DottaandPaperclip
0884e73b46
## Thinking Path > - Paperclip lets people manage agent work and reusable company skills. > - A saved assigned skill must affect a task's actual execution. > - Existing QA coverage creates and edits skills. > - The daily target needs coverage for ordinary saved-skill use. > - The task receives its receipt data only through one saved skill. > - The admitted immutable version, native read and saved document establish the outcome. > - This PR adds one bounded journey for that gap. > - A shared lease test also needs a stable clock to assert its exact timeout. ## Linked Issues or Issue Description Refs: #18305. Supporting repair #18885 merged as `057898530c702ec14c1e14d163e96dfb045cd8c0`. It closes the recovery-conflict prerequisite. This branch does not duplicate that production patch. **What existing behavior does this improve?** Product E2E coverage for ordinary assigned company skill use on an existing deployment target. **Current behavior** The deployment journey catalog can create and edit a company skill. It has no separate case that requires a native task to load its assigned saved skill and use data available only inside that source. **Proposed behavior** Create one synthetic managed company skill through the public API. Assign its canonical key with the normal Latest selection. Create the task through the production browser composer. Require one native work run, the exact created immutable version in its admitted skill-version map, a successful native source read or load, and an agent-authored saved receipt. Reload and verify the result, revision and original source. ## What Changed - Add `saved-skill-use` with one native work run and seven required checks. The first check is `saved-skill-assignment-bound`. - Use ordinary `desiredSkills: [canonicalKey]` assignment. Require the returned stored assignment to have `versionId: null`. This works with Beta skills off and reads or changes no experimental setting. - Bind the creation receipt, pre-dispatch source read and version file inventory. Require a managed skill with the exact company key. Require the run's authoritative `skillSelectionSnapshot: true` and admitted version map to match the created immutable version. - Keep the random receipt reference and numeric inputs only in the saved source. The task prompt names the skill without supplying its answer. - Require exact company, task, agent, run, turn and runner bindings for a complete successful native source receipt. Accept the deployed OpenCode read wrapper only when both the saved assignment and native execution input bind its runtime directory to the created immutable skill version. Also accept the first-party assigned-skill read with a provider-independent canonical key/version binding from both the saved API assignment and admitted native input. Require the exact full source, checksum, byte count and complete page. Keep the materialized directory-name guard specific to the OpenCode filesystem path. Reject claims, shell output, foreign or incomplete reads and wrong skill loads. - Add a narrow Codex reader for the retained controller `semantic_tool.input` and `semantic_tool.result` pair. Require the actual native provider, runner, session, call, turn and item; the admitted immutable key/version; the read-only `read_assigned_skill` operation; and its successful active-task receipt. Recompute the input digest and the exact complete seven-field read-result digest from the saved source. Raw dynamic or MCP names grant no authority. Keep the builtin OpenCode/filesystem reader body unchanged. - Require authoritative native commit before qualifying the saved receipt. Independently check its value and same-run document revision authorship. Reload and verify the result and unchanged source. Retain those existing readback receipts in the private checkpoint for independent verification. - Keep the exact raw campaign ID in the journal, API name, frontmatter and saved name. A lost successful creation response remains recoverable by name. - Register discovery, source fingerprints, closed checks and existing feature associations. Update the case and fixture docs. Feature-map files are unchanged. - Stabilize one existing shared sandbox lease regression with a scoped `Date.now` spy and `finally` restoration. Keep its exact timeout, no-destroy, no-replacement and recorded lease assertions. Change no production service code. ## Verification - **Genuine QA staging qualification passed on this exact `2fb654f7be0bac3bfeb4ec6b7a2eb7a06b8de7e4` head**: [workflow41763421118](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip-cloud/actions/runs/41763421118), [TestOps launch2257/result4034](https://paperclip.testops.cloud/launch/2257/tree/4034?treeId=0), [sanitized report](https://pages.paperclip.ing/evals-qa-smoke-41763421118-1/). All seven required checks and all five phases passed, with exactly one configured OpenCode/DeepSeek native run succeeded and committed. Owned cleanup closed. A separate source-pinned replay verified25 original-evidence controls and16 rejection controls without altering originals. Automatic #testops PASS was independently read back. Both earlier failed QA grades remain unchanged. - Current-head CI `41758727042` attempt 2 passed with 48 successful jobs and one skip. The coordinator authorized one unchanged-source failed-jobs diagnostic. Start and end timestamps prove three fresh executions (Runner package, server shard 7 and aggregate verification), 45 retained successful executions and one skipped non-execution. The prepared-context test passed in 2,534 ms. All 28 repository rehome tests passed. The original failed attempt remains sealed. Its timeout causes are still unknown. No source, timeout or assertion changed, and no reliability fix is claimed. - Fresh exact-head Greptile review is 5/5 with zero unresolved threads. All 58 current check-runs and the status rollup are