Files
PaperClipAI/maps
DottaandPaperclip f3cd3f4ea8 fix(runner): require confirmed exit before remote replacement (#16835)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Remote runs need one runner to own their process identity and
listener.
> - A health request can fail while that runner continues to work.
> - The active monitor treated a failed request as a process exit.
> - Recovery could then launch another runner against the occupied
listener.
> - This pull request retries health reads and requires proof of exit
before replacement.
> - A brief outage can recover on the same runner without replaying
agent work.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

Refs: #16341 adds remote recovery diagnostics. Refs: #16686 retries
verification when restoring a saved remote session. This change applies
the shared probe policy to active process supervision.

**What happened?**

The active remote monitor settled its completion promise after a
timed-out or rejected health request. The transport treated that result
as an exit and started process recovery. An existing runner could still
own the listener. Replacement then failed with
`runner_ingress_bind_conflict` until the reconnect deadline expired.
Missing or changed ownership markers also did not prove that the old
process had exited.

**Expected behavior**

Retry transient read failures on the same runner. Require a matching
ownership marker and proof of process exit before replacement. Preserve
uncertainty when identity or liveness cannot be verified.

**Steps to reproduce**

1. Start a remote runner and leave its listener alive.
2. Make one process-health request time out or reject.
3. Observe completion and the restart decision. Before this change, the
monitor settles while the process is alive, and the restart wrapper
permits another launch.

**Paperclip version or commit**

The defect was reproduced on master at `6e89919631`. The patch is based
on current master at `c6a0cf4bce`.

## What Changed

- Reuse the bounded read-only recovery probe for active supervision.
Retry up to three reads within 30 seconds.
- Check the saved process generation when available. Accept only the
specific process-not-running receipt as exit proof.
- Add an exit-confirmation contract to remote process handles. Require
it for restart and shutdown completion. Preserve the cause of
supervision errors.
- Test transient failures, exhausted retries, conflicting identities,
real listening processes, and an authenticated runner with a fake
provider. Keep confirmed-exit replacement covered.
- Document the recovery policy and coverage limits in the execution
contract and maps.

## Verification

- Red: the timeout and transport-error regressions failed before the
patch because completion settled while the runner was alive. The
restart-guard regression also failed because replacement was allowed.
- Green: 14 server supervision cases passed, including a real listening
process. All 120 shared control-plane tests passed. Focused Runner tests
passed for authenticated live-runner fault injection and confirmed-exit
replacement.
- Review regression: a replacement-health test first failed because its
error cause was lost. It passed after preserving the cause and detail.
The four affected transport cases and Runner typecheck then passed.
- `node scripts/check-maps.mjs` passed for 35 areas and 176 capability
IDs.
- `pnpm -r typecheck` and `pnpm build` passed locally. The sequential
local full-suite run was stopped before completion; no local full-suite
pass is claimed. Final commit `bcc1b1d339` passed the complete CI
matrix: 55 checks passed and two optional Storybook checks were skipped.
Greptile is 5/5 with no unresolved conversations. The PR has no merge
conflicts.
- The first real-listener attempt could not bind inside the execution
sandbox. The same test passed with local socket access. The first
package-test invocation used the root configuration and selected no
tests; the package configuration ran all selected tests.
- CI attempt 1: nine test jobs were cancelled together at 12:54:59 UTC.
Their test steps report cancellation. The build and uninterrupted jobs
passed. The interrupted jobs were retried once. That retry exposed one
confirmed-exit message assertion failure in the Runner shard; the other
jobs passed. The compatibility correction preserves the prior message.
The failing case and four recovery cases then passed locally. The
complete CI matrix passed after that correction.
- No live sandbox restoration, deployment, or historical task recovery
is claimed.

## Risks

- A persistent outage now ends supervision with explicit exit
uncertainty. It cannot authorize a competing process. Existing ownership
and workspace recovery checks remain required.
- Health reads can take up to 30 seconds before reporting an unavailable
runner. Retries are read-only and bounded.
- Local launchers keep their existing completion contract. No database
migration or public API change is required.

## Model Used

OpenAI GPT-6 through Codex, with reasoning, tool use, and code
execution. The exact serving snapshot and context-window size are not
exposed in this session.

## 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>
2026-10-19 08:19:37 -05:00
..

Paperclip maps

The maps describe the same capabilities from two perspectives:

  • Feature map: what a person can do, where to reach it, and how to verify the user journey. Preserve its Poteto format.
  • Agent access map: the APIs and agent entry points for those capabilities, their permission boundaries, and access verification.

These are sibling directories under maps/. Each feature file has a same-named agent access companion. Reuse the product map's sub-feature IDs, so tasks/create identifies the same capability in both maps. Product behavior remains governed by the implementation spec; a map cannot grant authority or redefine a permission denial as success.

Access contract

Every business operation needs both an API and a usable agent entry point for an actor authorized to perform it. A dedicated tool is optional when REST, the CLI, an assigned MCP client, or native search_api / call_api already provides the operation. Record which agent surfaces actually have that path; an installed CLI or optional MCP package cannot be assumed available to every native/remote run.

Track these independently:

Dimension Values and meaning
API present, missing, not-applicable, or unreviewed. Use exact methods/paths; distinguish protocols from REST.
Agent access available, partial, missing, restricted, operator-only, not-applicable, or unreviewed. Name the supported surface and actual entry point.
Policy Actor, action/grant, company/resource/ownership scope, responsible-user intersection, run requirements, work modes, and gates relevant to the operation.
Evidence source-only, verified, failed, blocked, or not-run. Source presence and successful board calls are not agent verification.
Review depth baseline records representative operations and known gaps; operation-reviewed enumerates the capability's meaningful operations and their individual access contracts.

