From fd3b62ce6fee9f5244e7e8de36d37448be3b2d4a Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: mptyl <mp@tylconsulting.it>
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2026 17:43:10 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] refactor: stop persisting workspace state in the browser

---
 frontend/src/api/sessions.test.ts             |  28 ++--
 frontend/src/api/sessions.ts                  |   4 +-
 .../src/shell/AppShell.new-session.test.tsx   |   4 +-
 frontend/src/shell/NewSessionDialog.test.tsx  |   7 +-
 frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.test.tsx        |  33 +++--
 frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.tsx             |   2 +-
 frontend/src/test/setup.ts                    |   2 +
 frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.test.ts        | 139 ++----------------
 frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.ts             | 123 ----------------
 frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.test.ts   |  32 +++-
 frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.ts        |  37 ++---
 11 files changed, 101 insertions(+), 310 deletions(-)

diff --git a/frontend/src/api/sessions.test.ts b/frontend/src/api/sessions.test.ts
index a79e8249..996bb93c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/api/sessions.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/api/sessions.test.ts
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ import {
   renameSession, setSessionGroup, archiveSession, unarchiveSession,
   deleteSession, getSessionDocuments,
 } from "./sessions";
+import { workspacePreferences } from "../workspaces/preferences";
 
-test("createSession migrates legacy selections and POSTs browser preferences", async () => {
+test("createSession seeds ephemeral selections and posts them", async () => {
   localStorage.clear();
   let body: unknown = null;
   server.use(
@@ -33,15 +34,16 @@ test("createSession migrates legacy selections and POSTs browser preferences", a
   expect(body).toEqual({
     question: "q", workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "low",
   });
-  expect(JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences")!)).toEqual({
+  expect(workspacePreferences.load()).toEqual({
     workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "low",
   });
+  expect(localStorage.getItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences")).toBeNull();
 });
 
 test("createSession does not POST when a selected summary aliases another workspace name", async () => {
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "low",
-  }));
+  });
   let posted = false;
   server.use(
     http.get("/api/workspaces", () => HttpResponse.json([{
@@ -74,9 +76,9 @@ test.each([
   ["an unknown revision field", { generation: 1 }],
   ["a malformed revision", { commit: "not-a-commit" }],
 ])("createSession does not POST when the selected summary revision has %s", async (_case, revisionPatch) => {
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "low",
-  }));
+  });
   const revision = {
     id: "psd-clinical", commit: "a".repeat(40), blob: "b".repeat(40),
     snapshotPath: "/snapshot", ...revisionPatch,
@@ -107,10 +109,10 @@ test.each([
   expect(posted).toBe(false);
 });
 
-test("createSession replaces a stale browser workspace with the current installation default", async () => {
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+test("createSession replaces a stale ephemeral workspace with the current installation default", async () => {
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "retired-workspace", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "low",
-  }));
+  });
   let body: unknown;
   server.use(
     http.get("/api/settings", () => HttpResponse.json({ workspace: "psd-clinical" })),
@@ -137,15 +139,15 @@ test("createSession replaces a stale browser workspace with the current installa
     question: "q", workspaceId: "psd-clinical",
     provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "low",
   });
-  expect(JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences")!)).toEqual({
+  expect(workspacePreferences.load()).toEqual({
     workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "low",
   });
 });
 
 test("createSession preserves a local legacy selection when the registry is empty", async () => {
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "legacy-workspace", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "low",
-  }));
+  });
   let body: unknown;
   server.use(
     http.get("/api/workspaces", () => HttpResponse.json([])),
@@ -182,7 +184,7 @@ test("createSession rejects a workspace summary that omits the canonical revisio
   );
 
   await expect(createSession({ question: "q" })).rejects.toMatchObject({
-    message: "Could not load selected workspace policy. Please retry.",
+    message: "Could not load workspace registry. Please retry.",
   });
   expect(posted).toBe(false);
 });
diff --git a/frontend/src/api/sessions.ts b/frontend/src/api/sessions.ts
index 508f5d94..30e918e1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/api/sessions.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/api/sessions.ts
@@ -15,8 +15,8 @@ async function selectedPreferences(): Promise<WorkspacePreference> {
   const saved = workspacePreferences.load();
   if (saved.workspaceId && saved.provider && saved.model && saved.thinking) return saved;
 