terminal and clean. The native Paperclip review ended neutral and incomplete, so it is not a validated assessment. The PR remains mergeable after the dependency case merged in #18901. The source remains frozen. A coordinator-only qualification draft is prepared with approval false. A genuine QA staging pass is still required before daily enrollment. - Current head `2fb654f7be0bac3bfeb4ec6b7a2eb7a06b8de7e4`: 269 focused tests across eight files passed. These include 42 Codex producer, converter and false-positive controls. The canonical E2E typecheck passed with its own declaration prerequisites. Credential-free discovery lists 24 journeys. Fresh exact-head Greptile review passed at 5/5 with zero unresolved threads. CI `41758727042` attempt 1 failed. It completed 45 successful jobs, one skip and three failed jobs. The primary failures were one existing OpenCode prepared-context test at its unchanged 5-second timeout and three existing repository rehome tests at their unchanged 15-second timeouts. The third failed job aggregates those results. The timeout causes are unknown. The original attempt remains sealed. A direct passing twin ran the prepared-context test in 2,533 ms. All package, script, CLI, UI, workflow and root inputs match between the actual tested merges. Three server files differ, including `task-retry.ts` inside the broader rehome import graph; no full-server equality or causal fix is claimed. The later single diagnostic pass is recorded above. The native Paperclip review ended neutral with an incomplete execution, so it is not a validated assessment. No live QA pass is claimed. - The valid review on `e1a474` found that Codex displays its first-party tool as dynamic. Source inspection confirmed that its raw name has no authority. The retained controller semantic input/result pair supplies the real operation authority. Core `09162fe893b464dd2ccdafd14bd3ef1611202a86` and current source have identical relevant envelope, digest, result-unwrapping and immutable-read implementation regions. - Three real-producer positive controls failed against the old grader. All 42 now pass. The tests call the actual immutable-file reader, production protocol digest builders, Codex display converter and API redaction. They validate the event schema and cover omitted defaults, the exact runtime alias and Unicode bytes. Missing, duplicate, reordered, failed, foreign, MCP, unbound, partial-page, wrong-digest, wrong-key/version and nonce-only evidence fails. Generic dynamic output fails even with copied full text and invented read-only markers. - The original builtin reader body and source-only fixture function are byte-identical to `e1a474`. All seven checks, the one-run limit, 500-cent guard, ordinary Latest assignment and Beta-off behavior remain unchanged. The independent verifier is pinned to this new head. Its synthetic semantic receipt passes 24 negative controls and its filesystem receipt passes 16. Older helpers and both original failed QA seals remain unchanged. - Earlier integrated head `e1a47438b1c7e51a5bb2896a4ec9b6ed6560318b`: 376 focused checks across eleven files passed, including Saved, settings and Chat overlap controls. All seven canonical server type layers and exact-head E2E types passed. All four lease controls passed. Credential-free discovery lists 24 catalog journeys. No new staging run has occurred. - Normal integrations consume actual master `fbb7055b9020e505cd1bf903b1b1c301ba8f3eef` and actual Chat squash `d7283e875772ca8c684dc86e471e6b48d543b7b1`. Preserve all five Saved case/parser files byte-for-byte and retain settings and Chat registrations. The only manual resolutions were two additive handler/type anchors. All seven checks, one-run limit and 500-cent guard remain unchanged. The independent verifier is pinned to this exact head. - Earlier dbdf CI passed after one authorized failed-jobs recheck of a confirmed Spot-terminated Build runner. Timestamp comparison proves two fresh executions (Build and verify), 46 retained successful executions and one skip. The original failed attempt remains sealed. Its native Paperclip Review completed neutral with an incomplete execution and is not a validated assessment. - New master entries made the earlier dbdf PR conflict. The frozen qualification guard correctly blocked dispatch before any pin or receipt. Preserve its unapproved draft as history; it did not authorize a QA run. This normal integration resolves the observed conflict. Fresh current-head CI/review and one genuine staging pass remain required. - Earlier merged head `dbdf1f3cbeaacc7cf9a2a457618035c945bd09f0`: 227 focused checks passed across seven files. All seven canonical server type layers passed. The E2E typecheck passed using the declarations built in this same checkout on this exact head. All four existing clock and lease controls passed. Credential-free discovery lists 22 catalog journeys, including both saved-skill use and task lifecycle. These are local checks, not a live staging qualification. - Normal merge of master `8771606fd87f69ed4057779e3dce3a9bca8088e6` retains the reviewed task-lifecycle case and its Cursor fixture repair from #18782. Resolve six shared journey registrations by preserving both cases. The five saved-skill case files remain byte-for-byte equal to reviewed `ff3814`. All seven required checks, one-run limit, 500-cent bound and ordinary Beta-off Latest assignment remain unchanged. No feature-map delta was added. - The independent sealed-run verifier is now pinned to this exact merged head. Synthetic semantic evidence passed with 24 negative controls. Synthetic filesystem evidence passed with 16 negative controls. Foreign document authorship and missing reopen/source readback still fail. The old `ff3814` verifier and both original failed QA seals remain unchanged. - Common generated outputs were copied only after all 4,225 package, script and root inputs matched, installed