fix(api-catalog): describe the real backup and restore paths for agents (#20159)

## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - Instance admins and operators own database backups; a chat agent
cannot create one
> - When a person asks an agent to back up the instance and check a
restore, the agent must say who can do it and how
> - The agent reads the API catalog to find the operator path, but the
backup entry had only the summary "Trigger a database backup"
> - With no real path in the catalog, the agent told the person to use
an "Instance settings > Backups" page that does not exist
> - This pull request describes the real paths in that catalog entry:
the endpoint, the CLI, the retention setting, the result file, and how
to check a restore safely
> - The benefit is that the agent sends the person to paths that exist
and keeps a restore check off the live database

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

**What happened**

A person asked the CEO chat agent: "Back up this test instance and check
that we can restore it." The agent got 403 on `POST
/api/instance/database-backups`, which is correct. It searched the
catalog for backup and restore operations and found only that endpoint
with no description. Its reply then said: "Create a backup in Instance
settings → Backups". The web UI has no such page or control.

**Expected behavior**

The agent says that an instance admin or operator must do this. It names
real paths: the endpoint for an instance admin, `paperclipai db:backup`
on the server host, and the Backup retention setting for automatic
backups. For the restore check, it says to restore into a separate empty
database, not over the live one.

**Steps to reproduce**

1. Start a local instance and open a chat with the CEO agent.
2. Ask: "Back up this test instance and check that we can restore it."
3. Read the reply: it names a backup page in Instance settings. Look for
it in the UI: there is none.

## What Changed

- `server/src/routes/openapi.ts`: add a description to `POST
/api/instance/database-backups`. It says that only instance admins can
call it (agents get 403, cloud-managed instances run backups for you),
that automatic backups run about hourly with retention set on the
company-prefixed /company/settings page, that the UI has no create or
restore control, that an operator can run `paperclipai db:backup`, what
the result file is, and that a restore check uses psql into a separate
empty database, never over the live one.
- `server/src/routes/openapi.ts`: register the success status as `201`,
which is what the route returns, instead of `200`. The published
document already showed `201` through the created-operations fixup, so
this makes the source match it.
- `server/src/__tests__/database-backup-catalog-guidance.test.ts`: new
regression test. It runs the agent's catalog searches from the failed
run and checks the description. It also checks that the published
document shows `201` and not `200` for a successful backup.

## Verification

- `pnpm exec vitest run
src/__tests__/database-backup-catalog-guidance.test.ts
src/__tests__/openapi-routes.test.ts` (from `server/`): 40 tests pass.
Without the change, the 2 search tests fail. The status test guards the
published document, which the fixup already kept correct.
- `pnpm exec vitest run
src/__tests__/instance-database-backups-routes.test.ts`: 7 tests pass.
The server typecheck passes.
- Chat eval `instance-operations.backup-and-restore` (runner-opencode),
with this commit cherry-picked onto the eval branch: before the change,
the reply named an "Instance settings → Backups" page that does not
exist. After the change (GitHub Actions run 42552777052), the eval
passed. The first reply said the agent got 403, named `POST
/api/instance/database-backups` for an instance admin and `paperclipai
db:backup --json` for an operator, linked Backup retention on the
company settings page, and said to restore with psql into a separate,
empty database, never over the live one. The second reply reported the
operator's restore receipt and its limits correctly.

## Risks

- Low risk. The change adds catalog text and makes the registered
success status match the published 201. It does not change any API or
permission behavior.
- If a backup page or restore command is added later, this text must
change. The regression test names these facts, so such a change fails
the test and shows the text to update.

> For core feature work, check [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md) first and
discuss it in `#dev` before opening the PR. Feature PRs that overlap
with planned core work may need to be redirected — check the roadmap
first. See `CONTRIBUTING.md`.

## Model Used

- Anthropic Claude Opus 5.5 (`claude-opus-5-5`), tool use and code
execution in Claude Code.

## Checklist

- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked
them above
- [x] I have either (a) linked existing issues with `Fixes: #` / `Closes
#` / `Refs #` OR (b) described the issue in-PR following the relevant
issue template
- [x] I have not referenced internal/instance-local Paperclip issues or
links (only public GitHub `#NNN` / `github.com/paperclipai/paperclip`
URLs)
- [x] My branch name describes the change (e.g. `docs/...`, `fix/...`)
and contains no internal Paperclip ticket id or instance-derived details
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [ ] All Paperclip CI gates are green
- [ ] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

---------

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

server/src/__tests__/database-backup-catalog-guidance.test.ts

@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+import { expect, it } from "vitest";
+import { buildOpenApiDocument } from "../routes/openapi.js";
+import { searchRunnerApi } from "../services/native-runtime/runner-api-catalog.js";
+
+// An agent asked to back up and verify a restore cannot do either. Its API search must give it the real operator
+// paths, so it does not invent a backup page: the retention setting, the CLI, and restore into a separate database.
+it.each(["backup instance restore snapshot", "database backups list restore"])("search %j describes the real backup and restore paths", query => {
+  const operation = searchRunnerApi({ query, limit: 10 }).results.find(row => row.operationId === "POST /api/instance/database-backups");
+  expect(operation, query).toBeDefined();
+  const description = operation!.description;
+  expect(description).toContain("agent credentials receive 403");
+  expect(description).toContain("The web UI has no control that creates or restores a backup");
+  expect(description).toContain("Backup retention section of the company-prefixed /company/settings page");
+  expect(description).toContain("paperclipai db:backup");
+  expect(description).toContain("separate, empty PostgreSQL database, never over the live one");
+});
+
+// The route answers a successful manual backup with 201. This guards the published document, which agents and
+// clients read; the registration and the CREATED_OPERATIONS fixup in openapi.ts both supply that 201.
+it("publishes the status the backup route returns on success", () => {
+  const responses = buildOpenApiDocument().paths["/api/instance/database-backups"].post.responses;
+  expect(Object.keys(responses)).toContain("201");
+  expect(Object.keys(responses)).not.toContain("200");
+});

server/src/routes/openapi.ts

@@ -9886,7 +9886,8 @@ registry.registerPath({
   path: "/api/instance/database-backups",
   tags: ["instance"],
   summary: "Trigger a database backup",
-  responses: { 200: r.ok(), 401: r.unauthorized, 403: r.forbidden },
+  description: "Instance admins only: agent credentials receive 403, and cloud-managed instances run backups for you. Automatic gzip-compressed backups run about hourly by default; instance admins set how long they are kept in the Backup retention section of the company-prefixed /company/settings page. The web UI has no control that creates or restores a backup. For a backup now, an instance admin calls this endpoint, or an operator with shell access to the server runs `paperclipai db:backup` (add --json for metadata). The result names a gzip-compressed SQL file (backupFile) on the server host and its size. Paperclip has no restore endpoint or command: to check a backup, an operator restores the file with psql into a separate, empty PostgreSQL database, never over the live one, and then checks the restored data.",
+  responses: { 201: r.ok(), 401: r.unauthorized, 403: r.forbidden },
 });
 
 // ─── LLM text endpoints ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────