Deleting a workspace can leave one of its boards live and unlisted
️: A file survived its workspace being deleted — live file row, deleted workspace, no group_file links. Likely a write-after-delete from a stale tab.
Deleting a workspace is meant to take its boards with it. One board in production did not go: it is still live, its workspace is deleted, and it is no longer listed anywhere. The person who created it cannot see it in their sidebar or find it by name, so they have no way to open or delete it — but the board still exists, and if it is still link-shared then anyone holding that link can still reach it. Boards created with the default settings are shared with edit access, so that is the likely state unless it was changed.
Found while checking data for the board search work. Exactly one board is affected today, so this is about closing the path rather than cleaning up at scale.
The board, and what happened around it (all times UTC, 2026-08-12):
| time | event |
|---|---|
| 09:32:05 | workspace "New workspace" created |
| 09:32:50 | board 4DIF1UVPKoggf69EXC10p ("Wed 11:32 AM") created in it |
| 09:34:10 | workspace deleted |
| 09:36:11 | the board is written to again, two minutes after its workspace was deleted |
The board's link to the workspace was removed by the deletion, as expected. The board itself was not, and was then edited afterwards — which suggests a still-open tab wrote the board back after it had been deleted, rather than the deletion having skipped it. That is a reading of the timestamps, not a confirmed cause.
Open questions
- Is the affected board still link-shared, and with edit access? That decides whether this is only an orphaned row or a board that is still reachable by anyone holding its link. Awaiting answer.
- What should happen to a board that is written to after its workspace is deleted — should the write be refused, or should the board be re-deleted? Refusing is safer; re-deleting is kinder to someone mid-sentence in a tab they did not know was doomed. Awaiting answer.
- Should the one existing board be repaired as part of this, or left alone? Repairing means deciding whether it belongs to its creator's own workspace or should simply be deleted. Awaiting answer.
Confidence: 75%, ready to get started.
Source: tldraw/tldraw