Coder Workspace Lifecycle

Understand the complete lifecycle of Coder workspaces from creation to deletion.

Workspace States

Creating

Status: Creating
Duration: 1-2 minutes
What's happening:
- Building container image
- Starting VM
- Initializing environment
- Installing dependencies

⏳ Please wait...

Running

Status: Running
Uptime: 2 hours 15 minutes
Cost: $5.00/hour × 2.25 hours = $11.25 so far

You can:
✓ Edit code
✓ Run commands
✓ Share with team
✓ Auto-stop setting applies

Stopped

Status: Stopped
Last running: 2024-06-12 14:30 UTC
Cost: $0/hour (no charges while stopped)
Data: All saved (can restart anytime)

To restart:
1. Click workspace
2. Click Start
3. Returns to Running state

Deleting

Status: Deleting
Duration: 30 seconds - 1 minute
What's happening:
- Stopping container
- Freeing resources
- Deleting data

⏳ Almost done...

Deleted

Status: Deleted
Effect: Workspace permanently gone
Recovery: Not possible (backup before deleting!)
Charges: Stop immediately

Workspace Lifecycle Flow

graph TD
    A["Create Workspace"] --> B["Creating<br/>1-2 min"]
    B --> C["Running<br/>━━━━━"]
    C -->|Manual Stop| D["Stopping<br/>10 sec"]
    C -->|Auto-stop| D
    D --> E["Stopped<br/>━━━━━"]
    E -->|Start| C
    E --> F["Delete"]
    F --> G["Deleting<br/>30 sec"]
    G --> H["Deleted<br/>Irreversible"]
    
    style A fill:#1f97d4,stroke:#0b5394,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style B fill:#ff9900,stroke:#ec7211,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style C fill:#13aa52,stroke:#05631b,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style D fill:#ff9900,stroke:#ec7211,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style E fill:#5e6470,stroke:#2f3235,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style F fill:#d13212,stroke:#7d0f00,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style G fill:#d13212,stroke:#7d0f00,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
    style H fill:#7d0f00,stroke:#3d0800,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff

Creating Workspaces

Initial Creation

1. Click Create Workspace
2. Choose template
3. Set resources
4. Click Create
5. Status: Creating...
6. ~60-90 seconds later: Running
7. Browser IDE opens
8. Ready to code!

First Start Cost

Workspace: backend-api
Resources: 4 CPU, 8 GB RAM
Cost: $5.00/hour

Created: 14:00
Running: 14:02 (2 min creation time - FREE)
Started coding: 14:03

Setup time (creating) is free. Only pay when running!

Running Workspaces

Monitor Runtime

Workspace Details:
Started: 2024-06-12 14:00 UTC
Running for: 2 hours 30 minutes
Cost so far: $12.50
Auto-stop: 30 minutes after inactivity
Last active: Just now

Staying Productive

Workspace runs while:

• ✓ Editing files (active)
• ✓ Terminal command running (active)
• ✓ Idle but within auto-stop time (running)

Auto-stops after:

• ✗ 30 minutes of no activity (default)
• ✗ No terminal commands
• ✗ No file edits
• ✗ Not accessed

Auto-Stop Mechanism

How It Works

14:00 - Start coding
14:30 - Stop coding, open browser instead
14:32 - No activity for 2 minutes
...continue until 30 min idle...
15:00 - Auto-stop triggered!
Workspace transitions: Running → Stopping → Stopped

Cost: $5.00/hour × 1 hour = $5.00

Adjust Auto-Stop

Change when workspace stops:

Settings → Auto-stop after inactivity
Options:
- 5 minutes (very aggressive)
- 15 minutes (testing)
- 30 minutes (default)
- 1 hour (development)
- Never (always running)

Example: Set to 1 hour if frequently working.

What Counts as Activity?

✓ Active:

• Typing in editor
• Running terminal command
• Saving file
• Opening file browser

✗ Not active:

• Browser tab open, not editing
• Looking at code (no changes)
• Running long process you're watching
• Just terminal output

Stopping Workspaces

Manual Stop

Stop anytime:

1. Click workspace
2. Click Stop
3. Status: Stopping...
4. ~10 seconds later: Stopped
5. All data saved
6. No charges while stopped

What Gets Saved

✓ Saved:

• All files on disk
• Git commits
• Database data
• Terminal history
• Workspace settings

✓ NOT Saved:

• Running processes (stopped)
• Memory state
• Temporary files in /tmp

Restart After Stop

1. Click workspace
2. Click Start
3. Status: Starting...
4. ~30 seconds later: Running
5. Files are there
6. Continue where you left off

Deleting Workspaces

Before Deletion

BACKUP YOUR WORK:

# Push to GitHub
git push origin main

# Or download files
# Or export data

# THEN delete

Delete Process

1. Click workspace
2. Click Delete
3. Confirm deletion
4. Status: Deleting...
5. ~30 seconds: Completely gone
6. No recovery possible!

After Deletion

Workspace: backend-api
Status: Deleted
Available: No longer in your workspace list
Data: Gone forever
Recovery: Not possible
Charges: Stop immediately

Cost Optimization

Running Costs

Example workspace:
- Resource size: 4 CPU, 8 GB RAM
- Hourly rate: $5.00/hour
- Daily usage: 8 hours
- Daily cost: $40
- Monthly cost (20 working days): $800

Reduce Costs

Strategy 1: Use smaller workspaces

Small: 2 CPU, 4 GB RAM = $2.50/hour (50% savings)
Use for: Testing, lightweight work
Full-size: 4 CPU, 8 GB RAM = $5.00/hour (for heavy work)

Strategy 2: Stop when not working

Before: Left running 24/7 = $120/month
After: Stop after 30 min = $40/month (67% savings!)

Strategy 3: Delete unused workspaces

Old workspaces: 3 workspaces × $40/month = $120/month
After cleanup: 1 workspace × $40/month = $40/month

Strategy 4: Combine with SSH

Use browser IDE only for demos
Use SSH for actual development (feels local, still cloud)
Same cost, better experience

Workspace History

View All Your Workspaces

My Workspaces:

Running:
- backend-api (2 hours) - $10 so far
- frontend-app (30 min) - $2.50 so far
Total running: $12.50

Stopped:
- data-analysis (3 days ago)
- legacy-api (1 week ago)

Total this month: $500

Restart Old Workspaces

Find stopped workspace:

1. Click workspace
2. Click Start
3. Restarts in ~30 seconds
4. All files still there
5. Start coding immediately

Best Practices

Minimize Costs

• ✓ Use appropriate resource size
• ✓ Set reasonable auto-stop time
• ✓ Stop manually when done
• ✓ Delete workspaces you don't use
• ✗ Don't leave running 24/7
• ✗ Don't over-provision resources

Maintain Productivity

• ✓ Keep workspaces organized
• ✓ Name them clearly
• ✓ Delete after project ends
• ✓ Push code to GitHub regularly
• ✓ Share good templates
• ✗ Don't hoard workspaces
• ✗ Don't run outdated workspaces

Track Usage

1. Review cost weekly
2. Delete unused workspaces
3. Optimize resource sizes
4. Check auto-stop settings

Related Topics

• Coder Workspaces - Create and manage
• Coder Billing - Understand billing
• System Monitoring - Monitor usage