Files
PaperClipAI/maps/agent-access-map/workspaces.md
T
DottaandPaperclip 0b266bd084 fix(workspaces): keep source preparation locks active (#16956)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Each task prepares its workspace before it starts the provider.
> - Source preparation holds a transaction-scoped advisory lock on a
dedicated database connection.
> - Preparation can use other connections and the filesystem for longer
than PostgreSQL allows that lock connection to stay idle.
> - PostgreSQL then closes the connection and releases the lock while
preparation still runs.
> - This pull request reuses the workspace lock keepalive during source
preparation.
> - Slow preparation retains exclusion and returns its original result
or error.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

**What happened?**

Tasks failed during workspace preparation with `CONNECTION_CLOSED` at
the configured 60-second idle transaction timeout. No provider had
started. A live retry showed the source-lock transaction idle while
authorization reads ran on another connection. Its advisory-lock key
matched the task's source-preparation key. PostgreSQL closed that
transaction at the timeout.

The same defect remains on current master. A real PostgreSQL regression
also shows that another preparation can enter after the timeout while
the original callback still runs.

**Expected behavior**

Source preparation must keep its advisory lock until the callback and
any pending keepalive query finish. The ordinary pool must remain
usable. The original preparation result or failure must survive.

**Steps to reproduce**

1. Set `idle_in_transaction_session_timeout` to one second in a
disposable PostgreSQL database.
2. Call `withIsolatedRepositorySourceLock` and keep its callback active
for longer than one second without querying the lock connection.
3. Try to acquire the same source lock from another operation.
4. On the old code, the second operation enters and the first
transaction fails with `CONNECTION_CLOSED`.

**Paperclip version or commit**

Reproduced on source at `cde944ed75648adfb569e86133adc8b118b55dd6`. The
repair is rebased onto `d855e550ad`.

**Additional context**

Refs #16340. That change introduced the keepalive for workspace
copyback. This PR applies the existing helper to the source-preparation
transaction.

## What Changed

- Read the configured idle timeout in the same query that acquires the
source lock.
- Keep that dedicated connection active during source preparation with
the existing helper.
- Add two real PostgreSQL regressions for exclusion, company
independence, a one-slot ordinary pool, nested acquisition, cleanup, and
preservation of callback errors.
- Update the execution contract and workspace verification maps.

## Verification

- Red before the production edit: both new tests failed. A competing
operation entered after the lock expired. A callback failure was
replaced by `CONNECTION_CLOSED`.
- Green after the repair: 86 tests passed across the source lock, source
admission, keepalive, and heartbeat workspace preparation suites.
- `pnpm -r typecheck`, `pnpm build`, and `node scripts/check-maps.mjs`
passed on final commit `2b5000ce25`.
- `git diff --check` passed. The lockfile is unchanged.
- After rebase, the same 86 focused tests passed. The two source-lock
tests passed again after the review cleanup change.
- Live acceptance on `7df94d7a06`: a fresh local instance on macOS
arm64, Node v26.4.0, native Codex `gpt-6.1-sol`, and permission mode
`never`. PostgreSQL had a one-second idle transaction timeout. A
temporary Git wrapper delayed repository reads by four seconds.
Workspace preparation after environment acquisition took 8,297 ms. The
real task completed, wrote and attached the correct line-count/SHA-256
report, reached `done` with native phase `committed`, and cleared its
execution lock. The attachment matched the workspace file and survived
browser reload. No dedicated lock connections remained.
- The live probe initially used `gpt-5.4`, which the ChatGPT account
rejected. Selecting the reported task model, `gpt-6.1-sol`, resolved
that readiness failure. The local Claude CLI has no login, so no live
Claude run is claimed.
- Full CI passed on `2b5000ce25`: all general, chat, workspace,
serialized-server, Runner, and E2E test shards, plus typecheck, build,
and canary packaging. Both Greptile and Paperclip Review rated this
commit 5/5 with no open findings. The Paperclip check concluded neutral;
two unrelated visual checks were skipped.
- The duplicate local `pnpm test:run` serial invocation was stopped with
SIGINT after the complete CI test shards passed. It did not finish
locally; no local full-suite pass is claimed. Local proof consists of
the focused real PostgreSQL tests, typecheck, build, map checks, and the
real task above.
- The final commit changes test teardown only; production code matches
the live acceptance commit.
- Initial sandbox runs could not open test database ports or build IPC
sockets. The same commands ran with local process access. The frozen
install also found an existing manifest/lockfile mismatch; dependency
resolution was local and the lockfile was restored.

## Risks

- The lock connection sends one small query per keepalive interval. The
helper derives that interval from the configured timeout and caps it at
30 seconds. It does no polling when the timeout is disabled.
- The helper joins an in-flight query before the transaction ends. A
slow database can therefore delay cleanup.
- This change does not disable database deadlines, retry preparation, or
recover an unexpected connection loss. It preserves existing admission
checks and company/source lock keys.
- Deployment and recovery of the reported tasks remain separate from
code verification.

## Model Used

OpenAI GPT-6 through Codex, with repository tools, code execution, and
browser verification. The exact served model variant and context window
are not exposed in this session.

## Checklist

- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked
them above
- [x] I have either (a) linked existing issues with `Fixes: #` / `Closes
#` / `Refs #` OR (b) described the issue in-PR following the relevant
issue template
- [x] I have not referenced internal/instance-local Paperclip issues or
links (only public GitHub `#NNN` / `github.com/paperclipai/paperclip`
URLs)
- [x] My branch name describes the change (e.g. `docs/...`, `fix/...`)
and contains no internal Paperclip ticket id or instance-derived details
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [x] All Paperclip CI gates are green
- [x] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge

---------

Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
2026-10-20 07:01:17 -05:00

15 KiB

Execution workspaces, services, and files — agent access

Product map: Execution workspaces, services, and files.

Lost-source reconstruction adds the board-only POST /api/issues/{id}/recovery-actions/reconstruct-workspace action. It requires runtime:manage and ordinary task visibility. Agents cannot authorize it. The result is a durable fresh-session admission request, subject to current execution gates. It grants no additional tool access, budget, work window or permission to repeat completed actions. Attachments must belong to the same task and company. The original failed run and lost-export evidence remain unchanged. Later native run-only cancellations can coexist only with confirmed lease stops, board file-only repair and an external-action outcome of not_performed. Their immutable evidence is checked again at dispatch. Historical cancellation retention runs internally and grants no new agent operation or authority.

Review date: 2026-10-12. Source commit: 58e16dbddfc9c8d0cf60867f9d9847f0feda055b. Native REST transport reconciled in this change; see the shared transport contract.

This is a source-reviewed baseline of representative operations and known gaps. Each capability needs operation-level review before its entire scope can be qualified. No live agent execution is claimed. Follow the map contract for format, permission checks, evidence and maintenance.

binding

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • GET /api/issues/{id}/heartbeat-context.
  • GET /api/execution-workspaces/{id}.
  • GET /api/issues/{id}/workspace inspects the durable task binding.
  • PUT /api/issues/{id}/workspace requests the next binding.
  • GET /api/companies/{companyId}/execution-workspaces?summary=true&selectableForTask=true lists authorized task-selectable workspaces.

Agent access: available — Native get_task_context / REST / CLI / MCP workspace read.

The task-bound native tools get_workspace, list_workspaces, and select_workspace use the ordinary authenticated APIs. Legacy agents can call those APIs with their admitted run token. These paths do not require a project.

Policy: Company/project/workspace visibility and runtime authority; active run, trust preset and task ownership where required.

Task workspace writes require issue:mutate, an active owned task/run for agents, and current source visibility. Shared physical roots also require source-project workspace write authority. Accepting a new pending choice advances its binding revision; superseded retries fail while current-choice retries remain idempotent. Binding revisions and request keys fence retries; selection applies at the next normal admission without interrupting a live run.