-  // A direct new-session entry point can run before the composer has mounted. Seed its
-  // browser-local preferences from the legacy read-only defaults once, then keep them local.
+  // A direct new-session entry point can run before the composer has mounted. Seed current
+  // application memory from the installation defaults once, then keep choices ephemeral.
   const legacy = await getSettings();
   return workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: saved.workspaceId ?? legacy.workspace,
diff --git a/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.new-session.test.tsx b/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.new-session.test.tsx
index a7c5a14d..737c91a1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.new-session.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/shell/AppShell.new-session.test.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { server } from "../test/msw";
 import { FakeEventSource } from "../test/fakeEventSource";
 import { useSessionStore } from "../store/sessionStore";
 import { AppShell } from "./AppShell";
+import { workspacePreferences } from "../workspaces/preferences";
 
 function renderShell() {
   const client = new QueryClient({ defaultOptions: { queries: { retry: false } } });
@@ -143,8 +144,7 @@ test("model selector shows the three Pi-enabled models and stores the selected p
     ]);
   });
   await userEvent.selectOptions(select, "qwen3.6-35b-a3b");
-  await waitFor(() => expect(JSON.parse(localStorage.getItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences")!))
-    .toEqual({
+  await waitFor(() => expect(workspacePreferences.load()).toEqual({
       workspaceId: "default", provider: "local-qwen", model: "qwen3.6-35b-a3b", thinking: "low",
     }));
 });
diff --git a/frontend/src/shell/NewSessionDialog.test.tsx b/frontend/src/shell/NewSessionDialog.test.tsx
index 3d48f423..9c376b05 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shell/NewSessionDialog.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/shell/NewSessionDialog.test.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { server } from "../test/msw";
 import { canonicalWorkspaceFixture, workspaceRevisionFixture, workspaceSummaryFixture } from "../test/workspace-fixtures";
 import { NewSessionDialog } from "./NewSessionDialog";
+import { workspacePreferences } from "../workspaces/preferences";
 
 function renderDialog() {
   const onCreated = vi.fn();
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ test("the form has only a question field (no workspace/model/provider/thinking)"
   expect(screen.queryByLabelText(/thinking/i)).not.toBeInTheDocument();
 });
 
-test("submitting includes browser-local migrated preferences and calls onCreated", async () => {
+test("submitting includes ephemeral migrated preferences and calls onCreated", async () => {
   localStorage.clear();
   let body: unknown = null;
   server.use(
@@ -71,9 +72,9 @@ test("first-run direct dialog creation waits for registry policy without a mount
   const revision = {
     id: "psd-clinical", commit: "a".repeat(40), blob: "b".repeat(40), snapshotPath: "/snapshot",
   };
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "deepseek", model: "deepseek-v4-pro", thinking: "medium",
-  }));
+  });
   server.use(
     http.get("/api/workspaces", () => {
       summaryRequestStarted = true;
diff --git a/frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.test.tsx b/frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.test.tsx
index 6366e058..903810db 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.test.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.test.tsx
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { QueryClient, QueryClientProvider } from "@tanstack/react-query";
 import { server } from "../test/msw";
 import { canonicalWorkspaceFixture, workspaceSummaryFixture } from "../test/workspace-fixtures";
 import { useSessionStore } from "../store/sessionStore";
+import { workspacePreferences } from "../workspaces/preferences";
 import { ComposerFooter, ContextGauge, SteerInput } from "./SteerInput";
 
 beforeEach(() => {
@@ -17,11 +18,11 @@ beforeEach(() => {
   );
 });
 
