workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace.go

@@ -734,6 +734,21 @@ func (h *WorkspaceHandler) Create(c *gin.Context) {
 		}
 	}
 
+	// RFC#2843 #33: persist the template name so the RESTART / re-provision path
+	// can re-deliver the SAME template's config.yaml + prompts (and re-run the
+	// declared-plugin reconcile). Without this, the auto-restart cycle rebuilds
+	// the provision payload with template="" → the SaaS re-provision has no
+	// TemplateIdentity → config degrades to a 218-byte stub and skills drop on
+	// every restart. Non-fatal: a write failure must not abort an otherwise-good
+	// create (the row is live; restart just falls back to the old stub behavior).
+	if t := strings.TrimSpace(payload.Template); t != "" {
+		if _, dbErr := tx.ExecContext(ctx,
+			`UPDATE workspaces SET template = $2, updated_at = now() WHERE id = $1`,
+			id, t); dbErr != nil {
+			log.Printf("Create workspace %s: failed to persist template %q: %v (continuing — restart will fall back to stub config)", id, t, dbErr)
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Persist initial secrets from the create payload (inside same transaction).
 	// nil/empty map is a no-op.  Any failure rolls back the workspace insert
 	// so we never have a workspace row without its intended secrets.

workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_compute.go

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
+	"strings"
 
 	"git.moleculesai.app/molecule-ai/molecule-core/workspace-server/internal/db"
 	"git.moleculesai.app/molecule-ai/molecule-core/workspace-server/internal/models"
@@ -526,6 +527,30 @@ func withStoredCompute(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string, payload models.C
 	return payload
 }
 
+// storedWorkspaceTemplate returns the template a workspace was created from
+// (workspaces.template), or "" if none / unavailable. RFC#2843 #33: the
+// auto-restart cycle uses this to restore payload.Template on the SaaS
+// re-provision so config.yaml + prompts (and the declared-plugin reconcile)
+// are re-delivered from the SAME template — instead of re-provisioning with
+// template="" which degraded the box to a 218-byte stub and dropped skills.
+// Fail-soft: any error (missing column on an un-migrated DB, no row) → "".
+func storedWorkspaceTemplate(ctx context.Context, workspaceID string) string {
+	if db.DB == nil {
+		return ""
+	}
+	var tmpl string
+	if err := db.DB.QueryRowContext(ctx,
+		`SELECT COALESCE(template, '') FROM workspaces WHERE id = $1`,
+		workspaceID,
+	).Scan(&tmpl); err != nil {
+		if err != sql.ErrNoRows {
+			log.Printf("storedWorkspaceTemplate: load template for %s failed: %v", workspaceID, err)
+		}
+		return ""
+	}
+	return strings.TrimSpace(tmpl)
+}
+
 // workspaceComputeOptionsResponse is the SSOT payload the canvas Container-Config
 // tab consumes to populate its provider + instance-type dropdowns (core#2489).
 // It is derived entirely from the allowlist + defaults in this file, so the UI

workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_restart.go

@@ -984,6 +984,18 @@ func (h *WorkspaceHandler) runRestartCycle(workspaceID string) {
 	// Runtime from DB — no more config file parsing
 	payload := withStoredCompute(ctx, workspaceID, models.CreateWorkspacePayload{Name: wsName, Tier: tier, Runtime: dbRuntime})
 