lock/TypeScript hashes matched, and all 4,955 source output paths and hashes passed before and after copy. No server declarations or editable source/module links were copied. The server declarations were rebuilt locally. A full frozen workspace install disabled lifecycle scripts and used the same locked packages. No Rust build ran locally. - Previous `ff3814` CI `41733864320` exposed a real wrapped PostgreSQL uniqueness error in a recovery server test. That production defect is independently fixed and tested in #18885. The later supporting PR merged separately. This branch does not duplicate its production patch or regrade the original failure. Preserve the original failed result and the separate Spot interruption. New full CI and a fresh exact-head 5/5 review remain required. - Previously, **225 tests passed across six files** in the focused evidence, flow, contract, catalog and report set after the semantic-read correction. The prior 181-test proof and all original failed attempts remain retained. This correction changes only the saved-skill evidence helper, flow argument, their tests and case documentation. The shared clock repair remains unchanged. - E2E TypeScript check passed on Node **24.22.2**. - Earlier credential-free discovery listed 21 cases and exposes the ordinary saved-skill journey without a Beta prerequisite. These local checks make no provider or model calls. - Source inspection of Core `09162fe893b464dd2ccdafd14bd3ef1611202a86` confirms key-only selection becomes a stored null Latest selection. Managed execution resolves its current immutable version and records the admitted map in `contextSnapshot`. The public run API preserves that map independently of optional result presentation data. - Seven invalid admitted-version fixtures wrongly qualified without the new guard. The regressions now reject them before the read or document can qualify. Beta-off and Beta-on ordinary request controls use the production sync validator. Wrong assignments, missing null selection, source drift, creation-version mismatch and another skill's complete native output cannot pass. - Existing native commit, null/compact result data, read provenance, nonce, saved-result, reload and lost-creation-response controls remain required. Their original red results are retained. - The earlier experimental version-pin variant remains unqualified. Its missing-prerequisite regression and the denied target-setting attempt remain separate failure evidence. This case qualifies ordinary assignment and the version actually admitted by the server. - Normal merge of master `5f1b59ba2c9adfb40a681bf419a8b7e7837d1125` includes the reviewed inbox snapshot fix #18798 and App/Shell access-fixture fix #18799. The merge has no conflicts. All 17 journey source, helper, registration and documentation files remain byte-identical to reviewed head `eab260955ff43eeacfdafc9b75dfc9b116f0eb79`. - Previous CI `41672686614` failed two UI test shards with obsolete user-ID fixtures; its aggregate verify job also failed. The merged access-fixture repair addresses those failures. This is a new source CI run; the failed run is retained. - Dependency output reuse follows exact path and byte checks for 10,977 tracked build inputs and 3,411 generated outputs. The first copy guard detected 12 bundles regenerated after its initial manifest and stopped before any destination mutation. The stable replacement manifest passed all checks before copying. Final focused tests, E2E typecheck and discovery passed after the verified copy. No editable source or module link was shared. - An earlier integration found stale generated Cursor Cloud declarations. Canonical dependency builds refreshed them, then typecheck passed. The original typecheck failure remains recorded. - The initial report support failure came from a blocked `tsx` IPC pipe before report execution. The unchanged test passed with normal local IPC permission. The original failure and diagnostic remain recorded. - `git diff --check` passes. Full workspace recursive typecheck, unit run and build remain assigned to hosted CI and coordinator verification. Full CI `41679720041` passed on the prior `f3f288a54177f2b9a7b225b1d1ab35440dfc597c` source. A clean 5/5 review passed on `0f445cf1c622afb25a1af92398784209df542696`. Fresh CI and review are required after the shared clock fixture repair. - The first real QA staging attempt on `f3f288a54177f2b9a7b225b1d1ab35440dfc597c` failed `saved-skill-native-read-attributed`. Assignment, immutable admitted version and cleanup passed. The test stopped before document, reload and source-after observations. The original failed attempt and its complete evidence remain sealed. - The original successful builtin `read` event contained the full saved procedure. OpenCode returned its file wrapper with an unknown normalized operation, null target and a hashed runtime skill name. The old parser rejected that shape. A synthetic regression failed before this correction. The corrected parser recognizes that exact retained read in memory, with no change to the original grade. Wrong paths, copied shell text, missing starts, mismatched calls, failed/truncated reads and wrong version/name bindings still fail. A later staging attempt is described below. Neither failed original was regraded. - Original CI `41703535552` failed one shared server test and its dependent verification job. The lease-resume test expected an RPC timeout of 31,234 ms, but the runtime correctly supplied 31,233 ms after one elapsed millisecond. The test and runtime service were byte-identical to the previous passing source. The failed run remains recorded. - A scoped advancing clock reproduced that exact 31,233-versus-31,234 failure locally. A stable clock around only the acquisition call now preserves the exact original assertion. The repaired test and three related sandbox lifecycle controls pass on disposable embedded