chore: reconcile main → staging post-suspension divergence

Refs Task #165 (Class D AUTO_SYNC_TOKEN plumbing). main and staging diverged after the 2026-05-06 GitHub-org suspension because Class D / Class G / feature work landed on staging while unrelated CI fixes (#34-47, ECR auth-inline, buildx→docker, pre-clone manifest deps) landed straight on main. Both branches edited the same workflow files, so every push to main triggered an Auto-sync run that aborted at `git merge --no-ff origin/main` with 7 content conflicts: - .github/workflows/canary-verify.yml (URL: github.com → Gitea) - .github/workflows/ci.yml (3 URL refs) - .github/workflows/publish-runtime.yml (cascade: HTTP repo-dispatch → Gitea push) - .github/workflows/publish-workspace-server-image.yml (drop AWS-action steps; ECR auth is inline) - .github/workflows/retarget-main-to-staging.yml (URL) - manifest.json (lowercase org slug + add mock-bigorg from main) - scripts/clone-manifest.sh (keep main's MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN auth path + drop awk-tolower since manifest is now lowercase) Resolution: union — staging's post-suspension Gitea/ECR migrations win on URL/policy edits; main's additive work (mock-bigorg manifest entry, inline ECR auth, MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN basic-auth) is preserved on top. After this lands, staging is a strict superset of main, so the next auto-sync run on a push to main will be a clean fast-forward / no-op. The auto-sync workflow on main also picks up staging's AUTO_SYNC_TOKEN swap (Class D #26) for free, fixing the latent layer-2 push-auth issue. Verified locally: - bash -n scripts/clone-manifest.sh - python -c 'yaml.safe_load(...)' on each touched workflow - python -c 'json.load(open(manifest.json))' (21 plugins, 9 templates, 7 org_templates) Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-05-07 14:24:37 -07:00 · 2026-05-07 14:24:37 -07:00 · 25fb696965
commit 25fb696965
parent de039e3861 0276b295cc
35 changed files with 2044 additions and 160 deletions
--- a/.github/workflows/block-internal-paths.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/block-internal-paths.yml
@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 name: Block internal-flavored paths

 # Hard CI gate. Internal content (positioning, competitive briefs, sales
-# playbooks, PMM/press drip, draft campaigns) lives in Molecule-AI/internal —
+# playbooks, PMM/press drip, draft campaigns) lives in molecule-ai/internal —
 # this public monorepo must never re-acquire those paths. CEO directive
 # 2026-04-23 after a fleet-wide audit found 79 internal files leaked here.
 #
@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ jobs:
            echo "::error::Forbidden internal-flavored paths detected:"
            printf "$OFFENDING"
            echo ""
-            echo "These paths belong in Molecule-AI/internal, not this public repo."
+            echo "These paths belong in molecule-ai/internal, not this public repo."
            echo "See docs/internal-content-policy.md for canonical locations."
            echo ""
            echo "If your file is genuinely public-facing (e.g. a blog post"
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ jobs:
              # Strip the package-import prefix so we can match .coverage-allowlist.txt
              # entries written as paths relative to workspace-server/.
              # Handle both module paths: platform/workspace-server/... and platform/...
-              rel=$(echo "$file" | sed 's|^github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/workspace-server/||; s|^github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/||')
+              rel=$(echo "$file" | sed 's|^github.com/molecule-ai/molecule-monorepo/platform/workspace-server/||; s|^github.com/molecule-ai/molecule-monorepo/platform/||')

              if echo "$ALLOWLIST" | grep -qxF "$rel"; then
                echo "::warning file=workspace-server/$rel::Critical file at ${pct}% coverage (allowlisted, #1823) — fix before expiry."
--- a/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/codeql.yml
@ -43,6 +43,9 @@ permissions:
 jobs:
  analyze:
    name: Analyze (${{ matrix.language }})
+    # CodeQL set to advisory (non-blocking) on Gitea Actions — Hongming dec'''n 2026-05-07 (#156).
+    # Findings still emit as SARIF artifacts; failing CodeQL run does not block PR merge.
+    continue-on-error: true
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    timeout-minutes: 45

--- a/.github/workflows/pr-guards.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pr-guards.yml
@ -19,4 +19,4 @@ permissions:

 jobs:
  disable-auto-merge-on-push:
-    uses: Molecule-AI/molecule-ci/.github/workflows/disable-auto-merge-on-push.yml@main
+    uses: molecule-ai/molecule-ci/.github/workflows/disable-auto-merge-on-push.yml@main
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-runtime.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-runtime.yml
@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ name: publish-runtime
 #   3. Publishes to PyPI via the PyPA Trusted Publisher action (OIDC).
 #      No static API token is stored — PyPI verifies the workflow's
 #      OIDC claim against the trusted-publisher config registered for
-#      molecule-ai-workspace-runtime (Molecule-AI/molecule-core,
+#      molecule-ai-workspace-runtime (molecule-ai/molecule-core,
 #      publish-runtime.yml, environment pypi-publish).
 #
 # After publish: the 8 template repos pick up the new version on their
@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ jobs:

      - name: Publish to PyPI (Trusted Publisher / OIDC)
        # PyPI side is configured: project molecule-ai-workspace-runtime →
-        # publisher Molecule-AI/molecule-core, workflow publish-runtime.yml,
+        # publisher molecule-ai/molecule-core, workflow publish-runtime.yml,
        # environment pypi-publish. The action mints a short-lived OIDC
        # token and exchanges it for a PyPI upload credential — no static
        # API token in this repo's secrets.
--- a/.github/workflows/publish-workspace-server-image.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/publish-workspace-server-image.yml
@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ on:
      - 'workspace-server/**'
      - 'canvas/**'
      - 'manifest.json'
+      - 'scripts/**'
      - '.github/workflows/publish-workspace-server-image.yml'
  workflow_dispatch:

@ -74,33 +75,87 @@ jobs:
      # plugin was dropped + workspace-server/Dockerfile no longer
      # COPYs it.

-      - name: Configure AWS credentials for ECR
-        # GHCR was the pre-suspension target; the molecule-ai org on
-        # GitHub got swept 2026-05-06 and ghcr.io/molecule-ai/* is no
-        # longer reachable. Post-suspension target is the operator's
-        # ECR org (153263036946.dkr.ecr.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/
-        # molecule-ai/*), which already hosts platform-tenant +
-        # workspace-template-* + runner-base images. AWS creds come
-        # from the AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID/SECRET secrets bound to the
-        # molecule-cp IAM user. Closes #161.
-        uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
-        with:
-          aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
-          aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
-          aws-region: us-east-2
-
-      - name: Log in to ECR
-        id: ecr-login
-        uses: aws-actions/amazon-ecr-login@v2
-
-      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@4d04d5d9486b7bd6fa91e7baf45bbb4f8b9deedd # v4.0.0
+      # ECR auth + buildx setup are now inline in each build step
+      # below (Task #173, 2026-05-07).
+      #
+      # Why moved inline: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4 +
+      # aws-actions/amazon-ecr-login@v2 + docker/setup-buildx-action
+      # all left auth state in places that the actual `docker push`
+      # couldn't see on Gitea Actions:
+      #   - The actions wrote to a step-scoped DOCKER_CONFIG path
+      #     that didn't survive into subsequent shell steps.
+      #   - Buildx couldn't bridge the runner container ↔
+      #     operator-host docker daemon auth gap (401 on the
+      #     docker-container driver, "no basic auth credentials"
+      #     with the action-driven login).
+      #
+      # Doing AWS+ECR auth inline (`aws ecr get-login-password |
+      # docker login`) in the same shell step as `docker build` +
+      # `docker push` is the operator-host manual approach, mapped
+      # 1:1 into CI. Auth state is guaranteed to live in the env that
+      # `docker push` actually runs from.
+      #
+      # Post-suspension target is the operator's ECR org
+      # (153263036946.dkr.ecr.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/molecule-ai/*),
+      # which already hosts platform-tenant + workspace-template-* +
+      # runner-base images. AWS creds come from the
+      # AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID/SECRET secrets bound to the molecule-cp
+      # IAM user. Closes #161.

      - name: Compute tags
        id: tags
        run: |
          echo "sha=${GITHUB_SHA::7}" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"

+      # Pre-clone manifest deps before docker build (Task #173 fix).
+      #
+      # Why pre-clone: post-2026-05-06, every workspace-template-* repo on
+      # Gitea (codex, crewai, deepagents, gemini-cli, langgraph) plus all
+      # 7 org-template-* repos are private. The pre-fix Dockerfile.tenant
+      # ran `git clone` inside an in-image stage, which had no auth path
+      # — every CI build failed with "fatal: could not read Username for
+      # https://git.moleculesai.app". For weeks, every workspace-server
+      # rebuild required a manual operator-host push. Now we clone in the
+      # trusted CI context (where AUTO_SYNC_TOKEN is naturally available)
+      # and Dockerfile.tenant just COPYs from .tenant-bundle-deps/.
+      #
+      # Token shape: AUTO_SYNC_TOKEN is the devops-engineer persona PAT
+      # (see /etc/molecule-bootstrap/agent-secrets.env). Per saved memory
+      # `feedback_per_agent_gitea_identity_default`, every CI surface uses
+      # a per-persona token, never the founder PAT. clone-manifest.sh
+      # embeds it as basic-auth (oauth2:<token>) for the duration of the
+      # clones, then strips .git directories — the token never enters
+      # the resulting image.
+      #
+      # Idempotent: if a re-run finds populated dirs, clone-manifest.sh
+      # skips them; safe to retrigger via path-filter or workflow_dispatch.
+      - name: Pre-clone manifest deps
+        env:
+          MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.AUTO_SYNC_TOKEN }}
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          if [ -z "${MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN}" ]; then
+            echo "::error::AUTO_SYNC_TOKEN secret is empty — register the devops-engineer persona PAT in repo Actions secrets"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          mkdir -p .tenant-bundle-deps
+          bash scripts/clone-manifest.sh \
+            manifest.json \
+            .tenant-bundle-deps/workspace-configs-templates \
+            .tenant-bundle-deps/org-templates \
+            .tenant-bundle-deps/plugins
+          # Sanity-check counts so a silent partial clone fails fast
+          # instead of producing a half-empty image.
+          ws_count=$(find .tenant-bundle-deps/workspace-configs-templates -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d | wc -l)
+          org_count=$(find .tenant-bundle-deps/org-templates -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d | wc -l)
+          plugins_count=$(find .tenant-bundle-deps/plugins -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type d | wc -l)
+          echo "Cloned: ws=$ws_count org=$org_count plugins=$plugins_count"
+          # Counts are derived from manifest.json (9 ws / 7 org / 21
+          # plugins as of 2026-05-07). If manifest.json grows but the
+          # clone step regresses silently, the find above caps at the
+          # actual disk state — but clone-manifest.sh's own EXPECTED vs
+          # CLONED check (line ~95) is the authoritative fail-fast.
+
      # Canary-gated release flow:
      #   - This step always publishes :staging-<sha> + :staging-latest.
      #   - On staging push, staging-CP picks up :staging-latest immediately
@ -126,58 +181,82 @@ jobs:
      # were running pre-RFC code. Adding the staging trigger above closes
      # that gap. Earlier 2026-04-24 incident: a static :staging-<sha> pin
      # drifted 10 days behind staging — same class of bug, different
-      # mechanism.
-      - name: Build & push platform image to GHCR (staging-<sha> + staging-latest)
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
-        with:
-          context: .
-          file: ./workspace-server/Dockerfile
-          platforms: linux/amd64
-          push: true
-          tags: |
-            ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:staging-${{ steps.tags.outputs.sha }}
-            ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}:staging-latest
-          cache-from: type=gha
-          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
-          # GIT_SHA bakes into the Go binary via -ldflags so /buildinfo
-          # returns it at runtime — see Dockerfile + buildinfo/buildinfo.go.
-          # This is the same value as the OCI revision label below; passing
-          # it twice is intentional, the OCI label is for registry tooling
-          # while /buildinfo is for the redeploy verification step.
-          build-args: |
-            GIT_SHA=${{ github.sha }}
-          labels: |
-            org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}
-            org.opencontainers.image.revision=${{ github.sha }}
-            org.opencontainers.image.description=Molecule AI platform (Go API server) — pending canary verify
+      # mechanism. ECR repo molecule-ai/platform created 2026-05-07.
+      # Build + push platform image with plain `docker` (no buildx).
+      # GIT_SHA bakes into the Go binary via -ldflags so /buildinfo
+      # returns it at runtime — see Dockerfile + buildinfo/buildinfo.go.
+      # The OCI revision label below carries the same value for registry
+      # tooling; the duplication is intentional.
+      - name: Build & push platform image to ECR (staging-<sha> + staging-latest)
+        env:
+          IMAGE_NAME: ${{ env.IMAGE_NAME }}
+          TAG_SHA: staging-${{ steps.tags.outputs.sha }}
+          TAG_LATEST: staging-latest
+          GIT_SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
+          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+          AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: us-east-2
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # ECR auth in-step so config.json is populated in the same
+          # shell env that runs `docker push`. ECR get-login-password
+          # tokens last 12h, plenty for a single-step build+push.
+          ECR_REGISTRY="${IMAGE_NAME%%/*}"
+          aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-2 | \
+            docker login --username AWS --password-stdin "${ECR_REGISTRY}"
+          docker build \
+            --file ./workspace-server/Dockerfile \
+            --build-arg GIT_SHA="${GIT_SHA}" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/${REPO}" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.revision=${GIT_SHA}" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.description=Molecule AI platform (Go API server) — pending canary verify" \
+            --tag "${IMAGE_NAME}:${TAG_SHA}" \
+            --tag "${IMAGE_NAME}:${TAG_LATEST}" \
+            .
+          docker push "${IMAGE_NAME}:${TAG_SHA}"
+          docker push "${IMAGE_NAME}:${TAG_LATEST}"
+
+      # Canvas uses same-origin fetches. The tenant Go platform
+      # reverse-proxies /cp/* to the SaaS CP via its CP_UPSTREAM_URL
+      # env; the tenant's /canvas/viewport, /approvals/pending,
+      # /org/templates etc. live on the tenant platform itself.
+      # Both legs share one origin (the tenant subdomain) so
+      # PLATFORM_URL="" forces canvas to fetch paths as relative,
+      # which land same-origin.
+      #
+      # Self-hosted / private-label deployments override this at
+      # build time with a specific backend (e.g. local dev:
+      # NEXT_PUBLIC_PLATFORM_URL=http://localhost:8080).
+      - name: Build & push tenant image to ECR (staging-<sha> + staging-latest)
+        env:
+          TENANT_IMAGE_NAME: ${{ env.TENANT_IMAGE_NAME }}
+          TAG_SHA: staging-${{ steps.tags.outputs.sha }}
+          TAG_LATEST: staging-latest
+          GIT_SHA: ${{ github.sha }}
+          REPO: ${{ github.repository }}
+          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
+          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+          AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: us-east-2
+        run: |
+          set -euo pipefail
+          # Re-login: the platform-image step's docker login wrote to
+          # the same config.json, so this is technically redundant — but
+          # making each push step self-contained keeps the workflow
+          # robust to step reordering / future extraction.
+          ECR_REGISTRY="${TENANT_IMAGE_NAME%%/*}"
+          aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-2 | \
+            docker login --username AWS --password-stdin "${ECR_REGISTRY}"
+          docker build \
+            --file ./workspace-server/Dockerfile.tenant \
+            --build-arg NEXT_PUBLIC_PLATFORM_URL= \
+            --build-arg GIT_SHA="${GIT_SHA}" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/${REPO}" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.revision=${GIT_SHA}" \
+            --label "org.opencontainers.image.description=Molecule AI tenant platform + canvas — pending canary verify" \
+            --tag "${TENANT_IMAGE_NAME}:${TAG_SHA}" \
+            --tag "${TENANT_IMAGE_NAME}:${TAG_LATEST}" \
+            .
+          docker push "${TENANT_IMAGE_NAME}:${TAG_SHA}"
+          docker push "${TENANT_IMAGE_NAME}:${TAG_LATEST}"

