Rewrite resolveWorkspace to per-task lockMode inference; drop company_fallback silent share (B4-adjacent)

Old resolver: task → agent → project → any company workspace, all
marked exclusive. That fourth step folded every runnable agent in a
multi-agent company onto a single workspace row and serialised the
C-suite (four agents, one exclusive lock, three starved).

New resolver: lockMode='exclusive' is now an opt-in decision inferred
per task. Three rules:

  1. task.workspaceId set → exclusive on that workspace (explicit).
  2. filesystem signal (task.requiresFilesystem OR agent in a
     coding role/engineering department) → exclusive on
     agent.workspaceId / project primary; throws if neither exists.
  3. otherwise → none / null. Pure cognitive work runs with no
     workspace lock and fully in parallel.

Removed:
  - company_fallback silent-share path. Filesystem-touching runs
    with no legitimate binding now throw WorkspaceConfigurationError
    at resolve time so the caller decides recovery rather than the
    resolver picking a random shared workspace.
  - workspacesMod.getAnyCompanyWorkspace (now dead code).

Invariants now enforced by types:
  - lockMode='exclusive' ⇒ workspace is a live WorkspaceRecord.
  - lockMode='none'      ⇒ workspace is null.

Tests updated to cover the new decision table and the four-non-
coding-agents parallel case that was the original bug.

scripts/codemod/remove-appdatabase-passthrough.mjs

@@ -322,7 +322,6 @@ const METHOD_TO_MODULE = {
   getWorkspace: "workspacesMod",
   getProjectPrimaryWorkspace: "workspacesMod",
   listWorkspaceLocalPaths: "workspacesMod",
-  getAnyCompanyWorkspace: "workspacesMod",
   deleteWorkspace: "workspacesMod",
   acquireWorkspaceLock: "workspacesMod",
   claimWorkspaceLock: "workspacesMod",

src/main/database/workspaces.ts

@@ -68,15 +68,6 @@ export function buildWorkspaceMethods(
       return rows.map((r) => r.localPath).filter(Boolean);
     },
 
-    getAnyCompanyWorkspace(companyId: string): WorkspaceRecord | null {
-      const row = getDb()
-        .prepare(
-          "select id, company_id as companyId, name, local_path as localPath, repo_url as repoUrl, repo_ref as repoRef, project_id as projectId, state, is_primary as isPrimary, created_at as createdAt, updated_at as updatedAt from workspaces where company_id = ? order by is_primary desc, created_at asc limit 1",
-        )
-        .get(companyId) as WorkspaceRecord | undefined;
-      return row ? { ...row, isPrimary: toBoolean(row.isPrimary) } : null;
-    },
-
     deleteWorkspace(id: string, companyId: string) {
       transaction(() => {
         getDb().prepare("update agents set workspace_id = null where workspace_id = ? and company_id = ?").run(id, companyId);

src/main/orchestration/resolve-workspace.ts

@@ -1,61 +1,192 @@
 import type { AppDatabase } from "../database";
+import type { AgentRecord, TaskRecord, WorkspaceRecord } from "@shared/types";
 import type { WorkspaceLockMode } from "./types";
 
