fix: keep Windows cold starts responsive (#54)

Signed-off-by: Joseph Yaksich <gitcommit90@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Joseph Yaksich <gitcommit90@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: gitcommit90

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -7,6 +7,17 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [0.0.36] - 2026-08-02
+
+### Fixed
+
+- Kept the Windows desktop control plane available across a genuine cold WSL
+  reboot by deferring retained OCI directory maintenance until runtime access
+  or fleet reconciliation actually needs it, instead of synchronously waking
+  WSL before the HTTP server can listen.
+- Gave the Windows desktop a bounded three-minute cold-runtime readiness window
+  while preserving the existing 30-second startup budget on other platforms.
+
 ## [0.0.35] - 2026-08-01
 
 ### Fixed
@@ -989,7 +1000,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
   notarization, stapled tickets, Gatekeeper verification, persistent
   Application Support, and isolated Apple container machines.
 
-[Unreleased]: https://github.com/gitcommit90/1Helm/compare/v0.0.35...HEAD
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/gitcommit90/1Helm/compare/v0.0.36...HEAD
+[0.0.36]: https://github.com/gitcommit90/1Helm/compare/v0.0.35...v0.0.36
 [0.0.35]: https://github.com/gitcommit90/1Helm/compare/v0.0.34...v0.0.35
 [0.0.34]: https://github.com/gitcommit90/1Helm/compare/v0.0.33...v0.0.34
 [0.0.33]: https://github.com/gitcommit90/1Helm/compare/v0.0.32...v0.0.33

README.md

@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ A fresh data directory opens first-run setup. The source runtime defaults to
 | `PORT` | `8123` | HTTP/WebSocket control-plane port. |
 | `CTRL_DATA_DIR` | `./data` | Databases, routing state, uploads, and non-OCI development/Apple workspace mirrors. |
 | `HELM_CHANNEL_COMPUTER_BACKEND` | `apple` on macOS, `oci` on Linux and Windows | Host isolation backend; `native` and `mock` are explicit development/test overrides. |
-| `HELM_CHANNEL_MACHINE_IMAGE` | `local/1helm-channel-machine:0.0.35` | Versioned channel-machine image contract. |
+| `HELM_CHANNEL_MACHINE_IMAGE` | `local/1helm-channel-machine:0.0.36` | Versioned channel-machine image contract. |
 
 ### Agent-first JSON CLI
 

desktop/main.cjs

@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ const LOOPBACK = "127.0.0.1";
 // installation's Application Support/AppData tree untouched and never import
 // it implicitly into this runtime generation.
 const DATA_NAMESPACE = "1Helm-OCI-v1";
+const SERVER_READY_TIMEOUT_MS = process.platform === "win32" ? 3 * 60_000 : 30_000;
 app.setPath("userData", path.join(app.getPath("appData"), DATA_NAMESPACE));
 let mainWindow = null;
 let authWindow = null;
@@ -95,7 +96,7 @@ function freePort() {
   });
 }
 
-async function waitForServer(origin, timeoutMs = 30_000) {
+async function waitForServer(origin, timeoutMs = SERVER_READY_TIMEOUT_MS) {
   const deadline = Date.now() + timeoutMs;
   let lastError = null;
   while (Date.now() < deadline) {

package-lock.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "1helm",
   "productName": "1Helm",
-  "version": "0.0.35",
+  "version": "0.0.36",
   "private": true,
   "type": "module",
   "license": "AGPL-3.0-only",

package.json

@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ export const channelRoot = hostChannelRoot;
 export const channelWorkspace = channelWorkspacePath;
 export const channelFiles = channelFilesPath;
 
-export function ensureChannelWorkspace(channelId: number): string {
+export function ensureChannelWorkspace(channelId: number, options: { initializeRuntimeStorage?: boolean } = {}): string {
   const channel = q1("SELECT id,name,personal_main_owner_id FROM channels WHERE id=? AND status<>'deleted'", channelId);
   if (!channel) throw new Error("Channel workspace not found.");
   const root = channelRoot(channelId);
@@ -71,8 +71,10 @@ export function ensureChannelWorkspace(channelId: number): string {
   if (channelUsesRuntimeStorage(channelId)) {
     // OCI workspace/files live in runtime storage. On Windows that path is
     // \\wsl.localhost\\... and host mkdir there fails; create via the WSL runtime.
-    try { ensureOciChannelWorkspaceDirs(channelId); }
-    catch { /* provision path creates these once the computer exists */ }
+    if (options.initializeRuntimeStorage !== false) {
+      try { ensureOciChannelWorkspaceDirs(channelId); }
+      catch { /* provision path creates these once the computer exists */ }
+    }
   } else {
     mkdirSync(channelWorkspace(channelId), { recursive: true });
     mkdirSync(channelFiles(channelId), { recursive: true });

