diff --git a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_compute.go b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_compute.go
index 0824a655b..3a105d988 100644
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_compute.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_compute.go
@@ -112,7 +112,12 @@ func workspaceComputeIsZero(compute models.WorkspaceCompute) bool {
 		compute.Display.Mode == "" &&
 		compute.Display.Width == 0 &&
 		compute.Display.Height == 0 &&
-		compute.Display.Protocol == ""
+		compute.Display.Protocol == "" &&
+		// A provider- or persistence-only compute is NOT zero — it must
+		// round-trip so GET returns those fields (canvas provider badge +
+		// data-persistence selector both read them back).
+		compute.Provider == "" &&
+		compute.DataPersistence == ""
 }
 
 func workspaceComputeJSON(compute models.WorkspaceCompute) (string, error) {
@@ -142,6 +147,17 @@ func workspaceComputeJSON(compute models.WorkspaceCompute) (string, error) {
 	if len(display) > 0 {
 		out["display"] = display
 	}
+	// Cloud/compute provider + durable-data choice. These were FORWARDED to CP
+	// at provision time but never serialized back here, so GET /workspaces
+	// dropped them — the canvas provider badge always showed the default AWS and
+	// the data-persistence selector always showed "auto". Round-trip them (still
+	// omit-when-empty, so existing AWS/default rows serialize unchanged).
+	if compute.Provider != "" {
+		out["provider"] = compute.Provider
+	}
+	if compute.DataPersistence != "" {
+		out["data_persistence"] = compute.DataPersistence
+	}
 	b, err := json.Marshal(out)
 	if err != nil {
 		return "", err
diff --git a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_compute_test.go b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_compute_test.go
index a85d55cc1..ba1c38ab1 100644
--- a/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_compute_test.go
+++ b/workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_compute_test.go
@@ -93,6 +93,38 @@ func TestWorkspaceComputeJSON_OmitsEmptyNestedSections(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// Regression: provider + data_persistence were FORWARDED to CP but dropped from
+// the serialized compute, so GET /workspaces never returned them (the canvas
+// provider badge always showed AWS, the persistence selector always "auto").
+func TestWorkspaceComputeJSON_RoundTripsProviderAndDataPersistence(t *testing.T) {
+	got, err := workspaceComputeJSON(models.WorkspaceCompute{
+		InstanceType:    "t3.medium",
+		Provider:        "gcp",
+		DataPersistence: "persist",
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("workspaceComputeJSON returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, `"provider":"gcp"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("workspaceComputeJSON dropped provider: %s", got)
+	}
+	if !strings.Contains(got, `"data_persistence":"persist"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("workspaceComputeJSON dropped data_persistence: %s", got)
+	}
+}
+
+// A provider-only compute must NOT be treated as zero (else it serializes to
+// "{}" and the cloud is lost).
+func TestWorkspaceComputeJSON_ProviderOnlyIsNotZero(t *testing.T) {
+	got, err := workspaceComputeJSON(models.WorkspaceCompute{Provider: "hetzner"})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("workspaceComputeJSON returned error: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got == "{}" || !strings.Contains(got, `"provider":"hetzner"`) {
+		t.Fatalf("provider-only compute serialized as zero: %s", got)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestWorkspaceCreate_WithCompute_PersistsComputeJSON(t *testing.T) {
 	mock := setupTestDB(t)
 	setupTestRedis(t)