## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip orchestrates AI agents for zero-human companies
> - That operator experience depends not just on issue chat, but also on
how workspaces, inbox groups, and navigation state behave over
long-running sessions
> - The current branch included a separate cluster of workspace-runtime
controls, inbox grouping, sidebar ordering, and worktree lifecycle fixes
> - Those changes cross server, shared contracts, database state, and UI
navigation, but they still form one coherent operator workflow area
> - This pull request isolates the workspace/runtime and navigation
ergonomics work into one standalone branch
> - The benefit is better workspace recovery and navigation persistence
without forcing reviewers through the unrelated issue-detail/chat work
## What Changed
- Improved execution workspace and project workspace controls, request
wiring, layout, and JSON editor ergonomics
- Hardened linked worktree reuse/startup behavior and documented the
`worktree repair` flow for recovering linked worktrees safely
- Added inbox workspace grouping, mobile collapse, archive undo,
keyboard navigation, shared group-header styling, and persisted
collapsed-group behavior
- Added persistent sidebar order preferences with the supporting DB
migration, shared/server contracts, routes, services, hooks, and UI
integration
- Scoped issue-list preferences by context and added targeted UI/server
tests for workspace controls, inbox behavior, sidebar preferences, and
worktree validation
## Verification
- `pnpm vitest run
server/src/__tests__/sidebar-preferences-routes.test.ts
ui/src/pages/Inbox.test.tsx
ui/src/components/ProjectWorkspaceSummaryCard.test.tsx
ui/src/components/WorkspaceRuntimeControls.test.tsx
ui/src/api/workspace-runtime-control.test.ts`
- `server/src/__tests__/workspace-runtime.test.ts` was attempted, but
the embedded Postgres suite self-skipped/hung on this host after
reporting an init-script issue, so it is not counted as a local pass
here
## Risks
- Medium: this branch includes migration-backed preference storage plus
worktree/runtime behavior, so merge review should pay attention to state
persistence and worktree recovery semantics
- The sidebar preference migration is standalone, but it should still be
watched for conflicts if another migration lands first
## Model Used
- OpenAI Codex coding agent (GPT-5-class runtime in Codex CLI; exact
deployed model ID is not exposed in this environment), reasoning
enabled, tool use and local code execution enabled
## 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)
- [ ] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [ ] If this change affects the UI, I have included before/after
screenshots
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
---------
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip orchestrates AI agents for zero-human companies
> - Agents run shell commands during workspace provisioning (git
worktree creation, runtime services)
> - When `process.env.SHELL` is unset, the code falls back to `/bin/sh`
> - But on Windows with Git Bash, `/bin/sh` doesn't exist as an absolute
path — Git Bash provides `sh` on PATH instead
> - This causes `child_process.spawn` to throw `ENOENT`, crashing
workspace provisioning on Windows
> - This PR extracts a `resolveShell()` helper that uses `$SHELL` when
set, falls back to `sh` (bare) on Windows or `/bin/sh` on Unix
> - The benefit is that agents running on Windows via Git Bash can
provision workspaces without shell resolution errors
## Summary
- `workspace-runtime.ts` falls back to `/bin/sh` when
`process.env.SHELL` is unset
- On Windows, `/bin/sh` doesn't exist → `spawn /bin/sh ENOENT`
- Fix: extract `resolveShell()` helper that uses `$SHELL` when set,
falls back to `sh` on Windows (Git Bash PATH lookup) or `/bin/sh` on
Unix
Three call sites updated to use the new helper.
Fixes#892
## Root cause
When Paperclip spawns shell commands in workspace operations (e.g., git
worktree creation), it uses `process.env.SHELL` if set, otherwise
defaults to `/bin/sh`. On Windows with Git Bash, `$SHELL` is typically
unset and `/bin/sh` is not a valid path — Git Bash provides `sh` on PATH
but not at the absolute `/bin/sh` location. This causes
`child_process.spawn` to throw `ENOENT`.
## Approach
Rather than hard-coding a Windows-specific absolute path (e.g.,
`C:\Program Files\Git\bin\sh.exe`), we use the bare `"sh"` command which
relies on PATH resolution. This works because:
1. Git Bash adds its `usr/bin` directory to PATH, making `sh` resolvable
2. On Unix/macOS, `/bin/sh` remains the correct default (it's the POSIX
standard location)
3. `process.env.SHELL` takes priority when set, so this only affects the
fallback
## Test plan
- [x] 7 unit tests for `resolveShell()`: SHELL set, trimmed, empty,
whitespace-only, linux/darwin/win32 fallbacks
- [x] Run a workspace provision command on Windows with `git_worktree`
strategy
- [x] Verify Unix/macOS is unaffected
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
Co-authored-by: Devin Foley <devin@devinfoley.com>
* fix: auto-detect default branch for worktree creation when baseRef not configured
When creating git worktrees, if no explicit baseRef is configured in
the project workspace strategy and no repoRef is set, the system now
auto-detects the repository's default branch instead of blindly
falling back to "HEAD".
Detection strategy:
1. Check refs/remotes/origin/HEAD (set by git clone / remote set-head)
2. Fall back to probing refs/remotes/origin/main, then origin/master
3. Final fallback: HEAD (preserves existing behavior)
This prevents failures like "fatal: invalid reference: main" when a
project's workspace strategy has no baseRef and the repo uses a
non-standard default branch name.
Co-Authored-By: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
* fix: address Greptile review - fix misleading comment and add symbolic-ref test
- Corrected comment to clarify that the existing test exercises the
heuristic fallback path (not symbolic-ref)
- Added new test case that explicitly sets refs/remotes/origin/HEAD
via `git remote set-head` to exercise the symbolic-ref code path
Co-Authored-By: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
---------
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
Expose project and execution workspace runtime defaults, control endpoints, startup recovery, and operator UI for start/stop/restart flows.
Co-Authored-By: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
