missions: hard-require team template — block empty-team launches

Root-cause fix for the "mission runs with zero agents" bug. Three
enforcement layers now guarantee a launched mission has a team:

  1. mission_orchestrator::on_launch — the previous
     \`return Ok(None)\` when both team_id and team_template_id are
     None is now \`return Err(...)\`. That branch was never a real
     "auto-provision later" path; it was a silent no-op that let
     the mission flip to running with nothing to run.
  2. routes::missions::set_status — the draft→running transition
     now (a) rejects with 400 when team_id + team_template_id are
     both null, and (b) runs on_launch BEFORE flipping status +
     returns 500 on failure. No more orphan "running" missions
     with no materialization.
  3. MissionWizard step 3 — removed the misleading "LLM
     auto-provision" tile (fake code path). First real template is
     pre-selected on mount; canNext requires teamTemplateId set;
     empty state surfaces a red warning if no templates loaded.
  4. MissionCanvas Launch button — disabled with a "No team" label
     and explanatory tooltip when the mission has neither team_id
     nor team_template_id (defense-in-depth for legacy rows or
     direct-API missions).

Also flipped the mission_orchestrator test that expected
Ok(None) → now expects a specific error message.

Prod cleanup: reset the stuck mission
019f814c-d36f-7d60-8915-1ce100683133 (running with team_id=NULL) back
to draft so the operator can delete or attach a template.

Verified: cargo check --workspace + tsc + eslint all green;
mission_orchestrator test updated to match new contract.

crates/cm-api/src/mission_orchestrator.rs

@@ -51,10 +51,15 @@ pub async fn on_launch(
         return Ok(mission.team_id);
     }
     let Some(template_id) = mission.team_template_id else {
-        // No template + no team = phase execution will auto-provision
+        // Hard fail — a mission with no team AND no template can't run:
-        // via the LLM path (Slice 2's fallback), or run against the
+        // there are no agents to execute phases. The wizard requires
-        // shared runtime. Nothing to do here.
+        // a template pick; this branch guards against direct API
-        return Ok(None);
+        // callers or legacy rows.
+        return Err(
+            "mission has no team_id and no team_template_id — pick a template in the wizard \
+             before launching, or attach an existing team via the API"
+                .to_string(),
+        );
     };
 
     let template = cm_db::repo::team_templates::get(pool, template_id)

crates/cm-api/src/routes/missions.rs

@@ -442,10 +442,14 @@ pub async fn set_status(
         .await?
         .ok_or(ApiError::NotFound)?;
 
-    cm_db::repo::missions::set_status(&state.pool, id, user.workspace_id.as_uuid(), &body.status)
+    // Draft→running requires a materializable team. Run the orchestrator
-        .await?;
+    // BEFORE flipping status so a materialization failure keeps the
-
+    // mission in draft (no orphaned "running" mission with no agents).
     if prior.status == "draft" && body.status == "running" {
+        if prior.team_id.is_none() && prior.team_template_id.is_none() {
+            eprintln!("mission {id}: launch rejected — no team_id and no team_template_id");
+            return Err(ApiError::BadRequest);
+        }
         if let Err(e) = crate::mission_orchestrator::on_launch(
             &state.pool,
             user.workspace_id,
@@ -456,9 +460,13 @@ pub async fn set_status(
         .await
         {
             eprintln!("mission {id}: on_launch failed: {e}");
+            return Err(ApiError::Internal);
         }
     }
 
+    cm_db::repo::missions::set_status(&state.pool, id, user.workspace_id.as_uuid(), &body.status)
+        .await?;
+
     let mission = cm_db::repo::missions::get(&state.pool, id, user.workspace_id.as_uuid())
         .await?
         .ok_or(ApiError::NotFound)?;

crates/cm-api/tests/mission_orchestrator.rs

@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ async fn on_launch_is_idempotent() {
 }
 
 #[tokio::test]
-async fn on_launch_no_template_returns_none() {
+async fn on_launch_no_template_hard_fails() {
     let pool = cm_testkit::test_pool().await;
     let ws = seed_workspace(&pool).await;
     let owner = seed_owner(&pool, ws).await;
@@ -242,12 +242,14 @@ async fn on_launch_no_template_returns_none() {
     .await
     .unwrap();
 
-    let result = mission_orchestrator::on_launch(&pool, ws, owner, mission_id, None)
+    let result = mission_orchestrator::on_launch(&pool, ws, owner, mission_id, None).await;
-        .await
+    let err = result.expect_err("no template + no team must be a hard error");
-        .unwrap();
+    assert!(
-    assert!(result.is_none(), "no template + no team should return None");
+        err.contains("no team_id and no team_template_id"),
+        "unexpected error message: {err}"
+    );
 
-    // Mission stays with team_id NULL.
+    // Mission stays with team_id NULL — no partial materialization.
     let team_id: Option<Uuid> = sqlx::query_scalar("SELECT team_id FROM missions WHERE id = $1")
         .bind(mission_id)
         .fetch_one(&pool)

frontend/src/components/dashboard/MissionCanvas.tsx

@@ -410,20 +410,35 @@ export function MissionCanvas({
             >
               <RefreshCw size={13} />
             </button>
-            {mission.status === "draft" && (
+            {mission.status === "draft" && (() => {
+              const hasTeam =
+                mission.team_id !== null || mission.team_template_id !== null;
+              const disabled = launching || !hasTeam;
+              return (
                 <button
                   type="button"
                   onClick={launch}
-                disabled={launching}
+                  disabled={disabled}
+                  title={
+                    !hasTeam
+                      ? "Cannot launch: mission has no team + no team template. Delete and recreate with a template picked in step 3, or attach a team via the API."
+                      : "Launch this mission"
+                  }
                   style={{
                     ...primaryBtn,
-                  opacity: launching ? 0.5 : 1,
+                    opacity: disabled ? 0.5 : 1,
+                    cursor: disabled ? "not-allowed" : "pointer",
                   }}
                 >
                   <Play size={13} style={{ marginRight: 4 }} />
-                {launching ? "Launching…" : "Launch"}
+                  {launching
+                    ? "Launching…"
+                    : hasTeam
+                      ? "Launch"
+                      : "No team"}
                 </button>
-            )}
+              );
+            })()}
           </div>
         </div>
         <h1 style={{ margin: 0, fontSize: 20, color: "#f3f3f5" }}>{mission.title}</h1>

frontend/src/components/dashboard/MissionWizard.tsx

@@ -51,9 +51,16 @@ export function MissionWizard({
   useEffect(() => {
     (async () => {
       try {
-        setTeamTemplates(await listTeamTemplates());
+        const list = await listTeamTemplates();
+        setTeamTemplates(list);
+        // Pre-select the first template so the wizard has a
+        // valid selection by default — a mission without a team
+        // can't run, and the backend now rejects that transition
+        // hard, so the empty default was actively wrong.
+        // eslint-disable-next-line react-hooks/set-state-in-effect
+        if (list.length > 0) setTeamTemplateId((prev) => prev || list[0].id);
       } catch {
-        // Non-fatal: user can still create a mission without a team template.
+        // Non-fatal: user is stuck on step 3 until templates load.
       }
     })();
   }, []);
@@ -95,7 +102,7 @@ export function MissionWizard({
     (step === 2 &&
       title.trim().length > 0 &&
       (!preset.requiresRepo || repo !== null)) ||
-    step === 3 ||
+    (step === 3 && teamTemplateId !== "") ||
     (step === 4 &&
       (runtimeKind === "zeroclaw" || targetNodeId !== ""));
 
@@ -309,29 +316,30 @@ export function MissionWizard({
 
           {step === 3 && (
             <div style={{ display: "flex", flexDirection: "column", gap: 10 }}>
-              <span style={labelStyle}>Team template</span>
+              <span style={labelStyle}>Team template *</span>
               <p style={hintStyle}>
                 Pick a canonical roster. On mission launch the team is
-                materialized from the template — roles, prompts, MCP bundles,
+                materialized — roles, prompts, MCP bundles, skills, brain
-                and (later) skills + brain seeds. Leave unset to let the
+                seeds. Required: a mission with no team has no agents to
-                mission auto-provision an LLM-derived team from the prompt.
+                run it. If none of these fit, extend the templates catalog.
               </p>
-              <div style={{ display: "grid", gap: 8 }}>
+              {teamTemplates.length === 0 && (
-                <button
+                <div
-                  type="button"
-                  onClick={() => setTeamTemplateId("")}
                   style={{
-                    ...templateCardStyle(teamTemplateId === ""),
+                    padding: 14,
+                    borderRadius: 10,
+                    border: "1px solid rgba(255,138,122,.4)",
+                    background: "rgba(255,138,122,.08)",
+                    color: "#ff8a7a",
+                    fontSize: 12.5,
                   }}
                 >
-                  <span style={{ fontWeight: 700, color: "#f3f3f5" }}>
+                  No team templates available. Check that the server has
-                    LLM auto-provision
+                  loaded templates from templates/teams/ — logs should
-                  </span>
+                  say `team_template_loader: upserted builtin ...`.
-                  <span style={{ fontSize: 12, color: "#a0a0a8" }}>
+                </div>
-                    Let Claude Sonnet 5 derive 3–5 roles from the description.
+              )}
-                    Best for one-off or exploratory missions.
+              <div style={{ display: "grid", gap: 8 }}>
-                  </span>
-                </button>
                 {teamTemplates.map((t) => {
                   const active = teamTemplateId === t.id;
                   return (