-test("new sessions send the browser-selected workspace, model, provider, and thinking", async () => {
+test("new sessions send the ephemeral workspace, model, provider, and thinking", async () => {
   let body: unknown;
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "high",
-  }));
+  });
   server.use(
     http.get("/api/workspaces", () => HttpResponse.json([{
       ...workspaceSummaryFixture("psd-clinical", {
@@ -203,9 +204,9 @@ test("footer limits model choices to the selected workspace policy", async () =>
 
 test("switching workspaces replaces an out-of-policy model before session creation", async () => {
   let body: unknown;
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "research", provider: "deepseek", model: "deepseek-v4-pro", thinking: "medium",
-  }));
+  });
   const revision = (id: string) => ({
     id, commit: "a".repeat(40), blob: "b".repeat(40), snapshotPath: "/snapshot",
   });
@@ -256,9 +257,9 @@ test("immediate submit waits for a switched workspace policy before creating a s
   let releasePolicy!: () => void;
   let policyRequestStarted = false;
   const policyMayFinish = new Promise<void>((resolve) => { releasePolicy = resolve; });
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "research", provider: "deepseek", model: "deepseek-v4-pro", thinking: "medium",
-  }));
+  });
   const revision = (id: string) => ({
     id, commit: "a".repeat(40), blob: "b".repeat(40), snapshotPath: "/snapshot",
   });
@@ -312,9 +313,9 @@ test("initial restored workspace waits for its delayed policy before creating a
   let releasePolicy!: () => void;
   let policyRequestStarted = false;
   const policyMayFinish = new Promise<void>((resolve) => { releasePolicy = resolve; });
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "deepseek", model: "deepseek-v4-pro", thinking: "medium",
-  }));
+  });
   const revision = (id: string) => ({
     id, commit: "a".repeat(40), blob: "b".repeat(40), snapshotPath: "/snapshot",
   });
@@ -359,9 +360,9 @@ test("initial restored workspace waits for its delayed policy before creating a
 test("initial submit rejects a workspace summary that omits the canonical revision", async () => {
   let body: unknown;
   let failure: string | undefined;
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "broken-workspace", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "medium",
-  }));
+  });
   server.use(
     http.get("/api/settings", () => HttpResponse.json({ workspace: "broken-workspace" })),
     http.get("/api/workspaces", () => HttpResponse.json([{
@@ -384,7 +385,7 @@ test("initial submit rejects a workspace summary that omits the canonical revisi
   await userEvent.type(screen.getByRole("textbox", { name: /new question/i }), "q");
   await userEvent.click(screen.getByRole("button", { name: /send/i }));
 
-  await waitFor(() => expect(failure).toBe("Could not load selected workspace policy. Please retry."));
+  await waitFor(() => expect(failure).toBe("Could not load workspace registry. Please retry."));
   expect(body).toBeUndefined();
 });
 
@@ -392,9 +393,9 @@ test("failed workspace summaries block creation and report a safe error", async
   let body: unknown;
   let failure: string | undefined;
   let summaryRequestFailed = false;
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "medium",
-  }));
+  });
   server.use(
     http.get("/api/settings", () => HttpResponse.json({ workspace: "psd-clinical" })),
     http.get("/api/workspaces", () => {
@@ -432,9 +433,9 @@ test("submit follows a rapid workspace switch instead of waiting for an abandone
   let bPolicyRequestStarted = false;
   let cPolicyRequestStarted = false;
   const cPolicyMayFinish = new Promise<void>((resolve) => { releaseC = resolve; });
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences", JSON.stringify({
+  workspacePreferences.save({
     workspaceId: "research", provider: "deepseek", model: "deepseek-v4-pro", thinking: "medium",
-  }));
+  });
   const revision = (id: string) => ({
     id, commit: "a".repeat(40), blob: "b".repeat(40), snapshotPath: "/snapshot",
   });
diff --git a/frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.tsx b/frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.tsx
index 59194b92..0e4c721a 100644
--- a/frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/shell/SteerInput.tsx
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ export function SteerInput({
 
 /**
  * Status strip beneath the composer. Left: the active workspace selector.
- * Right: live context usage plus browser-local workspace/model/thinking selectors.
+ * Right: live context usage plus ephemeral workspace/model/thinking selectors.
  */
 export function ComposerFooter() {
   const { data: settings } = useQuery({ queryKey: ["settings"], queryFn: getSettings });
diff --git a/frontend/src/test/setup.ts b/frontend/src/test/setup.ts
index ed2ee3d1..31816c3c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/test/setup.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/test/setup.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import "@testing-library/jest-dom/vitest";
 import { server } from "./msw";
+import { workspacePreferences } from "../workspaces/preferences";
 
