diff --git a/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/src/templates.ts b/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/src/templates.ts
index d22917c8f5f..8526b501475 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/src/templates.ts
+++ b/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/src/templates.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ export const REQUIRED_WIKI_DIRECTORIES = [
   "wiki",
   "wiki/sources",
   "wiki/projects",
+  "wiki/areas",
   "wiki/entities",
   "wiki/concepts",
   "wiki/synthesis",
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ export const BOOTSTRAP_FILES: ReadonlyArray<{ path: string; contents: string }>
   { path: "raw/.gitkeep", contents: "" },
   { path: "wiki/sources/.gitkeep", contents: "" },
   { path: "wiki/projects/.gitkeep", contents: "" },
+  { path: "wiki/areas/.gitkeep", contents: "" },
   { path: "wiki/entities/.gitkeep", contents: "" },
   { path: "wiki/concepts/.gitkeep", contents: "" },
   { path: "wiki/synthesis/.gitkeep", contents: "" },
diff --git a/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/src/wiki.ts b/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/src/wiki.ts
index 1a7ee94c798..5601c0ad57c 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/src/wiki.ts
+++ b/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/src/wiki.ts
@@ -1745,6 +1745,7 @@ export async function createPaperclipDistillationWorkItem(ctx: PluginContext, in
   const wikiId = normalizeWikiId(input.wikiId);
   const itemId = randomUUID();
   const scope = paperclipCursorScopeMetadata(input);
+  const idempotencyKey = input.idempotencyKey ?? `${input.kind}:${scope.sourceScope}:${scope.scopeKey}`;
   if (input.kind === "backfill" && !scope.projectId && !scope.rootIssueId) {
     throw new Error("Backfill work items must target a projectId or rootIssueId; whole-company backfill is not allowed.");
   }
@@ -1765,7 +1766,7 @@ export async function createPaperclipDistillationWorkItem(ctx: PluginContext, in
       scope.projectId,
       scope.rootIssueId,
       input.requestedByIssueId ?? null,
-      input.idempotencyKey ?? null,
+      idempotencyKey,
       jsonParam({
         sourceScope: scope.sourceScope,
         ...(input.metadata ?? {}),
diff --git a/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/tests/plugin.spec.ts b/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/tests/plugin.spec.ts
index fef8cb2e676..b588bdf61d2 100644
--- a/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/tests/plugin.spec.ts
+++ b/packages/plugins/plugin-llm-wiki/tests/plugin.spec.ts
@@ -1434,13 +1434,19 @@ Route sidebar state stays attached to the selected wiki page.
       metadata: { window: "last-30-days" },
       idempotencyKey: "backfill:last-30-days",
     });
+    await harness.performAction("create-paperclip-distillation-work-item", {
+      companyId: COMPANY_ID,
+      kind: "manual",
+      projectId: "77777777-7777-4777-8777-777777777780",
+    });
 
     const workItemWrites = harness.dbExecutes.filter((execute) => execute.sql.includes("paperclip_distillation_work_items"));
-    expect(workItemWrites).toHaveLength(3);
-    expect(workItemWrites.map((write) => write.params?.[3])).toEqual(["manual", "retry", "backfill"]);
+    expect(workItemWrites).toHaveLength(4);
+    expect(workItemWrites.map((write) => write.params?.[3])).toEqual(["manual", "retry", "backfill", "manual"]);
     expect(String(workItemWrites[0].params?.[9])).toContain('"sourceScope":"project"');
     expect(String(workItemWrites[1].params?.[9])).toContain('"sourceScope":"root_issue"');
     expect(String(workItemWrites[2].params?.[9])).toContain('"sourceScope":"project"');
+    expect(workItemWrites[3].params?.[8]).toBe("manual:project:77777777-7777-4777-8777-777777777780");
 
     await expect(harness.performAction("create-paperclip-distillation-work-item", {
       companyId: COMPANY_ID,
@@ -1939,6 +1945,7 @@ Route sidebar state stays attached to the selected wiki page.
       "raw/.gitkeep",
       "wiki/sources/.gitkeep",
       "wiki/projects/.gitkeep",
+      "wiki/areas/.gitkeep",
       "wiki/entities/.gitkeep",
       "wiki/concepts/.gitkeep",
       "wiki/synthesis/.gitkeep",