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Multiple workspaces can share one checkout directory. Agent and terminal status, sidebar tabs, and ownership now attribute strictly by workspace ID, so a running or blocked agent in one workspace no longer shows up on its same-directory siblings. A one-time startup migration backfills workspace IDs onto legacy agents, and every agent and terminal is created with one thereafter. Directory lookups remain only for genuinely folder-derived git facts (branch, diff) and the archive-by-path adapter.
112 lines
7.8 KiB
Markdown
112 lines
7.8 KiB
Markdown
# Agent lifecycle
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How an agent is created, runs, becomes a subagent, gets archived, and disappears from the UI. The model spans the daemon (lifecycle, archive) and the client (tabs, the subagents track).
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## States
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```
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initializing → idle → running → idle (or error → closed)
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↑ │
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└────────┘ (agent completes a turn, awaits next prompt)
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```
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Each agent in `AgentManager` carries a `lastStatus` of `initializing`, `idle`, `running`, `error`, or `closed`. State transitions persist to disk and stream to subscribed clients via WebSocket.
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## Relationships
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Agents can launch other agents via the agent-scoped `create_agent` MCP tool. Agent-scoped creation is always asynchronous. By default, the daemon stamps the created agent with a label `paseo.parent-agent-id` pointing back at the agent that created it. The client surfaces that as `agent.parentAgentId`.
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Agent-scoped `create_agent` accepts `detached: true` for agents that should stand on their own. The daemon still uses the creating agent for cwd/config inheritance, but does not write `paseo.parent-agent-id`.
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- **Subagents** — created with `detached: false` or omitted. They exist as part of the creating agent's work, appear in that agent's subagent track, and are archived with it.
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- **Detached agents** — created with `detached: true`. They take over as sibling/root agents (e.g. handoffs, fire-and-forget delegations), do not appear in the creating agent's subagent track, and are not archived with it.
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`notifyOnFinish` defaults to `true` for agent-scoped creation because most subagents are delegated work the creating agent needs to hear back from. Set it to `false` only for truly fire-and-forget agents.
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## Archive
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Archive is a **soft delete**: the agent record stays on disk with `archivedAt` set, the runtime is closed, and the agent disappears from active lists. Archive is **global** — it lives on the server and propagates to every connected client.
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`create_agent_request` can opt an agent into `autoArchive`. In that mode the daemon archives the agent after the first terminal turn event (`turn_completed`, `turn_failed`, or `turn_canceled`). If the same request created a Paseo worktree through its `worktree` field, auto-archive archives that worktree too, which removes the agent records inside the worktree.
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Archiving runs through `AgentManager.archiveAgent` (`packages/server/src/server/agent/agent-manager.ts`):
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1. Snapshot the current session into the registry
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2. Set `archivedAt` and normalize `lastStatus` away from `running`/`initializing`
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3. Notify subscribers
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4. Close the runtime (kills the process if still running)
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5. **Cascade-archive children** — any agent whose `paseo.parent-agent-id` label matches the archived agent gets archived too, recursively
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Cascade is what keeps subagent fleets from outliving their orchestrator.
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## Tabs vs archive
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These are two distinct concepts that used to be conflated:
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| Concept | Scope | Triggers |
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| -------------------------- | ---------- | -------------------------- |
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| **Tab** (workspace layout) | Per-client | User opens/closes a view |
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| **Archive** (lifecycle) | Global | Explicit lifecycle gesture |
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Closing a tab on a **root agent** still archives — the tab is the agent's home, so closing it means "I'm done with this agent." A confirm dialog protects against archiving a running agent by accident.
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Closing a tab on a **subagent** (any agent with `parentAgentId`) is **layout-only**. The agent stays unarchived and stays in its parent's track. The user can re-open the tab from the track at any time. This is implemented in `handleCloseAgentTab` (`packages/app/src/screens/workspace/workspace-screen.tsx`).
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The asymmetry is intentional: a subagent's home is the parent's track, not the tab. Tabs are ephemeral viewing slots; the track is the persistent record of the parent's children.
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## Workspace activity
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Agent lifecycle status stays literal: a parent agent is `idle` when its own turn is idle, even if a child is running.
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Workspace status is an aggregate activity signal computed **per `workspaceId`**: a workspace's status reflects only records whose `workspaceId === workspace.id`. Ownership is never derived from `cwd` — many workspaces may share one directory, and same-`cwd` siblings do not clump under one status. A root agent contributes its normal state bucket to its owning workspace only. Running subagents contribute `running` to their root parent's owning workspace (by the parent agent's `workspaceId`), not to the subagent's current `cwd` or worktree. Non-running subagent attention, permission, and error states stay in the parent's subagents track and do not escalate the workspace bucket.
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## The subagents track
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The collapsible track above the composer in an agent's pane (`packages/app/src/subagents/track.tsx`). Membership rule (`packages/app/src/subagents/select.ts`):
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```
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parentAgentId === thisAgent.id AND !archivedAt
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```
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Archived subagents disappear from the track, by design. To remove a subagent from the track without closing its tab, use the **archive button (X)** on the row — it opens a confirm dialog and archives the subagent on confirm. That same archive shows the subagent leave the track on every connected client.
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## Why this shape
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The decision was to **decouple "close tab" from "archive" only for subagents**, rather than universally:
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- **Closing a tab on a root agent still archives** — preserves the existing UX users are trained on
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- **Closing a tab on a subagent is layout-only** — fixes the lossy "click to read, close to dismiss view, lose the row" flow
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- **Archive button on track rows** — gives subagents an explicit lifecycle gesture in their home surface
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- **Cascade archive on parent** — keeps subagents from leaking when the parent is archived
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We considered universal decoupling (no tab close ever archives, archive is always explicit) but rejected it: it changes a behavior root-agent users rely on.
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## Limitations
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### Subagent accumulation under long-lived parents
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A parent that spawns many subagents will see the track grow. There's no automatic cleanup for completed subagents — the user prunes via the archive button on each row. A bulk gesture (e.g. "archive all idle children") could land later if this becomes a real problem.
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### Cross-client tab dismissal
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Closing a subagent's tab on one client doesn't affect other clients' layouts. This is the expected behavior of decoupled tabs and is consistent with how layouts have always worked. Archive remains the global gesture for cross-client cleanup.
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## Storage
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```
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$PASEO_HOME/agents/{cwd-with-dashes}/{agent-id}.json
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```
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`{cwd-with-dashes}` is derived from the agent's filesystem `cwd`. It is not the workspace id; agent storage stays cwd-keyed while workspace identity is the opaque workspace id.
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Each agent is a single JSON file. Fields relevant to this doc:
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| Field | Type | Meaning |
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| --------------------------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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| `id` | `string` | Stable identifier |
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| `archivedAt` | `string?` | Soft-delete timestamp (ISO 8601) |
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| `labels["paseo.parent-agent-id"]` | `string?` | Parent agent ID, set automatically by agent-scoped `create_agent` unless `detached: true` |
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| `lastStatus` | `AgentStatus` | `initializing` / `idle` / `running` / `error` / `closed` |
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See [`docs/data-model.md`](./data-model.md) for the full agent record.
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