
-import { APP_NAME } from 'lib/constants'
+import { APP_NAME, TEST_SETTINGS_FILE_KEY } from 'lib/constants'
 import waitOn from 'wait-on'
 import { secrets } from './secrets'
 import { TEST_SETTINGS_KEY, TEST_SETTINGS } from './storageStates'
 import * as TOML from '@iarna/toml'
 import { SaveSettingsPayload } from 'lib/settings/settingsTypes'
+import { SETTINGS_FILE_NAME } from 'lib/constants'
 
 type TestColor = [number, number, number]
 export const TEST_COLORS = {
@@ -621,25 +625,70 @@ export async function setup(
   })
 
   await context.addInitScript(
-    async ({ token, settingsKey, settings }) => {
+    async ({ token, settingsKey, settings, appSettingsFileKey, appSettingsFileContent }) => {
       localStorage.setItem('TOKEN_PERSIST_KEY', token)
       localStorage.setItem('persistCode', ``)
       localStorage.setItem(settingsKey, settings)
+      localStorage.setItem(appSettingsFileKey, appSettingsFileContent)
       localStorage.setItem('playwright', 'true')
     },
     {
       token: secrets.token,
+      appSettingsFileKey: TEST_SETTINGS_FILE_KEY,
+      appSettingsFileContent: overrideDirectory || TEST_SETTINGS.app.projectDirectory,
       settingsKey: TEST_SETTINGS_KEY,
       settings: TOML.stringify({
         ...TEST_SETTINGS,
         app: {
-          ...TEST_SETTINGS.app,
+          ...TEST_SETTINGS.projects,
           projectDirectory:
             overrideDirectory || TEST_SETTINGS.app.projectDirectory,
         },
-      }),
+      } as Partial<SaveSettingsPayload>),
     }
   )
   // kill animations, speeds up tests and reduced flakiness
   await page.emulateMedia({ reducedMotion: 'reduce' })
 }
+
+export async function setupElectron({
+  testInfo,
+}: {
+  testInfo: TestInfo
+}) {
+  // create or otherwise clear the folder
+  const projectDirName = testInfo.outputPath('electron-test-projects-dir')
+  try {
+    if (fsSync.existsSync(projectDirName)) {
+      await fsp.rm(projectDirName, { recursive: true })
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    console.error(e)
+  }
+
+  await fsp.mkdir(projectDirName)
+
+  const electronApp = await electron.launch({
+    args: ['.'],
+  })
+  const context = electronApp.context()
+  const page = await electronApp.firstWindow()
+  context.on('console', console.log)
+  page.on('console', console.log)
+
+  const tempSettingsFilePath = join(projectDirName, SETTINGS_FILE_NAME)
+  const settingsOverrides = TOML.stringify({
+    ...TEST_SETTINGS,
+    settings: {
+      app: {
+        ...TEST_SETTINGS.app,
+        projectDirectory: projectDirName,
+      },
+    },
+  })
+  await fsp.writeFile(tempSettingsFilePath, settingsOverrides)
+
+  await setup(context, page, projectDirName)
+
+  return { electronApp, page }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lang/wasm.ts b/src/lang/wasm.ts
index fec58834f..5a6dfe8c2 100644
--- a/src/lang/wasm.ts
+++ b/src/lang/wasm.ts
@@ -573,7 +573,9 @@ export function defaultAppSettings(): Partial<SaveSettingsPayload> {
 }
 
 export function parseAppSettings(toml: string): Partial<SaveSettingsPayload> {
-  return configurationToSettingsPayload(parse_app_settings(toml))
+  const parsed = parse_app_settings(toml)
+  console.log('within wasm.ts, parsed app settings', parsed)
+  return configurationToSettingsPayload(parsed)
 }
 
