diff --git a/apps/web/src/git-fetch.ts b/apps/web/src/git-fetch.ts
index 3c02024cc..ce8988d0d 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/git-fetch.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/git-fetch.ts
@@ -30,8 +30,9 @@ export async function fetchSourceFile(args: {
       dir,
       url: args.url,
       ref: MAIN_REF,
+      // The hub's git server advertises no `shallow` capability, so a
+      // depth-limited fetch is rejected outright; fetch the full branch.
       singleBranch: true,
-      depth: 1,
       tags: false,
       headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${args.token}` },
     });
diff --git a/apps/web/src/pages/new-workbench-picker.tsx b/apps/web/src/pages/new-workbench-picker.tsx
index 1abb90cef..3dbd8bbf1 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/pages/new-workbench-picker.tsx
+++ b/apps/web/src/pages/new-workbench-picker.tsx
@@ -123,12 +123,20 @@ export function NewWorkbenchPickerRoute() {
       });
       navigate(workbenchPath(tenantId));
     },
-    onError: (cause: unknown) => {
+    onError: (cause: unknown, variables) => {
       const refId = reportError(cause, {
         operation: "workbench_create",
         ...(selectedTenantId !== null ? { tenantId: selectedTenantId } : {}),
       });
       toast(describeWorkbenchCreateFailure(cause, refId));
+      // The room exists once a later stage fails; the toast says to retry
+      // from the room, so go there.
+      if (cause instanceof WorkbenchCreateError && cause.tenantId !== undefined) {
+        void queryClient.invalidateQueries({
+          queryKey: chatKeys.childTenants(variables.benchTenantId),
+        });
+        navigate(workbenchPath(cause.tenantId));
+      }
     },
   });
 
diff --git a/apps/web/src/workbench-create.ts b/apps/web/src/workbench-create.ts
index b06cc1281..65842658c 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/workbench-create.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/workbench-create.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,9 @@ export class WorkbenchCreateError extends Error {
   constructor(
     message: string,
     readonly stage: "create" | "deploy" | "opening-message",
+    /** Set once the room tenant exists, so a later-stage failure can
+     * still land the person in the room it created. */
+    readonly tenantId?: string,
   ) {
     super(message);
     this.name = "WorkbenchCreateError";
@@ -32,8 +35,16 @@ function workbenchSlug(name: string): string {
   return `${base === "" ? "workbench" : base}-${Date.now().toString(36)}`;
 }
 
-function failure(cause: unknown, stage: WorkbenchCreateError["stage"]): WorkbenchCreateError {
-  return new WorkbenchCreateError(cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause), stage);
+function failure(
+  cause: unknown,
+  stage: WorkbenchCreateError["stage"],
+  tenantId?: string,
+): WorkbenchCreateError {
+  return new WorkbenchCreateError(
+    cause instanceof Error ? cause.message : String(cause),
+    stage,
+    tenantId,
+  );
 }
 
 export type CreateWorkbenchInput = {
@@ -92,7 +103,7 @@ export async function createWorkbench(input: CreateWorkbenchInput): Promise<stri
       });
     }
   } catch (cause) {
-    throw failure(cause, "deploy");
+    throw failure(cause, "deploy", tenantId);
   }
 
   if (input.openingMessage !== undefined && input.openingMessage !== "") {
@@ -106,7 +117,7 @@ export async function createWorkbench(input: CreateWorkbenchInput): Promise<stri
         await sendToRoom({ roomTenantId: tenantId, agents, content: input.openingMessage });
       }
     } catch (cause) {
-      throw failure(cause, "opening-message");
+      throw failure(cause, "opening-message", tenantId);
     }
   }