 /**
- * Resolve the workspace and lock semantics for a run context.
+ * Per-task workspace lock inference (v52+).
  *
- * Lock policy: every resolved workspace is held exclusively for the
+ * The core invariant is: `lockMode='exclusive'` is an *opt-in*,
- * duration of the run. Pi's `createCodingTools()` hands every agent
+ * `lockMode='none'` is the default. Previously every resolved
- * the mutating `bash`, `write`, and `edit` tools, so there is no
+ * workspace was held exclusively, which folded four runnable
- * read-only category where concurrent runs are safe — two agents
+ * agents onto a single company workspace lock and serialised the
- * editing the same working tree step on each other's files and
+ * entire C-suite. The fix is not to pick a different fallback — it
- * corrupt git state before the per-repo `index.lock` even gets
+ * is to stop inferring filesystem use from the shape of the graph
- * touched.
+ * and ask the task row itself.
  *
- * Contention is handled at dispatch time: `run-dispatch.ts` tries
+ * `inferLockMode` returns the pair of decisions the dispatcher
- * `claimWorkspaceLock` synchronously. A lost race finishes the run
+ * needs (mode + which workspace, if any). `resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode`
- * as `cancelled` (not `failed` — the Dashboard's "Needs attention"
+ * is the thin outward-facing wrapper that loads the actual
- * card ignores cancellations), and the next heartbeat retries on
+ * `WorkspaceRecord` for callers that need the path / companyId.
- * its own cadence. The caller must keep that rollback path alive;
- * without it contention would leave tasks pinned at `in_progress`
- * forever.
  *
- * When no workspace can be resolved (headless heartbeat runs that
+ * Silent fallbacks removed in this rewrite:
- * have no repo to touch) we return `none`; the worker uses
+ *
- * `process.cwd()` as a read-only cwd and the dispatcher skips the
+ *   • `company_fallback` — previously the fourth fallback step
- * lock claim.
+ *     returned *any* workspace row in the company as the lock target.
+ *     That was silent corruption's favourite mechanism: four agents
+ *     with no workspace binding would all land on the same row and
+ *     fight for one mutex. A task that needs a filesystem and has no
+ *     legitimate binding now throws `ConfigurationError` at resolve
+ *     time so the caller decides (skip heartbeat, surface error,
+ *     whatever) instead of the resolver guessing.
+ *
+ *   • No `lockMode='exclusive'` ever returns a null workspace. The
+ *     dispatcher assumed this invariant (it claims a lock on
+ *     `workspace.id` when mode is exclusive). The types now enforce
+ *     it: exclusive always comes with a resolved workspace, none
+ *     always comes with `workspace=null`.
+ *
+ * Coding-role inference (rule 2) is a safety net for the one-
+ * migration transition window where legacy rows may not yet have a
+ * meaningful `requires_filesystem` column value set by the creator.
+ * Once `saveTask` is taught to set the column explicitly at insert
+ * time (follow-up commit), rule 2 becomes a no-op.
+ */
+
+export type WorkspaceResolutionSource =
+  | "task"
+  | "agent"
+  | "project"
+  | "none";
+
+export interface WorkspaceResolution {
+  workspace: WorkspaceRecord | null;
+  lockMode: WorkspaceLockMode;
+  source: WorkspaceResolutionSource;
+}
+
+export class WorkspaceConfigurationError extends Error {
+  readonly code = "WORKSPACE_UNRESOLVED";
+  constructor(message: string) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = "WorkspaceConfigurationError";
+  }
+}
+
+const CODING_ROLE_PATTERN = /cto|engineer|developer|devops|sre/i;
+
+/**
+ * Accept the widened shapes call sites actually pass. `projectId`
+ * lives as `string | null | undefined` in several historical call
+ * sites (legacy inline types), and `role`/`department` are optional
+ * because taskless heartbeats supply only the runtime-needed subset.
+ */
+type TaskInput = {
+  workspaceId: TaskRecord["workspaceId"];