 // Node 25 ships an experimental global `localStorage` that shadows jsdom's Storage and
 // lacks spec methods like clear(), so tests calling localStorage.clear()/setItem() throw.
@@ -37,5 +38,6 @@ if (!window.matchMedia) {
 }
 
 beforeAll(() => server.listen());
+beforeEach(() => workspacePreferences.reset());
 afterEach(() => server.resetHandlers());
 afterAll(() => server.close());
diff --git a/frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.test.ts b/frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.test.ts
index 96a177c4..3d00e05f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.test.ts
@@ -1,129 +1,18 @@
-import { beforeEach, expect, test } from "vitest";
-import type { CanonicalWorkspace } from "../api/workspaces";
-import {
-  sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace,
-  workspaceBootstrapDrafts,
-  workspacePreferences,
-  type WorkspaceBootstrapDraft,
-} from "./drafts";
+import { expect, test } from "vitest";
+import { canonicalWorkspaceFixture } from "../test/workspace-fixtures";
+import * as workspaceModule from "./drafts";
 
-const workspace: CanonicalWorkspace = {
-  workspace: { schema_version: 3, id: "psd-clinical", name: "PSD Clinical", language: "en" },
-  dwh: {
-    engine: "postgres", database: "clinical", schema: "datawarehouse",
-    supported_transports: ["postgres_direct"],
-  },
-  semantic_index: {
-    vector_store: {
-      engine: "qdrant", collection: "clinical", dimensions: 1024, distance: "cosine",
-    },
-    embedding: { provider: "ollama_internal", model: "qwen3-embedding:0.6b", dimensions: 1024 },
-  },
-  llm_policy: { allowed: ["zai/glm-5.2"] },
-};
-
-const bootstrapDraft: WorkspaceBootstrapDraft = {
-  workspaceId: "psd-clinical",
-  baseCommit: "a".repeat(40),
-  workspace,
-  updatedAt: "2026-08-04T10:00:00.000Z",
-};
-
-const policy = { max_chunk_chars: 8_000, retain_published_generations: 5 };
-
-const evidenceWorkspace: CanonicalWorkspace = {
-  ...workspace,
-  evidence: {
-    source: {
-      type: "filesystem",
-      uri: "psd-clinical/evidence",
-      patterns: ["documents/**/*.pdf", "notes/*.md"],
-      max_bytes: 12_000_000,
-    },
-    policy,
-  },
-};
-
-beforeEach(() => localStorage.clear());
-
-test("keeps an anonymous user's model selection in browser storage", () => {
-  workspacePreferences.save({
-    workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "medium",
-  });
-
-  expect(workspacePreferences.load()).toMatchObject({ model: "glm-5.2" });
+test("workspace module exposes validation and in-memory coordination but no draft storage", () => {
+  expect(workspaceModule.sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace(canonicalWorkspaceFixture("psd-clinical")))
+    .toEqual(canonicalWorkspaceFixture("psd-clinical"));
+  expect(workspaceModule).not.toHaveProperty("workspaceBootstrapDrafts");
+  expect(workspaceModule).not.toHaveProperty("workspaceDrafts");
+  expect(workspaceModule).not.toHaveProperty("workspaceDeletionDrafts");
 });
 