Broad capabilities such as task properties must be split into operations before they count as operation-reviewed: renaming, metadata edits, assignment, dependencies, and lifecycle changes can use different tools and permission rules. An available read path cannot certify a write path. List/get/create/update/delete, execution/control, credential handling, and resolution are separate where their authority or transport differs. Do not duplicate request schemas from OpenAPI.

Exceptions and restrictions

Presentation-only state, static developer fixtures, and pre-start/local operator work may use not-applicable for a domain API, with a concrete reason and the existing local path. When a capability combines shared data with presentation, split the operations: browser recents do not exempt resource lookup from API coverage. Promoting local state to a shared feature requires revisiting the entry.

A board-only endpoint is restricted for agent identity, not an automatic exception or a missing API. Cite the enforced policy and record whether the agent can request the authorized human's action and observe its result. An unresolved delegation question remains in Gaps. Company access, a job title, a personal assistant's OAuth grant, or an accepted interaction does not grant board identity. Keep budget, approval, secret and execution authority intact.

Check actual route/service authorization and production tool admission. OpenAPI actor labels and scenario/evaluation tool declarations are supporting metadata; record disagreements rather than using them as proof of access. Native API fallback restrictions, tool field/scope limits, and rollout settings are part of the agent path, even when a legacy agent can call the REST endpoint directly.

Companion file format

Each agent-access-map/<area>.md has an H1, a relative link to its product file, followed by one H2 backticked ID per product sub-feature. Each capability contains these fields:

  • Review: baseline or operation-reviewed.
  • API: presence state and exact operation IDs, or a reasoned exception.
  • Agent access: availability state and concrete entry points by surface.
  • Policy: relevant permission and runtime boundaries, with source references.
  • Evidence: evidence state, reviewed commit and sources or executed proof.
  • Verification: allowed/denied assertions and observable result; record what has actually run separately from the proposed recipe.
  • Gaps: missing APIs/paths, discovery drift, unreviewed operations or policy decisions; use none only for the enumerated scope that was reviewed.

For an operation-reviewed capability, use H3 backticked operation IDs and repeat API, Agent access, Policy, Evidence, Verification and Gaps for each operation. Use small operation names such as create, update, read, or run-now. The enclosing capability has Review: operation-reviewed only after its meaningful operations have been enumerated. The following excerpt shows one operation; include the others before using that review label:

## `definition`

Review: `operation-reviewed`.

### `create`

API: `present` — POST /api/companies/{companyId}/routines.
Agent access: `available` — agent REST, CLI routine create and native call_api
under the enabled rollout and active-run/mode gates.
Policy: same company; assigneeAgentId must be the calling agent; cite the
routine authorization and native API policy sources.
Evidence: `source-only` — reviewed commit and source links; no live proof.
Verification: `not-run` — create an owned routine; reject assignment to another
agent; inspect saved configuration, attribution and retry behavior.
Gaps: verify ownership and responsible-user resolution with a permitted agent
context; source presence alone does not qualify this operation.

Keeping the maps synchronized

When a change adds/removes a capability or changes its behavior, API, permission, tool binding, CLI support, or work mode, update the affected companion and product recipe as appropriate in the same change. Preserve IDs across renames where the capability is unchanged; update the affected cross-links together. Indexes discover recipes automatically. An API-only change may update the companion without rewriting unchanged user instructions.

maintain-verification-skill owns reconciliation of both maps. It follows changed source and authorization, checks real agent reachability, and records product gaps without implementing them during a maintenance pass. The creation skill uses this structure. verify-paperclip consumes the relevant recipes and reports evidence/drift; map editing belongs to maintenance.

Run the structural check after map changes:

node scripts/check-maps.mjs

It checks paired areas/IDs, navigation metadata, required fields, and local references. It does not certify endpoint authorization, production bindings, operation completeness, or live behavior. Source audits must check those against the existing API and tool contracts; avoid a second schema catalog or runtime.

For live access proof, use Paperclip's existing API/runner/MCP fixtures or an owned isolated instance. Use the actual agent identity, target and work mode. Assert the allowed result and relevant denial (another company/private resource, wrong owner, missing grant, invalid run, restricted mode or resolver). Mutations also need persisted state/attribution and retry behavior. Capture evidence using the existing artifact workflow; keep executed run results separate from generated maps/generated/coverage.json, which lists page references.

Local authorship and generated indexes

Change only the recipes, access contracts and stories whose behavior or intent changed. Feature recipes own navigation metadata; stories own small parameters.paperclip annotations. Do not register entries or refresh counts in shared READMEs, inventories, fingerprints or review journals.

node scripts/storybook-catalog.mjs validates and generates aggregate navigation, Storybook data, verification routes and the page inventory. All outputs live in ignored maps/generated/, ui/storybook/generated/, and the ignored Storybook preview.tsx wrapper. Start/build and UI typechecking generate their own inputs. A clean merged checkout therefore assembles both branches' changes automatically.

Git provides history and diffs. PRs, issues and CI artifacts retain review/run evidence for the named revision. Capability associations do not create whole-file review dependencies. Keep durable scenario limits in the affected recipe or story.