Workspace-agent logs emitted while serving chatd-driven requests were
not correlated with the originating chat, making agent logs hard to
attribute to the corresponding/originating chat.
This adds agent-side chat context middleware that parses `Coder-Chat-Id`
once, enriches agent access logs and structured handler/background logs,
and adds a chatd bridge log when chat headers are attached to an agent
connection.
Closes CODAGT-324
## Problem
Subagent chats were receiving git context (branch, remote origin, PR
status) from their parent or sibling chats' git operations. When a git
operation triggers external auth, the workspace agent sends `chat_id`
identifying which chat initiated it — but this was broken at two levels:
1. **Agent side:** `CODER_CHAT_ID` was never injected into process
environments. `chatd` sets `Coder-Chat-Id` HTTP headers and the
agent extracts them for process isolation, but never propagated
`CODER_CHAT_ID` to `cmd.Env`. So `gitaskpass` always sent an empty
`chat_id`.
2. **Server side:** `workspaceAgentsExternalAuth` ignored the `chat_id`
query param. `MarkStale` broadcast git context to **all** chats on
the workspace via `filterChatsByWorkspaceID`.
## Fix
- Inject `CODER_CHAT_ID` into `cmd.Env` in `agentproc` when the chat
ID is known, so `gitaskpass` can read and forward it.
- Read `chat_id` from query params in `workspaceAgentsExternalAuth`
and thread it through `chatGitRef`.
- Refactor `MarkStale` to accept a `MarkStaleParams` struct. When
`ChatID` is provided, target only that specific chat. When empty
(legacy agents, non-chat git operations), fall back to the existing
workspace-wide broadcast.
- Extract `markStaleSingle` helper to deduplicate the upsert+publish
logic.
<details><summary>Investigation notes</summary>
### Data flow before fix
```
chatd → sets Coder-Chat-Id header on agent conn
agent → extracts chatID, stores on process struct
agent → does NOT set CODER_CHAT_ID in cmd.Env ← gap 1
gitaskpass → reads CODER_CHAT_ID (always empty), sends chat_id=""
server handler → ignores chat_id query param ← gap 2
MarkStale → broadcasts to ALL workspace chats
```
### Data flow after fix
```
chatd → sets Coder-Chat-Id header on agent conn
agent → extracts chatID, stores on process struct
agent → sets CODER_CHAT_ID in cmd.Env
gitaskpass → reads CODER_CHAT_ID, sends chat_id=<uuid>
server handler → reads chat_id, passes to MarkStale
MarkStale → targets only that specific chat
```
</details>
Replace the 200ms polling loop in chatd's execute and
process_output tools with server-side blocking via sync.Cond
on HeadTailBuffer.
The agent's GET /{id}/output endpoint accepts ?wait=true to
block until the process exits or a 5-minute server cap expires.
The process_output tool blocks by default for 10s (overridable
via wait_timeout), and falls back to a non-blocking snapshot on
timeout. The execute tool's foreground path makes a single
blocking call instead of polling.
Related #23316
Processes started via the agent process API inherited the agent's
own working directory (/tmp/coder.xxx) when no WorkDir was
specified. SSH sessions already use a fallback chain: configured
agent directory > $HOME. This wires the same manifest directory
closure into the process manager so the priority is now:
explicit req.WorkDir > agent configured dir > $HOME
The resolved directory is recorded on the process struct so
ProcessInfo.WorkDir and pathStore notifications reflect where
the process actually ran.
## Problem
Models frequently use shell `&` instead of `run_in_background=true` when
starting long-running processes through `/agents`, causing them to die
shortly after starting. This happens because:
1. **No guidance in tool schema** — The `ExecuteArgs` struct had zero
`description` tags. The model saw `run_in_background: boolean
(optional)` with no explanation of when/why to use it.
2. **Shell `&` is silently broken** — `sh -c "command &"` forks the
process, the shell exits immediately, and the forked child becomes an
orphan not tracked by the process manager.
3. **No process group isolation** — The SSH subsystem sets `Setsid:
true` on spawned processes, but the agent process manager set no
`SysProcAttr` at all. Signals only hit the top-level `sh`, not child
processes.
