Container status API: compute live status instead of static DB column

create-a-container/README.md

@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ erDiagram
         int id PK
         string hostname UK "FQDN hostname"
         string username "Owner username"
-        string status "pending,creating,running,failed"
         string template "Template name"
         int creationJobId FK "References Job"
         int nodeId FK "References Node"
@@ -231,6 +230,22 @@ Delete a container from both Proxmox and the database
   - `403` - User doesn't own the container
   - `500` - Proxmox API deletion failed or node not configured
 
+#### Container status (`status` field)
+Every container returned by the list, show, and create endpoints includes a
+**live** `status` field, computed on demand rather than read from a stored
+column. It is resolved by combining the container's run-state in Proxmox (from a
+single per-node cluster snapshot) with the state of its create job. Possible
+values:
+- `running` — online in Proxmox
+- `offline` — exists in Proxmox but stopped
+- `creating` — no Proxmox VM yet, active create job
+- `failed` — no Proxmox VM, create job failed
+- `missing` — no Proxmox VM, create succeeded or no create job found
+- `unknown` — Proxmox unreachable / node has no API credentials
+
+The create endpoint (`POST /containers`) returns `creating` immediately, since a
+create job is enqueued and there is no Proxmox VM yet.
+
 #### `GET /status/:jobId` (Auth Required)
 View container creation progress page
 

create-a-container/bin/create-container.js

@@ -177,9 +177,14 @@ async function main() {
     console.error(`Container with ID ${containerId} not found`);
     process.exit(1);
   }
-
-  if (container.status !== 'pending') {
-    console.error(`Container is not in pending status (current: ${container.status})`);
+
+  // Guard against double-provisioning. The status column no longer exists, so
+  // we use the Proxmox VMID as the signal: once a VMID has been allocated and
+  // stored, creation has already run for this container.
+  if (container.containerId) {
+    console.error(
+      `Container already has a Proxmox VMID (${container.containerId}); refusing to re-create`,
+    );
     process.exit(1);
   }
 
@@ -217,10 +222,6 @@ async function main() {
   console.log(`Template type: ${isDocker ? 'Docker image' : 'Proxmox template'}`);
 
   try {
-    // Update status to 'creating'
-    await container.update({ status: 'creating' });
-    console.log('Status updated to: creating');
-
     // Get the Proxmox API client
     const client = await node.api();
     console.log('Proxmox API client initialized');
@@ -428,8 +429,7 @@ async function main() {
     console.log('Updating container record...');
     await container.update({
       macAddress,
-      ipv4Address,
-      status: 'running'
+      ipv4Address
     });
 
     console.log('Container creation completed successfully!');
@@ -480,15 +480,7 @@ async function main() {
     if (err.response?.data) {
       console.error('API Error Details:', JSON.stringify(err.response.data, null, 2));
     }
-
-    // Update status to failed
-    try {
-      await container.update({ status: 'failed' });
-      console.log('Status updated to: failed');
-    } catch (updateErr) {
-      console.error('Failed to update container status:', updateErr.message);
-    }
-
+
     process.exit(1);
   }
 }

create-a-container/bin/json-to-sql.js

@@ -222,7 +222,6 @@ async function run() {
         hostname,
         ipv4Address: obj.ip,
         username: obj.user || '',
-        status: 'running',
         template: obj.template || null,
         containerId: obj.ctid,
         macAddress: obj.mac,
@@ -234,7 +233,6 @@ async function run() {
       await container.update({
         ipv4Address: obj.ip,
         username: obj.user || '',
-        status: container.status || 'running',
         template: obj.template || container.template,
         containerId: obj.ctid,
         macAddress: obj.mac

create-a-container/bin/reconfigure-container.js

@@ -160,14 +160,13 @@ async function main() {
         throw new Error('Could not get IP address from Proxmox interfaces API');
       }
 
-      // Update container record with MAC/IP and running status
+      // Update container record with MAC/IP
       await container.update({
-        status: 'running',
         macAddress,
         ipv4Address
       });
 
-      console.log('Status updated to: running');
+      console.log('Reconfiguration applied; container running');
       console.log(`  MAC: ${macAddress}`);
       console.log(`  IP: ${ipv4Address}`);
     }
@@ -181,15 +180,7 @@ async function main() {
     if (err.response?.data) {
       console.error('API Error Details:', JSON.stringify(err.response.data, null, 2));
     }
-
-    // Update status to failed
-    try {
-      await container.update({ status: 'failed' });
-      console.log('Status updated to: failed');
-    } catch (updateErr) {
-      console.error('Failed to update container status:', updateErr.message);
-    }
-
+
     process.exit(1);
   }
 }

create-a-container/client/src/lib/types.ts

@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ export interface Container {
   hostname: string;
   ipv4Address: string | null;
   macAddress: string | null;
-  status: string;
+  status: ContainerStatus;
   template: string | null;
   creationJobId: number | null;
   entrypoint: string | null;
@@ -90,11 +90,23 @@ export interface Container {
   createdAt: string;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Live container status resolved from Proxmox run-state + create-job state.
+ * Embedded on each Container returned by the list/show/create endpoints.
+ */
+export type ContainerStatus =
+  | 'running'
+  | 'offline'
+  | 'creating'
+  | 'failed'
+  | 'missing'
+  | 'unknown';
+
 export interface ContainerCreateResult {
   containerId: number;
   jobId: number;
   hostname: string;
-  status: string;
+  status: ContainerStatus;
 }
 
 export interface ContainerNewBootstrap {

create-a-container/client/src/pages/containers/ContainersListPage.tsx

@@ -34,28 +34,44 @@ import {
 import { api, ApiError } from '@/lib/api';
 import { useSession } from '@/lib/auth';
 import { keys, queries } from '@/lib/queries';
-import type { Container } from '@/lib/types';
+import type { Container, ContainerStatus } from '@/lib/types';
 
 type ViewMode = 'cards' | 'table';
 const VIEW_STORAGE_KEY = 'containers:view';
 
