Files
PaperClipAI/packages/paperclip-runner/protocol
DottaandClaude Opus 5.5 1eff07f29e feat(task-chat): show Claude subagents as a collapsible tree in the runner turn (#19264)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - The task chat shows what an agent does in a run. The Paperclip
Runner sends this activity as canonical provider events.
> - Claude runs subagents through its Agent (Task) tool. A run that
delegates showed a confusing burst of unrelated tool calls.
> - The subagent data was already sent, but it was lost: ACPX dropped
`_meta`, the hardened sidecar dropped `rawInput`, and async subagents
report "launched" as the tool result.
> - This pull request maps each Agent call to a canonical `delegation`
event, links each child tool to its subagent, and shows subagents as a
collapsible card or tree.
> - The benefit is that operators can see what each subagent was asked,
what it is doing now, which tools it used, and what it returned.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

Refs #19252 (the docked plan card used the same canonical-event pattern)
Refs #19259 (ACPX `_meta` passthrough, merged). This PR builds on it.

**What happened?**
When a Claude agent used its Agent tool, the task chat showed one
generic "Task" row and then the subagents' tool calls as flat rows in
the parent turn. The subagent type, prompt, progress and result were not
visible.

**Expected behavior**
Each subagent shows as its own card with its type, description, prompt,
live progress summary, nested tool rows and result. Subagents that start
together show as one tree with status dots.

**Steps to reproduce**
1. Assign a Claude (Paperclip Runner, ACPX) agent a task that asks it to
launch three Explore subagents in parallel.
2. Open the task while the run is live.
3. Before this change, the subagents' tool calls appear flat in the
parent turn.

## What Changed

- **claude-agent-acp patch:** Under the isolated runner context, the
patch turns on the SDK option `agentProgressSummaries`. It forwards each
subagent's `task_progress` summary and its terminal state and summary
onto the spawning tool call as `_meta.claudeCode.subagentProgress` and
`subagentState`. Native subagent sessions stay off, because ACPX cannot
follow child ACP sessions.
- **Runner:** The new file `claude-subagent-lineage.ts` tracks each
Agent/Task call across ACP update deltas. It maps the call to
`delegation.started|updated|completed` events and stamps child tools
with `parentItemId`. An async subagent stays running after its "Async
agent launched" result until its own state settles.
- **Sidecar path:** `acpx-runtime-sidecar.ts` reads the lineage before
it drops `_meta` and `rawInput`. Delegations go out as schema-checked
rich events. Child tools carry `parentToolCallId`, which Rust
(`acpx_event_payload.rs`, `provider_events.rs`) maps to `parentItemId`.
- **Contracts:** The provider-event schema adds optional `prompt` and
`result` to delegation children and optional `parentItemId` to tool
executions. The protocol modules are regenerated. ACPX Claude now
advertises the `delegation` event family.
- **UI:** `native-run-events.ts` keeps delegation payloads and the tool
parent link. `buildTurnTimelineRows` groups adjacent delegations into a
new `subagent_group` row, nests child tool rows (plain and
provider-activity shapes), and hides the spawning call's own tool row.
The new `TaskChatSubagentCard.tsx` renders the card and tree. A new size
token caps the result height.
- **Storybook:** The new story `Tasks and conversations/…/Task
chat/Subagents` has 7 states.

## Verification

- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/paperclip-runner exec vitest run src/cli
src/drivers/acpx src/provider-events.test.ts
src/claude-subagent-lineage.test.ts src/protocol` (2069 passed)
- `cargo test --release --locked -p paperclip-runner-core --lib` in
`packages/paperclip-runner/runner` (488 passed, including the new
parent-link test)
- `node --test test/protocol-contract.test.mjs
test/acpx-sidecar-contract.test.mjs
test/acpx-codex-package-contract.test.mjs
test/acpx-rich-extensions-package-contract.test.mjs` (48 passed)
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/ui exec vitest run
src/components/task-chat src/components/transcript`, including the new
`subagent-timeline.test.ts`
- `check:protocol-types`, `check:protocol-manifest`,
`check:acpx-profiles` and `pnpm check:token-gates` pass.
- **Live test:** A local test-drive instance ran a Claude Opus 5.5 agent
on the Paperclip Runner (hardened sidecar path). The agent ran real
tasks that launched three parallel Explore subagents. The live view
showed "Running 3 subagents · 2 done" with a progress summary. The
settled view showed "Ran 3 subagents", each with its prompt, nested
tools and its own result text.

