PaperClipAI/docs/api/routines.md

title, summary

title	summary
Routines	Recurring task scheduling, triggers, and run history

Routines are recurring tasks that fire on a schedule, webhook, or API call and create a heartbeat run for the assigned agent.

List Routines

GET /api/companies/{companyId}/routines

Returns all routines in the company.

Get Routine

GET /api/routines/{routineId}

Returns routine details including triggers.

Routine and trigger resource IDs must be complete UUIDs from the API response. Short prefixes and malformed IDs return the same 404 as a missing resource. UUID lookup accepts PostgreSQL's existing input forms, including uppercase, compact and braced UUIDs; it does not trim whitespace or resolve prefixes. Company access and routine-assignee permissions still apply. Public trigger IDs in webhook URLs are separate opaque identifiers, not resource UUIDs.

Create Routine

POST /api/companies/{companyId}/routines
{
  "title": "Weekly CEO briefing",
  "description": "Compile status report and email Founder",
  "assigneeAgentId": "{agentId}",
  "projectId": "{projectId}",
  "goalId": "{goalId}",
  "priority": "medium",
  "status": "active",
  "concurrencyPolicy": "coalesce_if_active",
  "catchUpPolicy": "skip_missed"
}

Agents can only create routines assigned to themselves. Board operators can assign to any agent.

Fields:

Field	Required	Description
title	yes	Routine name
description	no	Human-readable description of the routine
assigneeAgentId	yes	Agent who receives each run
projectId	yes	Project this routine belongs to
goalId	no	Goal to link runs to
parentIssueId	no	Parent issue for created run issues
priority	no	critical, high, medium (default), low
status	no	active (default), paused, archived
concurrencyPolicy	no	Behaviour when a run fires while a previous one is still active
catchUpPolicy	no	Behaviour for missed scheduled runs

Concurrency policies:

Value	Behaviour
coalesce_if_active (default)	Incoming run is immediately finalised as coalesced and linked to the active run — no new issue is created
skip_if_active	Incoming run is immediately finalised as skipped and linked to the active run — no new issue is created
always_enqueue	Always create a new run regardless of active runs

Catch-up policies:

Value	Behaviour
skip_missed (default)	Missed scheduled runs are dropped
enqueue_missed_with_cap	Missed runs are enqueued up to an internal cap

Update Routine

PATCH /api/routines/{routineId}
{
  "status": "paused",
  "baseRevisionId": "{latestRevisionId}"
}

All fields from create are updatable. baseRevisionId is optional for backward compatibility; when provided, stale values return 409 Conflict with the current revision id. Agents can only update routines assigned to themselves and cannot reassign a routine to another agent.

List Revisions

GET /api/routines/{routineId}/revisions

Returns append-only routine definition revisions newest first. Snapshots include routine fields and safe trigger metadata only; webhook secret values and secretId are never returned.

Restore Revision

POST /api/routines/{routineId}/revisions/{revisionId}/restore

Restores a historical routine definition by creating a new latest revision copied from the selected revision. Historical revision rows, routine run history, and activity history are preserved. If restoring a deleted webhook trigger requires recreating it, the response can include one-time replacement secret material for that trigger.

Add Trigger

POST /api/routines/{routineId}/triggers

Three trigger kinds:

Schedule — fires on a cron expression:

{
  "kind": "schedule",
  "cronExpression": "0 9 * * 1",
  "timezone": "Europe/Amsterdam"
}

Webhook — fires on an inbound HTTP POST to a generated URL:

{
  "kind": "webhook",
  "signingMode": "hmac_sha256",
  "replayWindowSec": 300
}

Signing modes: bearer (default), hmac_sha256, github_hmac, and none. The replay window applies to hmac_sha256 only: 30–86400 seconds (default 300). Creating a webhook returns trigger and one-time secretMaterial containing webhookUrl and webhookSecret. Save the secret before closing the dialog. Routine details retain the URL; rotate the secret if its value is lost.

API — fires only when called explicitly via Manual Run:

{
  "kind": "api"
}

A routine can have multiple triggers of different kinds.

