diff --git a/internal/workspace/most_recent.go b/internal/workspace/most_recent.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b170500
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/workspace/most_recent.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package workspace
+
+// MostRecentActive returns the active workspace with the latest UpdatedAt
+// timestamp under root, considering both tasks and projects.
+//
+// Returns (nil, nil) if no active workspaces exist (this is not an error
+// condition; callers decide how to surface "nothing to do").
+//
+// Legacy v0.2 workspaces (no Type field) are included as tasks via
+// EffectiveType. Archived workspaces are always excluded.
+func MostRecentActive(root string) (*QueryResult, error) {
+	results, err := ListWorkspaces(root, ListOpts{
+		IncludeArchived: false,
+		Limit:           0,
+		Type:            TypeAny,
+	})
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	if len(results) == 0 {
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	best := results[0]
+	for _, r := range results[1:] {
+		if r.Meta.UpdatedAt.After(best.Meta.UpdatedAt) {
+			best = r
+		}
+	}
+	return &best, nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/workspace/most_recent_test.go b/internal/workspace/most_recent_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e5ec99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/workspace/most_recent_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+package workspace
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+// All test timestamps are anchored to a fixed base date so the assertions
+// don't depend on wall-clock time.
+var baseT = time.Date(2026, 4, 1, 12, 0, 0, 0, time.UTC)
+
+func TestMostRecentActiveTasksOnly(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "general", "2026-04-01_old", "active", "task", baseT)
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "general", "2026-04-02_new", "active", "task", baseT.Add(2*time.Hour))
+
+	got, err := MostRecentActive(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MostRecentActive: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected a result, got nil")
+	}
+	if got.Meta.Slug != "new" {
+		t.Errorf("slug: got %q, want \"new\"", got.Meta.Slug)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMostRecentActiveProjectsOnly(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "projects", "2026-04-01_old-proj", "active", "project", baseT)
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "projects", "2026-04-02_new-proj", "active", "project", baseT.Add(2*time.Hour))
+
+	got, err := MostRecentActive(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MostRecentActive: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got == nil {
+		t.Fatal("expected a result, got nil")
+	}
+	if got.Meta.Slug != "new-proj" {
+		t.Errorf("slug: got %q, want \"new-proj\"", got.Meta.Slug)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMostRecentActiveProjectWinsOverOlderTask(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "general", "2026-04-01_old-task", "active", "task", baseT)
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "projects", "2026-04-02_new-proj", "active", "project", baseT.Add(2*time.Hour))
+
+	got, err := MostRecentActive(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MostRecentActive: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got == nil || got.Meta.Slug != "new-proj" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected new-proj, got %+v", got)
+	}
+	if EffectiveType(got.Meta) != "project" {
+		t.Errorf("EffectiveType: got %q, want \"project\"", EffectiveType(got.Meta))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMostRecentActiveTaskWinsOverOlderProject(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "projects", "2026-04-01_old-proj", "active", "project", baseT)
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "general", "2026-04-02_new-task", "active", "task", baseT.Add(2*time.Hour))
+
+	got, err := MostRecentActive(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MostRecentActive: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got == nil || got.Meta.Slug != "new-task" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected new-task, got %+v", got)
+	}
+	if EffectiveType(got.Meta) != "task" {
+		t.Errorf("EffectiveType: got %q, want \"task\"", EffectiveType(got.Meta))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMostRecentActiveLegacyWorkspaceCounts(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	// Most recent has no Type field at all (v0.2 era).
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "projects", "2026-04-01_old-proj", "active", "project", baseT)
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "general", "2026-04-02_legacy", "active", "", baseT.Add(2*time.Hour))
+
+	got, err := MostRecentActive(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MostRecentActive: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got == nil || got.Meta.Slug != "legacy" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected legacy, got %+v", got)
+	}
+	// EffectiveType should fall back to "task".
+	if EffectiveType(got.Meta) != "task" {
+		t.Errorf("legacy EffectiveType: got %q, want \"task\"", EffectiveType(got.Meta))
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMostRecentActiveExcludesArchived(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	// Newest is archived; should be skipped in favor of the older active project.
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "general", "2026-04-03_newest-archived", "archived", "task", baseT.Add(3*time.Hour))
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "projects", "2026-04-02_active-proj", "active", "project", baseT.Add(2*time.Hour))
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "general", "2026-04-01_old-task", "active", "task", baseT)
+
+	got, err := MostRecentActive(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MostRecentActive: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got == nil || got.Meta.Slug != "active-proj" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected active-proj (newest non-archived), got %+v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMostRecentActiveReturnsNilWhenEmpty(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	got, err := MostRecentActive(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MostRecentActive: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got != nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected nil for empty root, got %+v", got)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestMostRecentActiveReturnsNilWhenAllArchived(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "general", "2026-04-01_arch-task", "archived", "task", baseT)
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, "projects", "2026-04-02_arch-proj", "archived", "project", baseT.Add(time.Hour))
+
+	got, err := MostRecentActive(root)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("MostRecentActive: %v", err)
+	}
+	if got != nil {
+		t.Errorf("expected nil when all workspaces archived, got %+v", got)
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/workspace/query_test.go b/internal/workspace/query_test.go
index cb7bec7..54b4c98 100644
--- a/internal/workspace/query_test.go
+++ b/internal/workspace/query_test.go
@@ -16,18 +16,25 @@ func createTestWorkspace(t *testing.T, root, category, dirName string, status st
 // createTestWorkspaceTyped creates a minimal workspace of an explicit type
 // (use "" to simulate a v0.2 workspace with no type field).
 func createTestWorkspaceTyped(t *testing.T, root, category, dirName, status, taskType string) {
+	t.Helper()
+	now := time.Now().UTC().Truncate(time.Second)
+	createTestWorkspaceFull(t, root, category, dirName, status, taskType, now)
+}
+
+// createTestWorkspaceFull creates a workspace with an explicit UpdatedAt
+// timestamp -- used by tests that exercise "most recently updated" logic.
+func createTestWorkspaceFull(t *testing.T, root, category, dirName, status, taskType string, updatedAt time.Time) {
 	t.Helper()
 	dir := filepath.Join(root, category, dirName)
 	os.MkdirAll(dir, 0755)
-	now := time.Now().UTC().Truncate(time.Second)
 	// Extract slug from dirName (skip "YYYY-MM-DD_")
 	slug := dirName[11:]
 	meta := &TaskMeta{
 		ID:            "test",
 		Slug:          slug,
 		Title:         slug,
-		CreatedAt:     now,
-		UpdatedAt:     now,
+		CreatedAt:     updatedAt,
+		UpdatedAt:     updatedAt,
 		Status:        status,
 		Category:      category,
 		Type:          taskType,