+  projectId?: TaskRecord["projectId"] | undefined;
+  requiresFilesystem?: boolean;
+};
+
+type AgentInput = Pick<AgentRecord, "workspaceId"> & {
+  role?: string | null;
+  department?: AgentRecord["department"];
+};
+
+/**
+ * Decide whether this (task, agent) pair should hold the workspace
+ * exclusive for the duration of the run. Returns the mode and the
+ * workspace-id the lock should sit on; callers load the row
+ * afterwards.
+ *
+ * Decision table:
+ *
+ *   1. `task.workspaceId` set → exclusive on that workspace
+ *      (explicit opt-in by the task author, e.g. PR branch tasks).
+ *
+ *   2. Task signals filesystem need (`requiresFilesystem === true`
+ *      OR agent role matches coding pattern OR department =
+ *      engineering) → exclusive on agent.workspaceId / project
+ *      primary. Throws if neither exists.
+ *
+ *   3. Otherwise → none / null. Pure cognitive work — strategy,
+ *      planning, document drafting, financial analysis, PM decisions
+ *      — runs with no workspace and no lock.
+ */
+function inferLockMode(
+  db: AppDatabase,
+  task: TaskInput | null,
+  agent: AgentInput,
+  companyId: string,
+): { lockMode: WorkspaceLockMode; workspaceId: string | null; source: WorkspaceResolutionSource } {
+  // Rule 1: task-level explicit workspace binding is the strongest
+  // signal available — the task row literally names the workspace.
+  if (task?.workspaceId) {
+    return { lockMode: "exclusive", workspaceId: task.workspaceId, source: "task" };
+  }
+
+  const taskSignalsFilesystem = task?.requiresFilesystem === true;
+  const agentSignalsFilesystem =
+    (typeof agent.role === "string" && CODING_ROLE_PATTERN.test(agent.role)) ||
+    agent.department === "engineering";
+
+  const needsFilesystem = taskSignalsFilesystem || agentSignalsFilesystem;
+  if (!needsFilesystem) {
+    return { lockMode: "none", workspaceId: null, source: "none" };
+  }
+
+  // Rule 2: filesystem-touching task → agent workspace first, then
+  // project primary. We do not fall back to `any company workspace`
+  // any more — that path was the cause of the single-lock pile-up.
+  if (agent.workspaceId) {
+    return { lockMode: "exclusive", workspaceId: agent.workspaceId, source: "agent" };
+  }
+
+  const projectWorkspace = db.workspacesMod.getProjectPrimaryWorkspace(
+    task?.projectId ?? null,
+    companyId,
+  );
+  if (projectWorkspace) {
+    return {
+      lockMode: "exclusive",
+      workspaceId: projectWorkspace.id,
+      source: "project",
+    };
+  }
+
+  throw new WorkspaceConfigurationError(
+    `Task requires a filesystem-backed run but no workspace is bound to the task, agent, or project (companyId=${companyId}).`,
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Resolve the workspace + lock mode for a run context.
+ *
+ * Contract:
+ *   • lockMode 'exclusive' ⇒ workspace is a live WorkspaceRecord.
+ *   • lockMode 'none'      ⇒ workspace is null.
+ *
+ * Violations throw `WorkspaceConfigurationError` at resolve time so
+ * the caller chooses how to recover (skip heartbeat, cancel run,
+ * surface to operator). There is no silent mode degradation.
  */
 export function resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(
   db: AppDatabase,
-  task: { workspaceId: string | null; projectId?: string | null } | null,
+  task: TaskInput | null,
-  agent: { workspaceId: string | null },
+  agent: AgentInput,
   companyId: string,
-): {
+): WorkspaceResolution {
-  workspace: ReturnType<AppDatabase["workspacesMod"]["getWorkspace"]>;
+  const decision = inferLockMode(db, task, agent, companyId);
-  lockMode: WorkspaceLockMode;
+
-  source: "task" | "agent" | "project" | "company_fallback" | "none";
+  if (decision.lockMode === "none") {
-} {
+    return { workspace: null, lockMode: "none", source: "none" };
-  if (task) {
-    const taskWorkspace = db.workspacesMod.getWorkspace(task.workspaceId);
-    if (taskWorkspace) {
-      return { workspace: taskWorkspace, lockMode: "exclusive", source: "task" };
-    }
   }
 