-test("reloads a bootstrap draft from the v2 browser-storage key and discards it by workspace ID", () => {
-  workspaceBootstrapDrafts.save(bootstrapDraft);
-
-  expect(workspaceBootstrapDrafts.load("psd-clinical")).toEqual(bootstrapDraft);
-  expect(localStorage.getItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v2.bootstrap.psd-clinical")).toContain('"baseCommit"');
-  expect(localStorage.getItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v2.bootstrap.psd-clinical")).not.toContain("baseBlob");
-
-  workspaceBootstrapDrafts.discard("psd-clinical");
-  expect(workspaceBootstrapDrafts.load("psd-clinical")).toBeUndefined();
-});
-
-test("purges known v1 update and deletion keys without touching unrelated localStorage", () => {
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.draft.psd-clinical", JSON.stringify({
-    workspaceId: "psd-clinical",
-    baseCommit: "a".repeat(40),
-    baseBlob: "b".repeat(40),
-    workspace,
-    updatedAt: "2026-08-04T10:00:00.000Z",
-  }));
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.delete.psd-clinical", JSON.stringify({
-    id: "psd-clinical",
-    baseCommit: "a".repeat(40),
-    baseBlob: "b".repeat(40),
-    updatedAt: "2026-08-04T10:00:00.000Z",
-  }));
-  localStorage.setItem("unrelated", "keep-me");
-
-  expect(workspaceBootstrapDrafts.load("psd-clinical")).toBeUndefined();
-  expect(localStorage.getItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.draft.psd-clinical")).toBeNull();
-  expect(localStorage.getItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.delete.psd-clinical")).toBeNull();
-  expect(localStorage.getItem("unrelated")).toBe("keep-me");
-});
-
-test("rejects draft payloads that still carry baseBlob from the removed update flow", () => {
-  localStorage.setItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v2.bootstrap.psd-clinical", JSON.stringify({
-    ...bootstrapDraft,
-    baseBlob: "b".repeat(40),
-  }));
-
-  expect(workspaceBootstrapDrafts.load("psd-clinical")).toBeUndefined();
-});
-
-test("accepts only the workspace directory evidence root for filesystem sources", () => {
-  const sanitized = sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace(evidenceWorkspace);
-
-  expect(sanitized).toEqual(evidenceWorkspace);
-  expect(sanitized).not.toBe(evidenceWorkspace);
-  expect(sanitized?.evidence).not.toBe(evidenceWorkspace.evidence);
-});
-
-test("rejects filesystem Evidence that still points at workspace-content", () => {
-  const invalid: CanonicalWorkspace = {
-    ...evidenceWorkspace,
-    evidence: {
-      source: {
-        type: "filesystem",
-        uri: "workspace-content/psd-clinical/evidence",
-        patterns: ["documents/**/*.pdf", "notes/*.md"],
-        max_bytes: 12_000_000,
-      },
-      policy,
-    },
-  };
-
-  expect(sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace(invalid)).toBeUndefined();
-  workspaceBootstrapDrafts.save({ ...bootstrapDraft, workspace: invalid });
-  expect(workspaceBootstrapDrafts.load("psd-clinical")).toBeUndefined();
-});
-
-test("continues to sanitize workspaces without Evidence", () => {
-  expect(sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace(workspace)).toEqual(workspace);
-  expect(sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace(workspace)).not.toHaveProperty("evidence");
+test("canonical sanitizer rejects unknown fields rather than persisting them", () => {
+  expect(workspaceModule.sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace({
+    ...canonicalWorkspaceFixture("psd-clinical"),
+    localDraft: { secret: "must-not-survive" },
+  })).toBeUndefined();
 });
diff --git a/frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.ts b/frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.ts
index 0e701025..148b7d97 100644
--- a/frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/workspaces/drafts.ts
@@ -4,16 +4,6 @@ import type {
 } from "../api/workspaces";
 export { workspacePreferences, type WorkspacePreference } from "./preferences";
 
-export interface WorkspaceBootstrapDraft {
-  workspaceId: string;
-  baseCommit: string;
-  workspace: CanonicalWorkspace;
-  updatedAt: string;
-}
-
-/** @deprecated Use WorkspaceBootstrapDraft. */
-export type WorkspaceDraft = WorkspaceBootstrapDraft;
-
 export const WORKSPACE_SUMMARY_ERROR = "Could not load workspace registry. Please retry.";
 export const WORKSPACE_POLICY_ERROR = "Could not load selected workspace policy. Please retry.";
 
@@ -117,14 +107,6 @@ export const workspacePolicyGate = {
   },
 };
 
