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64 changes: 33 additions & 31 deletions docs/admin/templates/extending-templates/prebuilt-workspaces.md
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -1,18 +1,11 @@
# Prebuilt workspaces

> [!WARNING]
> Prebuilds Compatibility Limitations:
> Prebuilt workspaces currently do not work reliably with [DevContainers feature](../managing-templates/devcontainers/index.md).
> If your project relies on DevContainer configuration, we recommend disabling prebuilds or carefully testing behavior before enabling them.
>
> We’re actively working to improve compatibility, but for now, please avoid using prebuilds with this feature to ensure stability and expected behavior.
Prebuilt workspaces (prebuilds) reduce workspace creation time with an automatically-maintained pool of
ready-to-use workspaces.

Prebuilt workspaces allow template administrators to improve the developer experience by reducing workspace
creation time with an automatically maintained pool of ready-to-use workspaces for specific parameter presets.

The template administrator configures a template to provision prebuilt workspaces in the background, and then when a developer creates
a new workspace that matches the preset, Coder assigns them an existing prebuilt instance.
Prebuilt workspaces significantly reduce wait times, especially for templates with complex provisioning or lengthy startup procedures.
The template administrator defines the prebuilt workspace's parameters and number of instances to keep provisioned.
When a developer creates a new workspace that matches the definition, Coder assigns them an existing prebuilt workspace.
This significantly reduces wait times, especially for templates with complex provisioning or lengthy startup procedures.

Prebuilt workspaces are:

Expand All @@ -21,6 +14,9 @@ Prebuilt workspaces are:
- Monitored and replaced automatically to maintain your desired pool size.
- Automatically scaled based on time-based schedules to optimize resource usage.

Prebuilt workspaces are not fully compatible with
[workspace scheduling features](../../../user-guides/workspace-scheduling.md) like autostart and autostop.

## Relationship to workspace presets

Prebuilt workspaces are tightly integrated with [workspace presets](./parameters.md#workspace-presets):
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -52,7 +48,7 @@ instances your Coder deployment should maintain, and optionally configure a `exp
prebuilds {
instances = 3 # Number of prebuilt workspaces to maintain
expiration_policy {
ttl = 86400 # Time (in seconds) after which unclaimed prebuilds are expired (1 day)
ttl = 86400 # Time (in seconds) after which unclaimed prebuilds are expired (86400 = 1 day)
}
}
}
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -158,17 +154,17 @@ data "coder_workspace_preset" "goland" {

**Scheduling configuration:**

- **`timezone`**: The timezone for all cron expressions (required). Only a single timezone is supported per scheduling configuration.
- **`schedule`**: One or more schedule blocks defining when to scale to specific instance counts.
- **`cron`**: Cron expression interpreted as continuous time ranges (required).
- **`instances`**: Number of prebuilt workspaces to maintain during this schedule (required).
- `timezone`: (Required) The timezone for all cron expressions. Only a single timezone is supported per scheduling configuration.
- `schedule`: One or more schedule blocks defining when to scale to specific instance counts.
- `cron`: (Required) Cron expression interpreted as continuous time ranges.
- `instances`: (Required) Number of prebuilt workspaces to maintain during this schedule.

**How scheduling works:**

1. The reconciliation loop evaluates all active schedules every reconciliation interval (`CODER_WORKSPACE_PREBUILDS_RECONCILIATION_INTERVAL`).
2. The schedule that matches the current time becomes active. Overlapping schedules are disallowed by validation rules.
3. If no schedules match the current time, the base `instances` count is used.
4. The reconciliation loop automatically creates or destroys prebuilt workspaces to match the target count.
1. The schedule that matches the current time becomes active. Overlapping schedules are disallowed by validation rules.
1. If no schedules match the current time, the base `instances` count is used.
1. The reconciliation loop automatically creates or destroys prebuilt workspaces to match the target count.

**Cron expression format:**

Expand Down Expand Up @@ -226,7 +222,7 @@ When a template's active version is updated:
1. Prebuilt workspaces for old versions are automatically deleted.
1. New prebuilt workspaces are created for the active template version.
1. If dependencies change (e.g., an [AMI](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/AMIs.html) update) without a template version change:
- You may delete the existing prebuilt workspaces manually.
- You can delete the existing prebuilt workspaces manually.
- Coder will automatically create new prebuilt workspaces with the updated dependencies.

The system always maintains the desired number of prebuilt workspaces for the active template version.
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -291,16 +287,6 @@ does not reconnect after a template update. This shortcoming is described in [th
and will be addressed before the next release (v2.23). In the interim, a simple workaround is to restart the workspace
when it is in this problematic state.

### Current limitations

The prebuilt workspaces feature has these current limitations:

- **Organizations**

Prebuilt workspaces can only be used with the default organization.

[View issue](https://github.com/coder/internal/issues/364)

### Monitoring and observability

#### Available metrics
Expand All @@ -323,3 +309,19 @@ These logs provide information about:
1. Creation and deletion attempts for prebuilt workspaces.
1. Backoff events after failed builds.
1. Claiming operations.

## Known Issues and Limitations

Some known limitations of prebuilt workspaces include:

- **Organizations**

Prebuilt workspaces can only be used with the default organization.

[View issue](https://github.com/coder/internal/issues/364)

- **Dev containers**

Prebuilt workspaces do not work reliably with the [dev containers integration](../extending-templates/devcontainers.md).

If your project relies on a dev container configuration, you should disabling prebuilds or carefully test their behavior before enabling them.
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