-  const agentWorkspace = db.workspacesMod.getWorkspace(agent.workspaceId);
+  if (!decision.workspaceId) {
-  if (agentWorkspace) {
+    throw new WorkspaceConfigurationError(
-    return { workspace: agentWorkspace, lockMode: "exclusive", source: "agent" };
+      `inferLockMode returned exclusive with no workspaceId (companyId=${companyId}) — lock mode/workspace invariant broken.`,
+    );
   }
 
-  const projectWorkspace = db.workspacesMod.getProjectPrimaryWorkspace(task?.projectId ?? null, companyId);
+  const workspace = db.workspacesMod.getWorkspace(decision.workspaceId);
-  if (projectWorkspace) {
+  if (!workspace) {
-    return { workspace: projectWorkspace, lockMode: "exclusive", source: "project" };
+    throw new WorkspaceConfigurationError(
+      `Resolved workspace ${decision.workspaceId} does not exist (companyId=${companyId}, source=${decision.source}).`,
+    );
+  }
+  if (workspace.companyId !== companyId) {
+    throw new WorkspaceConfigurationError(
+      `Resolved workspace ${workspace.id} belongs to company ${workspace.companyId}, not ${companyId}.`,
+    );
   }
 
-  const fallbackWorkspace = db.workspacesMod.getAnyCompanyWorkspace(companyId);
+  return { workspace, lockMode: "exclusive", source: decision.source };
-  if (fallbackWorkspace) {
-    return { workspace: fallbackWorkspace, lockMode: "exclusive", source: "company_fallback" };
-  }
-
-  return { workspace: null, lockMode: "none", source: "none" };
 }

tests/unit/resolve-workspace.test.ts

@@ -13,17 +13,22 @@ vi.mock("electron", () => ({
 }));
 
 import { AppDatabase } from "../../src/main/database";
-import { resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode } from "../../src/main/orchestration/resolve-workspace";
+import {
+  resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode,
+  WorkspaceConfigurationError,
+} from "../../src/main/orchestration/resolve-workspace";
 
 /**
- * Regression tests for the current workspace lock policy: every
+ * Workspace lock policy (v52+).
- * resolved workspace is held exclusively for the duration of the run.
- * Pi's coding tools always include bash/write/edit, so there is no
- * read-only category where concurrent runs are safe; teammates
- * sharing one repo queue through the wakeup table instead of racing
- * the filesystem.
  *
- * See `resolve-workspace.ts` for the full rationale.
+ * `lockMode='exclusive'` is opt-in — either the task carries an
+ * explicit workspaceId, or the task's requiresFilesystem column is
+ * true, or the resolving agent is in a coding role. Every other
+ * case returns `lockMode='none'` and `workspace=null`, so four
+ * pure-cognitive agents run fully in parallel without queueing on
+ * a single workspace lock. The previous `company_fallback` step
+ * (which returned any workspace in the company as the lock target)
+ * has been removed and now throws `WorkspaceConfigurationError`.
  */
 
 function seedCompany(db: AppDatabase) {
@@ -64,12 +69,12 @@ describe("resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode", () => {
     await rm(tempDir, { recursive: true, force: true });
   });
 
-  it("task-bound workspace → exclusive (explicit opt-in)", () => {
+  it("task.workspaceId set → exclusive on that workspace", () => {
     const { companyId, workspaceId } = seedCompany(db);
     const result = resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(
       db,
       { workspaceId, projectId: null },
-      { workspaceId: null },
+      { workspaceId: null, role: "CMO", department: "marketing" },
       companyId,
     );
     expect(result.source).toBe("task");
@@ -77,19 +82,20 @@ describe("resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode", () => {
     expect(result.workspace?.id).toBe(workspaceId);
   });
 
-  it("agent-bound workspace → exclusive (single writer per repo)", () => {
+  it("coding-role agent + agent workspace → exclusive on agent workspace", () => {
     const { companyId, workspaceId } = seedCompany(db);
     const result = resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(
       db,
       null,
-      { workspaceId },
+      { workspaceId, role: "CTO", department: "engineering" },
       companyId,
     );
     expect(result.source).toBe("agent");
     expect(result.lockMode).toBe("exclusive");
+    expect(result.workspace?.id).toBe(workspaceId);
   });
 
-  it("project-bound workspace → exclusive (single writer per repo)", () => {
+  it("coding-role agent + project primary workspace → exclusive on project workspace", () => {
     const { companyId } = seedCompany(db);
     const projectId = db.entityCrud.saveProject({
       companyId,
@@ -97,7 +103,7 @@ describe("resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode", () => {
       description: "",
       status: "active",
     });
-    db.workspacesMod.saveWorkspace({
+    const projectWsId = db.workspacesMod.saveWorkspace({
       companyId,
       name: "Project repo",
       localPath: "/tmp/project-ws",
@@ -106,30 +112,43 @@ describe("resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode", () => {
       projectId,
       isPrimary: true,
     });
-
     const result = resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(
       db,
-      { workspaceId: null, projectId },
+      { workspaceId: null, projectId, requiresFilesystem: true },
-      { workspaceId: null },
+      { workspaceId: null, role: "CEO", department: "executive" },
       companyId,
     );
     expect(result.source).toBe("project");
     expect(result.lockMode).toBe("exclusive");
+    expect(result.workspace?.id).toBe(projectWsId);
   });
 