-const LEGACY_PREFIX = "thothii.workspace-registry.v1";
-const PREFIX = "thothii.workspace-registry.v2";
-const DRAFT_PREFIX = `${PREFIX}.bootstrap.`;
-
-function storage(): Storage | undefined {
-  try { return window.localStorage; } catch { return undefined; }
-}
-
 function record(value: unknown): Record<string, unknown> | undefined {
   return value && typeof value === "object" && !Array.isArray(value)
     ? value as Record<string, unknown>
@@ -473,108 +455,3 @@ export function sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace(value: unknown): CanonicalWorkspace |
     ...(evidence ? { evidence } : {}),
   };
 }
-
-function repairBootstrapWorkspace(value: unknown, id: string): CanonicalWorkspace | undefined {
-  const direct = sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace(value);
-  if (direct) return direct;
-  const source = exactRecord(value, [
-    "workspace", "dwh", "semantic_index", "llm_policy", "diagnostics", "evidence",
-  ]);
-  const evidence = exactRecord(source?.evidence, ["source", "policy"]);
-  const evidenceSource = exactRecord(evidence?.source, ["type", "uri", "patterns", "max_bytes"]);
-  if (
-    source
-    && evidence
-    && evidenceSource?.type === "filesystem"
-    && typeof evidenceSource.uri === "string"
-    && /^[a-z][a-z0-9-]{2,62}\/evidence$/.test(evidenceSource.uri)
-  ) {
-    return sanitizeCanonicalWorkspace({
-      ...source,
-      evidence: {
-        ...evidence,
-        source: {
-          ...evidenceSource,
-          uri: `${id}/evidence`,
-        },
-      },
-    });
-  }
-  return undefined;
-}
-
-function normalize(value: unknown): WorkspaceBootstrapDraft | undefined {
-  const source = exactRecord(value, ["workspaceId", "baseCommit", "workspace", "updatedAt"]);
-  const id = workspaceId(source?.workspaceId);
-  const workspace = id ? repairBootstrapWorkspace(source?.workspace, id) : undefined;
-  const baseCommit = typeof source?.baseCommit === "string" && /^[0-9a-f]{40}$/.test(source.baseCommit) ? source.baseCommit : undefined;
-  const updatedAt = typeof source?.updatedAt === "string" && Number.isFinite(Date.parse(source.updatedAt)) ? source.updatedAt : undefined;
-  if (!source || !workspace || !id || id !== workspace.workspace.id || !baseCommit || !updatedAt) {
-    return undefined;
-  }
-  return {
-    workspaceId: id,
-    baseCommit,
-    workspace,
-    updatedAt,
-  };
-}
-
-function key(id: string): string {
-  return `${DRAFT_PREFIX}${encodeURIComponent(id)}`;
-}
-
-function purgeLegacyRegistryDrafts(): void {
-  const store = storage();
-  if (!store) return;
-  const keys = Array.from({ length: store.length }, (_, index) => store.key(index)).filter((value): value is string => value !== null);
-  for (const entry of keys) {
-    if (entry.startsWith(`${LEGACY_PREFIX}.draft.`) || entry.startsWith(`${LEGACY_PREFIX}.delete.`)) {
-      store.removeItem(entry);
-    }
-  }
-}
-
-/** Browser-only bootstrap drafts. Saving or editing one never calls the server. */
-export const workspaceBootstrapDrafts = {
-  load(id: string): WorkspaceBootstrapDraft | undefined {
-    purgeLegacyRegistryDrafts();
-    try {
-      const raw = storage()?.getItem(key(id));
-      return raw ? normalize(JSON.parse(raw)) : undefined;
-    } catch {
-      return undefined;
-    }
-  },
-
-  save(draft: WorkspaceBootstrapDraft): void {
-    purgeLegacyRegistryDrafts();
-    const safe = normalize(draft);
-    if (!safe) return;
-    try { storage()?.setItem(key(safe.workspaceId), JSON.stringify(safe)); } catch { /* storage is optional */ }
-  },
-
-  discard(id: string): void {
-    purgeLegacyRegistryDrafts();
-    try { storage()?.removeItem(key(id)); } catch { /* storage is optional */ }
-  },
-};
-
-/** @deprecated Use workspaceBootstrapDrafts. */
-export const workspaceDrafts = workspaceBootstrapDrafts;
-
-
-/** @deprecated Removed in P1.1; existing workspaces are curator-owned and deletions are not drafted in-browser. */
-export interface WorkspaceDeletionDraft {
-  id: string;
-  baseCommit: string;
-  baseBlob: string;
-  updatedAt: string;
-}
-
-/** @deprecated Removed in P1.1; kept temporarily so legacy imports compile during the UI transition. */
-export const workspaceDeletionDrafts = {
-  load(_id: string): WorkspaceDeletionDraft | undefined { return undefined; },
-  save(_draft: WorkspaceDeletionDraft): void {},
-  discard(_id: string): void {},
-};
diff --git a/frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.test.ts b/frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.test.ts
index a4616a4b..8a7aabcd 100644
--- a/frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.test.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.test.ts
@@ -1,15 +1,39 @@
-import { expect, test } from "vitest";
+import { beforeEach, expect, test } from "vitest";
 import { workspacePreferences } from "./preferences";
 