+	// RFC#2843 #33: on SaaS (cpProv), restore the persisted template so the
+	// re-provision re-delivers config.yaml + prompts — TemplateIdentity is
+	// derived from payload.Template (workspace_provision.go). Without this the
+	// SaaS re-provision ran with template="" → 218-byte stub config + dropped
+	// skills on every restart. Docker keeps its persistent config volume, so it
+	// retains the "do not re-apply templates" behavior (template left empty).
+	if h.cpProv != nil {
+		if storedTmpl := storedWorkspaceTemplate(ctx, workspaceID); storedTmpl != "" {
+			payload.Template = storedTmpl
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Snapshot restart-context data before the new session overwrites
 	// last_heartbeat_at. Issue #19 Layer 1.
 	restartData := loadRestartContextData(ctx, workspaceID)
@@ -1185,6 +1197,13 @@ func (h *WorkspaceHandler) Resume(c *gin.Context) {
 			"name": ws.name, "tier": ws.tier, "runtime": ws.runtime,
 		})
 		payload := withStoredCompute(ctx, ws.id, models.CreateWorkspacePayload{Name: ws.name, Tier: ws.tier, Runtime: ws.runtime})
+		// RFC#2843 #33: restore the persisted template on SaaS resume so config +
+		// prompts re-deliver (see runRestartCycle for the full rationale).
+		if h.cpProv != nil {
+			if storedTmpl := storedWorkspaceTemplate(ctx, ws.id); storedTmpl != "" {
+				payload.Template = storedTmpl
+			}
+		}
 		// Resume is provision-only (workspace is paused, no live container
 		// to stop). provisionWorkspaceAuto handles backend routing and the
 		// no-backend mark-failed fallback identically to Create. Pre-

workspace-server/internal/handlers/workspace_template_restore_test.go

@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+package handlers
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/DATA-DOG/go-sqlmock"
+)
+
+// TestStoredWorkspaceTemplate pins the RFC#2843 #33 restart-restore reader:
+// the auto-restart cycle reads the persisted workspaces.template so the SaaS
+// re-provision re-delivers config.yaml + prompts (TemplateIdentity is derived
+// from payload.Template) instead of degrading to a 218-byte stub.
+func TestStoredWorkspaceTemplate(t *testing.T) {
+	mock := setupTestDB(t)
+	const wsID = "ws-tmpl-1"
+
+	t.Run("returns persisted template", func(t *testing.T) {
+		mock.ExpectQuery(`SELECT COALESCE\(template, ''\) FROM workspaces WHERE id`).
+			WithArgs(wsID).
+			WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"template"}).AddRow("seo-agent"))
+		if got := storedWorkspaceTemplate(context.Background(), wsID); got != "seo-agent" {
+			t.Fatalf("storedWorkspaceTemplate = %q, want seo-agent", got)
+		}
+	})
+
+	t.Run("empty template → empty string (default/blank workspace)", func(t *testing.T) {
+		mock.ExpectQuery(`SELECT COALESCE\(template, ''\) FROM workspaces WHERE id`).
+			WithArgs(wsID).
+			WillReturnRows(sqlmock.NewRows([]string{"template"}).AddRow(""))
+		if got := storedWorkspaceTemplate(context.Background(), wsID); got != "" {
+			t.Fatalf("storedWorkspaceTemplate = %q, want empty", got)
+		}
+	})
+}

workspace-server/migrations/20260617000000_workspaces_template.down.sql

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+ALTER TABLE workspaces DROP COLUMN IF EXISTS template;

workspace-server/migrations/20260617000000_workspaces_template.up.sql

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+-- workspaces.template: the template a workspace was created from (the
+-- workspace-configs-templates folder name, e.g. "seo-agent"). Persisted at
+-- create time so the RESTART / re-provision path can re-deliver the SAME
+-- template's config.yaml + prompts (and re-run the declared-plugin reconcile)
+-- instead of re-provisioning with template="" — which silently degraded the
+-- box to a 218-byte stub config and dropped its skills on EVERY restart
+-- (RFC#2843 #32 keystone / #33; root-caused 2026-06-17 from live tenant-box
+-- logs: the auto-restart cycle rebuilt the provision payload with Name/Tier/
+-- Runtime only, never the template, so the SaaS re-provision had no
+-- TemplateIdentity to fetch assets from).
+--
+-- Empty string = no template (default/blank workspaces). NOT NULL DEFAULT ''
+-- keeps existing rows valid and the restart-side read trivial (no NULL handling).
+-- Idempotent + additive.
+ALTER TABLE workspaces ADD COLUMN IF NOT EXISTS template TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '';