---
url: /sturn/how-to/hydrate.md
---
# Hydrate a workspace

Agents read through the ODB; compilers need POSIX files. Hydration
materializes the ws *view* — tip commit **plus** uncommitted WAL
ops, matching what `ws_read` sees.

```sh
sturn ws hydrate agent-7 /tmp/ws-7            # whole view
sturn ws hydrate agent-7 /tmp/ws-7 --path src # subset
```

Or hydrate + run + clean in one step:

```sh
sturn exec --ws agent-7 -- cargo check        # tmpfs, gone after
sturn exec --ws agent-7 --keep -- cargo test  # keep the dir
```

* Target tmpfs (`/dev/shm`/`/tmp`) — it's a projection, delete freely.
* Exit status propagates: `sturn exec` fails iff the command does.
* Writes inside the hydrated dir do **not** flow back — ops are the
  only write path. (Write-back hydration is a backlog item.)
* FUSE mounts for humans land last — `git` works meanwhile.