-      - name: Build & push tenant image to GHCR (staging-<sha> + staging-latest)
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@bcafcacb16a39f128d818304e6c9c0c18556b85f # v7.1.0
-        with:
-          context: .
-          file: ./workspace-server/Dockerfile.tenant
-          platforms: linux/amd64
-          push: true
-          tags: |
-            ${{ env.TENANT_IMAGE_NAME }}:staging-${{ steps.tags.outputs.sha }}
-            ${{ env.TENANT_IMAGE_NAME }}:staging-latest
-          cache-from: type=gha
-          cache-to: type=gha,mode=max
-          # Canvas uses same-origin fetches. The tenant Go platform
-          # reverse-proxies /cp/* to the SaaS CP via its CP_UPSTREAM_URL
-          # env; the tenant's /canvas/viewport, /approvals/pending,
-          # /org/templates etc. live on the tenant platform itself.
-          # Both legs share one origin (the tenant subdomain) so
-          # PLATFORM_URL="" forces canvas to fetch paths as relative,
-          # which land same-origin.
-          #
-          # Self-hosted / private-label deployments override this at
-          # build time with a specific backend (e.g. local dev:
-          # NEXT_PUBLIC_PLATFORM_URL=http://localhost:8080).
-          build-args: |
-            NEXT_PUBLIC_PLATFORM_URL=
-            GIT_SHA=${{ github.sha }}
-          labels: |
-            org.opencontainers.image.source=https://github.com/${{ github.repository }}
-            org.opencontainers.image.revision=${{ github.sha }}
-            org.opencontainers.image.description=Molecule AI tenant platform + canvas — pending canary verify
--- a/.github/workflows/redeploy-tenants-on-main.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/redeploy-tenants-on-main.yml
@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ name: redeploy-tenants-on-main
 #
 # This workflow closes the gap by calling the control-plane admin
 # endpoint that performs a canary-first, batched, health-gated rolling
-# redeploy across every live tenant. Implemented in Molecule-AI/
+# redeploy across every live tenant. Implemented in molecule-ai/
 # molecule-controlplane as POST /cp/admin/tenants/redeploy-fleet
 # (feat/tenant-auto-redeploy, landing alongside this workflow).
 #
@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ jobs:

      - name: Call CP redeploy-fleet
        # CP_ADMIN_API_TOKEN must be set as a repo/org secret on
-        # Molecule-AI/molecule-core, matching the staging/prod CP's
+        # molecule-ai/molecule-core, matching the staging/prod CP's
        # CP_ADMIN_API_TOKEN env. Stored in Railway, mirrored to this
        # repo's secrets for CI.
        env:
--- a/.github/workflows/redeploy-tenants-on-staging.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/redeploy-tenants-on-staging.yml
@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ jobs:

      - name: Call staging-CP redeploy-fleet
        # CP_STAGING_ADMIN_API_TOKEN must be set as a repo/org secret
-        # on Molecule-AI/molecule-core, matching staging-CP's
+        # on molecule-ai/molecule-core, matching staging-CP's
        # CP_ADMIN_API_TOKEN env var (visible in Railway controlplane
        # / staging environment). Stored separately from the prod
        # CP_ADMIN_API_TOKEN so a leak of one doesn't auth the other.
--- a/.github/workflows/secret-scan.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/secret-scan.yml
@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ name: Secret scan
 #
 #   jobs:
 #     secret-scan:
-#       uses: Molecule-AI/molecule-core/.github/workflows/secret-scan.yml@staging
+#       uses: molecule-ai/molecule-core/.github/workflows/secret-scan.yml@staging
 #
 # Pin to @staging not @main — staging is the active default branch,
 # main lags via the staging-promotion workflow. Updates ride along
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@ -131,6 +131,13 @@ backups/
 # Cloned by publish-workspace-server-image.yml so the Dockerfile's
 # replace-directive path resolves. Lives in its own repo.
 /molecule-ai-plugin-github-app-auth/
+# Tenant-image build context — populated by the workflow's
+# "Pre-clone manifest deps" step. Mirrors the public manifest, holds the
+# same content as the three /<>/ dirs above but namespaced under one
+# parent so the Docker build context is a single COPY-friendly tree.
+# Each entry is a transient working-dir, never source-of-truth, never
+# committed.
+/.tenant-bundle-deps/

 # Internal-flavored content lives in Molecule-AI/internal — NEVER in this
 # public monorepo. Migrated 2026-04-23 (CEO directive). The CI workflow
--- a/canvas/src/app/layout.tsx
+++ b/canvas/src/app/layout.tsx
@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { cookies, headers } from "next/headers";
 import "./globals.css";
 import { AuthGate } from "@/components/AuthGate";
 import { CookieConsent } from "@/components/CookieConsent";
+import { PurchaseSuccessModal } from "@/components/PurchaseSuccessModal";
 import { ThemeProvider } from "@/lib/theme-provider";
 import {
  THEME_COOKIE,
@ -86,6 +87,12 @@ export default async function RootLayout({
              vercel preview URL, apex) pass through unchanged. */}
          <AuthGate>{children}</AuthGate>
          <CookieConsent />
+          {/* Demo Mock #1: post-purchase success toast. Mounted at the
+              layout level so it persists across page state transitions
+              (loading → hydrated → error) without being unmounted and
+              losing its open-state. Reads ?purchase_success=1 from the
+              URL on first paint, then strips the param. */}
+          <PurchaseSuccessModal />
        </ThemeProvider>
      </body>
    </html>
--- a/canvas/src/components/PurchaseSuccessModal.tsx
+++ b/canvas/src/components/PurchaseSuccessModal.tsx
@ -0,0 +1,175 @@
+"use client";
+
+/**
+ * PurchaseSuccessModal — demo-only post-purchase confirmation.
+ *
+ * Mounted on the canvas root (`app/page.tsx`). On first paint it inspects
+ * `?purchase_success=1[&item=<name>]` on the current URL. If present, it
+ * renders a centred modal styled after `ConfirmDialog`, schedules a 5s
+ * auto-dismiss, and rewrites the URL via `history.replaceState` to drop
+ * the params so a refresh after dismiss does NOT re-show the modal.
+ *
+ * Mock for the funding demo — there is no real billing surface behind
+ * this. The marketplace "Purchase" button on the landing page redirects
+ * here with the params; this modal is the only thing the user sees of
+ * the "transaction".
+ *
+ * Styling matches the warm-paper @theme tokens (surface-sunken / line /
+ * ink / good) so it tracks light + dark without per-mode overrides.
+ */
+
+import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from "react";
+import { createPortal } from "react-dom";
+
+const AUTO_DISMISS_MS = 5000;
+
+function readPurchaseParams(): { open: boolean; item: string | null } {
+  if (typeof window === "undefined") return { open: false, item: null };
+  const sp = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search);
+  const flag = sp.get("purchase_success");
+  if (flag !== "1" && flag !== "true") return { open: false, item: null };
+  return { open: true, item: sp.get("item") };
+}
+
+function stripPurchaseParams() {
+  if (typeof window === "undefined") return;
+  const url = new URL(window.location.href);
+  url.searchParams.delete("purchase_success");
+  url.searchParams.delete("item");
+  // replaceState (not pushState) so back-button doesn't return to the
+  // pre-strip URL and re-trigger the modal.
+  window.history.replaceState({}, "", url.toString());
+}
+
+export function PurchaseSuccessModal() {
+  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
+  const [item, setItem] = useState<string | null>(null);
+  const [mounted, setMounted] = useState(false);
+  const dialogRef = useRef<HTMLDivElement>(null);
+
+  // Read the URL params once on mount. We don't subscribe to navigation —
+  // this modal is a one-shot for the demo redirect, not a persistent
+  // listener.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    setMounted(true);
+    const { open: shouldOpen, item: itemName } = readPurchaseParams();
+    if (shouldOpen) {
+      setOpen(true);
+      setItem(itemName);
+      // Clean the URL immediately so a refresh after the modal is closed
+      // (or even while it's still open) does NOT re-trigger it.
+      stripPurchaseParams();
+    }
+  }, []);
+
+  // Auto-dismiss timer + Escape handler.
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (!open) return;
+    const t = window.setTimeout(() => setOpen(false), AUTO_DISMISS_MS);
+    const onKey = (e: KeyboardEvent) => {
+      if (e.key === "Escape") setOpen(false);
+    };
+    window.addEventListener("keydown", onKey);
+    // Focus the close button so keyboard users land on it after redirect.
+    const raf = requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+      dialogRef.current?.querySelector<HTMLButtonElement>("button")?.focus();
+    });
+    return () => {
+      window.clearTimeout(t);
+      window.removeEventListener("keydown", onKey);
+      cancelAnimationFrame(raf);
+    };
+  }, [open]);
+
+  if (!open || !mounted) return null;
+
+  const itemLabel = item ? decodeURIComponent(item) : "Your new agent";
+
+  return createPortal(
+    <div
+      className="fixed inset-0 z-[9999] flex items-center justify-center"
+      data-testid="purchase-success-modal"
+    >
+      {/* Backdrop — click closes, matches ConfirmDialog backdrop. */}
+      <div
+        className="absolute inset-0 bg-black/60 backdrop-blur-sm"
+        onClick={() => setOpen(false)}
+        aria-hidden="true"
+      />
+
+      <div
+        ref={dialogRef}
+        role="dialog"
+        aria-modal="true"
+        aria-labelledby="purchase-success-title"
+        className="relative bg-surface-sunken border border-line rounded-xl shadow-2xl shadow-black/50 max-w-[420px] w-full mx-4 overflow-hidden"
+      >
+        <div className="px-6 pt-6 pb-4">
+          <div className="flex items-start gap-4">
+            {/* Success glyph — uses --color-good so it tracks the theme.
+                Inline SVG over an emoji so it stays readable + on-brand
+                in both light and dark. */}
+            <div
+              className="flex h-10 w-10 flex-shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full"
+              style={{
+                background:
+                  "color-mix(in srgb, var(--color-good) 15%, transparent)",
+                color: "var(--color-good)",
+              }}
+            >
+              <svg
+                width="22"
+                height="22"
+                viewBox="0 0 24 24"
+                fill="none"
+                aria-hidden="true"
+              >
+                <circle
+                  cx="12"
+                  cy="12"
+                  r="10"
+                  stroke="currentColor"
+                  strokeWidth="1.5"
+                />
+                <path
+                  d="M7.5 12.5L10.5 15.5L16.5 9.5"
+                  stroke="currentColor"
+                  strokeWidth="1.8"
+                  strokeLinecap="round"
+                  strokeLinejoin="round"
+                />
+              </svg>
+            </div>
+            <div className="flex-1">
+              <h3
+                id="purchase-success-title"
+                className="text-base font-semibold text-ink"
+              >
+                Purchase successful
+              </h3>
+              <p className="mt-1.5 text-[13px] leading-relaxed text-ink-mid">
+                <span className="font-medium text-ink">{itemLabel}</span> has
+                been added to your workspace. Provisioning starts in the
+                background — you can keep working while it spins up.
+              </p>
+            </div>
+          </div>
+        </div>
+
+        <div className="flex items-center justify-between gap-3 px-6 py-3 border-t border-line bg-surface/50">
+          <span className="font-mono text-[10.5px] uppercase tracking-[0.12em] text-ink-soft">
+            auto-dismiss · {AUTO_DISMISS_MS / 1000}s
+          </span>
+          <button
+            type="button"
+            onClick={() => setOpen(false)}
+            className="px-3.5 py-1.5 text-[13px] rounded-lg bg-accent hover:bg-accent-strong text-white transition-colors focus:outline-none focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-offset-2 focus-visible:ring-offset-surface-sunken focus-visible:ring-accent/60"
+          >
+            Close
+          </button>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    </div>,
+    document.body,
+  );
+}
--- a/manifest.json
+++ b/manifest.json
@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
    {"name": "medo-smoke", "repo": "molecule-ai/molecule-ai-org-template-medo-smoke", "ref": "main"},
    {"name": "molecule-worker-gemini", "repo": "molecule-ai/molecule-ai-org-template-molecule-worker-gemini", "ref": "main"},
    {"name": "reno-stars", "repo": "molecule-ai/molecule-ai-org-template-reno-stars", "ref": "main"},
-    {"name": "ux-ab-lab", "repo": "molecule-ai/molecule-ai-org-template-ux-ab-lab", "ref": "main"}
+    {"name": "ux-ab-lab", "repo": "molecule-ai/molecule-ai-org-template-ux-ab-lab", "ref": "main"},
+    {"name": "mock-bigorg", "repo": "molecule-ai/molecule-ai-org-template-mock-bigorg", "ref": "main"}
  ]
 }
--- a/scripts/clone-manifest.sh
+++ b/scripts/clone-manifest.sh
@ -6,6 +6,29 @@
 #   ./scripts/clone-manifest.sh <manifest.json> <ws-templates-dir> <org-templates-dir> <plugins-dir>
 #
 # Requires: git, jq (lighter than python3 — ~2MB vs ~50MB in Alpine)
+#
+# Auth (optional):
+#   When MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN is set, embed it as the basic-auth password so
+#   private Gitea repos clone successfully. When unset, clone anonymously
+#   (works only for repos that are public on git.moleculesai.app).
+#
+#   This is the path the publish-workspace-server-image.yml workflow uses:
+#   it injects AUTO_SYNC_TOKEN (devops-engineer persona PAT, repo:read on
+#   the molecule-ai org) so the in-CI pre-clone step succeeds for ALL
+#   manifest entries — including the 5 private workspace-template-* repos
+#   (codex, crewai, deepagents, gemini-cli, langgraph) and all 7
+#   org-template-* repos.
+#
+#   The token never enters the Docker image: this script runs in the
+#   trusted CI context BEFORE `docker buildx build`, populates
+#   .tenant-bundle-deps/, then `Dockerfile.tenant` COPYs from there with
+#   the .git directories already stripped (see line ~67 below).
+#
+#   For backward compatibility — and so a fresh clone works without
+#   secrets when (eventually) the workspace-template-* repos flip public —
+#   the unset path remains a plain anonymous HTTPS clone. That path will
+#   FAIL with "could not read Username" on private repos today; CI MUST
+#   set MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN.

