diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 3f8918d3..89b69cf0 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ go 1.27.1
 
 require (
 	github.com/agent-substrate/env v0.0.11-0.20260912052224-4468a200b170
-	github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260911232748-672533541dbf
+	github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260918201817-944abe3278b8
 	github.com/redis/go-redis/v9 v9.22.0
 	google.golang.org/grpc v1.83.2
 	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.36.12
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 52879480..27abe182 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 github.com/agent-substrate/env v0.0.11-0.20260912052224-4468a200b170 h1:8AxhEx3BL7J8c+zqnYq5S3aH0J/4z85/JYWoo1dr6xY=
 github.com/agent-substrate/env v0.0.11-0.20260912052224-4468a200b170/go.mod h1:RZ4ACmDqWQx7fgX9b1EaFJskeYTZh1Y7uZinDtp7U2o=
-github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260911232748-672533541dbf h1:FC9Ed75cCczI6unzgMe1Ss3J0mzX2GOiASSHBQnIl/E=
-github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260911232748-672533541dbf/go.mod h1:WBkGfDCbVFbtJTEMpIIbq59yEgko1L4WHJIEVGBdems=
+github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260918201817-944abe3278b8 h1:C39j2y88zDvg0VVrIfJqYejCjeHI25hugGubMeee74w=
+github.com/agent-substrate/substrate v0.0.0-20260918201817-944abe3278b8/go.mod h1:pWnhZpFkHq9VjF2OxsqEbryLnnUYmohhC62bFoindCM=
 github.com/bsm/ginkgo/v2 v2.12.0 h1:Ny8MWAHyOepLGlLKYmXG4IEkioBysk6GpaRTLC8zwWs=
 github.com/bsm/ginkgo/v2 v2.12.0/go.mod h1:SwYbGRRDovPVboqFv0tPTcG1sN61LM1Z4ARdbAV9g4c=
 github.com/bsm/gomega v1.27.10 h1:yeMWxP2pV2fG3FgAODIY8EiRE3dy0aeFYt4l7wh6yKA=
diff --git a/internal/controller/reconciler_test.go b/internal/controller/reconciler_test.go
index 71431095..159184cc 100644
--- a/internal/controller/reconciler_test.go
+++ b/internal/controller/reconciler_test.go
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ type mockControlServer struct {
 	deletedActors    []string
 	actorTemplates   map[string]bool
 	deletedTemplates []string
+	crashedActor     string
+	revertedActors   []string
 }
 
 // noSecrets is a SecretResolver for tests: it never finds a key and never touches a cluster.
@@ -79,6 +81,9 @@ func (m *mockControlServer) CreateActor(ctx context.Context, req *ateapipb.Creat
 	if req.Actor != nil && req.Actor.Metadata != nil {
 		name = req.Actor.Metadata.Name
 	}
+	if name == m.crashedActor {
+		return nil, status.Error(codes.AlreadyExists, "actor exists")
+	}
 	m.createdActors = append(m.createdActors, name)
 	return &ateapipb.Actor{
 		Metadata: &ateapipb.ResourceMetadata{Name: name},
@@ -123,6 +128,22 @@ func (m *mockControlServer) SuspendActor(ctx context.Context, req *ateapipb.Susp
 }
 
 
+func (m *mockControlServer) GetActor(_ context.Context, req *ateapipb.GetActorRequest) (*ateapipb.Actor, error) {
+	return &ateapipb.Actor{
+		Metadata: &ateapipb.ResourceMetadata{Name: req.GetActor().GetName()},
+		Status:   &ateapipb.ActorStatus{State: ateapipb.ActorState_ACTOR_STATE_CRASHED},
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func (m *mockControlServer) RevertActor(_ context.Context, req *ateapipb.RevertActorRequest) (*ateapipb.RevertActorResponse, error) {
+	name := req.GetActor().GetName()
+	m.revertedActors = append(m.revertedActors, name)
+	return &ateapipb.RevertActorResponse{Actor: &ateapipb.Actor{
+		Metadata: &ateapipb.ResourceMetadata{Name: name},
+		Status:   &ateapipb.ActorStatus{State: ateapipb.ActorState_ACTOR_STATE_SUSPENDED},
+	}}, nil
+}
+
 func (m *mockControlServer) DeleteActor(ctx context.Context, req *ateapipb.DeleteActorRequest) (*ateapipb.Actor, error) {
 	name := req.GetActor().GetName()
 	m.deletedActors = append(m.deletedActors, name)
@@ -459,3 +480,34 @@ func TestReconcileDelete_RemovesActorAndTemplates(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestEnsureActor_RevertsCrashedActor(t *testing.T) {
+	lis, err := net.Listen("tcp", "127.0.0.1:0")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to listen: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer lis.Close()
+
+	mockSrv := &mockControlServer{crashedActor: "job"}
+	grpcServer := grpc.NewServer()
+	ateapipb.RegisterControlServer(grpcServer, mockSrv)
+	go grpcServer.Serve(lis)
+	defer grpcServer.Stop()
+
+	client, err := substrate.NewClient(lis.Addr().String(), grpc.WithTransportCredentials(insecure.NewCredentials()))
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("failed to create substrate client: %v", err)
+	}
+	defer client.Close()
+
+	actor, err := client.EnsureActor(context.Background(), "default", "job", "default", "job-tmpl-0a1b2c3d")
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("EnsureActor failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got := actor.GetStatus().GetState(); got != ateapipb.ActorState_ACTOR_STATE_SUSPENDED {
+		t.Errorf("actor state = %v, want SUSPENDED", got)
+	}
+	if len(mockSrv.revertedActors) != 1 || len(mockSrv.deletedActors) != 0 {
+		t.Errorf("crashed actor: reverted %v, deleted %v; want reverted only", mockSrv.revertedActors, mockSrv.deletedActors)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/substrate/client.go b/internal/substrate/client.go
index b0273e87..a94a488b 100644
--- a/internal/substrate/client.go
+++ b/internal/substrate/client.go
@@ -329,7 +329,18 @@ func (c *Client) EnsureActor(ctx context.Context, atespace, actorName, templateA
 			if getErr == nil && existing != nil {
 				state := existing.GetStatus().GetState()
 				if state == ateapipb.ActorState_ACTOR_STATE_CRASHED {
-					slog.Warn("existing actor is crashed, deleting and recreating", "actor", actorName)
+					// Revert to the last snapshot so the workspace survives the crash.
+					reverted, revertErr := c.control.RevertActor(ctx, &ateapipb.RevertActorRequest{
+						Actor: &ateapipb.ObjectRef{
+							Atespace: atespace,
+							Name:     actorName,
+						},
+					})
+					if revertErr == nil {
+						slog.Warn("existing actor is crashed, reverted to its last snapshot", "actor", actorName)
+						return reverted.GetActor(), nil
+					}
+					slog.Warn("existing actor is crashed and could not be reverted, deleting and recreating", "actor", actorName, "error", revertErr)
 					_, _ = c.control.DeleteActor(ctx, &ateapipb.DeleteActorRequest{
 						Actor: &ateapipb.ObjectRef{
 							Atespace: atespace,