## Thinking Path > - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for work. > - The board reads API data and keeps the current task on screen. > - A restart or temporary network failure can interrupt those reads. > - Separate page error handlers can hide cached data or expose raw server codes. > - The app needs one connection state, readable error copy and a consistent read policy. > - This change provides that foundation and moves affected read surfaces onto it. > - The dependent write layer in #17960 preserves edits and submissions across the same failures. ## Linked Issues or Issue Description **What happened?** Temporary API failures could replace loaded content with errors. Different surfaces handled the same outage differently. Some showed raw server codes. A successful query to an unrelated service could also falsely report that Paperclip had recovered. **Expected behavior** Keep cached content visible. Show one connection banner during sustained trouble. Confirm recovery through the Paperclip health probe or its WebSocket. Retry transient reads and show readable errors for permanent failures. **Steps to reproduce** 1. Open a populated task or workspace page. 2. Interrupt API requests with a 503 or a dropped connection. 3. Keep an unrelated external request in flight. 4. Confirm that cached content remains and that the external result cannot clear the outage. 5. Restore the API and check that reads refresh. The write layer first merged into this feature branch in #15769 now has its own dependent PR, #17960. This PR contains the shared foundation and read changes. Merge this PR first. ## What Changed - Classify API errors and provide readable error copy, including non-JSON proxy responses and Retry-After handling. - Use one connection store and health probe with bounded backoff. Confirm recovery from the server health probe or live-updates WebSocket. - Pause reads while disconnected, retry transient errors, and refresh active reads after recovery. - Keep cached data visible through shared query views and affected page, panel and plugin read surfaces. - Add one app-level connection banner and support the pending-write count consumed by the dependent write layer. - Add a query-error rendering guard. Call it directly from the existing CI step. Update development documentation. ## Verification - Historical-chat lookup now follows the same ready/stale roster state as rendering. Three regressions fail before the fix; the six new cases pass after it, including working Retry, fresh data, no-cache error, permanent 403 and company isolation. All six focused query/recovery suites pass 200 tests. Final-commit CI passes and Apex is 5/5 with no unresolved findings. Canary Dry Run initially refused a preview version that was already on npm. It passed after one rerun with fresh registry metadata; no check was disabled. - Integrated current master and retained both transcript interest registration and connectivity reporting on socket open. The seven focused recovery/query suites pass 288 tests, and UI typecheck and production build pass. All 9,451 UI tests across 799 files pass on the merge commit. Final-commit CI passes and Apex is 5/5 with no unresolved findings. - Current head `70d9335d732219352ef0f98414439766bbcb33df`: all hosted CI checks pass. Apex is **5/5** on that head with no unresolved findings. The branch has no merge conflict. GitHub still requires code-owner approval. - The foundation passes 9,430 UI tests in 804 files. After integrating current master page paths, 190 focused page tests pass. - Two unrelated-success regressions fail before the latest fix. With the fix, 62 focused UI tests, all six guard tests and UI TypeScript pass. - The composed foundation and write layer pass **9,505 UI tests in 808 files**, UI TypeScript, a production UI build, and query-error, token and map guards. - A real Chromium journey on the composed source injects a 503 during title save. The loaded task stays visible; one reconnect banner appears; the edit saves after recovery; another task stays unchanged; the saved title survives reload. - Full recursive local checks were not repeated because Runner compilation exhausted local disk during another repair. Hosted checks must pass before merge. No new staging deployment is claimed. - Latest review follow-up: a cached CaseDetail now survives a failed HTTP 429 refresh. Its page regression fails before the fix and passes after it. Eighty focused foundation tests, UI TypeScript, build and guards pass after that change. - Earlier CI evidence is retained: several foundation jobs received a runner shutdown signal together. The write-layer head also failed an unchanged Runner descriptor close test with `provider_transport_failed`. The same Runner source passed that suite in the foundation run. New CI runs cover the updated heads; no check or assertion was weakened. ## Risks - Shared retry defaults change the time before transient read errors appear. Permanent errors still fail promptly. - ApiError.message now contains readable copy. Callers that compare raw codes must use ApiError.code. - Cache success can come from another service or local data. It must not confirm Paperclip recovery. - Durable writes are reviewed separately in #17960. This PR does not change database or mutation contracts. ## Model Used Anthropic Claude Opus 5.5 (`claude-opus-5-5`) produced the original work with tool use. OpenAI Codex, GPT-6 family, assisted with restoration, integration, tests and review fixes. The Codex session does not expose its exact serving model ID or context window size. ## 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: devinfoley <139239+devinfoley@users.noreply.github.com> Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com> Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing> Co-authored-by: Amy (Opus) <claude@users.noreply.github.com>
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.
The chat scenario catalog adds natural-language requests, starting context and expected conversational outcomes for the same capability IDs. It lives with Product E2E as planning data; a scenario reference is neither a registered execution nor evidence that a journey passed.
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.
Capability identifiers
The feature ID is the recipe filename without .md, such as onboarding.
The full capability ID joins that feature ID and a Sub-features key with /:
the company key in feature-map/onboarding.md is onboarding/company.
Its agent-access-map/onboarding.md companion uses the same local company key.
The feature-map index lists the existing
feature and full capability IDs.
Each child page states Feature ID: `onboarding`. after its introduction or
product-map link. In feature recipes, show the full ID beside the parsed local
key: - `company`: `onboarding/company` — create a company. In access
companions and Storybook verification guidance, keep the existing local heading
and put Capability ID: `onboarding/company`. beneath it. These labels make
the existing identifiers visible without changing keys, anchors, or ID generation.
Use full capability IDs in cross-feature references, Storybook annotations, tests, issues, PRs, and verification evidence. Both segments use lowercase letters, digits, and hyphens. Keep filenames and keys stable when display titles or navigation labels change; renaming either changes the capability ID.
Entry-point IDs describe a surface, such as web-wizard, and are scoped to their
recipe. Reference them with a recipe link, such as
onboarding.md#web-wizard, and record the
capability exercised separately. Navigation section labels are not capability IDs.
See IDs and references for examples.
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,
and its feature ID, followed by one H2 backticked local key per product
sub-feature. Each capability starts with its full capability ID and contains
these fields:
- Review:
baselineoroperation-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
noneonly 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. Update the corresponding chat scenarios when their request, assumptions or expected outcome changes; use multiple cases for meaningfully different starting conditions rather than treating an API path as conversational coverage.
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. Keep the feature-map README's readable ID
index aligned with those sources; it does not register entries for generation.
Do not 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.