Files
PaperClipAI/server/src/services/project-tools.ts
T
DottaandClaude Opus 5.5 958f9aa9f3 feat(issues): limit agent-created task trees to parent and child (#19312)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Agents split work into tasks. A task can have a parent task.
> - Today agents can nest tasks to any depth: parent, child, grandchild,
and deeper.
> - Deep agent-made trees are hard to follow, and an agent that works on
a child task makes grandchildren by default.
> - This pull request limits agent-created trees to two levels: a
top-level task and its children.
> - A request for a grandchild does not fail. The server puts the new
task beside the requester and tells the agent.
> - Board users keep full control. They can still nest to any depth.
Existing deep trees stay valid.
> - The pull request also records which task created each new task, so
the audit trail stays complete when the parent changes.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

No public issue exists. This is the feature description. Related: #16853
(budgets that include descendant work) also reasons about task trees;
this change does not alter its traversal.

**Subsystem affected**

Issues (tasks): create, child create and move in the issue service and
routes. Agent tools, chat suggestions and creation provenance use these
paths.

**Problem or motivation**

Agents create subtasks as deep as they want. An agent that runs on a
child task gets that child as the default parent, so its follow-ups
become grandchildren. The trees become deep and hard to read. The parent
link is also the only record of which task created a follow-up, so that
record is lost when the parent changes.

**Proposed solution**

Limit agent-created trees to a parent and its children. When an agent
asks for a grandchild, put the new task under the requester's parent and
return `parentAdjusted`. Do not reject the request. Keep board users
unrestricted. Record the originating task in a new server-set
`origin_issue_id` column. Keep `origin_run_id` as the originating run.

**Alternatives considered**

Reject grandchild requests with an error. We did not do this, because
agents then fail mid-task. Add a database constraint. We did not do
this, because existing deep trees must stay valid and nesting can return
later.

## What Changed

- Add `MAX_AGENT_TASK_HIERARCHY_DEPTH` (2) and the
`IssueParentAdjustment` type in `packages/shared`.
- Add `resolveNewTaskParent` and `planIssueParentChange` in
`server/src/services/issues.ts`. `create`, `createChild` and `update`
use the agent limit by default (`parentDepthPolicy: "flatten"`).
- The issue create, `/children` and PATCH routes pass `allow_nested` for
board users. For agents, the routes check authorization against the
parent that the server actually writes.
- The requester keeps its behavior when the server moves a task beside
it: `blockParentUntilDone` blocks the requester, and the new task
inherits the requester's workspace and privacy.
- The server never moves a task above a low-trust boundary root that
contains the requester.
- These subsystems keep any depth, because they find their work by
parent: watchdog reviews, monitor recovery, email-channel placement, and
routines that a person configured.
- An agent move of a task that has children skips only the parent change
and returns `reason: "has_children"`.
- Add `issues.origin_issue_id` (nullable, `on delete set null`, indexed)
in migration `0434`. Only the server sets it. The `createdFrom` detail
field, the `createdFromIssueId` filter and task-creation provenance read
it first.
- Chat prompts now let a chat agent create one task, a task with
children, or separate tasks. The conversation is never a parent.
- The runner `create_task` tool accepts an optional `parentTaskId`. A
chat agent can create a top-level task and then put subtasks under it.
The run must be able to read and change the parent. A conversation is
never a parent. The depth limit still applies. Project tools map the
field to `parentId` through the issue route. The protocol manifest,
semantic contracts and eval fixture are regenerated.
- Watchdog runs that have an active watchdog keep their requested parent
on all create paths, because their access is limited to the watched
subtree.
- Fix a bug that the test drive found: the chat (MCP) `create_task`
ignored the requested `status`, so a `backlog` task became `todo` and
started to run. It now uses the same rule as the native tool.
- Update `skills/paperclip`, `doc/SPEC-implementation.md`, and add the
plan `doc/plans/2026-11-05-two-level-task-hierarchy.md`.

## Verification

- `cd server && npx vitest run
src/__tests__/agent-task-hierarchy-depth.test.ts
src/__tests__/agent-task-hierarchy-depth-routes.test.ts`: 19 new tests
for service and route behavior, all pass.
- Related suites (64 files: issues service, thread interactions,
privacy, watchdogs, provenance, runner tool authority, decisions,
routines, project tools): 1208 tests pass. Two tests changed because of
the intended behavior and pass now. Two `email-channels.integration`
tests fail locally because the test cannot find a bundled skill file
from this worktree path. This change does not touch that code.
- `packages/db`: migration safety, snapshot drift and journal tests
pass.
- Typecheck passes for `server`, `packages/shared`, `packages/db`, `cli`
and `ui` (local `ui` errors come only from generated Storybook catalog
files that are absent).
- Local test drive on an isolated instance with real Claude agents: 29
of 29 use cases pass, including an agent on a child task (follow-ups
placed beside it, with the notice) and a chat that creates a top-level
task with three subtasks.
- I did not run the full `pnpm test:run` or `pnpm build` locally. CI
runs them.