## Investigation
Compared our implementation against **openai/codex** and **coder/mux**:
| Aspect | codex | mux | coder/coder (before) |
|--------|-------|-----|---------------------|
| Background flag | Yield/resume with `session_id` | `run_in_background`
with rich description | `run_in_background` with **no description** |
| `&` handling | `setsid()` + `killpg()` | `detached: true` +
`killProcessTree()` | **Nothing** — orphaned children escape |
| Process isolation | `setsid()` on every spawn | `set -m; nohup ...
setsid` for background | **No `SysProcAttr` at all** |
| Signal delivery | `killpg(pgid, sig)` — entire group | `kill -15
-\$pid` — negative PID | `proc.cmd.Process.Signal()` — **PID only** |
## Changes
### Fix 1: Add descriptions to `ExecuteArgs` (highest impact)
The model now sees explicit guidance: *"Use for long-running processes
like dev servers, file watchers, or builds. Do NOT use shell & — it will
not work correctly."*
### Fix 2: Update tool description
The top-level execute tool description now reinforces: *"Use
run_in_background=true for long-running processes. Never use shell '&'
for backgrounding."*
### Fix 3: Detect trailing `&` and auto-promote to background
Defense-in-depth: if the model still uses `command &`, we strip the `&`
and promote to `run_in_background=true` automatically. Correctly
distinguishes `&` from `&&`.
### Fix 4: Process group isolation (`Setpgid`)
New platform-specific files (`proc_other.go` / `proc_windows.go`)
following the same pattern as `agentssh/exec_other.go`. Every spawned
process gets its own process group.
### Fix 5: Process group signaling
`signal()` now uses `syscall.Kill(-pid, sig)` on Unix to signal the
entire process group, ensuring child processes from shell pipelines are
also cleaned up.
## Testing
All existing `agent/agentproc` tests pass. Both packages compile
cleanly.
## Problem
The `agentproc` process manager spawns processes with only
`os.Environ()`, missing agent-level environment variables like
`GIT_ASKPASS`, `CODER_*`, and `GIT_SSH_COMMAND` that are injected by the
agent's `updateCommandEnv` function. This means processes started
through the HTTP process API (used by chat tools) cannot authenticate
git operations via the Coder gitaskpass helper.
By contrast, SSH sessions get the full agent environment because the SSH
server calls `updateCommandEnv` via its `UpdateEnv` config hook.
## Fix
Wire the agent's `updateCommandEnv` hook into the process manager so all
spawned processes receive the full agent environment. The hook is:
- Passed as a parameter through `NewAPI` → `newManager`
- Called in `manager.start()` with `os.Environ()` as the base, producing
the same enriched env that SSH sessions get
- Gracefully falls back to `os.Environ()` if the hook returns an error
Request-level env vars (`req.Env`, set by chat tools) are still appended
last and take precedence.
## Changes
- `agent/agentproc/process.go`: Add `updateEnv` field to manager, call
it when building process env
- `agent/agentproc/api.go`: Accept `updateEnv` parameter in `NewAPI`
- `agent/agent.go`: Pass `a.updateCommandEnv` when creating the process
API
- `agent/agentproc/api_test.go`: Add `UpdateEnvHook` and
`UpdateEnvHookOverriddenByReqEnv` tests
Co-authored-by: Coder <coder@coder.com>
## Summary
Adds a new agent-side process management HTTP API and rewrites the chat
execute tool to use it instead of SSH sessions.
## What changed
### New agent/agentproc/ package
- **headtail.go** — Thread-safe io.Writer with bounded memory (16KB head
+ 16KB tail ring buffer). Provides LLM-ready output with truncation
metadata and long-line truncation at 2048 bytes.
- **headtail_test.go** — 16 tests including race detector coverage for
concurrent writes.
- **process.go** — Manager + Process types for lifecycle management
using agentexec.Execer for proper OOM/nice scores.
- **api.go** — HTTP API following the agentfiles chi router pattern. 4
endpoints: start, list, output, signal.
### Agent wiring (agent/agent.go, agent/api.go)
Mounts the process API at /api/v0/processes, mirroring how agentfiles is
mounted.
### SDK (codersdk/workspacesdk/agentconn.go)
4 new AgentConn interface methods + 7 request/response types:
- StartProcess, ListProcesses, ProcessOutput, SignalProcess
### Execute tool rewrite (coderd/chatd/chattool/execute.go)
- SSH to Agent API: conn.StartProcess() + conn.ProcessOutput() polling
- New parameters: workdir, run_in_background
- Structured response: success, exit_code, wall_duration_ms, error,
truncated, note, background_process_id
- Non-interactive env vars: GIT_EDITOR=true, TERM=dumb, NO_COLOR=1,
PAGER=cat, etc.
- Output truncation: HeadTailBuffer caps at 32KB for LLM consumption
- File-dump detection with advisory notes suggesting read_file
- Default timeout: 60s to 10s
- Foreground polling: 200ms intervals until exit or timeout
## Architecture
State lives on the agent, surviving coderd failover and instance
changes. Any coderd replica can query any agent via HTTP over tailnet.
Ethan