Postgres. No production timeout, lease preservation, cleanup or replacement behavior changed. - The first local reproduction stopped before test execution because six same-package native Postgres library aliases were missing. Their exact existing versioned libraries matched the canonical dependency. Restoring only those internal relative aliases allowed the separate deterministic red and green measurements. This prerequisite failure remains recorded. - The second real staging attempt on `02582aadd23fc128ae29daa69482113cf0f95ad1` also failed `saved-skill-native-read-attributed`. Authentication, setup, assignment, source-only input, collection and cleanup passed. It completed one native run. Later document, reload and source-after checks were not executed. The complete original remains sealed as failed. - That attempt used the ordinary first-party `paperclip_read_assigned_skill` tool. Its complete native receipt contained the exact canonical skill key, created version, `SKILL.md` bytes, SHA-256, byte count and null next-page offset. Core verifies the pinned manifest and file checksum before returning that receipt. The old grader recognized only filesystem and native skill-load output. An actual-shape regression failed before this correction. The corrected parser recognizes the retained read in memory. Wrong keys, versions, source bytes, hashes, partial pages, semantic failures, copied shell output and foreign or unpaired native calls still fail. No model prompt, product source or original grade changed. A live pass on this corrected source remains required. - CI `41708636059` on the previous `02582` source passed at attempt 3. The first two interrupted attempts remain recorded. AWS evidence identified Spot capacity termination for the second Rust runner. The targeted retry executed Rust and aggregate verification; 46 successful jobs retained their exact prior execution timestamps and one job remained skipped. New metadata IDs do not establish new executions. Fresh full CI and review remain required for this source. - Earlier CI `41730743279` passed on `1ee86838ea528edd8c60fb9ddd858faf3c83e783`. A later review finding correctly showed that the semantic read still depended on an OpenCode-only directory-name helper. That finding remains recorded. Three local Codex, ACPX Cursor and Cursor Cloud flow controls reproduced the rejection before this correction. - The semantic path now binds the canonical key and immutable version through the common native runtime skill selection contract. Its checksum, complete source, page and native call attribution checks stay unchanged. Missing, duplicate, wrong-key and foreign-version API/native assignment controls still fail for all three provider configurations. The OpenCode filesystem wrapper still requires its exact provider and materialized directory name. These local controls test the existing canonical receipt shape; they do not claim live provider qualification or add a guessed provider encoding. Fresh CI and review are required after this correction. - This public PR does not enroll the case in the daily plan or change protected QA configuration. ## Risks The target must supply a disposable native agent with normal company skill-write access and cleanup. It must preserve the authoritative admitted version map and provide a complete source read or named native skill-load receipt. Missing evidence fails the case even when the receipt document has the right value. The OpenCode wrapper path requires matching assignment and native input records for the same immutable version; it does not accept a generic targetless read. The builtin first-party path requires the same version binding and exact full-source receipt. Codex must provide its authoritative controller pair and a digest that commits to that exact complete result. Partial pages, unknown operations and semantic failures do not qualify. Local flow controls simulate the target API and browser boundaries. They do not establish live Cloud qualification. Experimental assignment pins need separate qualification. The journey changes only its owned skill, assignment and task. It changes no shared agent, setting, model, connection or budget. ## Model Used OpenAI GPT-6 through Codex with reasoning and code execution. The runtime does not expose a more specific model identifier or context-window size. Local checks made no product-model calls. ## 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 - [x] All Paperclip CI gates are green - [x] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups - [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before requesting merge --------- Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
Quickstart · Docs · GitHub · Discord · Twitter · Website
Sign up for the Paperclip Cloud waitlist →
Paperclip is the app people use to manage AI agents for work.
Open-source orchestration for teams of AI agents.
If OpenClaw is an employee, Paperclip is the company.
Paperclip is a Node.js server and React UI that orchestrates a team of AI agents to run a business. Bring your own agents, assign goals, and track work and costs from one dashboard. Choose models and harnesses per agent while keeping your team's tasks, skills, permissions, and history in one place.
It looks like a task manager. Under the hood: org charts, budgets, governance, goal alignment, and agent coordination.
Manage business goals, not pull requests.
| Step | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Define the goal | "Build the #1 AI note-taking app to $1M MRR." |
| 02 | Hire the team | CEO, CTO, engineers, designers, marketers — any bot, any provider. |
| 03 | Approve and run | Review strategy. Set budgets. Hit go. Monitor from the dashboard. |
| Works with |
 OpenClaw |
 Claude Code |
 Codex |
 Cursor + Cloud |
 Gemini CLI |
 OpenCode |
 Pi |
 Hermes + Gateway |
 Grok Build |
 Kimi Code |
If it can receive a heartbeat, it's hired.
