From 3aa50b6aef7122ec319ffed9ae6fa4378f9b0dfd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ciregenz <ciregenz@berkeley.edu>
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:19:00 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] [eric] canvas: stopping a workflow run keeps its card,
 because you stopped it to read it (ENG-420)

---
 .../shared/state/deservesCanvasCard.test.ts   | 38 +++++++++++++++++++
 .../src/shared/state/isUserLaunchedSession.ts | 18 ++++++++-
 2 files changed, 54 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)

diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/state/deservesCanvasCard.test.ts b/frontend/src/shared/state/deservesCanvasCard.test.ts
index 46cc1cd8..03a9145b 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shared/state/deservesCanvasCard.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/state/deservesCanvasCard.test.ts
@@ -42,3 +42,41 @@ test('notifications are still a separate question from cards', () => {
   assert.equal(deservesCanvasCard(run('running')), true);
   assert.equal(isUserLaunchedSession(run('running')), false);
 });
+
+// ENG-420: stopping a workflow-backed agent closed its whole card. Haik, production 1.7.9:
+// "Stop should mean stop, not close" -- you lose the transcript the moment you stop the run, which
+// is the thing you stopped it to read. The despawn rule could not tell "the nightly run finished"
+// from "a person pressed Stop", and it was written for the first one.
+test('a run a HUMAN stopped keeps its card', () => {
+  assert.equal(deservesCanvasCard({
+    mode: 'agent', workflow_run_id: 'r1', status: 'stopped', ended_by_user: true,
+  }), true);
+});
+
+test('a run that ended on its own still despawns', () => {
+  // The litter case the rule exists for: a nightly workflow must not leave a card behind every night.
+  for (const status of ['completed', 'stopped', 'error']) {
+    assert.equal(deservesCanvasCard({ mode: 'agent', workflow_run_id: 'r1', status }), false, status);
+  }
+});
+
+test('Close still dismisses it, even though Close also sets ended_by_user', () => {
+  // Both routes stamp ended_by_user; only Close stamps closed_at, which is what separates them.
+  assert.equal(deservesCanvasCard({
+    mode: 'agent', workflow_run_id: 'r1', status: 'stopped',
+    ended_by_user: true, closed_at: '2026-08-28T00:00:00Z',
+  }), false);
+});
+
+test('a live run is unaffected either way', () => {
+  for (const status of ['running', 'waiting_approval']) {
+    assert.equal(deservesCanvasCard({ mode: 'agent', workflow_run_id: 'r1', status }), true, status);
+    assert.equal(deservesCanvasCard({
+      mode: 'agent', workflow_run_id: 'r1', status, ended_by_user: true,
+    }), true, `${status} + stopped flag`);
+  }
+});
+
+test('a user-launched chat never depends on any of this', () => {
+  assert.equal(deservesCanvasCard({ mode: 'agent', status: 'stopped' }), true);
+});
diff --git a/frontend/src/shared/state/isUserLaunchedSession.ts b/frontend/src/shared/state/isUserLaunchedSession.ts
index bdb30e72..29394bac 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shared/state/isUserLaunchedSession.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/shared/state/isUserLaunchedSession.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@ export interface SessionOrigin {
   mode: string;
   workflow_run_id?: string | null;
   workflow_edit_id?: string | null;
+  // A human pressed Stop or Close. Set by those two routes only; a watchdog's stop never sets it.
+  ended_by_user?: boolean;
+  // Set by Close, never by Stop. It is what tells the two apart here.
+  closed_at?: string | null;
 }
 
 /** A run that is still working, so its card is worth having on screen. */
@@ -29,8 +33,18 @@ export function isUserLaunchedSession(session: SessionOrigin): boolean {
  * the dock path is gated on the parent card existing, so no card meant no owner. Give the run a card
  * and the existing inline-dock plus despawn logic applies to it unchanged. The card goes when the run
  * stops, or a nightly workflow would leave one behind every single night.
+ *
+ * EXCEPT when a human stopped it. "Ends on its own" and "a person hit Stop" are different events and
+ * this could not tell them apart, so pressing Stop on a workflow-backed agent made its card vanish
+ * along with the transcript the user stopped it to read (ENG-420). Someone stops a run to LOOK at
+ * it; the nightly-litter case it was written for is the one that ends by itself, which still
+ * despawns. Close is what dismisses a card, and Close is the only route that stamps `closed_at`.
  */
-export function deservesCanvasCard(session: SessionOrigin & { status?: string }): boolean {
+export function deservesCanvasCard(
+  session: SessionOrigin & { status?: string },
+): boolean {
   if (isUserLaunchedSession(session)) return true;
-  return !!session.workflow_run_id && LIVE_STATUSES.has(session.status ?? '');
+  if (!session.workflow_run_id) return false;
+  if (LIVE_STATUSES.has(session.status ?? '')) return true;
+  return !!session.ended_by_user && !session.closed_at;
 }