 set -euo pipefail

@ -45,11 +68,27 @@ clone_category() {
            continue
        fi

-        echo "  cloning $repo -> $target_dir/$name (ref=$ref)"
-        if [ "$ref" = "main" ]; then
-            git clone --depth=1 -q "https://git.moleculesai.app/${repo}.git" "$target_dir/$name"
+        # Build the clone URL. When MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN is set (CI path)
+        # embed it as basic-auth so private repos succeed. The username
+        # part ("oauth2") is conventional and ignored by Gitea — only the
+        # token-as-password is verified.
+        #
+        # manifest.json was migrated to lowercase org slugs on
+        # 2026-05-07 (post-suspension reconciliation), so we use $repo
+        # verbatim — no on-the-fly tolower transform needed.
+        if [ -n "${MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN:-}" ]; then
+            clone_url="https://oauth2:${MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN}@git.moleculesai.app/${repo}.git"
+            display_url="https://oauth2:***@git.moleculesai.app/${repo}.git"
        else
-            git clone --depth=1 -q --branch "$ref" "https://git.moleculesai.app/${repo}.git" "$target_dir/$name"
+            clone_url="https://git.moleculesai.app/${repo}.git"
+            display_url="$clone_url"
+        fi
+
+        echo "  cloning $display_url -> $target_dir/$name (ref=$ref)"
+        if [ "$ref" = "main" ]; then
+            git clone --depth=1 -q "$clone_url" "$target_dir/$name"
+        else
+            git clone --depth=1 -q --branch "$ref" "$clone_url" "$target_dir/$name"
        fi
        CLONED=$((CLONED + 1))
        i=$((i + 1))
--- a/workspace-server/Dockerfile
+++ b/workspace-server/Dockerfile
@ -1,7 +1,15 @@
-# Platform-only image (no canvas). Used by publish-platform-image workflow
-# for GHCR + Fly registry. Tenant image uses Dockerfile.tenant instead.
+# Platform-only image (no canvas). Used by publish-workspace-server-image
+# workflow for ECR. Tenant image uses Dockerfile.tenant instead.
 #
-# Build context: repo root.
+# Templates + plugins are pre-cloned by scripts/clone-manifest.sh (in CI
+# or on the operator host) into .tenant-bundle-deps/ — same pattern as
+# Dockerfile.tenant. See that file's header for the full rationale; the
+# short version is that post-2026-05-06 every workspace-template-* and
+# org-template-* repo on Gitea is private, so an in-image `git clone`
+# has no auth path that doesn't leak the Gitea token into a layer.
+#
+# Build context: repo root, with `.tenant-bundle-deps/` populated by the
+# workflow's "Pre-clone manifest deps" step (Task #173).

 FROM golang:1.25-alpine AS builder
 WORKDIR /app
@ -26,21 +34,18 @@ RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build \
    -ldflags "-X github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/buildinfo.GitSHA=${GIT_SHA}" \
    -o /memory-plugin ./cmd/memory-plugin-postgres

-# Clone templates + plugins at build time from manifest.json
-FROM alpine:3.20 AS templates
-RUN apk add --no-cache git jq
-COPY manifest.json /manifest.json
-COPY scripts/clone-manifest.sh /scripts/clone-manifest.sh
-RUN chmod +x /scripts/clone-manifest.sh && /scripts/clone-manifest.sh /manifest.json /workspace-configs-templates /org-templates /plugins
-
 FROM alpine:3.20
 RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates git tzdata wget
 COPY --from=builder /platform /platform
 COPY --from=builder /memory-plugin /memory-plugin
 COPY workspace-server/migrations /migrations
-COPY --from=templates /workspace-configs-templates /workspace-configs-templates
-COPY --from=templates /org-templates /org-templates
-COPY --from=templates /plugins /plugins
+# Templates + plugins (pre-cloned by scripts/clone-manifest.sh in the
+# trusted CI / operator-host context, .git already stripped). The Gitea
+# token used to clone them never enters this image — same shape as
+# Dockerfile.tenant.
+COPY .tenant-bundle-deps/workspace-configs-templates /workspace-configs-templates
+COPY .tenant-bundle-deps/org-templates /org-templates
+COPY .tenant-bundle-deps/plugins /plugins
 # Non-root runtime with Docker socket access for workspace provisioning.
 RUN addgroup -g 1000 platform && adduser -u 1000 -G platform -s /bin/sh -D platform
 EXPOSE 8080
--- a/workspace-server/Dockerfile.tenant
+++ b/workspace-server/Dockerfile.tenant
@ -3,14 +3,34 @@
 # Serves both the API (Go on :8080) and the UI (Node.js on :3000) in a
 # single container. Go reverse-proxies unknown routes to canvas.
 #
-# Templates are cloned from standalone GitHub repos at build time so the
-# monorepo doesn't need to carry them. The repos are public; no auth.
+# Templates + plugins are NOT cloned at build time. They are pre-cloned
+# in the trusted CI context (or operator host) by
+# `scripts/clone-manifest.sh` into `.tenant-bundle-deps/` and COPYed in.
+# The reason: post-2026-05-06, every workspace-template-* repo on Gitea
+# (codex, crewai, deepagents, gemini-cli, langgraph) plus all 7
+# org-template-* repos are private, so the Docker build can't `git clone`
+# from inside the build context — there's no auth path that doesn't leak
+# the Gitea token into an image layer. Pre-cloning keeps the token in
+# the CI environment only; the resulting image carries the cloned trees
+# with `.git` already stripped (see clone-manifest.sh).
 #
-# Build context: repo root.
+# Build context: repo root, with `.tenant-bundle-deps/` populated by:
+#
+#     MOLECULE_GITEA_TOKEN=<persona-PAT> scripts/clone-manifest.sh \
+#       manifest.json \
+#       .tenant-bundle-deps/workspace-configs-templates \
+#       .tenant-bundle-deps/org-templates \
+#       .tenant-bundle-deps/plugins
+#
+# In CI this happens in publish-workspace-server-image.yml's "Pre-clone
+# manifest deps" step (uses AUTO_SYNC_TOKEN = devops-engineer persona).
+# For a manual operator-host build, source the same token from
+# /etc/molecule-bootstrap/agent-secrets.env first.
 #
 #   docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64 \
 #     -f workspace-server/Dockerfile.tenant \
-#     -t registry.fly.io/molecule-tenant:latest \
+#     -t <ECR>/molecule-ai/platform-tenant:latest \
+#     --build-arg GIT_SHA=<sha> --build-arg NEXT_PUBLIC_PLATFORM_URL= \
 #     --push .

 # ── Stage 1: Go platform binary ──────────────────────────────────────
@ -55,14 +75,7 @@ ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_PLATFORM_URL=$NEXT_PUBLIC_PLATFORM_URL
 ENV NEXT_PUBLIC_WS_URL=$NEXT_PUBLIC_WS_URL
 RUN npm run build

-# ── Stage 3: Clone templates + plugins from manifest.json ─────────────
-FROM alpine:3.20 AS templates
-RUN apk add --no-cache git jq
-COPY manifest.json /manifest.json
-COPY scripts/clone-manifest.sh /scripts/clone-manifest.sh
-RUN chmod +x /scripts/clone-manifest.sh && /scripts/clone-manifest.sh /manifest.json /workspace-configs-templates /org-templates /plugins
-
-# ── Stage 4: Runtime ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
+# ── Stage 3: Runtime ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
 FROM node:20-alpine
 RUN apk add --no-cache ca-certificates git tzdata openssh-client aws-cli

@ -87,10 +100,13 @@ COPY --from=go-builder /platform /platform
 COPY --from=go-builder /memory-plugin /memory-plugin
 COPY workspace-server/migrations /migrations

-# Templates + plugins (cloned from GitHub in stage 3)
-COPY --from=templates /workspace-configs-templates /workspace-configs-templates
-COPY --from=templates /org-templates /org-templates
-COPY --from=templates /plugins /plugins
+# Templates + plugins (pre-cloned by scripts/clone-manifest.sh in the
+# trusted CI / operator-host context, .git already stripped — see
+# .tenant-bundle-deps/ in the build context). The Gitea token used to
+# clone them never enters this image.
+COPY .tenant-bundle-deps/workspace-configs-templates /workspace-configs-templates
+COPY .tenant-bundle-deps/org-templates /org-templates
+COPY .tenant-bundle-deps/plugins /plugins

 # Canvas standalone
 WORKDIR /canvas
--- a/workspace-server/cmd/server/bind_test.go
+++ b/workspace-server/cmd/server/bind_test.go
@ -0,0 +1,89 @@
+package main
+
+import "testing"
+
+// TestResolveBindHost pins the precedence: BIND_ADDR explicit > dev-mode
+// fail-open default of 127.0.0.1 > production-shape empty (all interfaces).
+//
+// Mutation-test invariant: removing the IsDevModeFailOpen() branch makes
+// "no_bindaddr_devmode_unset_admin" fail (returns "" instead of "127.0.0.1").
+// Removing the BIND_ADDR branch makes "explicit_bindaddr_*" cases fail.
+func TestResolveBindHost(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		name       string
+		bindAddr   string
+		adminToken string
+		molEnv     string
+		want       string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:       "no_bindaddr_devmode_unset_admin",
+			bindAddr:   "",
+			adminToken: "",
+			molEnv:     "dev",
+			want:       "127.0.0.1",
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "no_bindaddr_devmode_unset_admin_full_word",
+			bindAddr:   "",
+			adminToken: "",
+			molEnv:     "development",
+			want:       "127.0.0.1",
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "no_bindaddr_admin_set_in_dev_env",
+			bindAddr:   "",
+			adminToken: "secret",
+			molEnv:     "dev",
+			want:       "", // ADMIN_TOKEN flips IsDevModeFailOpen to false → all interfaces
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "no_bindaddr_production_env",
+			bindAddr:   "",
+			adminToken: "",
+			molEnv:     "production",
+			want:       "", // production is not a dev value → all interfaces
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "no_bindaddr_unset_env",
+			bindAddr:   "",
+			adminToken: "",
+			molEnv:     "",
+			want:       "", // unset MOLECULE_ENV → not dev → all interfaces
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "explicit_bindaddr_loopback_overrides_devmode",
+			bindAddr:   "127.0.0.1",
+			adminToken: "",
+			molEnv:     "dev",
+			want:       "127.0.0.1",
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "explicit_bindaddr_wildcard_overrides_devmode_default",
+			bindAddr:   "0.0.0.0",
+			adminToken: "",
+			molEnv:     "dev",
+			want:       "0.0.0.0",
+		},
+		{
+			name:       "explicit_bindaddr_in_production",
+			bindAddr:   "10.0.5.7",
+			adminToken: "secret",
+			molEnv:     "production",
+			want:       "10.0.5.7",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Setenv("BIND_ADDR", tc.bindAddr)
+			t.Setenv("ADMIN_TOKEN", tc.adminToken)
+			t.Setenv("MOLECULE_ENV", tc.molEnv)
+			got := resolveBindHost()
+			if got != tc.want {
+				t.Errorf("resolveBindHost() = %q, want %q (BIND_ADDR=%q ADMIN_TOKEN=%q MOLECULE_ENV=%q)",
+					got, tc.want, tc.bindAddr, tc.adminToken, tc.molEnv)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
--- a/workspace-server/cmd/server/main.go
+++ b/workspace-server/cmd/server/main.go
@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/handlers"
 	"github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/imagewatch"
 	memwiring "github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/memory/wiring"
+	"github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/middleware"
 	"github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/pendinguploads"
 	"github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/provisioner"
 	"github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/registry"
@ -332,15 +333,23 @@ func main() {
 	// Router
 	r := router.Setup(hub, broadcaster, prov, platformURL, configsDir, wh, channelMgr, memBundle)

-	// HTTP server with graceful shutdown
+	// HTTP server with graceful shutdown.
+	//
+	// Bind host: in dev-mode (no ADMIN_TOKEN, MOLECULE_ENV=dev|development)
+	// the AdminAuth chain fails open by design; pairing that with a wildcard
+	// bind would expose unauth /workspaces to any same-LAN peer. Default to
+	// loopback when fail-open is active. Operators who need LAN exposure set
+	// BIND_ADDR=0.0.0.0 explicitly. Production (ADMIN_TOKEN set) is unchanged.
+	// See molecule-core#7.
+	bindHost := resolveBindHost()
 	srv := &http.Server{
-		Addr:    fmt.Sprintf(":%s", port),
+		Addr:    fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s", bindHost, port),
 		Handler: r,
 	}

 	// Start server in goroutine
 	go func() {
-		log.Printf("Platform starting on :%s", port)
+		log.Printf("Platform starting on %s:%s (dev-mode-fail-open=%v)", bindHost, port, middleware.IsDevModeFailOpen())
 		if err := srv.ListenAndServe(); err != nil && err != http.ErrServerClosed {
 			log.Fatalf("Server failed: %v", err)
 		}
@ -375,6 +384,29 @@ func envOr(key, fallback string) string {
 	return fallback
 }

+// resolveBindHost picks the listener interface for the HTTP server.
+//
+// Precedence:
+//  1. BIND_ADDR — explicit operator override (any value, including "0.0.0.0").
+//  2. dev-mode fail-open active → "127.0.0.1" (loopback only).
+//  3. otherwise → "" (Go binds every interface; existing prod/self-host shape).
+//
+// Coupling the loopback default to middleware.IsDevModeFailOpen() means the
+// two safety levers — bind narrowness and auth strength — move together. A
+// production deploy (ADMIN_TOKEN set) keeps binding to all interfaces because
+// the auth chain is doing its job; a dev Mac (no ADMIN_TOKEN, MOLECULE_ENV=dev)
+// is reachable only via loopback because the auth chain is fail-open. See
+// molecule-core#7 for the original LAN exposure finding.
+func resolveBindHost() string {
+	if v := os.Getenv("BIND_ADDR"); v != "" {
+		return v
+	}
+	if middleware.IsDevModeFailOpen() {
+		return "127.0.0.1"
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
 func findConfigsDir() string {
 	candidates := []string{
 		"workspace-configs-templates",
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/a2a_proxy.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/a2a_proxy.go
@ -413,11 +413,56 @@ func (h *WorkspaceHandler) proxyA2ARequest(ctx context.Context, workspaceID stri
 		return http.StatusOK, respBody, nil
 	}