-function statusVariant(s: string): 'default' | 'success' | 'warning' | 'danger' | 'secondary' {
+function statusVariant(
+  s: ContainerStatus,
+): 'default' | 'success' | 'warning' | 'danger' | 'secondary' {
   switch (s) {
     case 'running':
       return 'success';
-    case 'pending':
-    case 'restarting':
+    case 'creating':
       return 'warning';
     case 'failed':
-    case 'error':
       return 'danger';
-    case 'stopped':
+    case 'offline':
+    case 'missing':
       return 'secondary';
     default:
       return 'default';
   }
 }
 
+// Human-readable labels for the live status values.
+const STATUS_LABELS: Record<ContainerStatus, string> = {
+  running: 'Running',
+  offline: 'Offline',
+  creating: 'Creating',
+  failed: 'Failed',
+  missing: 'Missing',
+  unknown: 'Unknown',
+};
+
+/** Status badge. The status is the live value embedded in the list response. */
+function StatusBadge({ status }: { status: ContainerStatus }) {
+  return <Badge variant={statusVariant(status)}>{STATUS_LABELS[status] ?? status}</Badge>;
+}
+
 const linkClass = 'text-(--color-primary,#1d4ed8) hover:underline';
 
 /** Shorten a full image ref to just its name+tag, e.g. ghcr.io/mieweb/base:latest -> base:latest */
@@ -330,7 +346,7 @@ export function ContainersListPage() {
                 <CardTitle as="h2" className="truncate text-sm font-semibold">
                   {c.hostname}
                 </CardTitle>
-                <Badge variant={statusVariant(c.status)}>{c.status}</Badge>
+                <StatusBadge status={c.status} />
               </div>
               <div className="ml-auto flex shrink-0 items-center gap-1 lg:order-3 lg:ml-0">
                 <RowActions c={c} siteId={siteId} onDelete={del.mutate} deleting={del.isPending} />
@@ -374,7 +390,7 @@ export function ContainersListPage() {
               <TableRow key={c.id}>
                 <TableCell className="font-medium">{c.hostname}</TableCell>
                 <TableCell>
-                  <Badge variant={statusVariant(c.status)}>{c.status}</Badge>
+                  <StatusBadge status={c.status} />
                 </TableCell>
                 <TableCell>
                   <NodeLink c={c} />

create-a-container/migrations/20260615000000-remove-container-status.js

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+'use strict';
+/** @type {import('sequelize-cli').Migration} */
+
+/**
+ * Remove the static `status` column from Containers.
+ *
+ * Container status is now computed live from Proxmox + job state + config drift
+ * (see utils/container-status.js) and embedded on the container API payloads, so
+ * the persisted column is no longer a source of truth and is dropped.
+ *
+ * The down migration restores the column (defaulting to 'running') for rollback,
+ * but the historical per-container value cannot be recovered.
+ */
+module.exports = {
+  async up(queryInterface) {
+    await queryInterface.removeColumn('Containers', 'status');
+  },
+
+  async down(queryInterface, Sequelize) {
+    await queryInterface.addColumn('Containers', 'status', {
+      type: Sequelize.STRING(20),
+      allowNull: false,
+      defaultValue: 'running',
+    });
+  },
+};

create-a-container/models/container.js

@@ -268,11 +268,6 @@ module.exports = (sequelize, DataTypes) => {
       type: DataTypes.STRING(255),
       allowNull: false
     },
-    status: {
-      type: DataTypes.STRING(20),
-      allowNull: false,
-      defaultValue: 'pending'
-    },
     template: {
       type: DataTypes.STRING(255),
       allowNull: true

create-a-container/openapi.v1.yaml

@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ components:
         id: { type: integer }
         hostname: { type: string }
         containerId: { type: integer, nullable: true }
-        status: { type: string }
+        status: { $ref: '#/components/schemas/ContainerStatus' }
         template: { type: string }
         ipv4Address: { type: string, nullable: true }
         macAddress: { type: string, nullable: true }
@@ -104,6 +104,24 @@ components:
         services:
           type: array
           items: { type: object }
+    ContainerStatus:
+      type: string
+      description: >-
+        Live container status, resolved on read from Proxmox run-state and the
+        create job.
+        running = online in Proxmox;
+        offline = exists in Proxmox but stopped;
+        creating = no Proxmox VM yet, active create job;
+        failed = no Proxmox VM, create job failed;
+        missing = no Proxmox VM, create succeeded or no create job;
+        unknown = Proxmox unreachable / no node credentials.
+      enum:
+        - running
+        - offline
+        - creating
+        - failed
+        - missing
+        - unknown
     Node:
       type: object
       properties: