agent-workspace

Agent Workspace (CRUA)

The guardrails plugin enforces CRUA: Create, Read, Update, Archive — never delete, never overwrite without a recoverable prior version.

The flow

1. Checkout — agw checkout <file> Converts the document to an open format (docx → markdown, xlsx → one csv per sheet) inside _workspace/ next to the original, and records the original's hash so conflicts are detected later. If the file can't be converted, it is copied as-is ("plain copy mode") — still edit only the workspace copy.

2. Edit the working copy — use normal Write/Edit tools on the file under _workspace/. Never edit the original directly; the hook will ask or deny.

3. Diff (optional) — agw diff <file> shows working copy vs. original.

4. Publish — agw publish <file>

   • Archives the current live file as a new version (recoverable forever).
   • Converts the working copy back to the original format (docx publishes use the original as a style reference, so formatting survives).
   • Atomically replaces the original.
   • Exit code 3 = conflict: someone changed the original since checkout. Report this to the user; do not pass --force without their say-so.

Other verbs

Verb	What it does
agw status	List open checkouts and their state
agw scan <folder>	Inventory a folder: placeholders, gdoc stubs, sync artifacts
agw archive <path>	Reversible "delete" — moves into the archive store
agw restore <path> [--version N]	Bring back any archived version
agw undo	Revert the last archive/move operation
agw move <src> <dest>	Logged, undoable move/rename
agw snapshot <folder>	Whole-folder backup before bulk work
agw log [path]	Show the operation log
agw doctor	Environment self-check (converters, store writability)
agw office <op> <file>	Targeted in-place Office edits (see below)

All verbs accept --json for machine-readable output.

Small Office edits: agw office

For a targeted change to a docx/xlsx/pptx file, skip the checkout round-trip — these edit in place and archive a pre-image snapshot first, so they are as reversible as everything else:

agw office info <file>                       # structure: sheets, headings, slides
agw office get-text <file>                   # plain-text extract (docx/pptx)
agw office replace-text <file> --find "Old Name" --replace "New Name"
agw office replace-text <file> --find "Q3" --dry-run    # list matches first
agw office replace-text <file> --find "Q3" --replace "Q4" --all     # every one
agw office replace-text <file> --find "Q3" --replace "Q4" --nth 2   # just one
agw office set-cell <file.xlsx> --sheet Q3 --cell B2 --value 55
agw office append-rows <file.xlsx> --sheet Q3 --from-csv new-rows.csv

replace-text works like the Edit tool: if --find matches more than once it refuses rather than mass-editing. Either make --find longer and unique, or run --dry-run to see every match (numbered, with location and context) and then target with --nth N or replace everywhere with --all.

Values auto-coerce to numbers/booleans/formulas (=SUM(...)); add --text to keep them as literal text. Use agw office for point edits; use checkout/publish when restructuring a document or doing heavy rewriting. Never edit Office files with ad-hoc interpreter one-liners (python -c with openpyxl etc.) — those bypass the snapshot contract and will be blocked or escalated.

Rules

• rm, rmdir, shred, find -delete and equivalents are blocked. When you need to remove something: agw archive <path>.
• Don't write into the archive store (~/.agw or $AGW_HOME) directly.
• agw prune is human-only; never run it on a user's behalf.
• If publish or archive fails, report the error verbatim — never fall back to copying over the original by hand.