+	// Mock-runtime short-circuit. Workspaces with runtime='mock' have
+	// no container, no EC2, no URL — every reply is synthesised here
+	// from a small canned-variant pool. Built for the "200-workspace
+	// mock org" demo: a CEO/VPs/Managers/ICs hierarchy that renders
+	// at scale on the canvas without burning real LLM credits or
+	// provisioning 200 EC2 instances. See mock_runtime.go for the
+	// full rationale + reply shape contract.
+	//
+	// Position: AFTER poll-mode (mock isn't a delivery mode, it's a
+	// runtime; treating poll-set-on-mock as poll matches operator
+	// intent if anyone ever does that), BEFORE resolveAgentURL (mock
+	// has no URL — going through resolveAgentURL would 404 on the
+	// SELECT url since the row is provisioned as NULL).
+	if status, respBody, handled := h.handleMockA2A(ctx, workspaceID, callerID, body, a2aMethod, logActivity); handled {
+		return status, respBody, nil
+	}
+
 	agentURL, proxyErr := h.resolveAgentURL(ctx, workspaceID)
 	if proxyErr != nil {
 		return 0, nil, proxyErr
 	}

+	// Pre-flight container-health check (#36). The dispatchA2A path below
+	// does Docker-DNS forwarding to `ws-<wsShort>:8000` and only catches a
+	// missing/dead container REACTIVELY via maybeMarkContainerDead in
+	// handleA2ADispatchError. That works but costs the caller a full
+	// network-timeout (2-30s) before the structured 503 surfaces.
+	//
+	// When we KNOW the workspace is container-backed (h.docker != nil + we
+	// rewrite to Docker-DNS form below), do a single proactive
+	// RunningContainerName lookup. If the container is genuinely missing,
+	// short-circuit with the same structured 503 + async restart that
+	// maybeMarkContainerDead would produce — but immediately, without the
+	// network round-trip.
+	//
+	// Three outcomes of provisioner.RunningContainerName(ctx, h.docker, id):
+	//   ("ws-<id>", nil) → forward as today.
+	//   ("",        nil) → container is genuinely not running. Fast-503.
+	//   ("",        err) → transient daemon error. Fall through to optimistic
+	//                       forward — matches Provisioner.IsRunning's
+	//                       (true, err) "fail-soft as alive" contract.
+	//
+	// Same SSOT as findRunningContainer (#10/#12). See AST gate
+	// TestProxyA2A_RoutesThroughProvisionerSSOT.
+	if h.provisioner != nil && platformInDocker && strings.HasPrefix(agentURL, "http://"+provisioner.ContainerName(workspaceID)+":") {
+		if proxyErr := h.preflightContainerHealth(ctx, workspaceID); proxyErr != nil {
+			return 0, nil, proxyErr
+		}
+	}
+
 	startTime := time.Now()
 	resp, cancelFwd, err := h.dispatchA2A(ctx, workspaceID, agentURL, body, callerID)
 	if cancelFwd != nil {
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/a2a_proxy_helpers.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/a2a_proxy_helpers.go
@ -198,6 +198,60 @@ func (h *WorkspaceHandler) maybeMarkContainerDead(ctx context.Context, workspace
 	return true
 }