src/server/agents.ts

@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ const APPLE_RUNTIME_VERSION = "1.1.0";
 export const APPLE_RUNTIME_PACKAGE = `container-${APPLE_RUNTIME_VERSION}-installer-signed.pkg`;
 export const APPLE_RUNTIME_URL = `https://github.com/apple/container/releases/download/${APPLE_RUNTIME_VERSION}/${APPLE_RUNTIME_PACKAGE}`;
 export const APPLE_RUNTIME_SHA256 = "0ca1c42a2269c2557efb1d82b1b38ac553e6a3a3da1b1179c439bcee1e7d6714";
-export const DEFAULT_CHANNEL_IMAGE = process.env.HELM_CHANNEL_MACHINE_IMAGE || "local/1helm-channel-machine:0.0.35";
+export const DEFAULT_CHANNEL_IMAGE = process.env.HELM_CHANNEL_MACHINE_IMAGE || "local/1helm-channel-machine:0.0.36";
 const CONTAINER_CANDIDATES = [process.env.HELM_CONTAINER_CLI, "/usr/local/bin/container", "/opt/homebrew/bin/container", "container"].filter(Boolean) as string[];
 const OCI_RUNTIME_VERSION = "1helm-oci-runtime-v1";
 const OCI_HELPER_CANDIDATES = [

src/server/channel-computers.ts

@@ -939,7 +939,7 @@ export function migrate(): void {
     const platformBackend = process.platform === "darwin" ? "apple" : "oci";
     const configuredBackend = String(process.env.HELM_CHANNEL_COMPUTER_BACKEND || platformBackend);
     const backend = ["apple", "oci", "native", "mock"].includes(configuredBackend) ? configuredBackend : platformBackend;
-    const image = String(process.env.HELM_CHANNEL_MACHINE_IMAGE || "local/1helm-channel-machine:0.0.35");
+    const image = String(process.env.HELM_CHANNEL_MACHINE_IMAGE || "local/1helm-channel-machine:0.0.36");
     for (const channel of q(`SELECT c.id FROM channels c JOIN agent_channels ac ON ac.channel_id=c.id
       WHERE c.kind='channel' AND c.status<>'deleted'`)) {
       const channelId = Number(channel.id);

src/server/db.ts

@@ -2287,7 +2287,12 @@ async function bootstrap(): Promise<void> {
   // Resident agents own their Linux machine, never the Captain's native Mac.
   run("DELETE FROM bot_computers WHERE computer_id=? AND bot_id IN (SELECT bot_id FROM agents WHERE kind='channel')", computerId);
   for (const channel of q("SELECT id FROM channels WHERE kind='channel' AND status<>'deleted'")) {
-    ensureChannelWorkspace(Number(channel.id));
+    // Retained OCI storage is already authoritative. In particular, a cold
+    // Windows login can take minutes to wake WSL, and that maintenance must
+    // never hold the HTTP control plane behind a synchronous startup probe.
+    // Provisioning, Files/Cowork access, Terminal, and the fleet reconciler
+    // initialize or verify runtime directories when they actually need them.
+    ensureChannelWorkspace(Number(channel.id), { initializeRuntimeStorage: false });
   }
   startImprovementLoop();
   startThreadAuditLoop();

src/server/index.ts

@@ -200,6 +200,17 @@ test("Cowork contracts survive follow-ups and reject only newly-created incompat
   assert.equal(cowork.enforceCoworkCommandOutput(channelId, null, whiteboards, boardBefore), null);
 });
 
+test("retained OCI channel metadata can initialize without synchronously touching runtime storage", () => {
+  seed();
+  const channelId = run("INSERT INTO channels (name,slug,kind,topic,purpose,status,created) VALUES ('retained-cold-start','retained-cold-start','channel','','','active',?)", now()).lastInsertRowid;
+  const botId = run("INSERT INTO bots (name,model,prompt,created) VALUES ('retained-cold-agent','mock','Resident.',?)", now()).lastInsertRowid;
+  const agentId = run("INSERT INTO agents (bot_id,kind,name,status,created) VALUES (?,'channel','retained-cold-agent','ready',?)", botId, now()).lastInsertRowid;
+  run("INSERT INTO agent_channels (agent_id,channel_id,bound_at) VALUES (?,?,?)", agentId, channelId, now());
+  run("INSERT INTO agent_profiles (agent_id,purpose,instructions,updated) VALUES (?,'Cold start','Resident.',?)", agentId, now());
+  assert.doesNotThrow(() => agents.ensureChannelWorkspace(channelId, { initializeRuntimeStorage: false }));
+  assert.equal(q1("SELECT root_ref FROM channel_workspaces WHERE channel_id=?", channelId).root_ref, `channels/${channelId}`);
+});
+
 test("resident raw transcript search is semantic, exact, readable, and channel-isolated", () => {
   const ownerId = run("INSERT INTO users (username,pass,display,is_admin,created) VALUES ('history-owner','x','History Owner',1,?)", now()).lastInsertRowid;
   const channelId = run("INSERT INTO channels (name,slug,kind,topic,purpose,status,created_by,created) VALUES ('history-home','history-home','channel','','Recall prior sessions','active',?,?)", ownerId, now()).lastInsertRowid;