## Risks

- `agentProgressSummaries` makes Claude Code generate a short progress
summary for each running subagent about every 30 seconds. This adds a
small model cost to runs that delegate.
- The adapter patch reads `task_notification` and terminal
`task_updated` messages. A future claude-agent-acp version can change
these. The patch hunks then fail to apply, and the dependency bump must
update them.
- If a delegation event is lost, child tools stay at the top level as
before. Nothing is hidden without a matching delegation.
- Codex is not changed. Codex subagents need `multi_agent`, which
Paperclip keeps off on purpose. Changing that is a separate policy
decision.

## Model Used

- Claude Opus 5.5 (`claude-opus-5-5`) in Claude Code, with tool use
(shell, file edits, browser automation). It did the investigation,
implementation, tests and live test.

## 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>
2026-11-05 18:58:35 +00:00
..
…

PRP v1/v2 Contract

The JSON Schema files in schemas/ are the language-neutral source of truth for Paperclip Runner Protocol versions 1 and 2. The fixtures in fixtures/ define accepted and rejected compatibility cases.

Compatibility

  • protocolVersion, fixtureVersion, and event.schemaVersion are required.
  • A consumer fails closed when a required version or schema discriminator is not supported.
  • A v1 envelope can contain an unknown optional property when its schema marks that object as extensible.
  • A consumer ignores an unknown optional property until a later contract gives it meaning.
  • A required field, enum value, or typed structured-input field is not optional.
  • Question and answer identifiers are stable across the provider boundary.
  • Peers negotiate the highest mutually supported protocol version. Existing v1 runners remain compatible but cannot receive v2-only session-goal commands.

The unknown-optional-fields.json fixture must be accepted. The unsupported-required-version.json fixture must be rejected.

Session goals (v2)

PRP v2 adds a provider-neutral durable session-goal lifecycle. Every v2 capability snapshot includes sessionGoals, even when its availability is unsupported or policy_disabled. Paperclip sends controls only when the negotiated capability advertises the corresponding action.

Commands:

  • session.goal.get
  • session.goal.set for objective, status, and optional token budget changes
  • session.goal.clear

Events:

  • session.capabilities.updated
  • session.goal.snapshot
  • session.goal.updated
  • session.goal.cleared

Goal state is separate from Paperclip's company/business goal hierarchy. The snapshot distinguishes the durable status from workingNow, because an active goal can be idle between autonomous turns. A runner emits the full capability and authoritative snapshot after every session open or resume. Missing v1 capability is unsupported; clients do not infer support from an adapter name.

Harness credential updates

auth.credentials.updated is a P0 runner event available in the v1, v2, and v3 event schemas. Its payload uses paperclip.auth.credentials.updated.v1 and contains only provider, bindingId, revision, and detection. No tokens, account identifiers, credential paths, or credential fingerprints are permitted.

An updated consumer opts in with observeCredentials: true in run.prepare, before session.open. The bundled runner transport opts in for fresh sessions; set its observeCredentials option to false to disable observation for a fresh session. Older hosts that omit the field receive no new event. Consumers must update their schemas before opting in: an event-enum addition is not an unknown optional property. Existing runner binaries ignore the optional flag and do not provide observation; absence of an event does not establish support.