+// preflightContainerHealth runs a proactive Provisioner.IsRunning check
+// (#36) before dispatching the a2a forward. Routed through provisioner's
+// SSOT IsRunning, which itself wraps RunningContainerName — same source
+// as findRunningContainer in the plugins handler (#10/#12).
+//
+// Returns nil when the forward should proceed:
+//   - container is running, OR
+//   - daemon errored transiently (matches IsRunning's (true, err)
+//     "fail-soft as alive" contract — let the optimistic forward run
+//     and reactive maybeMarkContainerDead catch a real failure).
+//
+// Returns a structured 503 + triggers the same async restart that
+// maybeMarkContainerDead would produce, when:
+//   - container is genuinely not running (NotFound / Exited / Created…).
+//
+// The point of running this BEFORE the forward is to save the caller
+// 2-30s of network-timeout cost when the container is missing — a common
+// shape post-EC2-replace (see molecule-controlplane#20 incident
+// 2026-05-07) where the reconciler hasn't respawned the agent yet.
+func (h *WorkspaceHandler) preflightContainerHealth(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string) *proxyA2AError {
+	running, err := h.provisioner.IsRunning(ctx, workspaceID)
+	if err != nil {
+		// Transient daemon error. Provisioner.IsRunning returns (true, err)
+		// in this case — fall through to the optimistic forward, reactive
+		// maybeMarkContainerDead handles a real failure later.
+		log.Printf("ProxyA2A preflight: IsRunning transient error for %s: %v (proceeding with forward)", workspaceID, err)
+		return nil
+	}
+	if running {
+		// Container is running — forward as today.
+		return nil
+	}
+	// Container is genuinely not running. Mark offline + trigger restart
+	// (same effect as maybeMarkContainerDead's branch), and return the
+	// structured 503 immediately so the caller skips the forward.
+	log.Printf("ProxyA2A preflight: container for %s is not running — marking offline and triggering restart (#36)", workspaceID)
+	if _, dbErr := db.DB.ExecContext(ctx,
+		`UPDATE workspaces SET status = $1, updated_at = now() WHERE id = $2 AND status NOT IN ('removed', 'provisioning')`,
+		models.StatusOffline, workspaceID); dbErr != nil {
+		log.Printf("ProxyA2A preflight: failed to mark workspace %s offline: %v", workspaceID, dbErr)
+	}
+	db.ClearWorkspaceKeys(ctx, workspaceID)
+	h.broadcaster.RecordAndBroadcast(ctx, string(events.EventWorkspaceOffline), workspaceID, map[string]interface{}{})
+	go h.RestartByID(workspaceID)
+	return &proxyA2AError{
+		Status: http.StatusServiceUnavailable,
+		Response: gin.H{
+			"error":      "workspace container not running — restart triggered",
+			"restarting": true,
+			"preflight":  true, // distinguishes from reactive containerDead path
+		},
+	}
+}
+
 // logA2AFailure records a failed A2A attempt to activity_logs in a detached
 // goroutine (the request context may already be done by the time it runs).
 func (h *WorkspaceHandler) logA2AFailure(ctx context.Context, workspaceID, callerID string, body []byte, a2aMethod string, err error, durationMs int) {
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/a2a_proxy_preflight_test.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/a2a_proxy_preflight_test.go
@ -0,0 +1,194 @@
+package handlers
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"go/ast"
+	"go/parser"
+	"go/token"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/DATA-DOG/go-sqlmock"
+	"github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/models"
+	"github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/provisioner"
+)
+
+// preflightLocalProv is a controllable LocalProvisionerAPI stub for the
+// preflight tests (#36). Other API methods panic to guard against tests
+// that should be using a different stub.
+type preflightLocalProv struct {
+	running    bool
+	err        error
+	calls      int
+	calledWith []string
+}
+
+func (p *preflightLocalProv) IsRunning(_ context.Context, workspaceID string) (bool, error) {
+	p.calls++
+	p.calledWith = append(p.calledWith, workspaceID)
+	return p.running, p.err
+}
+func (p *preflightLocalProv) Start(_ context.Context, _ provisioner.WorkspaceConfig) (string, error) {
+	panic("preflightLocalProv: Start not implemented")
+}
+func (p *preflightLocalProv) Stop(_ context.Context, _ string) error {
+	panic("preflightLocalProv: Stop not implemented")
+}
+func (p *preflightLocalProv) ExecRead(_ context.Context, _, _ string) ([]byte, error) {
+	panic("preflightLocalProv: ExecRead not implemented")
+}
+func (p *preflightLocalProv) RemoveVolume(_ context.Context, _ string) error {
+	panic("preflightLocalProv: RemoveVolume not implemented")
+}
+func (p *preflightLocalProv) VolumeHasFile(_ context.Context, _, _ string) (bool, error) {
+	panic("preflightLocalProv: VolumeHasFile not implemented")
+}
+func (p *preflightLocalProv) WriteAuthTokenToVolume(_ context.Context, _, _ string) error {
+	panic("preflightLocalProv: WriteAuthTokenToVolume not implemented")
+}
+
+// TestPreflight_ContainerRunning_ReturnsNil — IsRunning(true,nil): forward
+// proceeds. preflight returns nil → caller continues to dispatchA2A.
+func TestPreflight_ContainerRunning_ReturnsNil(t *testing.T) {
+	_ = setupTestDB(t)
+	stub := &preflightLocalProv{running: true, err: nil}
+	h := NewWorkspaceHandler(newTestBroadcaster(), nil, "http://localhost:8080", t.TempDir())
+	h.provisioner = stub
+
+	if err := h.preflightContainerHealth(context.Background(), "ws-running-123"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("preflight should return nil when container running, got %+v", err)
+	}
+	if stub.calls != 1 {
+		t.Errorf("IsRunning should be called exactly once, got %d", stub.calls)
+	}
+	if len(stub.calledWith) != 1 || stub.calledWith[0] != "ws-running-123" {
+		t.Errorf("IsRunning should be called with workspace id, got %v", stub.calledWith)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestPreflight_ContainerNotRunning_StructuredFastFail — IsRunning(false,nil):
+// preflight returns structured 503 with restarting=true + preflight=true, AND
+// triggers the offline-flip + WORKSPACE_OFFLINE broadcast + async restart.
+// This is the load-bearing case — saves the caller 2-30s of network timeout.
+func TestPreflight_ContainerNotRunning_StructuredFastFail(t *testing.T) {
+	mock := setupTestDB(t)
+	_ = setupTestRedis(t)
+	stub := &preflightLocalProv{running: false, err: nil}
+	h := NewWorkspaceHandler(newTestBroadcaster(), nil, "http://localhost:8080", t.TempDir())
+	h.provisioner = stub
+
+	// Expect the offline-flip UPDATE.
+	mock.ExpectExec(`UPDATE workspaces SET status =`).
+		WithArgs(models.StatusOffline, "ws-dead-456").
+		WillReturnResult(sqlmock.NewResult(0, 1))
+	// Broadcaster's INSERT INTO structure_events fires too — best-effort
+	// log entry for the WORKSPACE_OFFLINE event. Match permissively.
+	mock.ExpectExec(`INSERT INTO structure_events`).
+		WillReturnResult(sqlmock.NewResult(0, 1))
+
+	proxyErr := h.preflightContainerHealth(context.Background(), "ws-dead-456")
+	if proxyErr == nil {
+		t.Fatal("preflight should return *proxyA2AError when container not running")
+	}
+	if proxyErr.Status != 503 {
+		t.Errorf("expected 503, got %d", proxyErr.Status)
+	}
+	if got := proxyErr.Response["restarting"]; got != true {
+		t.Errorf("response should mark restarting=true, got %v", got)
+	}
+	if got := proxyErr.Response["preflight"]; got != true {
+		t.Errorf("response should mark preflight=true so callers can distinguish from reactive containerDead, got %v", got)
+	}
+	if got := proxyErr.Response["error"]; got != "workspace container not running — restart triggered" {
+		t.Errorf("error message mismatch, got %q", got)
+	}
+
+	// Note: broadcaster firing is exercised by the production path's
+	// h.broadcaster.RecordAndBroadcast call but not asserted here — the
+	// real *events.Broadcaster doesn't expose received events for inspection.
+	// The DB UPDATE expectation is sufficient to pin the offline-flip path.
+}
+
+// TestPreflight_TransientError_FailsSoftAsAlive — IsRunning(true,err): the
+// (true, err) "fail-soft" contract — preflight returns nil so the optimistic
+// forward runs; reactive maybeMarkContainerDead handles a real failure later.
+// This pin is critical: a flaky daemon must NOT trigger a restart cascade.
+func TestPreflight_TransientError_FailsSoftAsAlive(t *testing.T) {
+	_ = setupTestDB(t)
+	stub := &preflightLocalProv{running: true, err: errors.New("docker daemon EOF")}
+	h := NewWorkspaceHandler(newTestBroadcaster(), nil, "http://localhost:8080", t.TempDir())
+	h.provisioner = stub
+
+	if err := h.preflightContainerHealth(context.Background(), "ws-flaky-789"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("preflight should return nil on transient error (fail-soft), got %+v", err)
+	}
+	// No DB UPDATE expected — sqlmock would complain about unexpected calls
+	// at test cleanup if the offline-flip path fired.
+}
+
+// TestProxyA2A_Preflight_RoutesThroughProvisionerSSOT — AST gate (#36 mirror
+// of #12's gate). Pins the invariant that preflightContainerHealth uses the
+// SSOT Provisioner.IsRunning helper, NOT a parallel docker.ContainerInspect
+// of its own.
+//
+// Mutation invariant: if a future PR replaces h.provisioner.IsRunning with
+// a direct cli.ContainerInspect call, this test fails. That's the signal to
+// either (a) extend Provisioner.IsRunning's contract OR (b) document why
+// this call site needs to differ. Either way, the drift gets a reviewer's
+// attention instead of shipping silently.
+func TestProxyA2A_Preflight_RoutesThroughProvisionerSSOT(t *testing.T) {
+	fset := token.NewFileSet()
+	file, err := parser.ParseFile(fset, "a2a_proxy_helpers.go", nil, parser.ParseComments)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parse a2a_proxy_helpers.go: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var fn *ast.FuncDecl
+	ast.Inspect(file, func(n ast.Node) bool {
+		f, ok := n.(*ast.FuncDecl)
+		if !ok || f.Name.Name != "preflightContainerHealth" {
+			return true
+		}
+		fn = f
+		return false
+	})
+	if fn == nil {
+		t.Fatal("preflightContainerHealth not found — was it renamed? update this gate or the SSOT routing assumption")
+	}
+
+	var (
+		callsIsRunning             bool
+		callsContainerInspectRaw   bool
+		callsRunningContainerNameDirect bool
+	)
+	ast.Inspect(fn.Body, func(n ast.Node) bool {
+		call, ok := n.(*ast.CallExpr)
+		if !ok {
+			return true
+		}
+		sel, ok := call.Fun.(*ast.SelectorExpr)
+		if !ok {
+			return true
+		}
+		switch sel.Sel.Name {
+		case "IsRunning":
+			callsIsRunning = true
+		case "ContainerInspect":
+			callsContainerInspectRaw = true
+		case "RunningContainerName":
+			// Direct RunningContainerName is also acceptable SSOT — but
+			// preferring IsRunning keeps the (bool, error) contract that
+			// already exists in the helper API surface.
+			callsRunningContainerNameDirect = true
+		}
+		return true
+	})
+
+	if !callsIsRunning && !callsRunningContainerNameDirect {
+		t.Errorf("preflightContainerHealth must call provisioner.IsRunning OR provisioner.RunningContainerName for the SSOT health check — see molecule-core#36. Found neither.")
+	}
+	if callsContainerInspectRaw {
+		t.Errorf("preflightContainerHealth carries a direct ContainerInspect call. This is the parallel-impl drift molecule-core#36 fixed. " +
+			"Either route through provisioner.IsRunning OR — if a new use case truly needs a different inspect — extend the helper's contract first and update this gate to allow the specific delta.")
+	}
+}
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/mock_runtime.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/mock_runtime.go
@ -0,0 +1,223 @@
+package handlers
+
+// mock_runtime.go — "mock" runtime: a virtual workspace that has no
+// container, no EC2, no LLM, just hardcoded canned A2A replies. Built
+// for the funding-demo "200-workspace mock org" so hongming can show
+// investors a CEO/VPs/Managers/ICs hierarchy at scale without burning
+// 200 EC2 instances or 200 Anthropic keys.
+//
+// Wire model:
+//   - org template declares `runtime: mock` on every workspace
+//   - createWorkspaceTree skips provisioning, sets status='online'
+//     directly (mirrors the `external` short-circuit, minus the URL +
+//     awaiting_agent dance)
+//   - proxyA2ARequest short-circuits on a mock-runtime target and
+//     returns a canned JSON-RPC reply; never calls resolveAgentURL,
+//     never opens an HTTP connection, never touches Docker/EC2
+//
+// The reply is JSON-RPC 2.0 + a2a-sdk v0.3 shape so the canvas's
+// extractAgentText / extractTextsFromParts read it without any
+// special-casing. We rotate over a small variant pool so a screen
+// full of replies doesn't all read identical — gives the demo a bit
+// of life without pretending to be a real agent.
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"crypto/sha1"
+	"database/sql"
+	"encoding/binary"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"log"
+	"net/http"
+	"strings"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/Molecule-AI/molecule-monorepo/platform/internal/db"
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+	"github.com/google/uuid"
+)
+
+// MockRuntimeName is the canonical runtime string a workspace row
+// carries to opt into the canned-reply short-circuit. Kept as a const
+// so the proxy's runtime-check + the org-import skip-block reference
+// the same literal.
+const MockRuntimeName = "mock"
+
+// mockReplyVariants is the pool of canned strings the mock runtime
+// rotates through. Picked to read like a busy-but-short reply from a
+// real human in a hierarchy — a CEO would NOT respond with "On it!",
+// but for the demo every node is shown to be reachable, so we lean
+// into the variety. Variant selection is deterministic per
+// (workspaceID, request-id) pair so a screen recording replays the
+// same reply for the same input.
+var mockReplyVariants = []string{
+	"On it!",
+	"Got it, on it now.",
+	"On it, boss.",
+	"Working on it.",
+	"Acknowledged — on it.",
+	"On it, will report back.",
+	"Roger that, on it.",
+	"Copy that. On it.",
+	"On it — ETA shortly.",
+	"On it. Standby for update.",
+}
+
+// pickMockReply returns a canned reply for the given workspaceID +
+// requestID. Deterministic so the same (workspace, message-id) pair
+// always picks the same variant — useful for screen recordings and
+// flake-free e2e snapshots. Falls back to variant[0] if the inputs
+// are empty.
+func pickMockReply(workspaceID, requestID string) string {
+	if len(mockReplyVariants) == 0 {
+		return "On it!"
+	}
+	if workspaceID == "" && requestID == "" {
+		return mockReplyVariants[0]
+	}
+	h := sha1.Sum([]byte(workspaceID + ":" + requestID))
+	idx := int(binary.BigEndian.Uint32(h[0:4]) % uint32(len(mockReplyVariants)))
+	return mockReplyVariants[idx]
+}
+
+// lookupRuntime returns the workspace's runtime string. Empty when the
+// row is missing / DB hiccup so callers fall through to the existing
+// dispatch path (which will then 404 / 502 normally). Fail-open here
+// because a transient DB error must not silently flip a real workspace
+// into mock-mode and start handing out canned replies in place of
+// genuine agent traffic.
+func lookupRuntime(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string) string {
+	var runtime sql.NullString
+	err := db.DB.QueryRowContext(ctx,
+		`SELECT runtime FROM workspaces WHERE id = $1`, workspaceID,
+	).Scan(&runtime)
+	if err != nil {
+		if !errors.Is(err, sql.ErrNoRows) {
+			log.Printf("ProxyA2A: lookupRuntime(%s) failed (%v) — falling through to dispatch path", workspaceID, err)
+		}
+		return ""
+	}
+	if !runtime.Valid {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return runtime.String
+}
+
+// buildMockA2AResponse synthesises a JSON-RPC 2.0 success envelope that
+// matches the a2a-sdk v0.3 reply shape the canvas's extractAgentText
+// already understands: `{result: {parts: [{kind: "text", text: ...}]}}`.
+// `requestID` is the JSON-RPC `id` of the inbound request — A2A
+// implementations echo it on the reply so callers can correlate. We
+// extract it from the normalized payload in the caller and pass it in
+// here so this function stays JSON-only (no payload parsing).
+//
+// Returns marshalled bytes ready to write straight to the HTTP body.
+// Marshal failure is logged + a tiny fallback envelope returned, since
+// failing the whole request because of a JSON encoding hiccup on a
+// constant-shaped payload would defeat the "mock always works" guarantee.
+func buildMockA2AResponse(workspaceID, requestID, replyText string) []byte {
+	if requestID == "" {
+		requestID = uuid.New().String()
+	}
+	envelope := map[string]any{
+		"jsonrpc": "2.0",
+		"id":      requestID,
+		"result": map[string]any{
+			"parts": []map[string]any{
+				{"kind": "text", "text": replyText},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+	out, err := json.Marshal(envelope)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("ProxyA2A: mock-runtime response marshal failed for %s: %v — emitting fallback", workspaceID, err)
+		// Hand-rolled minimal envelope. Safe because every value is a
+		// hardcoded constant string with no characters that need
+		// escaping in a JSON string literal.
+		fallback := fmt.Sprintf(
+			`{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":%q,"result":{"parts":[{"kind":"text","text":%q}]}}`,
+			requestID, replyText,
+		)
+		return []byte(fallback)
+	}
+	return out
+}
+
+// extractRequestID pulls the JSON-RPC `id` out of an already-normalized
+// A2A payload. Returns "" when the field is absent or not a string —
+// caller substitutes a fresh UUID. Tolerant of every shape
+// normalizeA2APayload could produce.
+func extractRequestID(body []byte) string {
+	var top map[string]json.RawMessage
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(body, &top); err != nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	raw, ok := top["id"]
+	if !ok {
+		return ""
+	}
+	var s string
+	if json.Unmarshal(raw, &s) == nil {
+		return s
+	}
+	// JSON-RPC permits numeric IDs too; canvas issues UUIDs but be
+	// defensive against alternative SDKs.
+	var n json.Number
+	if json.Unmarshal(raw, &n) == nil {
+		return n.String()
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// handleMockA2A is the proxy short-circuit for mock-runtime workspaces.
+// Returns (status, body, true) when the target is mock — caller writes
+// the response and returns. Returns (_, _, false) when the target is
+// not mock — caller continues to the real dispatch path.
+//
+// Side-effects: writes a synthetic activity_logs row via logA2ASuccess
+// when logActivity is true so the canvas's "Agent Comms" tab shows the
+// mock reply in the trace alongside real-agent traffic. Without this
+// the demo would render messages on the canvas chat panel but a peer
+// node clicking through to its activity tab would see an empty list.
+func (h *WorkspaceHandler) handleMockA2A(ctx context.Context, workspaceID, callerID string, body []byte, a2aMethod string, logActivity bool) (int, []byte, bool) {
+	if lookupRuntime(ctx, workspaceID) != MockRuntimeName {
+		return 0, nil, false
+	}
+	requestID := extractRequestID(body)
+	replyText := pickMockReply(workspaceID, requestID)
+	respBody := buildMockA2AResponse(workspaceID, requestID, replyText)
+
+	// Tiny artificial delay so the canvas chat UI has time to render
+	// the user's outgoing bubble before the agent reply appears.
+	// Without it the reply lands the same animation frame and feels
+	// robotic. 80ms is too fast to look "real" but masks the React
+	// double-render race that drops the user bubble entirely on slow
+	// machines (observed locally on M1 Air, 2026-05-07). Below 200ms
+	// keeps a 200-node demo snappy when investors fan out 30 messages
+	// at once.
+	time.Sleep(80 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	if logActivity {
+		// Reuse the existing success-logger so the activity feed shape
+		// is identical to a real agent reply. Status 200 + duration 0
+		// is the "synthesised reply" marker; activity_logs.duration_ms
+		// being 0 is harmless (real fast paths can hit 0 too).
+		h.logA2ASuccess(ctx, workspaceID, callerID, body, respBody, a2aMethod, http.StatusOK, 0)
+	}
+	return http.StatusOK, respBody, true
+}
+
+// IsMockRuntime is a small public helper for callers outside this
+// package (tests, the org importer) that need to ask the question
+// without depending on the unexported constant. Trims + lower-cases
+// so a typoed YAML cell like "  Mock " still resolves correctly.
+func IsMockRuntime(runtime string) bool {
+	return strings.EqualFold(strings.TrimSpace(runtime), MockRuntimeName)
+}
+
+// gin import is unused at file scope but kept as a tag so a future
+// addition of a thin HTTP handler (e.g. POST /workspaces/:id/mock/replies
+// for an admin-set custom reply pool) doesn't need an import re-order.
+var _ = gin.H{}
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/mock_runtime_test.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/mock_runtime_test.go
@ -0,0 +1,266 @@
+package handlers
+
+// mock_runtime_test.go — locks the contract for the mock-runtime
+// short-circuit added for the funding-demo "200-workspace mock org"
+// template. Three invariants:
+//
+//   1. ProxyA2A on a workspace with runtime='mock' must return 200
+//      with a JSON-RPC reply containing one text part. NO HTTP
+//      dispatch, NO resolveAgentURL DB read (mock workspaces have
+//      no URL — that read would 404 and break the demo).
+//
+//   2. The reply text must be one of the canned variants and must be
+//      deterministic for a given (workspace_id, request_id) pair so
+//      screen recordings replay identically.
+//
+//   3. Workspaces with runtime != 'mock' must NOT be affected — the
+//      mock check fails fast and falls through to the existing
+//      dispatch path. Same kind of regression guard the poll-mode
+//      tests carry.
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"encoding/json"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/DATA-DOG/go-sqlmock"
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+)
+
+// TestProxyA2A_MockRuntime_ReturnsCannedReply is the happy-path
+// contract. A workspace flagged runtime='mock' must:
+//   - return 200 with JSON-RPC envelope {result:{parts:[{kind:text,text:...}]}}
+//   - not dispatch HTTP (no SELECT url SQL expected)
+//   - reply text is one of mockReplyVariants
+func TestProxyA2A_MockRuntime_ReturnsCannedReply(t *testing.T) {
+	mock := setupTestDB(t)
+	setupTestRedis(t)
+	broadcaster := newTestBroadcaster()
+	handler := NewWorkspaceHandler(broadcaster, nil, "http://localhost:8080", t.TempDir())
+
+	const wsID = "ws-mock-canned"
+
+	// Budget check fires before runtime lookup (same as the poll-mode
+	// short-circuit) — keeps mock workspaces honest if a tenant ever
+	// sets a budget on one. Unlikely on a demo, but the guard stays
+	// uniform so future "monthly_spend on mock = 0" assertions don't
+	// drift.
+	expectBudgetCheck(mock, wsID)
+
+	// lookupDeliveryMode runs first — return push so the poll
+	// short-circuit doesn't fire and we hit the mock check.
+	mock.ExpectQuery("SELECT delivery_mode FROM workspaces WHERE id").
+		WithArgs(wsID).
+		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"delivery_mode"}).AddRow("push"))
+
+	// lookupRuntime SELECT — returns 'mock', triggering the canned-reply
+	// short-circuit. CRITICAL: NO ExpectQuery for `SELECT url, status
+	// FROM workspaces` (resolveAgentURL's query). If the short-circuit
+	// fails to fire, sqlmock will surface "unexpected query" on the URL
+	// SELECT and the test fails loudly — that's the dispatch-leak detector.
+	mock.ExpectQuery("SELECT runtime FROM workspaces WHERE id").
+		WithArgs(wsID).
+		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"runtime"}).AddRow("mock"))
+
+	// Activity log: logA2ASuccess writes the synthetic reply to
+	// activity_logs so the canvas's Agent Comms tab shows it alongside
+	// real-agent traffic.
+	mock.ExpectExec("INSERT INTO activity_logs").
+		WillReturnResult(sqlmock.NewResult(0, 1))
+
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	c, _ := gin.CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Params = gin.Params{{Key: "id", Value: wsID}}
+
+	body := `{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":"req-mock-1","method":"message/send","params":{"message":{"role":"user","parts":[{"kind":"text","text":"hello mock"}]}}}`
+	c.Request = httptest.NewRequest("POST", "/workspaces/"+wsID+"/a2a", bytes.NewBufferString(body))
+	c.Request.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+
+	handler.ProxyA2A(c)
+
+	// logA2ASuccess fires async — give it a moment to settle so
+	// ExpectationsWereMet doesn't flake.
+	time.Sleep(200 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 200, got %d: %s", w.Code, w.Body.String())
+	}
+	var resp map[string]interface{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(w.Body.Bytes(), &resp); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("response is not valid JSON: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp["jsonrpc"] != "2.0" {
+		t.Errorf("response.jsonrpc = %v, want 2.0", resp["jsonrpc"])
+	}
+	if resp["id"] != "req-mock-1" {
+		t.Errorf("response.id = %v, want %q (echoed from request)", resp["id"], "req-mock-1")
+	}
+	result, _ := resp["result"].(map[string]interface{})
+	if result == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("response.result missing or wrong type: %v", resp["result"])
+	}
+	parts, _ := result["parts"].([]interface{})
+	if len(parts) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected exactly one part, got %d: %v", len(parts), parts)
+	}
+	part, _ := parts[0].(map[string]interface{})
+	if part["kind"] != "text" {
+		t.Errorf("part.kind = %v, want text", part["kind"])
+	}
+	text, _ := part["text"].(string)
+	if text == "" {
+		t.Error("part.text is empty — canned reply not populated")
+	}
+	// Reply must be one of the variants.
+	matched := false
+	for _, v := range mockReplyVariants {
+		if v == text {
+			matched = true
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if !matched {
+		t.Errorf("reply text %q is not in mockReplyVariants", text)
+	}
+
+	if err := mock.ExpectationsWereMet(); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unmet sqlmock expectations: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestProxyA2A_NonMockRuntime_NoShortCircuit verifies the symmetric
+// contract: a workspace with a real runtime (claude-code, hermes, etc.)
+// must NOT be affected by the mock check — it falls through to the
+// real dispatch path. Without this guard, a regression in
+// lookupRuntime could silently flip every workspace into mock-mode
+// and start handing out canned replies in place of real-agent traffic.
+func TestProxyA2A_NonMockRuntime_NoShortCircuit(t *testing.T) {
+	mock := setupTestDB(t)
+	mr := setupTestRedis(t)
+	allowLoopbackForTest(t)
+	broadcaster := newTestBroadcaster()
+	handler := NewWorkspaceHandler(broadcaster, nil, "http://localhost:8080", t.TempDir())
+
+	const wsID = "ws-real-runtime"
+
+	dispatched := false
+	agentServer := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		dispatched = true
+		w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+		w.Write([]byte(`{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":"1","result":{"status":"ok"}}`))
+	}))
+	defer agentServer.Close()
+	mr.Set("ws:"+wsID+":url", agentServer.URL)
+
+	expectBudgetCheck(mock, wsID)
+
+	// poll-mode SELECT — return push so we proceed past the poll
+	// short-circuit.
+	mock.ExpectQuery("SELECT delivery_mode FROM workspaces WHERE id").
+		WithArgs(wsID).
+		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"delivery_mode"}).AddRow("push"))
+
+	// runtime SELECT — return claude-code so the mock check falls
+	// through.
+	mock.ExpectQuery("SELECT runtime FROM workspaces WHERE id").
+		WithArgs(wsID).
+		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"runtime"}).AddRow("claude-code"))
+
+	mock.ExpectExec("INSERT INTO activity_logs").
+		WillReturnResult(sqlmock.NewResult(0, 1))
+
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	c, _ := gin.CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Params = gin.Params{{Key: "id", Value: wsID}}
+	body := `{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":"real-1","method":"message/send","params":{"message":{"role":"user","parts":[{"kind":"text","text":"hi"}]}}}`
+	c.Request = httptest.NewRequest("POST", "/workspaces/"+wsID+"/a2a", bytes.NewBufferString(body))
+	c.Request.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+
+	handler.ProxyA2A(c)
+
+	time.Sleep(50 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusOK {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 200, got %d: %s", w.Code, w.Body.String())
+	}
+	if !dispatched {
+		t.Error("non-mock runtime: expected the agent server to receive the request, but it did not — mock short-circuit may be over-firing")
+	}
+	if err := mock.ExpectationsWereMet(); err != nil {
+		t.Errorf("unmet sqlmock expectations: %v", err)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestPickMockReply_Deterministic locks the determinism contract:
+// the same (workspaceID, requestID) input must yield the same variant
+// every call. Required for screen recordings + flake-free e2e
+// snapshots.
+func TestPickMockReply_Deterministic(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := []struct {
+		ws, req string
+	}{
+		{"ws-1", "req-A"},
+		{"ws-1", "req-B"},
+		{"ws-2", "req-A"},
+		{"", ""},
+	}
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		first := pickMockReply(tc.ws, tc.req)
+		for i := 0; i < 10; i++ {
+			next := pickMockReply(tc.ws, tc.req)
+			if next != first {
+				t.Errorf("pickMockReply(%q,%q) is not deterministic: got %q then %q",
+					tc.ws, tc.req, first, next)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestIsMockRuntime_TrimsAndCaseInsensitive — typos and stray
+// whitespace in YAML must still resolve to mock so a single
+// runtime: " Mock " entry doesn't silently get dispatched.
+func TestIsMockRuntime_TrimsAndCaseInsensitive(t *testing.T) {
+	cases := map[string]bool{
+		"mock":      true,
+		"MOCK":      true,
+		"  Mock  ":  true,
+		"mocky":     false,
+		"":          false,
+		"external":  false,
+		"claude-code": false,
+	}
+	for in, want := range cases {
+		if got := IsMockRuntime(in); got != want {
+			t.Errorf("IsMockRuntime(%q) = %v, want %v", in, got, want)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+// TestBuildMockA2AResponse_EchoesRequestID — JSON-RPC requires the
+// reply id to match the request id so callers can correlate. Mock
+// must hold this contract or canvas's correlation logic breaks.
+func TestBuildMockA2AResponse_EchoesRequestID(t *testing.T) {
+	out := buildMockA2AResponse("ws-x", "req-echo-7", "On it!")
+	var resp map[string]interface{}
+	if err := json.Unmarshal(out, &resp); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("response is not valid JSON: %v", err)
+	}
+	if resp["id"] != "req-echo-7" {
+		t.Errorf("id = %v, want req-echo-7", resp["id"])
+	}
+	if resp["jsonrpc"] != "2.0" {
+		t.Errorf("jsonrpc = %v, want 2.0", resp["jsonrpc"])
+	}
+	result, _ := resp["result"].(map[string]interface{})
+	parts, _ := result["parts"].([]interface{})
+	if len(parts) != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected 1 part, got %d", len(parts))
+	}
+	p, _ := parts[0].(map[string]interface{})
+	if p["text"] != "On it!" {
+		t.Errorf("part.text = %v, want On it!", p["text"])
+	}
+}
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/org_import.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/org_import.go
@ -250,6 +250,21 @@ func (h *OrgHandler) createWorkspaceTree(ws OrgWorkspace, parentID *string, absX
 		h.broadcaster.RecordAndBroadcast(ctx, string(events.EventWorkspaceOnline), id, map[string]interface{}{
 			"name": ws.Name, "external": true,
 		})
+	} else if IsMockRuntime(runtime) {
+		// Mock-runtime workspaces have no container, no EC2, no URL —
+		// the proxyA2ARequest short-circuit synthesises every reply
+		// from a canned variant pool (see mock_runtime.go). Status
+		// goes straight to 'online' so the canvas renders the node
+		// as reachable + the chat tab's send button is enabled. No
+		// URL is set; the proxy never tries to resolve one for mock
+		// runtimes. Built for the funding-demo "200-workspace mock
+		// org" template — visual scale without real backend cost.
+		if _, err := db.DB.ExecContext(ctx, `UPDATE workspaces SET status = $1 WHERE id = $2`, models.StatusOnline, id); err != nil {
+			log.Printf("Org import: mock workspace status update failed for %s: %v", ws.Name, err)
+		}
+		h.broadcaster.RecordAndBroadcast(ctx, string(events.EventWorkspaceOnline), id, map[string]interface{}{
+			"name": ws.Name, "mock": true, "runtime": runtime,
+		})
 	} else if h.workspace.HasProvisioner() {
 		// Provision container — either backend (CP for SaaS, local Docker
 		// for self-hosted) is fine. Pre-2026-05-05 this gate was
@ -675,7 +690,23 @@ func (h *OrgHandler) recurseChildrenForImport(ws OrgWorkspace, parentID string,
 		if err := h.createWorkspaceTree(child, &parentID, childAbsX, childAbsY, slotX, slotY, defaults, orgBaseDir, results, provisionSem); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
-		time.Sleep(workspaceCreatePacingMs * time.Millisecond)
+		// Pacing exists to throttle Docker container-spawn thundering
+		// during a self-hosted import. Mock-runtime children spawn no
+		// container — no Docker pressure, no LLM bursts, just DB
+		// inserts + a broadcast. Skipping the 2s sleep collapses a
+		// 200-workspace mock-org import from ~7min → ~5s, which is
+		// the difference between a snappy demo and a "did it freeze?"
+		// staring contest. Real (containerful) runtimes still pace.
+		// Inheritance: if the child itself doesn't declare a runtime,
+		// fall back to defaults.runtime — the org template sets
+		// runtime: mock once at the org level, not on every IC node.
+		childRuntime := child.Runtime
+		if childRuntime == "" {
+			childRuntime = defaults.Runtime
+		}
+		if !IsMockRuntime(childRuntime) {
+			time.Sleep(workspaceCreatePacingMs * time.Millisecond)
+		}
 	}
 	return nil
 }
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/plugins.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/plugins.go
@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
 	"io"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
@ -177,16 +178,42 @@ func strDefault(m map[string]interface{}, key, fallback string) string {
 	return fallback
 }

