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Add setting for MUX: choose what to do with coder workspace after "Archive chat" #3042

@truebest

Description

@truebest

Description:
Please add a setting that lets the user decide what should happen to the coder workspace after clicking “Archive chat” in MUX.

Suggested options:

  • Keep workspace - don’t change anything, just archive the chat.
  • Stop workspace - that we currently have.
  • Delete workspace - completely remove the workspace.
  • Custom action (optional) — allow users to run a custom script/command.

Motivation:
Right now, archiving a chat automatically stops the coder workspace, but users can’t choose another action. Sometimes stopping isn’t enough: you may want to keep the workspace running (e.g., for background jobs), or delete it immediately to save resources, or run a custom cleanup script. Making this behavior configurable would help teams avoid accidental loss, wasted resources, or manual re-starts.

My current use case:
I’m personally using Bazel in my project, and it has one major limitation: there is a single Bazel cache server, which means you can’t run multiple Bazel builds from different source folders at the same time. Because of that, I have to use a separate container/workspace for each chat in MUX.

Once a chat is done and I’ve pushed the changes to a remote, sometimes I’d prefer to keep the workspace running, since all dependencies are already downloaded and it could be reused for another task. But this also creates extra complexity: with N workspaces, I have to manually pick a free one to continue work.

The ideal scenario for me would be:

  • While I’m actively using/working in a chat, I want the workspace linked to that chat.
  • When I close/archive the chat, I’m typically ready to delete the workspace and start fresh for the next one.
  • But sometimes, I may want to keep it running for a while or trigger a specific action.

Letting users pick the post-archive action for the workspace would make life much easier for anyone working with Bazel or other cache-sensitive tools.

Use case:

  • User archives a chat and can pick the workspace fate: keep running, stop, delete, or trigger a script.
  • No more confusion about whether background jobs are killed, data is preserved, or resources are freed.
  • Makes workflow safer and clearer for all types of users.

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