## Problem
Both `start_workspace` and `create_workspace` chattool tools failed to
handle soft-deleted workspaces correctly.
Coder uses soft-delete for workspaces (`deleted = true` on the row).
Both tools called `GetWorkspaceByID`, which queries
`workspaces_expanded` with **no** `deleted = false` filter — so it
returns the workspace row even when soft-deleted. The only deletion
check was for `sql.ErrNoRows`, which never fires because the row still
exists.
### `start_workspace` behavior (before fix)
1. Loads the soft-deleted workspace successfully
2. Finds the latest build (a delete transition)
3. Falls through to attempt to **start** the deleted workspace
4. Produces a confusing downstream error
### `create_workspace` behavior (before fix)
1. `checkExistingWorkspace` loads the soft-deleted workspace
2. If a delete build is **in-progress**: waits for it, then falsely
reports `already_exists` — blocks new workspace creation
3. If the delete build **succeeded**: accidentally allows creation
(because no agents are found), but via fragile logic rather than an
explicit check
## Fix
Add `ws.Deleted` checks immediately after `GetWorkspaceByID` succeeds in
both tools:
- **`startworkspace.go`**: Returns `"workspace was deleted; use
create_workspace to make a new one"`
- **`createworkspace.go`** (`checkExistingWorkspace`): Returns `(nil,
false, nil)` to allow new workspace creation
## Tests
- `TestStartWorkspace/DeletedWorkspace` — verifies `start_workspace`
returns deleted error and never calls `StartFn`
- `TestCheckExistingWorkspace_DeletedWorkspace` — verifies
`checkExistingWorkspace` allows creation for soft-deleted workspaces
The `create_workspace` tool waited for the workspace build to succeed
and the agent to become connectable, but did not wait for the agent's
startup scripts (e.g. git clone) to finish. This caused agents to
attempt file operations on repositories that hadn't been cloned yet.
Add a waitForStartupScripts step that polls the agent's lifecycle_state
via GetWorkspaceAgentLifecycleStateByID until it transitions out of
created/starting into a terminal state (ready, start_error, or
start_timeout). The tool now only returns success once the workspace is
fully initialized.
If the scripts fail or time out, the tool still returns (non-fatal) with
an appropriate agent_status so the model knows something went wrong.
Created using thingies (Opus 4.6 Max)
Kyle Carberry