+// findRunningContainer returns the live container name for workspaceID, or ""
+// when the container is genuinely not running OR the daemon errored
+// transiently. Routed through provisioner.RunningContainerName as the SSOT
+// (molecule-core#10) so this handler agrees with healthsweep on the same
+// inputs. Transient daemon errors are logged distinctly so triage doesn't
+// confuse a flaky daemon with a stopped container.
 func (h *PluginsHandler) findRunningContainer(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string) string {
-	if h.docker == nil {
+	name, err := provisioner.RunningContainerName(ctx, h.docker, workspaceID)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("plugins: docker inspect transient error for %s: %v (treating as not-running for this request)", workspaceID, err)
 		return ""
 	}
-	name := provisioner.ContainerName(workspaceID)
-	info, err := h.docker.ContainerInspect(ctx, name)
-	if err == nil && info.State.Running {
-		return name
+	return name
+}
+
+// isExternalRuntime reports whether the workspace's runtime is the
+// `external` (remote-pull) shape introduced in Phase 30. External
+// workspaces have no local container — `POST /plugins` (push-install via
+// docker exec) doesn't apply to them; they pull via the download endpoint
+// instead. Returns false (allow-install) if the lookup is unwired or
+// errors — failing open here is safe because the downstream
+// findRunningContainer step still gates on a real container being there.
+//
+// Background — molecule-core#10: without this check, external workspaces
+// fall through to findRunningContainer's NotFound path and return a
+// misleading 503 "container not running" instead of a clear "use the
+// pull endpoint" message.
+func (h *PluginsHandler) isExternalRuntime(workspaceID string) bool {
+	if h.runtimeLookup == nil {
+		return false
 	}
-	return ""
+	runtime, err := h.runtimeLookup(workspaceID)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return runtime == "external"
 }

 func (h *PluginsHandler) execAsRoot(ctx context.Context, containerName string, cmd []string) (string, error) {
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/plugins_findrunning_ssot_test.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/plugins_findrunning_ssot_test.go
@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+package handlers
+
+import (
+	"go/ast"
+	"go/parser"
+	"go/token"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+// TestFindRunningContainer_RoutesThroughProvisionerSSOT is a behavior-based
+// AST gate: it pins the invariant that PluginsHandler.findRunningContainer
+// MUST go through provisioner.RunningContainerName for its is-running check,
+// instead of carrying its own copy of cli.ContainerInspect logic.
+//
+// Background — molecule-core#10: a parallel impl of "is the workspace's
+// container running" used to live in plugins.go. It drifted from the
+// canonical impl in healthsweep (which goes through Provisioner.IsRunning
+// → RunningContainerName) on edge cases like "transient daemon error" —
+// the duplicate would 503 with a misleading message while healthsweep
+// correctly stayed defensive. Consolidating onto RunningContainerName as
+// the SSOT prevents any future copy from re-introducing that drift.
+//
+// Mutation invariant: if a future PR replaces the provisioner call with
+// `h.docker.ContainerInspect(...)` directly, this test fails. That's the
+// signal to either (a) extend RunningContainerName's contract OR (b)
+// document why this call site needs to differ. Either way: the drift
+// gets a reviewer's attention instead of shipping silently.
+func TestFindRunningContainer_RoutesThroughProvisionerSSOT(t *testing.T) {
+	fset := token.NewFileSet()
+	file, err := parser.ParseFile(fset, "plugins.go", nil, parser.ParseComments)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parse plugins.go: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var fn *ast.FuncDecl
+	ast.Inspect(file, func(n ast.Node) bool {
+		f, ok := n.(*ast.FuncDecl)
+		if !ok || f.Name.Name != "findRunningContainer" {
+			return true
+		}
+		// Confirm receiver is *PluginsHandler so we don't pick up an unrelated
+		// helper of the same name. ast.Recv is a FieldList — receivers carry
+		// at most one field.
+		if f.Recv == nil || len(f.Recv.List) == 0 {
+			return true
+		}
+		fn = f
+		return false
+	})
+
+	if fn == nil {
+		t.Fatal("findRunningContainer not found in plugins.go — was it renamed? update this test or the SSOT routing assumption")
+	}
+
+	var (
+		callsRunningContainerName bool
+		callsContainerInspectRaw  bool
+	)
+	ast.Inspect(fn.Body, func(n ast.Node) bool {
+		call, ok := n.(*ast.CallExpr)
+		if !ok {
+			return true
+		}
+		sel, ok := call.Fun.(*ast.SelectorExpr)
+		if !ok {
+			return true
+		}
+		// Pkg.Func form: provisioner.RunningContainerName(...)
+		if pkgIdent, ok := sel.X.(*ast.Ident); ok {
+			if pkgIdent.Name == "provisioner" && sel.Sel.Name == "RunningContainerName" {
+				callsRunningContainerName = true
+			}
+		}
+		// Receiver-then-method form: h.docker.ContainerInspect(...) /
+		// p.cli.ContainerInspect(...) — anything ending in
+		// .ContainerInspect that's NOT routed through provisioner.
+		if sel.Sel.Name == "ContainerInspect" {
+			callsContainerInspectRaw = true
+		}
+		return true
+	})
+
+	if !callsRunningContainerName {
+		t.Errorf(
+			"findRunningContainer must call provisioner.RunningContainerName for the SSOT inspect — see molecule-core#10. Found no such call.",
+		)
+	}
+	if callsContainerInspectRaw {
+		t.Errorf(
+			"findRunningContainer carries a direct ContainerInspect call. This is the parallel-impl drift molecule-core#10 fixed. " +
+				"Either route through provisioner.RunningContainerName OR — if a new use case truly needs a different inspect — extend RunningContainerName's contract first and update this gate to allow the specific delta.",
+		)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestProvisionerIsRunning_RoutesThroughRunningContainerName mirrors the
+// gate above but for the OTHER consumer of the SSOT — Provisioner.IsRunning
+// (called by healthsweep). If a future refactor makes IsRunning carry its
+// own ContainerInspect again, the two consumers' edge-case behaviors will
+// silently drift. Keep them yoked.
+func TestProvisionerIsRunning_RoutesThroughRunningContainerName(t *testing.T) {
+	fset := token.NewFileSet()
+	file, err := parser.ParseFile(fset, "../provisioner/provisioner.go", nil, parser.ParseComments)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("parse provisioner.go: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var fn *ast.FuncDecl
+	ast.Inspect(file, func(n ast.Node) bool {
+		f, ok := n.(*ast.FuncDecl)
+		if !ok || f.Name.Name != "IsRunning" || f.Recv == nil {
+			return true
+		}
+		// The receiver type must be *Provisioner specifically. CPProvisioner
+		// has its own IsRunning that talks HTTP to the controlplane and is
+		// out of scope for this gate.
+		if !receiverIs(f, "Provisioner") {
+			return true
+		}
+		fn = f
+		return false
+	})
+	if fn == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Provisioner.IsRunning not found — was it renamed? update this test")
+	}
+
+	var (
+		callsRunningContainerName bool
+		callsContainerInspectRaw  bool
+	)
+	ast.Inspect(fn.Body, func(n ast.Node) bool {
+		call, ok := n.(*ast.CallExpr)
+		if !ok {
+			return true
+		}
+		// Same-package call: bare identifier (e.g. RunningContainerName(...)).
+		if id, ok := call.Fun.(*ast.Ident); ok && id.Name == "RunningContainerName" {
+			callsRunningContainerName = true
+			return true
+		}
+		// Selector call: pkg.Func (e.g. provisioner.RunningContainerName)
+		// OR recv.Method (e.g. p.cli.ContainerInspect).
+		sel, ok := call.Fun.(*ast.SelectorExpr)
+		if !ok {
+			return true
+		}
+		switch sel.Sel.Name {
+		case "RunningContainerName":
+			callsRunningContainerName = true
+		case "ContainerInspect":
+			callsContainerInspectRaw = true
+		}
+		return true
+	})
+
+	if !callsRunningContainerName {
+		t.Errorf("Provisioner.IsRunning must call RunningContainerName for the SSOT inspect — see molecule-core#10")
+	}
+	if callsContainerInspectRaw {
+		t.Errorf("Provisioner.IsRunning carries a direct ContainerInspect call; route through RunningContainerName instead")
+	}
+}
+
+// receiverIs reports whether fn's receiver is `*<typeName>` or `<typeName>`.
+func receiverIs(fn *ast.FuncDecl, typeName string) bool {
+	if fn.Recv == nil || len(fn.Recv.List) == 0 {
+		return false
+	}
+	expr := fn.Recv.List[0].Type
+	if star, ok := expr.(*ast.StarExpr); ok {
+		expr = star.X
+	}
+	id, ok := expr.(*ast.Ident)
+	return ok && strings.EqualFold(id.Name, typeName)
+}
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/plugins_install.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/plugins_install.go
@ -32,6 +32,18 @@ import (
 // inside the workspace at startup.
 func (h *PluginsHandler) Install(c *gin.Context) {
 	workspaceID := c.Param("id")
+	// External-runtime guard (molecule-core#10): push-install via docker
+	// exec is meaningless for `runtime='external'` workspaces — they have
+	// no local container. Reject early with a hint pointing at the
+	// pull-mode endpoint, instead of falling through to a misleading
+	// "container not running" 503 from findRunningContainer.
+	if h.isExternalRuntime(workspaceID) {
+		c.JSON(http.StatusUnprocessableEntity, gin.H{
+			"error": "plugin install via push is not supported for external runtimes",
+			"hint":  "external workspaces pull plugins via GET /workspaces/:id/plugins/:name/download",
+		})
+		return
+	}
 	// Cap the JSON body so a pathological POST can't exhaust parser memory.
 	bodyMax := envx.Int64("PLUGIN_INSTALL_BODY_MAX_BYTES", defaultInstallBodyMaxBytes)
 	c.Request.Body = http.MaxBytesReader(c.Writer, c.Request.Body, bodyMax)
@ -93,6 +105,16 @@ func (h *PluginsHandler) Uninstall(c *gin.Context) {
 	pluginName := c.Param("name")
 	ctx := c.Request.Context()

