fix: preserve conversation updated_at across server restarts

save_meta() was unconditionally stamping updated_at = utc_now() on every
call.  On startup ConversationService.__aenter__ restores every persisted
conversation by calling _start_event_service → event_service.save_meta(),
so all conversations ended up with updated_at set to the restart time.

Fix:
- Remove the updated_at mutation from save_meta(); it should only persist
  the current in-memory state.
- Explicitly set updated_at in update_conversation(), which is the one
  place that makes a genuine metadata change (the implicit side-effect via
  save_meta() was the only thing keeping it working before).

updated_at continues to be stamped in _EventSubscriber.__call__ whenever
a conversation event is emitted, which is the correct behaviour.

Co-authored-by: openhands <openhands@all-hands.dev>

Author: rbren

openhands-agent-server/openhands/agent_server/conversation_service.py

@@ -348,8 +348,9 @@ async def update_conversation(
         if event_service is None:
             return False
 
-        # Update the title in stored conversation
+        # Update the title and timestamp in stored conversation
         event_service.stored.title = request.title.strip()
+        event_service.stored.updated_at = utc_now()
         # Save the updated metadata to disk
         await event_service.save_meta()
 

openhands-agent-server/openhands/agent_server/event_service.py

@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
     StoredConversation,
 )
 from openhands.agent_server.pub_sub import PubSub, Subscriber
-from openhands.agent_server.utils import utc_now
 from openhands.sdk import LLM, Agent, AgentBase, Event, Message, get_logger
 from openhands.sdk.conversation.impl.local_conversation import LocalConversation
 from openhands.sdk.conversation.secret_registry import SecretValue
@@ -62,7 +61,6 @@ async def load_meta(self):
         )
 
     async def save_meta(self):
-        self.stored.updated_at = utc_now()
         meta_file = self.conversation_dir / "meta.json"
         meta_file.write_text(
             self.stored.model_dump_json(

tests/agent_server/test_conversation_service.py

@@ -1033,6 +1033,37 @@ async def test_update_conversation_multiple_times(
         # Verify save_meta was called three times
         assert mock_service.save_meta.call_count == 3
 
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_update_conversation_sets_updated_at(
+        self, conversation_service, sample_stored_conversation
+    ):
+        """Test that update_conversation advances updated_at.
+
+        Renaming a conversation is a meaningful change; the timestamp must
+        reflect when it happened rather than staying at the value set at
+        conversation creation time.
+        """
+        mock_service = AsyncMock(spec=EventService)
+        mock_service.stored = sample_stored_conversation
+        mock_state = ConversationState(
+            id=sample_stored_conversation.id,
+            agent=sample_stored_conversation.agent,
+            workspace=sample_stored_conversation.workspace,
+            execution_status=ConversationExecutionStatus.IDLE,
+            confirmation_policy=sample_stored_conversation.confirmation_policy,
+        )
+        mock_service.get_state.return_value = mock_state
+
+        conversation_id = sample_stored_conversation.id
+        conversation_service._event_services[conversation_id] = mock_service
+
+        original_updated_at = mock_service.stored.updated_at
+
+        request = UpdateConversationRequest(title="New Title")
+        await conversation_service.update_conversation(conversation_id, request)
+
+        assert mock_service.stored.updated_at > original_updated_at
+
 
 class TestConversationServiceDeleteConversation:
     """Test cases for ConversationService.delete_conversation method."""

tests/agent_server/test_event_service.py

@@ -1172,6 +1172,34 @@ async def test_run_publishes_state_update_on_error(self, event_service):
         event_service._publish_state_update.assert_called()
 
 
+class TestEventServiceSaveMeta:
+    """Test cases for EventService.save_meta method."""
+
+    @pytest.mark.asyncio
+    async def test_save_meta_preserves_updated_at(self, event_service, tmp_path):
+        """Test that save_meta does not modify updated_at.
+
+        On server restart every conversation's save_meta is called.  Before the
+        fix, save_meta stamped updated_at = utc_now(), so all conversations
+        appeared to have been updated at restart time.
+        """
+        original_updated_at = datetime(2025, 1, 1, 12, 30, 0, tzinfo=UTC)
+        event_service.stored.updated_at = original_updated_at
+        event_service.conversations_dir = tmp_path
+        conv_dir = tmp_path / event_service.stored.id.hex
+        conv_dir.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
+
+        await event_service.save_meta()
+
+        # In-memory value must be unchanged
+        assert event_service.stored.updated_at == original_updated_at
+
+        # Persisted value must also match
+        meta_file = conv_dir / "meta.json"
+        loaded = StoredConversation.model_validate_json(meta_file.read_text())
+        assert loaded.updated_at == original_updated_at
+
+
 class TestEventServiceStartWithRunningStatus:
     """Test cases for EventService.start handling of RUNNING execution status."""