zlh-grind/SCRATCH/2026-02-07_host-controls-and-delete-failsafe.md

2026-02-07 — Host controls + delete failsafe

Problem

• The frontend gained a Delete Server button with confirmation.
• Backend has a failsafe: do not allow deleting a container unless the host (LXC) is stopped.
• At the time, the portal only had "server" controls (game server process), not host controls (LXC start/stop).

Decision

✅ Keep the failsafe.

Instead of removing safety checks, add Host Controls to the UI and wire them to the API:

• Start Host
• Stop Host
• Restart Host

This keeps the deletion gate meaningful, and also gives users a way to stop compute spend / idle containers.

UX wording

Avoid saying "container" in the user-facing UI if possible.

Use:

• "Host Controls" or "Server Host"
• "Start Host / Stop Host / Restart Host"

(Internally it is Proxmox LXC lifecycle, but the UI doesn't need to expose that.)

Backend wiring (high-level)

Routes in servers.js:

• POST /servers/:id/host/start
• POST /servers/:id/host/stop
• POST /servers/:id/host/restart

Implementation calls proxmoxClient.startContainer(vmid), stopContainer(...) or shutdownContainer(...).

Delete gate

Delete endpoint should enforce something like:

• refuse delete if host is still running
• or auto-stop then delete (only if you explicitly want that behavior)

Current stance:

• keep it strict to avoid accidental data loss.
• make the user stop the host first, then delete.

Testing checklist

• Start Host → LXC goes running
• Stop Host → LXC shuts down
• Restart Host → stop then start
• Delete Server:
  • while running → denied (expected)
  • after stop → allowed (expected)