+	// Mirror Install's external-runtime guard (molecule-core#10) so the
+	// two endpoints reject the same shape with the same message.
+	if h.isExternalRuntime(workspaceID) {
+		c.JSON(http.StatusUnprocessableEntity, gin.H{
+			"error": "plugin uninstall via docker exec is not supported for external runtimes",
+			"hint":  "external workspaces manage their own plugin directory; remove it locally",
+		})
+		return
+	}
+
 	if err := validatePluginName(pluginName); err != nil {
 		c.JSON(http.StatusBadRequest, gin.H{"error": "invalid plugin name"})
 		return
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/plugins_install_external_test.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/plugins_install_external_test.go
@ -0,0 +1,176 @@
+package handlers
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"net/http"
+	"net/http/httptest"
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/gin-gonic/gin"
+)
+
+// TestPluginInstall_ExternalRuntime_Returns422 — molecule-core#10.
+// Install on a `runtime='external'` workspace must NOT fall through to
+// findRunningContainer (which would 503 with a misleading "container not
+// running"). It must return 422 with a hint pointing at the pull-mode
+// download endpoint.
+func TestPluginInstall_ExternalRuntime_Returns422(t *testing.T) {
+	h := NewPluginsHandler(t.TempDir(), nil, nil).
+		WithRuntimeLookup(func(workspaceID string) (string, error) {
+			return "external", nil
+		})
+
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	c, _ := gin.CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Params = gin.Params{{Key: "id", Value: "ba1789b0-4d21-4f4f-a878-fa226bf77cf5"}}
+	c.Request = httptest.NewRequest(
+		"POST",
+		"/workspaces/ba1789b0-4d21-4f4f-a878-fa226bf77cf5/plugins",
+		bytes.NewBufferString(`{"source":"local://my-plugin"}`),
+	)
+	c.Request.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+
+	h.Install(c)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusUnprocessableEntity {
+		t.Errorf("expected 422 (Unprocessable Entity) for runtime='external', got %d: %s", w.Code, w.Body.String())
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(w.Body.String(), "external runtimes") {
+		t.Errorf("expected error body to mention 'external runtimes', got: %s", w.Body.String())
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(w.Body.String(), "download") {
+		t.Errorf("expected error body to point at the download endpoint, got: %s", w.Body.String())
+	}
+}
+
+// TestPluginUninstall_ExternalRuntime_Returns422 — symmetric guard on the
+// uninstall path (DELETE /workspaces/:id/plugins/:name). External
+// workspaces manage their own plugin directory locally; the platform
+// can't docker-exec into them.
+func TestPluginUninstall_ExternalRuntime_Returns422(t *testing.T) {
+	h := NewPluginsHandler(t.TempDir(), nil, nil).
+		WithRuntimeLookup(func(workspaceID string) (string, error) {
+			return "external", nil
+		})
+
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	c, _ := gin.CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Params = gin.Params{
+		{Key: "id", Value: "ba1789b0-4d21-4f4f-a878-fa226bf77cf5"},
+		{Key: "name", Value: "my-plugin"},
+	}
+	c.Request = httptest.NewRequest(
+		"DELETE",
+		"/workspaces/ba1789b0-4d21-4f4f-a878-fa226bf77cf5/plugins/my-plugin",
+		nil,
+	)
+
+	h.Uninstall(c)
+
+	if w.Code != http.StatusUnprocessableEntity {
+		t.Errorf("expected 422 for runtime='external', got %d: %s", w.Code, w.Body.String())
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(w.Body.String(), "external runtimes") {
+		t.Errorf("expected error body to mention 'external runtimes', got: %s", w.Body.String())
+	}
+}
+
+// TestPluginInstall_ContainerBackedRuntime_FallsThroughGuard — the runtime
+// guard MUST NOT short-circuit container-backed runtimes. With
+// `runtime='claude-code'` the install proceeds past the guard; without a
+// real plugin source it'll fail downstream (here: 404 from local resolver
+// because no plugin staged), which is the correct error to surface.
+//
+// This is the mutation-test partner: deleting the `runtime == "external"`
+// check would still pass TestPluginInstall_ExternalRuntime (because Install
+// would 404 instead of 422 — but the test asserts 422), and would still
+// pass this test (because both pre-fix and post-fix produce 404 here).
+// What this case pins is "non-external still falls through," catching
+// any over-eager guard that rejects all runtimes.
+func TestPluginInstall_ContainerBackedRuntime_FallsThroughGuard(t *testing.T) {
+	h := NewPluginsHandler(t.TempDir(), nil, nil).
+		WithRuntimeLookup(func(workspaceID string) (string, error) {
+			return "claude-code", nil
+		})
+
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	c, _ := gin.CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Params = gin.Params{{Key: "id", Value: "c7c28c0b-4ea5-4e75-9728-3ba860081708"}}
+	c.Request = httptest.NewRequest(
+		"POST",
+		"/workspaces/c7c28c0b-4ea5-4e75-9728-3ba860081708/plugins",
+		bytes.NewBufferString(`{"source":"local://nonexistent-plugin"}`),
+	)
+	c.Request.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+
+	h.Install(c)
+
+	if w.Code == http.StatusUnprocessableEntity {
+		t.Errorf("runtime='claude-code' must fall through the external guard; got 422: %s", w.Body.String())
+	}
+	// The local resolver will fail to find the plugin → 404. Anything
+	// other than 422 (which would mean we mis-classified) is fine.
+	if w.Code != http.StatusNotFound {
+		t.Errorf("expected 404 (plugin not found in registry), got %d: %s", w.Code, w.Body.String())
+	}
+}
+
+// TestPluginInstall_NoRuntimeLookup_FailsOpen — when the runtime lookup
+// is unwired (test fixtures, niche deploy shapes) the guard MUST default
+// to allowing the install attempt. The downstream findRunningContainer
+// step still gates on a real container, so failing open here doesn't
+// expose a bypass — it just preserves backwards-compat with deployments
+// that haven't wired the lookup.
+func TestPluginInstall_NoRuntimeLookup_FailsOpen(t *testing.T) {
+	h := NewPluginsHandler(t.TempDir(), nil, nil) // NO WithRuntimeLookup
+
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	c, _ := gin.CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Params = gin.Params{{Key: "id", Value: "ws-no-lookup"}}
+	c.Request = httptest.NewRequest(
+		"POST",
+		"/workspaces/ws-no-lookup/plugins",
+		bytes.NewBufferString(`{"source":"local://nonexistent"}`),
+	)
+	c.Request.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+
+	h.Install(c)
+
+	if w.Code == http.StatusUnprocessableEntity {
+		t.Errorf("nil runtimeLookup must fall through (fail-open); got 422: %s", w.Body.String())
+	}
+}
+
+// TestPluginInstall_RuntimeLookupErrors_FailsOpen — same fail-open story
+// for transient DB errors in the lookup. We don't want a momentary
+// Postgres hiccup to flip every plugin install into a 422.
+func TestPluginInstall_RuntimeLookupErrors_FailsOpen(t *testing.T) {
+	h := NewPluginsHandler(t.TempDir(), nil, nil).
+		WithRuntimeLookup(func(workspaceID string) (string, error) {
+			return "", errFakeDB
+		})
+
+	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
+	c, _ := gin.CreateTestContext(w)
+	c.Params = gin.Params{{Key: "id", Value: "ws-db-flake"}}
+	c.Request = httptest.NewRequest(
+		"POST",
+		"/workspaces/ws-db-flake/plugins",
+		bytes.NewBufferString(`{"source":"local://nonexistent"}`),
+	)
+	c.Request.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+
+	h.Install(c)
+
+	if w.Code == http.StatusUnprocessableEntity {
+		t.Errorf("runtimeLookup error must fall through (fail-open); got 422: %s", w.Body.String())
+	}
+}
+
+// errFakeDB is a sentinel for the fail-open lookup-error case.
+var errFakeDB = &fakeError{msg: "synthetic db error"}
+
+type fakeError struct{ msg string }
+
+func (e *fakeError) Error() string { return e.msg }
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/runtime_registry.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/runtime_registry.go
@ -78,6 +78,10 @@ var fallbackRuntimes = map[string]struct{}{
 	"openclaw":    {},
 	"codex":       {},
 	"external":    {},
+	// mock — virtual workspace with hardcoded canned A2A replies.
+	// No container, no EC2, no template repo. See mock_runtime.go
+	// for the full rationale (200-workspace funding-demo org).
+	"mock": {},
 }

 // loadRuntimesFromManifest builds the runtime allowlist from
@ -104,6 +108,10 @@ func loadRuntimesFromManifest(path string) (map[string]struct{}, error) {
 		// the manifest doesn't know about it. Injected here so we
 		// don't need a special-case in every caller.
 		"external": {},
+		// mock is ALWAYS available for the same reason as external:
+		// virtual workspace, no template repo, never spawns a
+		// container. See mock_runtime.go.
+		"mock": {},
 	}
 	for _, e := range m.WorkspaceTemplates {
 		name := strings.TrimSpace(e.Name)
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_restart.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_restart.go
@ -112,6 +112,19 @@ func (h *WorkspaceHandler) Restart(c *gin.Context) {
 		return
 	}

+	// runtime=mock: virtual workspace with canned A2A replies. No
+	// container, no EC2, no provisioning state to recycle. Mirror
+	// the external no-op so the canvas's Restart button doesn't
+	// silently fail or leak through to the (template-less) provisioner.
+	if dbRuntime == "mock" {
+		c.JSON(http.StatusOK, gin.H{
+			"status":  "noop",
+			"runtime": "mock",
+			"message": "mock workspaces have no container — restart is a no-op",
+		})
+		return
+	}
+
 	// SaaS mode: cpProv handles workspace EC2 lifecycle. Self-hosted mode:
 	// provisioner handles local Docker containers. At least one must be
 	// available — previously only `provisioner` was checked, which broke
@ -532,7 +545,9 @@ func (h *WorkspaceHandler) runRestartCycle(workspaceID string) {
 	}

 	// Don't auto-restart external workspaces (no Docker container)
-	if dbRuntime == "external" {
+	// or mock workspaces (no container, every reply is canned —
+	// see workspace-server/internal/handlers/mock_runtime.go).
+	if dbRuntime == "external" || dbRuntime == "mock" {
 		return
 	}

--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_restart_coalesce_test.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_restart_coalesce_test.go
@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package handlers

 import (
+	"runtime"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"testing"
@ -15,6 +16,42 @@ func resetRestartStatesFor(workspaceID string) {
 	restartStates.Delete(workspaceID)
 }

+// drainCoalesceGoroutine spawns `coalesceRestart(wsID, cycle)` on a
+// goroutine that mirrors the real production caller shape
+// (`go h.RestartByID(...)` from a2a_proxy.go, a2a_proxy_helpers.go,
+// main.go), and registers a t.Cleanup that blocks until the goroutine
+// has TERMINATED — not just panicked-and-recovered, fully exited.
+//
+// This is the bleed-prevention contract for Class H (Task #170): no
+// test in this file may declare itself complete while a coalesceRestart
+// goroutine it spawned is still alive, because that goroutine could
+// otherwise wake up after the test's sqlmock has been closed and
+// either:
+//   - issue a stale INSERT that gets attributed to the next test's
+//     sqlmock connection — surfaces as
+//     "INSERT-not-expected for kind=DELEGATION_FAILED" / =WORKSPACE_PROVISION_FAILED
+//     in a neighbour test that doesn't itself touch coalesceRestart; or
+//   - hold a reference to the closed *sql.DB and panic on the next op.
+//
+// Implementation notes:
+//   - sync.WaitGroup must be Add()ed BEFORE the goroutine is spawned;
+//     Add inside the goroutine races with Wait.
+//   - t.Cleanup runs in LIFO order, so this composes safely with other
+//     cleanups (e.g. setupTestDB's mockDB.Close).
+//   - We don't bound the Wait with a timeout — if the goroutine
+//     genuinely deadlocks, the whole test process should hang and fail
+//     under -timeout. A timeout-then-orphan would mask the bleed.
+func drainCoalesceGoroutine(t *testing.T, wsID string, cycle func()) {
+	t.Helper()
+	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	wg.Add(1)
+	go func() {
+		defer wg.Done()
+		coalesceRestart(wsID, cycle)
+	}()
+	t.Cleanup(wg.Wait)
+}
+
 // TestCoalesceRestart_SingleCallRunsOneCycle is the baseline:
 // no concurrency, one cycle. If this fails the gate logic is broken at
 // its simplest path.
@ -200,19 +237,45 @@ func TestCoalesceRestart_PanicInCycleClearsState(t *testing.T) {
 	const wsID = "test-coalesce-panic-recovery"
 	resetRestartStatesFor(wsID)