Custom processes, HTTP endpoints, and external adapter packages extend the roster. See the adapter overview for setup and capabilities.
Paperclip is right for you if
- ✅ You want to build autonomous AI organizations
- ✅ You coordinate many different agents (OpenClaw, Codex, Claude, Cursor) toward a common goal
- ✅ You have 20 simultaneous Claude Code terminals open and lose track of what everyone is doing
- ✅ You want agents running autonomously 24/7, but still want to audit work and chime in when needed
- ✅ You want to monitor costs and enforce budgets
- ✅ You want a process for managing agents that feels like using a task manager
- ✅ You want to manage your autonomous businesses from your phone
The four pillars
Four things have to work for an organization of AI agents to actually produce: the tasks, the org, the training, and the infrastructure. Paperclip is built around exactly those four pillars.
| Pillar | Built for | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Agentic Task Manager — Declare intent. Agents work. You verify the output. | Everyone, daily | Tasks, approvals & review gates · proactive agent coworkers · auditable routines & workflows · verify from diffs, screenshots & tests |
| Org Chart for Agents — Roles, permissions & boundaries for humans and agents. | Managers | Mixed human + agent org chart · responsibilities, delegation, specialization · governance: who can do what · scoped secrets & company boundaries · connection permissions & responsible-user identities |
| Agent Employee Training — Design, train & evaluate your AI employees. | Enablers | Skill Studio & shared org-wide skills · evals & saved test runs · active learning loops & quality metrics · performance reviews for agents · saved test inputs · skill version history & restore · reusable team templates |
| Agentic OS — The infrastructure that makes the work run. | IT & platform | Cross-provider runtime: any model, any agent · sandboxing, integrations & MCP servers · SSO, GRC, RBAC & cost controls · data privacy, internal trace collection, compounding data value · personal & shared app connections · run history & opt-in tracing |
Features
🔌 Bring Your Own AgentAny agent, any runtime, one org chart. If it can receive a heartbeat, it's hired. |
🎯 Goal AlignmentLink tasks and projects to your organization goals. Agents receive the goal context behind their work. |
💓 HeartbeatsAgents wake for assigned work, follow-up messages, or configured schedules. Delegation flows up and down the org chart. |
💰 Cost ControlCompany, agent, and project budgets. Track reported spend, get threshold alerts, and pause work at configured limits. |
🏢 Multi-OrganizationOne deployment, many organizations. Separate tasks, agents, permissions, and activity histories for each. |
🎫 Task ThreadsKeep conversations, plans, blockers, files, and run history attached to the work. Assign tasks to agents or people. |
🛡️ GovernanceConfigure review and approval stages, approve hires, and pause, reassign, or stop work when needed. |
📊 Org ChartHierarchies, roles, reporting lines. Your agents have a boss, a title, and a job description. |
📱 Mobile ReadyMonitor and manage your autonomous businesses from anywhere. |
🔗 Apps & ConnectionsConnect services such as GitHub, Notion, and Railway, or your own MCP server. Set gateway actions to Allowed, Ask first, or Off. |
👥 Shared Agents, Personal AccountsChoose who can use a connection and which agents can access it. Managed GitHub operations can use the account of the person directing the work. |
🧠 Skills & Skill StudioInstall or write shared skills, test them with saved inputs, inspect results, and restore earlier versions. |
📅 Scheduled RoutinesRun recurring work on a schedule or trigger it through an API or webhook. Each run has a task, an owner, and a history. |
📎 Artifacts & FeedbackFind the files and documents agents produce. Preview supported formats and leave comments on specific passages in documents. |
📦 Ready-Made TeamsPreview and install teams with roles, skills, projects, and routines. Choose their runtimes and make the setup your own. |
Experimental Agent Chat and chat/email connectors add conversations with agents in Paperclip and through configured services such as Slack, Discord, Telegram, and AgentMail. Enable the relevant instance settings to try them.
Problems Paperclip solves
| Without Paperclip | With Paperclip |
|---|---|
| ❌ You have 20 Claude Code tabs open and can't track which one does what. On reboot you lose everything. | ✅ Tasks are ticket-based, conversations are threaded, sessions persist across reboots. |
| ❌ You manually gather context from several places to remind your bot what you're actually doing. | ✅ Context flows from the task up through the project and company goals — your agent always knows what to do and why. |
| ❌ Folders of agent configs are disorganized and you're re-inventing task management, communication, and coordination between agents. | ✅ Paperclip gives you org charts, ticketing, delegation, and governance out of the box — so you run a company, not a pile of scripts. |
| ❌ Runaway loops waste hundreds of dollars of tokens and max your quota before you even know what happened. | ✅ Spend tracking, budget alerts, and automatic pauses help you control the cost of ongoing work. |
| ❌ You have recurring jobs (customer support, social, reports) and have to remember to manually kick them off. | ✅ Routines create assigned tasks on a schedule, with outputs and run history you can inspect. |
| ❌ You have an idea, you have to find your repo, fire up Claude Code, keep a tab open, and babysit it. | ✅ Add a task in Paperclip. Your coding agent works on it until it's done. Management reviews their work. |
Why Paperclip is special
Paperclip handles the hard orchestration details correctly.
