Product model: workspace (VM) and inference as independent products; VM-only signup #132

Decision

Workspace (VM) and inference are independent products. A member may hold a VM slot without inference (for example, they cancel inference and keep their VM). The account stays active with the VM only.

Background: handoff-workspace-tiers-2026-09-18.md §2.3 ("A slot pays for compute, NOT inference").

Current state

• OK: login and the VM survive inference churn (churned members keep full login sessions; slot-paid VMs are gated by the slot, not by membership).
• Gap: when a subscribed member creates a slot VM, it receives a LiteLLM key at create time. On churn that key goes stale (the entitlement is revoked), and on resubscribe it is not re-injected into the VM. See workspace.go:238.
• The model and gates are being prepared now (entitlements separated in code).
• Deferred: a public VM-only signup (no waitlist, no membership) waits until the platform opens without a waitlist.

Acceptance criteria

Now (model/gates):

• Inference key lifecycle for workspaces follows the inference entitlement: revoked/removed on churn, re-injected on resubscribe, with no restart of the VM required if feasible. Tests cover churn → resubscribe on an existing slot VM.
• Entitlements separated: InferenceEntitled (membership) and slot entitlement (compute) evaluated independently everywhere (API, UI, operator).
• UI reflects "VM active, inference inactive" as a valid state, with an upsell to inference instead of an error.

Later (when the platform opens without waitlist):

• Signup path that creates an account without a membership.
• Stripe customer created in EUR from the start (avoids the currency lock, see Billing: USD to EUR migration flow for members who buy workspaces #131).
• VM-only member can buy slots, manage workspaces, and later add inference without re-onboarding.