-	// First call's cycle panics. coalesceRestart's defer must swallow
-	// the panic so this test caller doesn't see it propagate up — that
-	// matches what the real production caller (`go h.RestartByID(...)`)
-	// gets: the goroutine survives, no process crash.
-	defer func() {
-		if r := recover(); r != nil {
-			t.Errorf("panic should NOT propagate out of coalesceRestart (would crash the platform process from a goroutine), got: %v", r)
+	// Spawn the panicking cycle on a goroutine via drainCoalesceGoroutine
+	// — this mirrors the real production callsite shape
+	// (`go h.RestartByID(...)` from a2a_proxy.go:584,
+	// a2a_proxy_helpers.go:197, main.go:213). The previous form called
+	// coalesceRestart synchronously, which neither exercised the
+	// goroutine-survival contract nor caught Class H bleed regressions
+	// where the panic-recovery goroutine outlives the test and pollutes
+	// the next test's sqlmock with INSERTs from runRestartCycle's
+	// LogActivity calls (kinds DELEGATION_FAILED / WORKSPACE_PROVISION_FAILED).
+	//
+	// drainCoalesceGoroutine registers a t.Cleanup that Wait()s for the
+	// goroutine to TERMINATE — not merely panic-and-recover — before
+	// the test ends.
+	drainCoalesceGoroutine(t, wsID, func() { panic("simulated cycle failure") })
+
+	// We need a mid-test barrier (not just the t.Cleanup-time barrier)
+	// so the second coalesceRestart below sees state.running=false. The
+	// goroutine clears state.running inside its deferred recover; poll
+	// the package-level restartStates map until that observable flip
+	// happens. Bound at 2s — longer = real bug.
+	deadline := time.Now().Add(2 * time.Second)
+	for time.Now().Before(deadline) {
+		sv, ok := restartStates.Load(wsID)
+		if ok {
+			st := sv.(*restartState)
+			st.mu.Lock()
+			running := st.running
+			st.mu.Unlock()
+			if !running {
+				break
+			}
 		}
-	}()
-	coalesceRestart(wsID, func() { panic("simulated cycle failure") })
+		time.Sleep(time.Millisecond)
+	}

 	// Second call must run a fresh cycle. If running stayed true after
 	// the panic, this call would early-return without invoking cycle.
+	// Synchronous — no panic, so no goroutine to drain, and we want to
+	// assert ran.Load() immediately after.
 	var ran atomic.Bool
 	coalesceRestart(wsID, func() { ran.Store(true) })
 	if !ran.Load() {
@ -220,6 +283,98 @@ func TestCoalesceRestart_PanicInCycleClearsState(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }

+// TestCoalesceRestart_DrainHelperWaitsForGoroutineExit is the Class H
+// regression guard for Task #170. It asserts the contract enforced by
+// drainCoalesceGoroutine: t.Cleanup blocks until the spawned
+// coalesceRestart goroutine has FULLY EXITED — not merely recovered
+// from panic. This is the contract that prevents stale LogActivity
+// INSERTs from a recovering goroutine bleeding into the next test's
+// sqlmock (the failure mode reported as "INSERT-not-expected for
+// kind=DELEGATION_FAILED" in TestPooledWithEICTunnel_PreservesFnErr).
+//
+// We use a deterministic bleed-shape probe rather than goroutine-count
+// arithmetic: the cycle blocks on a release channel for ~150ms — long
+// enough that without a Wait barrier, the outer sub-test would return
+// before the goroutine exited. We then verify the wg.Wait inside
+// drainCoalesceGoroutine actually delayed t.Run's completion: total
+// elapsed must be >= the block duration. Asserts exact-shape, not
+// substring (per saved-memory feedback_assert_exact_not_substring):
+// elapsed < blockFor would mean the cleanup didn't wait, which is the
+// exact bleed we're guarding against.
+//
+// We additionally panic from the cycle (after the block) to confirm
+// the helper waits past panic recovery, not just past cycle return.
+func TestCoalesceRestart_DrainHelperWaitsForGoroutineExit(t *testing.T) {
+	const blockFor = 150 * time.Millisecond
+	const wsID = "test-coalesce-drain-helper-contract"
+	resetRestartStatesFor(wsID)
+
+	// done is closed inside the cycle, AFTER the block + AFTER the
+	// panic (which the deferred recover in coalesceRestart catches).
+	// Actually: defer in cycle runs before panic propagates to the
+	// outer recover. Use defer to close.
+	exited := make(chan struct{})
+
+	subStart := time.Now()
+	t.Run("drain_under_subtest", func(st *testing.T) {
+		drainCoalesceGoroutine(st, wsID, func() {
+			defer close(exited)
+			time.Sleep(blockFor)
+			panic("contract-test panic-after-block")
+		})
+		// st.Cleanup runs here, before t.Run returns. wg.Wait must
+		// block until the goroutine has finished its panic recovery.
+	})
+	subElapsed := time.Since(subStart)
+
+	// Contract: the helper's wg.Wait MUST have blocked t.Run from
+	// returning until after the cycle's block + panic recovery.
+	if subElapsed < blockFor {
+		t.Fatalf(
+			"drainCoalesceGoroutine contract violated: t.Run returned in %v, "+
+				"but cycle blocks for %v. The Wait barrier is broken — a "+
+				"coalesceRestart goroutine can outlive its test's t.Cleanup "+
+				"and pollute neighbour-test sqlmock state (Class H bleed).",
+			subElapsed, blockFor,
+		)
+	}
+
+	// And the goroutine must have actually closed `exited` (i.e. ran
+	// the deferred close before panic propagated through coalesceRestart's
+	// recover). If exited is still open here, the goroutine never
+	// reached the close — meaning either the panic short-circuited the
+	// defer (Go runtime bug — won't happen) or the goroutine never
+	// ran at all (drainCoalesceGoroutine spawn shape regressed).
+	select {
+	case <-exited:
+		// Correct path.
+	default:
+		t.Fatal("cycle goroutine never reached its deferred close — panic-recovery contract regressed")
+	}
+
+	// Belt-and-suspenders: the post-recover state-clear must have
+	// flipped state.running back to false. If this fails, the panic
+	// path skipped the deferred state-clear in coalesceRestart.
+	sv, ok := restartStates.Load(wsID)
+	if !ok {
+		t.Fatal("restartStates entry missing for wsID after cycle — sync.Map regression")
+	}
+	st := sv.(*restartState)
+	st.mu.Lock()
+	running := st.running
+	st.mu.Unlock()
+	if running {
+		t.Error("state.running was not cleared after panic — sticky-running deadlock regressed")
+	}
+
+	// Reference runtime.NumGoroutine to keep the runtime import
+	// honest — also a useful smoke check that the goroutine count
+	// hasn't ballooned 10x while debugging this test.
+	if n := runtime.NumGoroutine(); n > 200 {
+		t.Logf("warning: NumGoroutine=%d after drain — high but not necessarily a leak", n)
+	}
+}
+
 // TestCoalesceRestart_DifferentWorkspacesDoNotSerialize verifies the
 // per-workspace state map: an in-flight restart for ws A must not
 // block restarts for ws B. Important for performance — without this,
--- a/workspace-server/internal/provisioner/provisioner.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/provisioner/provisioner.go
@ -1073,18 +1073,53 @@ func (p *Provisioner) IsRunning(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string) (bool,
 	if p == nil || p.cli == nil {
 		return false, ErrNoBackend
 	}
-	name := ContainerName(workspaceID)
-	info, err := p.cli.ContainerInspect(ctx, name)
+	name, err := RunningContainerName(ctx, p.cli, workspaceID)
 	if err != nil {
-		if isContainerNotFound(err) {
-			return false, nil
-		}
 		// Transient daemon error: caller treats !running as dead + restarts.
 		// Returning true + the underlying error preserves the error for
 		// metrics/logging without triggering the destructive path.
 		return true, err
 	}
-	return info.State.Running, nil
+	return name != "", nil
+}
+
+// RunningContainerName returns the container name for workspaceID iff the
+// container exists AND is in the Running state. Single source of truth for
+// "what live container should I exec into for this workspace?" — used by
+// both Provisioner.IsRunning (healthsweep) and the plugins handler.
+//
+// Distinguishes three outcomes so callers can pick their own policy:
+//
+//   - ("ws-<id>", nil): container is running. Caller can exec into it.
+//   - ("",        nil): container does not exist OR exists but is stopped
+//                       (NotFound, Exited, Created, Restarting…). Caller
+//                       should treat as a definitive "not running."
+//   - ("",        err): transient daemon error (timeout, socket EOF, ctx
+//                       cancel). Caller should NOT infer "not running" —
+//                       this could be a flaky daemon under load. Decide
+//                       per-callsite whether to fail soft or hard.
+//
+// Background — molecule-core#10: the plugins handler used to carry its own
+// copy of this inspect logic (`findRunningContainer`) which collapsed
+// transient errors into the same "" return as a genuinely-stopped container.
+// That hid daemon flakes as misleading 503 "container not running" responses
+// AND let the two impls drift on edge-case behavior. This is the SSOT.
+func RunningContainerName(ctx context.Context, cli *client.Client, workspaceID string) (string, error) {
+	if cli == nil {
+		return "", ErrNoBackend
+	}
+	name := ContainerName(workspaceID)
+	info, err := cli.ContainerInspect(ctx, name)
+	if err != nil {
+		if isContainerNotFound(err) {
+			return "", nil
+		}
+		return "", err
+	}
+	if info.State.Running {
+		return name, nil
+	}
+	return "", nil
 }

 // isContainerNotFound returns true when the Docker client indicates the
--- a/workspace-server/internal/registry/healthsweep.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/registry/healthsweep.go
@ -71,9 +71,15 @@ func StartHealthSweep(ctx context.Context, checker ContainerChecker, interval ti
 }

 func sweepOnlineWorkspaces(ctx context.Context, checker ContainerChecker, onOffline OfflineHandler) {
-	// Skip external workspaces (runtime='external') — they have no Docker container
+	// Skip external + mock workspaces — neither has a Docker container.
+	// external: agent runs on operator's laptop, polled via heartbeat.
+	// mock: virtual workspace, every reply is canned (see
+	// workspace-server/internal/handlers/mock_runtime.go). Both would
+	// false-positive as "container gone" on every sweep tick and
+	// auto-restart would loop forever (provisioner has no template
+	// for either runtime).
 	rows, err := db.DB.QueryContext(ctx,
-		`SELECT id FROM workspaces WHERE status IN ('online', 'degraded') AND COALESCE(runtime, 'langgraph') != 'external'`)
+		`SELECT id FROM workspaces WHERE status IN ('online', 'degraded') AND COALESCE(runtime, 'langgraph') NOT IN ('external', 'mock')`)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Printf("Health sweep: query error: %v", err)
 		return
--- a/workspace-server/internal/registry/orphan_sweeper.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/registry/orphan_sweeper.go
@ -413,22 +413,20 @@ func sweepStaleTokensWithoutContainer(ctx context.Context, reaper OrphanReaper)
 	// `"5m0s"` mismatch with Postgres interval grammar; passing seconds
 	// as an int keeps the binding portable.
 	graceSeconds := int(staleTokenGrace.Seconds())
-	// `runtime != 'external'` is load-bearing: external workspaces have NO
-	// local container by design (the agent runs off-host), so the
-	// "no live container" predicate below would match every external
-	// workspace and revoke its token. The token is the off-host agent's
-	// only authentication credential — revoking breaks the entire
-	// external-runtime feature. Discovered 2026-05-03 when a fresh
-	// external workspace had its token silently revoked ~6 minutes after
-	// creation by this sweep, killing the operator's MCP heartbeat and
-	// inbox poll with `HTTP 401 — token may be revoked`.
+	// `runtime NOT IN ('external','mock')` is load-bearing: neither
+	// runtime has a local container, so the "no live container"
+	// predicate below would match every row and revoke its token.
+	// external: token is the off-host agent's only credential —
+	// revoking breaks the entire external-runtime feature
+	// (incident 2026-05-03). mock: same shape — no container by
+	// design, see workspace-server/internal/handlers/mock_runtime.go.
 	rows, qErr := db.DB.QueryContext(ctx, `
 		SELECT DISTINCT t.workspace_id::text
 		  FROM workspace_auth_tokens t
 		  JOIN workspaces w ON w.id = t.workspace_id
 		 WHERE t.revoked_at IS NULL
 		   AND w.status NOT IN ('removed', 'provisioning')
-		   AND w.runtime != 'external'
+		   AND w.runtime NOT IN ('external', 'mock')
 		   AND COALESCE(t.last_used_at, t.created_at) < now() - make_interval(secs => $2)
 		   AND (
 		         cardinality($1::text[]) = 0
--- a/workspace-server/internal/registry/orphan_sweeper_test.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/registry/orphan_sweeper_test.go
@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ import (
 // accidentally matching a future query that opens with the same column
 // name OR a regression that drops one of the load-bearing predicates.
 func expectStaleTokenSweepNoOp(mock sqlmock.Sqlmock) {
-	mock.ExpectQuery(`(?s)^\s*SELECT DISTINCT t\.workspace_id::text\s+FROM workspace_auth_tokens.*status NOT IN \('removed', 'provisioning'\).*runtime != 'external'`).
+	mock.ExpectQuery(`(?s)^\s*SELECT DISTINCT t\.workspace_id::text\s+FROM workspace_auth_tokens.*status NOT IN \('removed', 'provisioning'\).*runtime NOT IN \('external', 'mock'\)`).
 		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"workspace_id"}))
 }

@ -492,7 +492,7 @@ func TestSweepOnce_StaleTokenRevokeFiresWhenNoContainer(t *testing.T) {
 	// excludes 'external' (2026-05-03 fix — the sweep was incorrectly
 	// targeting external workspaces which have no container by design),
 	// and the staleness predicate appears in the SELECT.
-	mock.ExpectQuery(`(?s)^\s*SELECT DISTINCT t\.workspace_id::text\s+FROM workspace_auth_tokens.*status NOT IN \('removed', 'provisioning'\).*runtime != 'external'.*COALESCE\(t\.last_used_at, t\.created_at\) < now\(\) - make_interval`).
+	mock.ExpectQuery(`(?s)^\s*SELECT DISTINCT t\.workspace_id::text\s+FROM workspace_auth_tokens.*status NOT IN \('removed', 'provisioning'\).*runtime NOT IN \('external', 'mock'\).*COALESCE\(t\.last_used_at, t\.created_at\) < now\(\) - make_interval`).
 		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"workspace_id"}).
 			AddRow(orphanedID))

@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ func TestSweepOnce_StaleTokenRevokeFailureBailsLoop(t *testing.T) {

 	// Third-pass returns two stale-token workspaces; the first revoke
 	// errors. Loop must bail without attempting the second.
-	mock.ExpectQuery(`(?s)^\s*SELECT DISTINCT t\.workspace_id::text\s+FROM workspace_auth_tokens.*status NOT IN \('removed', 'provisioning'\).*runtime != 'external'`).
+	mock.ExpectQuery(`(?s)^\s*SELECT DISTINCT t\.workspace_id::text\s+FROM workspace_auth_tokens.*status NOT IN \('removed', 'provisioning'\).*runtime NOT IN \('external', 'mock'\)`).
 		WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"workspace_id"}).
 			AddRow("aaaa1111-0000-0000-0000-000000000000").
 			AddRow("bbbb2222-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"))