| Atomic task checkout. | A single assignee and execution locks prevent competing runs from claiming the same task. |
| Persistent work context. | Tasks, comments, and documents stay in Paperclip. Supporting adapters resume saved sessions across runs. |
| Runtime skill injection. | Agents can learn Paperclip workflows and project context at runtime, without retraining. |
| Governance with rollback. | Approval gates are enforced, config changes are revisioned, and bad changes can be rolled back safely. |
| Accountable connections. | Human access, agent eligibility, and gateway action permissions are separate controls. Approve a call once or save a revocable rule. |
| Goal-aware execution. | Linked tasks and projects carry goal ancestry so agents see the "why," not just a title. |
| Portable company templates. | Export/import orgs, agents, and skills with secret scrubbing and collision handling. |
| Organization boundaries. | Company-scoped access checks keep each organization's work, agents, and activity separate within one deployment. |
What's Under the Hood
Paperclip is a full control plane, not a wrapper. Before you build any of this yourself, know that it already exists:
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ PAPERCLIP SERVER │
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │
│ │Identity & │ │ Work & │ │ Heartbeat │ │Governance │ │
│ │ Access │ │ Tasks │ │ Execution │ │& Approvals│ │
│ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ │
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │
│ │ Org Chart │ │Workspaces │ │ Plugins │ │ Budget │ │
│ │ & Agents │ │ & Runtime │ │ │ │ & Costs │ │
│ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ │
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │
│ │ Routines │ │ Secrets & │ │ Activity │ │ Company │ │
│ │& Schedules│ │ Storage │ │ & Events │ │Portability│ │
│ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
▲ ▲ ▲ ▲
┌─────┴─────┐ ┌─────┴─────┐ ┌─────┴─────┐ ┌─────┴─────┐
│ Claude │ │ Codex │ │ CLI │ │ HTTP/web │
│ Code │ │ │ │ agents │ │ bots │
└───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘
The Systems
|
Identity & Access — Two deployment modes (trusted local or authenticated), human roles and permissions, agent API keys, short-lived run JWTs, company memberships, and invite flows. Responsible-user attribution follows work through delegation and supported managed connections. |
Org Chart & Agents — Agents have roles, titles, reporting lines, permissions, and budgets. Adapter examples match the diagram: Claude Code, Codex, CLI agents such as Cursor/Gemini/bash, HTTP/webhook bots such as OpenClaw, and external adapter plugins. If it can receive a heartbeat, it's hired. |
|
Work & Task System — Issues carry company/project/goal/parent links, atomic checkout with execution locks, first-class blocker dependencies, comments, documents, attachments, work products, labels, and inbox state. Search across work, review document revisions, and leave anchored feedback. |
Heartbeat Execution — DB-backed wakeup queue with coalescing, budget checks, workspace resolution, secret injection, skill loading, and adapter invocation. Runs produce logs, usage records, and adapter-specific session state. Bounded recovery handles supported failures and surfaces cases that need human action. |
|
Workspaces & Runtime — Project repositories and workspaces, optional isolated execution workspaces (git worktrees, operator branches), and runtime services (dev servers, preview URLs). Sandbox providers extend execution beyond the local host; availability depends on the configured environment and adapter. |
Governance & Approvals — Board approval workflows, execution policies with review/approval stages, decision tracking, budget hard-stops, and agent pause/resume/terminate. Configured task reviews govern completion; connection action approvals govern calls through the tool gateway. |
|
Budget & Cost Control — Token and cost tracking by company, agent, project, goal, issue, provider, and model. Scoped budget policies with warning thresholds and hard stops. Enforcement uses recorded spend; usage reporting and in-flight work can delay a stop. |
Routines & Schedules — Recurring tasks with cron, webhook, and API triggers. Concurrency and catch-up policies. Each routine execution creates a tracked issue and wakes the assigned agent — no manual kick-offs needed. |
|
Plugins — Instance-wide plugin system with out-of-process workers, capability-gated host services, job scheduling, tool exposure, and UI contributions. Extend Paperclip without forking it. |
Secrets & Storage — Company secrets and per-person secret values, encrypted credential storage, local or S3-compatible file storage, attachments, and work products. Secret references supply credentials to authorized runs without copying values into ordinary agent configuration. |
|
Activity & Events — Mutating actions, heartbeat state changes, cost events, approvals, comments, and work products are recorded as durable activity so operators can audit what happened and why. |
Company Portability — Preview, export, and import organization packages with agents, skills, and optional projects, routines, tasks, and attachments. Referenced secret values are omitted; review packages before sharing because plain environment values and local paths can remain. Packages share an operating setup; full-instance recovery uses backups. |
What Paperclip is not
| Not just a chatbot. | Conversations stay attached to tasks, plans, decisions, and outputs. Experimental Agent Chat can hand work off to assigned tasks. |
| Not an agent framework. | We don't tell you how to build agents. We tell you how to run a company made of them. |
| Not just a workflow builder. | Routines operate within an organization, with roles, goals, budgets, and governance. |
| Not a prompt manager. | Agents bring their own prompts, models, and runtimes. Paperclip manages the organization they work in. |
| Not limited to one agent. | Start with one agent and grow into a team with shared skills, delegation, and review. |
| Not only for code review. | Coding and PR review fit alongside research, operations, content, and other work. |
Quickstart
Open source. Self-hosted. No Paperclip account required. Follow the guided quickstart to set up your first agent.