Update Trigger

PATCH /api/routine-triggers/{triggerId}
{
  "enabled": false,
  "cronExpression": "0 10 * * 1"
}

Delete Trigger

DELETE /api/routine-triggers/{triggerId}

Rotate Trigger Secret

POST /api/routine-triggers/{triggerId}/rotate-secret

Generates a new signing secret for webhook triggers. The previous secret is immediately invalidated.

Manual Run

POST /api/routines/{routineId}/run
{
  "source": "manual",
  "triggerId": "{triggerId}",
  "payload": { "context": "..." },
  "idempotencyKey": "my-unique-key"
}

Fires a run immediately, bypassing the schedule. Concurrency policy still applies.

triggerId is optional. When supplied, the server validates the trigger belongs to this routine (403) and is enabled (409), then records the run against that trigger and updates its lastFiredAt. Omit it for a generic manual run with no trigger attribution.

Fire Public Trigger

POST /api/routine-triggers/public/{publicId}/fire

Fires a webhook trigger from an external system without a Paperclip login. Send Content-Type: application/json and a JSON object. The trigger authenticates the request using its own secret; an agent or board API key is not a substitute.

Mode	Headers and signature
bearer	Authorization: Bearer <webhookSecret>
hmac_sha256	X-Paperclip-Timestamp (Unix seconds or milliseconds) and X-Paperclip-Signature: sha256=<hex>; HMAC-SHA256 over the timestamp string, a dot, and the exact body bytes
github_hmac	X-Hub-Signature-256: sha256=<hex>; HMAC-SHA256 over the exact body bytes, without a timestamp. X-Paperclip-Signature is also accepted. Configure GitHub to send JSON.
none	No signature. Anyone with the generated URL can fire the trigger; keep it private.

For a bearer trigger:

curl --fail-with-body "$WEBHOOK_URL" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $WEBHOOK_SECRET" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -H 'Idempotency-Key: deployment-123' \
  --data-binary '{"event":"deployment","variables":{"environment":"staging"}}'

For a timestamped HMAC trigger, sign and send the same bytes:

import { createHmac } from "node:crypto";
const body = JSON.stringify({ variables: { environment: "staging" } });
const timestamp = String(Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000));
const signature = createHmac("sha256", process.env.WEBHOOK_SECRET)
  .update(`${timestamp}.`).update(body).digest("hex");
const response = await fetch(process.env.WEBHOOK_URL, {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "X-Paperclip-Timestamp": timestamp,
    "X-Paperclip-Signature": `sha256=${signature}`,
  },
  body,
});
console.log(response.status, await response.json());

202 returns the routine run, including its status and linked task. The task runs asynchronously, so acceptance does not mean the agent has finished. Concurrency policy can coalesce or skip a delivery while work is active. Payload fields or a nested variables object supply declared routine variables; nested values take precedence. The full payload is retained in run history. For app-webhook triggers, the sender's JSON is also copied into the execution task. Normal webhook intake does not apply a provider-specific field allowlist or a general payload scrubber. Send only data suitable for company-readable routine history; authentication and creation provenance do not certify the payload's privacy. See the Sentry tutorial for source-side scrubbing and setup checks.

For bearer, GitHub HMAC, and unsigned triggers, send a stable Idempotency-Key when retrying a delivery to receive the original run without creating another task. Timestamped HMAC rejects an identical signed delivery with 409, even inside the replay window; stale timestamps and invalid secrets/signatures return 401. Disabled triggers and paused/archived routines return 409. Missing required variables return 422; non-JSON media types return 415 and invalid JSON objects return 400. Rotating a secret immediately invalidates the old one.

Cloud installations use their canonical public origin for generated URLs. Self-hosted installations should set PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL to their HTTPS origin. The reverse proxy must forward this POST endpoint and its authorization, signature, timestamp, and idempotency headers without requiring a browser login. For local HTTPS testing, proxy an isolated test instance through Tailscale Serve; use Funnel only if the sender is outside the tailnet. Existing routine and agent execution controls still apply, including the isolated-worktree execution gate.

