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Lab Tools: retire VM wording, gate sidecar tools, surface unimplemented backends

Motivation

The Custom DB builder and Lab Tools tabs still carried "Remote Terminal VM" wording from the retired topology, sent terminal_resource_group / terminal_vm_name in their request payloads, and had no UI gate around the still-missing backend routes. Probing the running API showed every Lab Tool action 404'd:

POST /api/blast/cost-estimate    -> 404
POST /api/blast/preprocess       -> 404
POST /api/blast/taxonomy         -> 404
POST /api/blast/primer-design    -> 404
POST /api/blast/databases/build  -> 404

That meant users could click "Calculate estimate" / "Build database" / "Design primers" forever with no feedback beyond a generic 404, and the docstrings on the page still referenced a VM that no longer exists.

User-facing change

Wording / payload cleanup (Item B)

  • web/src/pages/DatabaseBuilder.tsx — page header and Build-step subtitle now say "terminal sidecar" instead of "Remote Terminal VM".
  • web/src/pages/tools/toolsPageModel.tsx — Primer Design menu blurb updated to "Run Primer3 in the terminal sidecar".
  • web/src/pages/tools/ToolTabs.tsx — primerApi.design(...) call no longer sends terminal_resource_group / terminal_vm_name.
  • web/src/pages/tools/ToolLayout.tsx — SetupRequired no longer mentions a Remote Terminal VM in the prerequisite list.

Sidecar gating (Item C)

  • web/src/pages/DatabaseBuilder.tsx — readiness now includes "Terminal sidecar" via useTerminalSidecarHealth(); with the sidecar unavailable, readiness reads 1/4 (Workspace only) and Build is disabled.
  • web/src/pages/tools/ToolTabs.tsx (PrimerDesignTab) — when the sidecar is unhealthy, the tab renders a new SidecarRequired empty state ("Terminal sidecar unavailable") instead of the form.

Honest 503 responses (Item A.1)

  • api/routes/stubs.py — added five POST stub routes that return a structured 503 with code: lab_tool_backend_pending:
  • /api/blast/cost-estimate
  • /api/blast/preprocess
  • /api/blast/taxonomy
  • /api/blast/primer-design
  • /api/blast/databases/build
  • web/src/api/client.ts — formatApiError() recognises the lab_tool_backend_pending code and surfaces the upstream message instead of the generic "Function App may be starting up" string.

Visual "Preview only" banner (Item A.2)

  • web/src/pages/tools/ToolLayout.tsx — added a NotImplementedBanner component (small amber strip with AlertTriangle icon).
  • Rendered at the top of Cost Estimator, Preprocessor, Taxonomy, Primer Design (when the sidecar happens to be up), and Custom Database Builder so users know the action will fail with 503 lab_tool_backend_pending until the Celery tasks land.

API / IaC diff summary

  • api/routes/stubs.py: +5 POST routes, all returning HTTP 503 with {"code":"lab_tool_backend_pending","message":"..."} detail. No business logic; no Celery enqueue; no Azure SDK calls.
  • No Bicep / pyproject.toml / Celery worker changes.
  • The optional terminal_resource_group / terminal_vm_name fields on the SPA-side request types remain (other callers may still send them); the SPA itself no longer does.

Validation evidence

$ for p in cost-estimate preprocess taxonomy primer-design databases/build; do
    curl -s -o /dev/null -w "POST $p -> %{http_code}\n" \
      -X POST "http://localhost:8080/api/blast/$p" \
      -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{}'
  done
POST cost-estimate -> 503
POST preprocess -> 503
POST taxonomy -> 503
POST primer-design -> 503
POST databases/build -> 503

$ uv run pytest -q api/tests
........................................................                 [100%]
56 passed in 9.54s

$ cd web && npx tsc --noEmit -p . ; echo "exit=$?"
exit=0

Browser smoke (local dev, no terminal sidecar): - /blast/databases/build: readiness reads 1/4, "Build database" disabled, amber "Preview only" banner at top, header copy is "terminal sidecar". - /tools → Cost Estimator / Preprocessor / Taxonomy: each shows the amber "Preview only" banner above the form. - /tools → Primer Design: renders "Terminal sidecar unavailable" empty state.

Files touched

api/routes/stubs.py                          (+5 routes)
web/src/api/client.ts                        (formatApiError 503 path)
web/src/pages/DatabaseBuilder.tsx            (readiness + banner + wording)
web/src/pages/tools/ToolLayout.tsx           (SidecarRequired, NotImplementedBanner)
web/src/pages/tools/ToolTabs.tsx             (sidecar gate, banners, payload cleanup)
web/src/pages/tools/toolsPageModel.tsx       (wording)