Just ask your agent to install Paperclip
Share the installation guide with your agent.
Or install it yourself
With Node.js 24.11 or newer installed:
npx paperclipai@latest onboard --yes
The CLI runs from npm's cache; your instance configuration and data persist locally.
See the installation guide for managed installs, pinned versions, canary and git-ref installs, updates, rollback, service management, and uninstalling.
For an isolated manual test instance that is already initialized with a CEO
agent, use test-drive. It stays in the foreground, never installs a service
or creates a first task, and opens the browser only after setup succeeds:
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=... npx paperclipai test-drive
OPENAI_API_KEY=... npx paperclipai test-drive --harness codex
OPENROUTER_API_KEY=... npx paperclipai test-drive \
--harness opencode \
--model openrouter/anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
Each run without --data-dir gets a unique, retained temporary directory; its
absolute path is printed at startup. Pass --data-dir to reuse one, or
--no-browser to leave the initialized instance unopened. When invoked from a
linked Git worktree, test-drive also enables task execution in that worktree.
See the test-drive guide for credential and
reuse behavior.
Troubleshooting: private npm registry
.npmrcIf this fails with an
E404forpaperclipai(or similar) and you use a private npm registry (for example GitHub Packages) via a global~/.npmrc,npxmay be resolvingpaperclipaiagainst that private registry instead of the public npm registry.Diagnostic:
npm config get registryWorkaround (cross-platform; force the public npm registry for this command):
npx --registry https://registry.npmjs.org paperclipai@latest onboard --yes
That quickstart path now defaults to trusted local loopback mode for the fastest first run. To start in authenticated/private mode instead, choose a bind preset explicitly:
npx paperclipai@latest onboard --yes --bind lan
# or:
npx paperclipai@latest onboard --yes --bind tailnet
If you already have Paperclip configured, rerunning onboard keeps the existing config in place. Use npx paperclipai configure to edit settings.
Or manually:
git clone https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip.git
cd paperclip
pnpm install
pnpm dev
This starts the UI and API at http://localhost:3100. An embedded PostgreSQL database is created automatically — no setup required.
Requirements: Node.js 24.11+, pnpm 9.15+
Local Claude and Codex subscription sign-in also needs Python 3 and the corresponding provider CLI on the Paperclip host. The Docker image includes them.
Source development also builds the native Paperclip Runner when enabled (the self-hosted default). Install a Rust toolchain, or set PAPERCLIP_RUNNER_BINARY to a compatible prebuilt runner.
FAQ
Q: Is this project maintained or just slop?
A: Paperclip is maintained by the Paperclip team. We've merged over 2,700 pull requests.
Q: What does a typical setup look like?
A: Locally, a single Node.js process manages an embedded Postgres and local file storage. For production, point it at your own Postgres and deploy however you like. Configure projects, agents, and goals — the agents take care of the rest.
For remote access, use authenticated mode with a private-network bind such as Tailscale, or deploy the persistent server with Docker. See deployment modes and the Docker guide.
Q: Can I run multiple companies?
A: Yes. A single deployment can host multiple organizations with company-scoped data and access checks.
Q: How is Paperclip different from agents like OpenClaw or Claude Code?
A: Paperclip uses those agents. It orchestrates them into a company — with org charts, budgets, goals, governance, and accountability.
Q: Why should I use Paperclip instead of just pointing my OpenClaw to Asana or Trello?
A: Agent orchestration has subtleties in how you coordinate who has work checked out, how to maintain sessions, monitoring costs, establishing governance - Paperclip does this for you.
(Bring-your-own-ticket-system is on the Roadmap)
Q: Do agents run continuously?