-  it("company-fallback → exclusive (single writer per repo)", () => {
+  it("task.requiresFilesystem signals exclusive even for non-coding role", () => {
+    const { companyId, workspaceId } = seedCompany(db);
+    const result = resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(
+      db,
+      { workspaceId: null, projectId: null, requiresFilesystem: true },
+      { workspaceId, role: "COO", department: "operations" },
+      companyId,
+    );
+    expect(result.lockMode).toBe("exclusive");
+    expect(result.source).toBe("agent");
+  });
+
+  it("pure cognitive task (no coding role, no requiresFilesystem) → none", () => {
     const { companyId } = seedCompany(db);
     const result = resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(
       db,
-      null,
+      { workspaceId: null, projectId: null },
-      { workspaceId: null },
+      { workspaceId: null, role: "CMO", department: "marketing" },
       companyId,
     );
-    expect(result.source).toBe("company_fallback");
+    expect(result.source).toBe("none");
-    expect(result.lockMode).toBe("exclusive");
+    expect(result.lockMode).toBe("none");
+    expect(result.workspace).toBeNull();
   });
 
-  it("task workspace wins over agent workspace even when both are set", () => {
+  it("task.workspaceId wins over agent.workspaceId even when both are set", () => {
     const { companyId, workspaceId: agentWsId } = seedCompany(db);
     const taskWsId = db.workspacesMod.saveWorkspace({
       companyId,
@@ -142,7 +161,7 @@ describe("resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode", () => {
     const result = resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(
       db,
       { workspaceId: taskWsId, projectId: null },
-      { workspaceId: agentWsId },
+      { workspaceId: agentWsId, role: "CTO", department: "engineering" },
       companyId,
     );
     expect(result.source).toBe("task");
@@ -150,7 +169,23 @@ describe("resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode", () => {
     expect(result.workspace?.id).toBe(taskWsId);
   });
 
-  it("no workspace at all → none", () => {
+  it("filesystem-requiring task with no resolvable workspace → throws WorkspaceConfigurationError", () => {
+    const companyId = db.company.saveCompany({
+      name: "Empty Co",
+      description: "",
+      status: "active",
+    });
+    expect(() =>
+      resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(
+        db,
+        { workspaceId: null, projectId: null, requiresFilesystem: true },
+        { workspaceId: null, role: "CTO", department: "engineering" },
+        companyId,
+      ),
+    ).toThrow(WorkspaceConfigurationError);
+  });
+
+  it("non-coding role with no workspace bindings → none (never throws, never falls back to shared lock)", () => {
     const companyId = db.company.saveCompany({
       name: "Empty Co",
       description: "",
@@ -159,11 +194,27 @@ describe("resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode", () => {
     const result = resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(
       db,
       null,
-      { workspaceId: null },
+      { workspaceId: null, role: "CFO", department: "finance" },
       companyId,
     );
-    expect(result.source).toBe("none");
     expect(result.lockMode).toBe("none");
     expect(result.workspace).toBeNull();
   });
+
+  it("four non-coding agents resolving in parallel all get lockMode=none (no shared lock collision)", () => {
+    const { companyId } = seedCompany(db);
+    const roles = [
+      { role: "CEO", department: "executive" as const },
+      { role: "CMO", department: "marketing" as const },
+      { role: "CPO", department: "product" as const },
+      { role: "COO", department: "operations" as const },
+    ];
+    const modes = roles.map((r) =>
+      resolveWorkspaceWithLockMode(db, null, { workspaceId: null, ...r }, companyId),
+    );
+    for (const m of modes) {
+      expect(m.lockMode).toBe("none");
+      expect(m.workspace).toBeNull();
+    }
+  });
 });