-test("migrates legacy selections once and keeps later browser choices", () => {
+beforeEach(() => {
   localStorage.clear();
+  workspacePreferences.reset();
+});
 
+test("keeps selections only in current application memory", () => {
+  localStorage.setItem("unrelated", "keep-me");
+  workspacePreferences.save({
+    workspaceId: "research",
+    provider: "deepseek",
+    model: "deepseek-v4-pro",
+    thinking: "high",
+  });
+
+  expect(workspacePreferences.load()).toEqual({
+    workspaceId: "research",
+    provider: "deepseek",
+    model: "deepseek-v4-pro",
+    thinking: "high",
+  });
+  expect(localStorage.length).toBe(1);
+  expect(localStorage.getItem("unrelated")).toBe("keep-me");
+  expect(localStorage.getItem("thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences")).toBeNull();
+});
+
+test("seeds memory from backend settings once and returns defensive copies", () => {
   expect(workspacePreferences.migrate({
     workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "medium",
   })).toMatchObject({ workspaceId: "psd-clinical", model: "glm-5.2" });
-  workspacePreferences.save({ workspaceId: "research", provider: "deepseek", model: "deepseek-v4-pro", thinking: "high" });
+  const snapshot = workspacePreferences.load();
+  snapshot.workspaceId = "mutated-copy";
 
   expect(workspacePreferences.migrate({ workspaceId: "legacy" })).toMatchObject({
-    workspaceId: "research", provider: "deepseek", model: "deepseek-v4-pro", thinking: "high",
+    workspaceId: "psd-clinical", provider: "zai", model: "glm-5.2", thinking: "medium",
   });
 });
diff --git a/frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.ts b/frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.ts
index 53c159b4..ad0764f1 100644
--- a/frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/workspaces/preferences.ts
@@ -5,36 +5,31 @@ export interface WorkspacePreference {
   thinking?: string;
 }
 
-const STORAGE_KEY = "thothii.workspace-registry.v1.preferences";
+let current: WorkspacePreference | undefined;
 
-function storage(): Storage | undefined {
-  try { return window.localStorage; } catch { return undefined; }
+function snapshot(value: WorkspacePreference | undefined): WorkspacePreference {
+  return value === undefined ? {} : { ...value };
 }
 
-function parse(raw: string | null): WorkspacePreference | undefined {
-  if (raw === null) return undefined;
-  try {
-    const value = JSON.parse(raw);
-    return value && typeof value === "object" && !Array.isArray(value) ? value as WorkspacePreference : undefined;
-  } catch {
-    return undefined;
-  }
-}
-
-/** Anonymous, non-secret browser choices for the workspace session composer. */
+/** Ephemeral workspace choices for the current application process. */
 export const workspacePreferences = {
   load(): WorkspacePreference {
-    return parse(storage()?.getItem(STORAGE_KEY) ?? null) ?? {};
+    return snapshot(current);
   },
 
   save(value: WorkspacePreference): WorkspacePreference {
-    try { storage()?.setItem(STORAGE_KEY, JSON.stringify(value)); } catch { /* storage is optional */ }
-    return value;
+    current = { ...value };
+    return snapshot(current);
   },
 
-  /** Copy the pre-local-storage server values only when this browser has no saved choice. */
-  migrate(legacy: WorkspacePreference): WorkspacePreference {
-    const current = storage()?.getItem(STORAGE_KEY);
-    return current === null || current === undefined ? this.save(legacy) : this.load();
+  /** Seed current memory from backend installation settings only before the first local choice. */
+  migrate(settings: WorkspacePreference): WorkspacePreference {
+    if (current === undefined) current = { ...settings };
+    return snapshot(current);
+  },
+
+  /** Clear ephemeral state on application/test lifecycle reset. */
+  reset(): void {
+    current = undefined;
   },
 };