The current Unix runner observes native Codex's managed CODEX_HOME/auth.json and the Codex/Grok ACPX session homes. It uses a non-recursive directory watch plus a one-second polling fallback, so atomic file replacement is handled. Grok's initial inline subscription credential is the baseline, allowing a refresh during launcher startup to be detected. A first valid credential file without a prior baseline establishes the baseline without claiming a refresh. Account identity changes also emit updates, even when token values stay the same, and establish the baseline for later refreshes on the new account. Hosts must evaluate the current credential through their private credential channel and account checks; the event does not authorize an account switch. Metadata-only changes, partial writes, and deletion do not emit updates. Unsupported harnesses and refreshes retained only in memory need their own observer or native-hook integration; adding this event does not make them observable.

bindingId: "harness-auth" identifies the selected harness authentication within the envelope's normalized session. Revisions increase for that binding and survive runner restarts and warm run attachments. The baseline fingerprint and pending event are persisted together in a private runner state file. Source retries retain the same event identity until the durable PRP outbox accepts it. Hosts should commit an idempotent reaction or durable work item through onCommittedEvent before returning and advancing the cumulative ACK. The bundled transport exposes onCredentialsUpdated(event) for this commit. It awaits the callback before ACK, including during warm idle, attachment, and provider cleanup. Callback failures leave delivery unacknowledged for retry; callbacks must therefore deduplicate by the original source event identity. When configured, credential updates bypass the turn notification queue. Paperclip commits them directly to the run log in a separate credential source namespace, preserving the original PRP envelope and avoiding collisions with the driver's normalized event sequence. A turn-only notification consumer cannot reliably handle idle or cleanup updates; use this callback instead.

detection: "credential_store" reports an observed credential change, not proof that an OAuth refresh succeeded. Multiple changes between observations can be coalesced; this is not an audit of every refresh exchange. The schema also allows native_hook for integrations with an explicit signal. Observation continues during warm idle and checks at turn terminal and close boundaries, including Grok's private refresh handoff after live-store cleanup. Retained runner observations enter the durable outbox before a suspend or shutdown command completes, without draining the provider backlog. A final check after provider cleanup also enters the outbox and waits for the host ACK. The runner retains its terminal recovery fence if that delivery fails.

The event authorizes no credential access or write on its own. A host that needs rotated token values must use a separately authorized handoff with its existing account-identity and freshness safeguards. The default Paperclip credential copy-back behavior remains in place.

Scope

The first provider descriptor and adapter fixture cover Codex only. The schemas for provider-neutral events and semantic receipts do not enable those actions. Discovery and authorization are separate contracts.

The conformance manifest records every source file and its SHA-256 digest. Run pnpm generate:protocol-manifest from this package after a source change. CI runs the same generator with --check to reject drift. This check also compiles the JSON Schemas and validates every replay, question, and cross-language conformance fixture against its declared schema.

The files in fixtures/replay/golden/ are deterministic reducer oracles. Each accepted replay fixture has a complete session snapshot and a compact parity summary. pnpm generate:replay-goldens updates them after an intentional reducer change; package build and CI fail when they drift.

The files in fixtures/local-runner/scripts/ drive the package-local fake harness. They cover successful, failed, interrupted, interactive, duplicate terminal, process-cleanup, and oversized-frame behavior without starting a production adapter.

runtime.activity.recorded is a P1 Runner event in v1, v2 and v3 with exactly { namespace, activityKey }. Both opaque identifiers contain 1–160 Unicode code points and exclude C0 controls and DEL. namespace groups a producer's activity types; activityKey names an activity within that group. Consumers use the pair to select a response to activity in the run. The authenticated outer envelope provides run and session identity, source sequence and emission time. Core resolves the run's company, task and agent through its existing authorized run binding; callers cannot supply those identities in the payload. Recording activity does not independently verify the reported action or grant access to any resource. The event uses the ordinary durable outbox, acknowledgement and replay contract.

Local clients capture an opaque context with paperclip-runnerd notification-context before an operation and invoke record-activity CONTEXT NAMESPACE ACTIVITY_KEY after success. Runner publishes its matching absolute executable as host-owned PAPERCLIP_RUNTIME_NOTIFICATION_HELPER and the stable endpoint descriptor path as PAPERCLIP_RUNTIME_NOTIFICATION_CONTEXT. Configured task environment cannot override either value. Context is invalidated on warm attachment and process recovery, so a caller cannot attribute a later completion to a different run.