From ff3959b734ef9c1ff2fef2fd527de55340cee76b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: isaacclad <clad.impressions@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 26 Jun 2026 22:09:45 +0000
Subject: [PATCH] Fix browser terminal falsely reporting 'failed to start'
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createSession only waited 2.5s for the worker to flip starting->running, but
the worker cold-boots the framework (php artisan) + opens the shell, which under
load exceeds that. On timeout it also overwrote the (healthy) worker's metadata
to status=failed, so customers saw 'Terminal worker failed to start' even though
the shell was live. Wait up to 8s and return early once status is known; never
fabricate a failure — the worker records real boot errors itself.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 .../Hosting/BrowserTerminalSessionManager.php | 38 +++++++------------
 1 file changed, 14 insertions(+), 24 deletions(-)

diff --git a/app/Services/Hosting/BrowserTerminalSessionManager.php b/app/Services/Hosting/BrowserTerminalSessionManager.php
index fb1e57f..ad7cb70 100644
--- a/app/Services/Hosting/BrowserTerminalSessionManager.php
+++ b/app/Services/Hosting/BrowserTerminalSessionManager.php
@@ -10,6 +10,11 @@ class BrowserTerminalSessionManager
 {
     private const IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 120;
 
+    // How long createSession() waits for the worker to cold-boot the framework
+    // and open the shell before returning. Generous so a slow/loaded boot isn't
+    // mistaken for a failure; the wait returns early once the status is known.
+    private const STARTUP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS = 8.0;
+
     public function createSession(HostingAccount $account, int $userId, string $relativePath = '/public_html', int $cols = 120, int $rows = 30): array
     {
         $sessionId = (string) Str::uuid();
@@ -334,7 +339,9 @@ class BrowserTerminalSessionManager
 
     private function waitForWorkerStartup(string $sessionId, array $metadata): array
     {
-        $deadline = microtime(true) + 2.5;
+        // The loop returns the moment status leaves "starting" (running OR a
+        // genuine error the worker recorded), so a fast boot still returns fast.
+        $deadline = microtime(true) + self::STARTUP_TIMEOUT_SECONDS;
 
         while (microtime(true) < $deadline) {
             usleep(100000);
@@ -346,28 +353,11 @@ class BrowserTerminalSessionManager
             }
         }
 
-        $metadata['status'] = 'failed';
-        $metadata['exit_code'] = 1;
-        $metadata['closed_at'] = now()->toIso8601String();
-        $metadata['error'] = $this->workerBootstrapError($sessionId);
-        $this->writeMetadata($sessionId, $metadata);
-
-        return $metadata;
-    }
-
-    private function workerBootstrapError(string $sessionId): string
-    {
-        $output = trim((string) @file_get_contents($this->outputLogPath($sessionId)));
-
-        if ($output !== '') {
-            $lines = preg_split("/\r\n|\n|\r/", $output) ?: [];
-            $tail = trim((string) end($lines));
-
-            if ($tail !== '') {
-                return 'Terminal worker failed to start: '.$tail;
-            }
-        }
-
-        return 'Terminal worker failed to start.';
+        // Still starting after the wait: do NOT fabricate a failure — that also
+        // clobbered workers that were about to come up, which is exactly what made
+        // healthy terminals report "failed to start". Return current metadata; the
+        // browser keeps polling and the worker writes a real error itself if boot
+        // ultimately fails.
+        return $this->readWorkerMetadata($sessionId);
     }
 }