Fresh standard-trust tasks with an implicit repository default can use an owned remote clone when the shared default source fails the restricted-task workspace guard. This does not grant access to the private local checkout or its Git metadata. The normal admitted Git identity must already authorize the configured remote. Creation of an automatic fallback source is unavailable for explicit, parent/channel, reused or low-trust selections, or branch templates without a task-derived placeholder; an existing verified owned source remains reusable. Literal branch selections retain the original denial without cloning or replacing their unpublished commits. New implicit Git defaults record project-source provenance. Untyped explicit, inherited and older ambiguous checkout bindings retain the denial; admission reads the current company-scoped binding before considering the fallback. A retained denial blocks the task as configuration_incomplete (workspace_source_restricted) before dispatch; it grants no access and offers Retry. The same blocker applies when shared project workspace repository admission finds the restricted source. The existing binding and files stay intact; no provider starts and no automatic failure retry is queued. An authorized board recovery through POST /api/issues/{id}/recovery-actions/resolve can schedule a server-owned recovery selection for the latest restricted-source failure only when its saved evidence proves provider work never started. The selection requires task mutation and configured-source access and applies at normal admission. It keeps task environment settings and never reads or deletes the denied checkout. Pause, budget, approval, interaction, dependency, and ownership gates remain effective. Repeated resolution of the same action does not enqueue another run. Agents cannot mint recovery provenance through the workspace selection API; they can observe the existing recovery action and request board recovery. Local paths, unsupported transports and credential-bearing URLs are not fallback sources. Company/task/remote bindings, real paths, Git storage and the exact origin are revalidated for reuse, cleanup and reopening. A failed save removes only the owned task worktree. The isolated-source service and its local regression tests establish source and lifecycle boundaries; live agent/provider qualification remains separate. Reconstructable Git expiration adds no agent endpoint or permission. It records company/workspace/repository identity and an exact commit before removing owned cache files. Existing task/workspace reopening retains current company, source, and trust checks. Missing upstream access returns a retryable error; it does not choose a newer commit or grant access to another company's source. Shared project bases and unresolved recovery remain protected. Local lifecycle evidence is in expiration tests.

Writable aliases must also be compatible with current and retained physical source projects' trust boundaries. Incompatible choices are rejected before dispatch; a projectless alias cannot bypass required sandbox containment. Source-copy checks apply the same trust boundary before provisioning. The authoritative sandbox or SSH selection suppresses configured and built-in controller worktree and runtime provisioning regardless of task trust, source write grants or board sponsorship. Genuine isolated worktrees still permit authorized read-only source copying. Source write permission does not authorize controller execution. Explicit, channel, inherited, foreign or nondefault isolated source choices remain copy-only for controller provisioning even on local runs. Their deny-only workspace marker survives metadata and binding changes; a board reopen does not turn it into approval. Implicit trusted local defaults and explicit SSH remote provisioning retain their existing placement; no new sandbox provision transport is claimed. The implicit default follows task creation: configured policy pointer, then primary source, creation time and ID. A missing or foreign configured source does not authorize controller hooks. This precedence neither changes existing creation validation nor rotates bindings or clears retained copy-only markers. Closed-worktree reopening checks current task, agent, organizational and source policies without assuming a future driver. Effective low-trust reopens suppress configured and built-in host scripts. Returned checkpoints must have directory parents for every nested entry before merging, including unchanged entries; invalid output leaves retained host files intact and keeps recovery evidence.

Skipping the host scan for a fully unchanged returned snapshot grants no new access. The merge still holds its canonical writer lock and runs both authority and publication hooks. Denials still propagate, and checkpoint/archive validation is unchanged. Regression coverage is source-level evidence only. Child creation by an admitted agent checks an explicit prospective-task context before the child is saved. The creator run must have an authoritative saved policy and a verified company/agent/parent lineage. Current parent, prospective child and physical source policies must fit that boundary. This creation path does not relax exact task/run checks for existing-task writes. The child trust regression is automated source-level evidence, not live agent qualification. Source review for these additions: PR #15749 and task workspace routes, native authority, and semantic transport.

Evidence: source-only — implementation at the reviewed commit above.

Verification: not-run — exercise a listed permitted operation with actual agent credentials/run context; inspect its result and applicable persistence/attribution. Assert the relevant denied actor, owner, company or mode from Policy. Review the remaining operations before qualifying the whole capability.

