diff --git a/gns3server/api/routes/controller/projects.py b/gns3server/api/routes/controller/projects.py
index e088b2316..27a59041d 100644
--- a/gns3server/api/routes/controller/projects.py
+++ b/gns3server/api/routes/controller/projects.py
@@ -86,32 +86,29 @@ async def get_projects(
 
     controller = Controller.instance()
     projects = []
-    seen_project_ids = set()
 
     if current_user.is_superadmin:
         # super admin sees all projects
         return [p.asdict() for p in controller.projects.values()]
 
-    # Layer 1: ACE strategy check - explicitly authorized projects
-    # Check projects where user has specific ACE (shared by other users)
+    # Step 1: ACE check - basic access permission
+    # Get projects user has ACE for (basic access control)
+    ace_projects = []
     for project in controller.projects.values():
         project_path = f"/projects/{project.id}"
         if await rbac_repo.check_user_has_privilege(current_user.user_id, project_path, "Project.Audit"):
-            if project.id not in seen_project_ids:
-                projects.append(project.asdict())
-                seen_project_ids.add(project.id)
+            ace_projects.append(project)
 
-    # Layer 2: Ownership check - user's own projects
-    # If no ACE strategy, filter by created_by
-    user_projects = [p.asdict() for p in controller.projects.values()
-                    if p.created_by == current_user.username and p.id not in seen_project_ids]
+    # Step 2: Filter ace_projects by created_by - user's own projects
+    # Project sharing is only available through resource pools
+    user_projects = [p.asdict() for p in ace_projects if p.created_by == current_user.username]
     projects.extend(user_projects)
 
-    # Layer 3: Resource pools - team shared projects
+    # Step 3: Resource pool projects
+    # Projects shared through resource pools
     user_pool_resources = await rbac_repo.get_user_pool_resources(current_user.user_id, "Project.Audit")
     project_ids_in_pools = [str(r.resource_id) for r in user_pool_resources if r.resource_type == "project"]
-    pool_projects = [p.asdict() for p in controller.projects.values()
-                    if p.id in project_ids_in_pools and p.id not in seen_project_ids]
+    pool_projects = [p.asdict() for p in controller.projects.values() if p.id in project_ids_in_pools]
     projects.extend(pool_projects)
 
     return projects