## Risks

- Behavior change for agents: some follow-ups that were grandchildren
are now siblings. The parent of the requester is woken when all its
children finish, which now includes these tasks.
- The runner `create_task` input contract adds one optional field, so
the protocol manifest and the pack contract change. The tool output does
not change: it shows the actual `parentId`, and the activity log records
`parentAdjusted`.
- Migration `0434` adds a nullable column, a foreign key and an index.
It does not backfill rows.
- `IssueCreationSource.run` is now nullable.

## Model Used

- Claude Opus 5.5 (`claude-opus-5-5`) in Claude Code, with tool use
(shell, file edits, local test runs).

## 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
- [ ] 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>
2026-11-05 21:22:33 -06:00

76 lines
4.3 KiB
TypeScript

import { projectDiscoverySchema, createProjectSchema, createIssueSchema, setIssueTitleSchema, requiredQualityReviewSchema } from "@paperclipai/shared";
import { z } from "zod";
import { CAPABILITY_SEMANTIC_TOOL_CATALOG } from "../vendor/paperclip-runner/index.js";
import { badRequest } from "../errors.js";
export const PROJECT_TOOL_NAMES = ["create_project", "list_project_repositories", "list_projects"];
export function projectToolDefinitions(workMode: string, includeTask = false) {
return CAPABILITY_SEMANTIC_TOOL_CATALOG.filter(tool =>
(PROJECT_TOOL_NAMES.includes(tool.operationId) || includeTask && ["create_task", "set_task_title"].includes(tool.operationId))
&& tool.allowedModes.includes(workMode as "standard"),
).map(tool => ({ name: tool.operationId, description: tool.description,
inputSchema: tool.operationId === "create_project"
? z.toJSONSchema(createProjectSchema.extend({ idempotencyKey: z.string().min(1).max(255) }))
: tool.inputSchema,
}));
}
/** All transports use the normal authenticated API, including its validation and audit path. */
export async function callProjectTool(input: {
name: string; arguments: Record<string, unknown>; apiUrl: string; token: string;
companyId: string; issueId: string; agentId: string; conversation: boolean; receiptOnly?: boolean;
}) {
if (input.receiptOnly && input.name !== "create_project") throw badRequest("Receipt recovery is only supported for project creation");
const args = input.arguments;
const page = input.name === "list_projects" ? projectDiscoverySchema.parse(args) : null;
let path = `/companies/${input.companyId}/projects`;
let body: unknown;
if (input.name === "set_task_title") {
path = `/issues/${input.issueId}/title`;
body = setIssueTitleSchema.parse(args);
} else if (input.name === "list_project_repositories") path = `/companies/${input.companyId}/project-repositories`;
else if (page) {
const query = new URLSearchParams({ view: "summary", limit: String(page.limit) });
if (page.cursor) query.set("cursor", page.cursor);
path += `?${query}`;
}
else if (input.name === "create_project") {
body = createProjectSchema.extend({ idempotencyKey: z.string().min(1).max(255) }).parse(args);
} else if (input.name === "create_task") {
const key = z.string().min(1).max(150).parse(args.idempotencyKey);
path = `/companies/${input.companyId}/issues`;
body = createIssueSchema.parse({
title: args.title, description: args.description, priority: args.priority,
projectId: args.projectId, initialPlan: args.initialPlan,
...(args.requiredQualityReview !== undefined ? {
executionPolicy: { requiredQualityReview: requiredQualityReviewSchema.parse(args.requiredQualityReview) },
} : {}),
assigneeAgentId: args.assigneeActorId ?? (args.assigneeUserId ? null : input.agentId),
assigneeUserId: args.assigneeUserId,
// An explicit parent goes through the route's depth placement and
// authorization; a conversation itself is never a parent.
parentId: typeof args.parentTaskId === "string" && args.parentTaskId
? args.parentTaskId
: (input.conversation ? null : input.issueId),
// Same rule as the native tool: backlog is honored and never wakes an
// agent; otherwise unresolved blockers make the task blocked.
status: args.status === "backlog" ? "backlog"
: Array.isArray(args.blockedByTaskIds) && args.blockedByTaskIds.length ? "blocked" : "todo",
blockedByIssueIds: args.blockedByTaskIds,
idempotencyKey: `chat-handoff:${input.issueId}:${key}`,
});
} else throw badRequest("Unknown project tool");
const response = await fetch(`${input.apiUrl.replace(/\/+$/, "").replace(/\/api$/, "")}/api${path}`, {
method: input.name === "set_task_title" ? "PUT" : body ? "POST" : "GET",
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${input.token}`, "Content-Type": "application/json",
...(input.receiptOnly ? { "X-Paperclip-Receipt-Only": "true" } : {}),
},
...(body ? { body: JSON.stringify(body) } : {}),
signal: AbortSignal.timeout(60_000),
});
if (input.receiptOnly && response.status === 204) return undefined;
const result = await response.json();
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(typeof result.error === "string" ? result.error : `Project tool failed (${response.status})`);
return result;
}