A: Agents wake for assigned work and follow-up messages. Optional timer heartbeats let them check for work periodically; routines create recurring tasks on their own schedules. You can also connect externally running agents such as OpenClaw. A mention alone does not assign work or wake another agent.
Development
pnpm dev # Full dev (API + UI, watch mode)
pnpm dev:once # Full dev without file watching
pnpm dev:server # Server only
pnpm dev:mobile # Serve prebuilt UI on :3101 for phones/tablets (proxies /api → :3100)
pnpm dev:both # Run `pnpm dev` and `pnpm dev:mobile` together
pnpm build # Build all
pnpm typecheck # Type checking
pnpm test # Cheap default test run (Vitest only)
pnpm test:watch # Vitest watch mode
pnpm test:e2e # Playwright browser suite
pnpm db:generate # Generate DB migration
pnpm db:migrate # Apply migrations
pnpm test does not run Playwright. Browser suites stay separate and are typically run only when working on those flows or in CI.
See doc/DEVELOPING.md for the full development guide.
Roadmap
- ✅ Plugin system (e.g. add a knowledge base, custom tracing, queues, etc)
- ✅ Get OpenClaw / claw-style agent employees
- ✅ companies.sh - import and export entire organizations
- ✅ Easy AGENTS.md configurations
- ✅ Skills Manager, Skill Studio & Skills Store
- ✅ Scheduled Routines
- ✅ Better Budgeting
- ✅ Agent Reviews and Approvals
- ✅ Multiple Human Users
- ✅ Cloud / Sandbox agents (e2b, Cloudflare, Daytona, Modal, Novita, boxd, self-hosted Kubernetes)
- ✅ Artifacts & Work Products
- ✅ Deep Planning (planning mode, revisioned plans, plan approvals)
- ✅ Enforced Outcomes (watchdogs, recovery actions, review gates)
- ✅ MCP Tool Gateway & Apps (governed tool access)
- ✅ Secrets Manager with per-agent access
- ✅ Activity log & action attribution
- ✅ Self-healing runs & automatic recovery
- ✅ Agent evals & feedback
- ✅ Connected Apps
- ✅ Personal & Shared AI Accounts
- ✅ Shared Agents Use Personal GitHub Identities
- ✅ Skill Version History & Restore
- ✅ Document Comments & Revision History
- ✅ Company-Wide Search
- ✅ Multi-Model & Multi-Harness Teams
- 🟡 Memory / Knowledge
- ⚪ MAXIMIZER MODE
- ⚪ Work Queues
- ⚪ Self-Organization
- ⚪ Automatic Organizational Learning
- 🟡 Agent Chat
- 🟡 Cloud deployments
- ⚪ Desktop App
- ⚪ Bring-your-own-ticket-system (Asana / Linear / Jira as on-ramps)
This is the short roadmap preview. See the full roadmap in ROADMAP.md.
Community & Plugins
Find Plugins and more at awesome-paperclip
Observability
Paperclip ships with opt-in OpenTelemetry auto-instrumentation for the server (traces only). It activates when OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT is set and supports grpc, http/protobuf, and http/json via the standard OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL env var. @opentelemetry/api is a normal server dependency; the SDK, auto-instrumentation, and exporter packages are optional peer dependencies — install them only if you want tracing. See doc/observability.md for install commands and the full env-var reference.
Paperclip also ships with opt-in Sentry error monitoring for the server and the browser. Set SENTRY_DSN_FRONTEND to activate it for the browser and SENTRY_DSN_BACKEND to activate it for the server — each variable is optional, and the legacy SENTRY_DSN variable still works as a fallback for either component. The supported server SDK version is @sentry/node@10.71.0; it is an optional peer dependency for the server, so install it only if you want error monitoring. The browser SDK, @sentry/browser, is pinned to the same exact version. See doc/observability.md for the install command, the privacy settings, and the full default capture set.
Telemetry
Paperclip collects anonymous usage telemetry to help us understand how the product is used and improve it. No personal information, issue content, prompts, file paths, or secrets are ever collected. Private repository references are hashed with a per-install salt before being sent.
Contributors changing emitted telemetry events should follow the Telemetry Data Contract. For proposed first-party events that are not in the generated contract yet, follow Telemetry Workflow.
Telemetry is enabled by default and can be disabled with any of the following:
| Method | How |
|---|---|
| Environment variable | PAPERCLIP_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 |
| Standard convention | DO_NOT_TRACK=1 |
| CI environments | Automatically disabled when CI=true |
| Config file | Set telemetry.enabled: false in your Paperclip config |
Contributing
We welcome contributions. See the contributing guide for details.
Community
- Discord — Join the community
- Twitter / X — Follow updates and announcements
- GitHub Issues — bugs and feature requests
- GitHub Discussions — ideas and RFC
License
MIT © 2026 Paperclip Labs, Inc
Star History
Open source under MIT. Built for people who want to get work done, not babysit agents.