Cloud flash failed because path must be a string

the mystery deepens.

This was my first ever 3.0.0 compile and it took a really long time but it was successful

that is normal on windows and indicates your setup is otherwise working fine. Workbench uses the Particle CLI under the hood to facilitate cloud interactions. let's try using the Particle CLI directly:

  1. using the same new, empty project (temp_sense_hub2)
  2. run the Particle: Launch CLI command
  3. in the terminal pane that launches, run particle cloud compile xenon --target 1.4.4

does that fail in the same way? if so, let's try resetting your CLI installation: