Fix a read-only workspace

Why a TalentOS workspace goes read-only, what still works, and the exact steps to unlock it again.

A read-only workspace has not lost anything. Every thread, Artifact, Memory page and Routine is still there and still readable. What pauses is new work: chat, Routines, Connections and Artifacts. This page gets you back.

Why it happened

The banner across the top tells you which of three states you are in.

"Your workspace isn't on a plan yet." Nobody has started the trial or bought a plan.
"Your plan has ended." The subscription was cancelled or the trial lapsed. The way back is a new plan, not a card update.
"Your plan isn't active." A payment failed. The way back is updating the card.

Unlock it

Only the workspace owner can do any of these.

Click the banner, or open Settings then the Plans & Billing tab.
Take the action that matches your state:
- Never subscribed: click Start free trial. See Start your free trial.
- Plan ended: choose a plan from the cards.
- Payment failed: open the secure billing portal from the manage button and update the card.
Wait a few seconds. The banner clears by itself and the workspace unlocks. You do not need to sign out or ask anyone to reload.

What everyone else should do

Nothing. Admins, managers and members see the same banner with no action attached, because billing writes belong to the owner alone. They can keep reading everything while they wait. If you are an admin and the banner offers you no button, that is expected rather than a bug.

Scheduled Routines do not run while the workspace is read-only, and they do not backfill the runs they missed once you unlock. If a Routine had to produce something during the outage, ask your Talent for it directly afterwards.

A worked example

An agency's card expires over a holiday. On Monday everyone sees "Your Team plan isn't active, so the workspace is read-only", and the daily standup Routine has not posted to team chat. Two admins open billing and get a read-only view with a note that billing is owner managed. The founder, who is the owner, opens Settings, Plans & Billing, enters the new card through the secure billing portal, and the workspace becomes writable again. They then ask their Talent to produce Monday's standup summary by hand.

What to check

You updated the card and it is still read-only. Billing sync takes a moment. Reload once. If it persists past a couple of minutes, contact support.
You are the owner but the button is missing. Ownership can still be resolving right after page load. Give it a second before assuming a permissions problem.
The banner says the plan ended but you expected a card prompt. A cancelled subscription cannot be revived with a card. Pick a plan instead.
You have credits left but everything is still stopped. Credits and plan status are separate. A workspace with credits but no active plan is still read-only. Running out of credits, by contrast, is not read-only mode. See Track credits and top up.
You cannot reach the owner. Contact support with your workspace name.