Gaps: Run/task context identifies its actual realized workspace; record existence is not a running service.

provisioning

Source preparation keeps its dedicated lock connection active during work on other connections. It preserves company/source exclusion and existing admission authority; it adds no agent API or permission. The source-lock regression covers PostgreSQL idle timeout, competing preparation, ordinary pool availability, and failure cleanup. Deployed agent recovery requires separate live evidence.

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • GET /api/execution-workspaces/{id}.
  • GET /api/execution-workspaces/{id}/workspace-operations.
  • POST /api/issues/{id}/workspace/repositories requests repository preparation.

Agent access: partial — REST / native call_api reads; task/project assignment triggers server provisioning.

Native prepare_repository and admitted legacy REST callers can request a catalog repository or validated repository URL for their current task. Preparation occurs at normal admission; the agent cannot supply a host path or controller identity. Current source permissions, responsible-user intersection, trust restrictions, immutable receipts, and retained physical-root ownership are checked before acquisition and publication. Low-trust callers cannot trigger a new controller-side Git acquisition. Evidence remains source-only here; focused repository tests are separate from live agent qualification.

Policy: Company/project/workspace visibility and runtime authority; active run, trust preset and task ownership where required.

Evidence: source-only — implementation at the reviewed commit above.

Verification: not-run — exercise a listed permitted operation with actual agent credentials/run context; inspect its result and applicable persistence/attribution. Assert the relevant denied actor, owner, company or mode from Policy. Review the remaining operations before qualifying the whole capability.

Gaps: Observing readiness exists. Creating host commands or arbitrary provision targets is a separate protected operation.

services

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • POST /api/execution-workspaces/{id}/runtime-services/{action}.

Agent access: available — Authorized agent REST / native call_api / CLI runtime service controls and existing stdio MCP controls.

Policy: Company/project/workspace visibility and runtime authority; active run, trust preset and task ownership where required.

Evidence: source-only — implementation at the reviewed commit above.

Verification: not-run — exercise a listed permitted operation with actual agent credentials/run context; inspect its result and applicable persistence/attribution. Assert the relevant denied actor, owner, company or mode from Policy. Review the remaining operations before qualifying the whole capability.

Gaps: No dedicated production control_workspace_service binding. Generic native calls retain runtime trust and workspace/task scope checks. Optional MCP availability must be recorded.

files-git

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • GET /api/issues/{issueId}/file-resources/content.
  • GET /api/issues/{issueId}/file-resources/list.

Agent access: partial — Authorized workspace filesystem tools; Dot workspace bridge when enabled; board file-resource HTTP UI.

Policy: Company/project/workspace visibility and runtime authority; active run, trust preset and task ownership where required.

Evidence: source-only — implementation at the reviewed commit above.

Verification: not-run — exercise a listed permitted operation with actual agent credentials/run context; inspect its result and applicable persistence/attribution. Assert the relevant denied actor, owner, company or mode from Policy. Review the remaining operations before qualifying the whole capability.

Gaps: Files panel HTTP requires board. Agents can use their admitted workspace file tools; remote/Dot scope and Git command availability differ.

File reads also enforce retained source privacy after local copy, configuration move/removal, reopen, and project deletion. A task assignment or repository receipt does not grant access to private files from another physical owner.

Authorized Git-source capture also retains ownership on the actual shared Git storage. Source checks use verified checkout identities, including company-known owners when separate metadata has no primary-checkout registration. Removing that checkout does not release its private committed files in surviving worktrees.

closure

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • PATCH /api/execution-workspaces/{id}.
  • GET /api/execution-workspaces/{id}/close-readiness.
  • POST /api/execution-workspaces/{id}/reconcile-branch.

Agent access: partial — REST / native fallback for permitted update; CLI workspace; reconcile-branch requires board.

Policy: Company/project/workspace visibility and runtime authority; active run, trust preset and task ownership where required.

Evidence: source-only — implementation at the reviewed commit above.

Verification: not-run — exercise a listed permitted operation with actual agent credentials/run context; inspect its result and applicable persistence/attribution. Assert the relevant denied actor, owner, company or mode from Policy. Review the remaining operations before qualifying the whole capability.

Gaps: Closure/readiness exists; not every workspace can be reopened, and branch reconciliation has a board boundary.