 export function defaultProjectSettings(): Partial<SaveSettingsPayload> {
diff --git a/src/lib/constants.ts b/src/lib/constants.ts
index 867598cef..66d0ee838 100644
--- a/src/lib/constants.ts
+++ b/src/lib/constants.ts
@@ -57,3 +57,7 @@ export const KCL_DEFAULT_CONSTANT_PREFIXES = {
 export const KCL_DEFAULT_LENGTH = `5`
 /** localStorage key for the playwright test-specific app settings file */
 export const TEST_SETTINGS_FILE_KEY = 'playwright-test-settings'
+
+export const DEFAULT_HOST = 'https://api.zoo.dev'
+export const SETTINGS_FILE_NAME = 'settings.toml'
+export const PROJECT_SETTINGS_FILE_NAME = 'project.toml'
diff --git a/src/lib/desktop.ts b/src/lib/desktop.ts
index 9cf488a85..ba18c88c8 100644
--- a/src/lib/desktop.ts
+++ b/src/lib/desktop.ts
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ import { components } from './machine-api'
 import { isDesktop } from './isDesktop'
 import { FileEntry } from 'wasm-lib/kcl/bindings/FileEntry'
 import { SaveSettingsPayload } from 'lib/settings/settingsTypes'
-import * as TOML from '@iarna/toml'
 
 import {
   defaultAppSettings,
@@ -17,15 +16,16 @@ import {
   parseProjectSettings,
 } from 'lang/wasm'
 import { TEST_SETTINGS_KEY } from '../../e2e/playwright/storageStates'
-import { TEST_SETTINGS_FILE_KEY } from './constants'
+import {
+  DEFAULT_HOST,
+  PROJECT_ENTRYPOINT,
+  PROJECT_FOLDER,
+  PROJECT_SETTINGS_FILE_NAME,
+  SETTINGS_FILE_NAME,
+  TEST_SETTINGS_FILE_KEY,
+} from './constants'
 export { parseProjectRoute } from 'lang/wasm'
 
-const DEFAULT_HOST = 'https://api.zoo.dev'
-const SETTINGS_FILE_NAME = 'settings.toml'
-const PROJECT_SETTINGS_FILE_NAME = 'project.toml'
-const PROJECT_FOLDER = 'zoo-modeling-app-projects'
-const DEFAULT_PROJECT_KCL_FILE = 'main.kcl'
-
 export async function renameProjectDirectory(
   projectPath: string,
   newName: string
@@ -112,10 +112,7 @@ export async function createNewProjectDirectory(
     }
   }
 
-  const projectFile = window.electron.path.join(
-    projectDir,
-    DEFAULT_PROJECT_KCL_FILE
-  )
+  const projectFile = window.electron.path.join(projectDir, PROJECT_ENTRYPOINT)
   await window.electron.writeFile(projectFile, initialCode ?? '')
   const metadata = await window.electron.stat(projectFile)
 
@@ -255,7 +252,7 @@ export async function getDefaultKclFileForDir(
 
   let defaultFilePath = window.electron.path.join(
     projectDir,
-    DEFAULT_PROJECT_KCL_FILE
+    PROJECT_ENTRYPOINT
   )
   try {
     await window.electron.stat(defaultFilePath)
@@ -377,14 +374,10 @@ export async function writeProjectSettingsFile(
 
 const getAppSettingsFilePath = async () => {
   const isPlaywright = window.localStorage.getItem('playwright') === 'true'
-  const testDirectoryName =
-    window.localStorage.getItem(TEST_SETTINGS_FILE_KEY) ?? ''
-  const appConfig = await window.electron.getPath(
-    isPlaywright ? 'temp' : 'appData'
-  )
-  const fullPath = window.electron.path.join(
+  const testSettingsPath = window.localStorage.getItem(TEST_SETTINGS_FILE_KEY) ?? ''
+  const appConfig = await window.electron.getPath('appData')
+  const fullPath = isPlaywright ? testSettingsPath : window.electron.path.join(
     appConfig,
-    isPlaywright ? testDirectoryName : '',
     window.electron.packageJson.name
   )
   try {