Verified creation provenance

The receiving routine and its run are recorded as the new task's direct origin. Paperclip can also retain the run that invoked the routine. Authenticated agent calls to the routine run API record a validated caller run. For an ordinary public webhook, optionally send X-Paperclip-Source-Run-Token containing a current, standard Paperclip run JWT from the same instance and company. The trigger still authenticates with its own secret. Invalid, expired, foreign, or stopped caller credentials return 401 before dispatch.

The source reference is stored as createdByRunId on the routine run, separate from triggerPayload. Sender JSON and plain run-ID headers cannot establish trusted caller ancestry. Without the source credential, a public webhook starts a new external receiving-routine origin. This metadata grants no additional execution or source-read authority. A source reference remains recorded after run retention; unresolved ancestry is unknown, never assumed independent.

Routine-wide execution receipts

Send X-Paperclip-Idempotency-Scope: routine with a stable Idempotency-Key to deduplicate execution receipts across webhook triggers on one routine. The default is trigger. Keep the key and scope stable on retries. Routine scope uses a deterministic receipt identity, so deleting the original trigger does not let the same occurrence start another task. Scope does not change ordinary concurrency, pause, company, permission, or budget controls.

Timestamped HMAC always uses trigger-scoped anti-replay receipts and rejects a routine-scope request with 400. Setup checks create no routine runs; their content-free test receipts remain associated with the setup trigger.

For a worked example that uses the normal webhook with Sentry, see Repair Failed Runs from Sentry.

List Runs

GET /api/routines/{routineId}/runs?limit=50

Returns recent run history for the routine. Defaults to 50 most recent runs.

Agent Access Rules

Agents can read all routines in their company but can only create and manage routines assigned to themselves:

Operation	Agent	Board
List / Get	✅ any routine	✅
Create	✅ own only	✅
Update / activate	✅ own only	✅
Add / update / delete triggers	✅ own only	✅
Rotate trigger secret	✅ own only	✅
Manual run	✅ own only	✅
Reassign to another agent	❌	✅

Routine Lifecycle

active -> paused -> active
       -> archived

Archived routines do not fire and cannot be reactivated.

Routine detail navigation

The routine detail page keeps Runs and Activity in the routine sidebar. Runs lists the execution issues for that routine using the shared issue list, including issue status, priority, assignee, and search controls. Activity shows the routine, trigger, and run event timeline without leaving the routine page. The overview links to these same local tabs.

Webhook setup and connection checks

Create a webhook trigger with setupPending: true to configure it safely. While setup is pending, authenticated deliveries return 202 with { "status": "test_received", "test": true, "routineStarted": false, "linkedIssueId": null }. They never create a routine run, task, or agent wakeup. This state survives refreshes and server restarts, and connection checks also work while the routine is paused. Invalid authentication still returns 401.

Routine detail exposes setupPending and lastWebhookDelivery (status, receivedAt, and test) so the wizard can show live connection feedback. The secret is only returned at creation or rotation; it is never stored in browser draft storage or included in routine detail.

Finish setup with PATCH /api/routine-triggers/{id} and { "setupPending": false }. Future deliveries use normal routine dispatch and still respect the routine's enabled state. Test events are not dispatched on activation. Retries with the same Idempotency-Key, GitHub X-GitHub-Delivery, or timestamp-HMAC replay key remain test receipts after activation. Send a unique delivery ID per event so a sender's retries can be recognized. Requests without a delivery ID are new events after activation.

For compatibility, API-created triggers without setupPending: true are immediately live. Completed triggers cannot be returned to setup mode. Checking a previously enabled webhook observes real deliveries and can start the routine; the management UI explains this difference.

Trigger cards support removal with Undo. PATCH with { "archived": true } excludes a trigger from routine detail and scheduling, and rejects its webhook deliveries. Setting archived back to false restores the same URL and credentials. DELETE remains the permanent deletion API.

The webhook wizard and saved trigger editor warn about localhost, private-network addresses, Tailscale hostnames, and HTTP URLs without blocking setup. HTTPS does not imply public access: Tailscale Serve is private, while Funnel can expose the same hostname publicly. These warnings inspect the URL only; they do not resolve DNS or test internet reachability. Use the HTTPS setup guide to configure public access when the sender is outside your network.