## Thinking Path > - Paperclip connects agents to external tools through saved accounts and per-action permissions. > - Notebook exposes artifact management through an ordinary remote MCP server with OAuth. > - A private pilot needs a hidden, default-off catalog and execution gate. > - Local file publishing belongs to Notebook, which can accept bounded file bytes through ordinary MCP tools. > - Paperclip therefore needs the connector registration and generic availability checks, with no file-transfer architecture. ## Linked Issues or Issue Description **Subsystem affected** Apps catalog, experimental feature metadata, connection setup, and connector availability. **Problem or motivation** Users need to connect Notebook as their Cloud account, assign its tools to agents, and retain Paperclip's normal Allowed / Ask first / Off rules. The private pilot must remain hidden until an operator enables it. Notebook should own its upload protocol and local publishing script. **Proposed solution** Register a personal remote MCP OAuth connection at Notebook's canonical endpoint. Reuse existing OAuth discovery, credential storage, refresh, reconnect, and removal. Enforce availability through generic catalog feature metadata and saved application identity. Keep Notebook's standalone uploader in its own service repository; it calls the ordinary gateway and receives no saved OAuth credential. **Alternatives considered** A gallery-only filter permits retained tools and deep links while disabled. A shared workspace publisher and private upload-ticket transport add runtime behavior that a normal MCP connector does not require. Notebook can receive file bytes directly through its own tools instead. **Roadmap alignment** This extends Connected Apps and supports Artifacts and Work Products. ROADMAP.md and related PRs were checked. This PR is standalone on master. The separate OAuth lifecycle and file-transfer proposals (#17085 and #17086) are closed and are not dependencies. ## What Changed - Register Notebook's personal MCP OAuth method, canonical endpoint, scopes, catalog metadata, and branding. - Declare managed `enablePaperclipNotebook` with false defaults and no user-facing settings toggle or staging opt-in. - Use generic availability metadata for gallery/setup, retained connection identity, OAuth completion, health, tool/context discovery, and dispatch. Resources/prompts recheck before credentials, including retained handles. Removal remains available while disabled. - Resolve catalog application identity from the saved application key, so editable connection labels cannot bypass the hidden gate. - Select a method's sole supported credential kind when no kind is supplied. - Keep UI changes to metadata-driven availability and existing setup/reconnect controls. - Document Notebook's service-owned upload script, inline publication, ordinary action policies, and credential behavior. - Add ordinary MCP OAuth, assignment, action-policy, disabled-state, settings, and catalog tests. No workspace contribution registry, private transfer endpoint, native publisher, Runner file-reader change, or Paperclip CLI upload command is included. The entire native-runtime and CLI trees match master. Upload code lives in `paperclip-cloud/notebook/`. ## Verification Source head: `65ef741e4f476c67425b57d2fb2d6d4c00e99b06`, directly on master `53732c811bb69655eb43d3d12f2063ae4ca5ad67`. The diff is 42 files. Shared execution changes only enforce generic catalog availability; tool access also resolves saved application identity and the sole supported credential kind. Neither module contains Notebook upload logic. - Catalog/shared/settings/UI suites: 592 tests passed across 12 files. Shared/server/UI typechecks passed using installed compilers. - Fresh real PostgreSQL generic MCP suite: 84/84 passed at final source; server typecheck and module boundaries pass. Coverage includes personal OAuth, ordinary refresh/reconnect, assignments, Allowed / Ask first / Off, hidden feature enforcement, and local credential removal. Four new resources/prompts cases failed against the prior code and pass after filtering saved application identity and rechecking before credentials. They prove missing/relabelled setup markers and stale eligibility cannot dispatch or read secrets while disabled; an ordinary provider remains available with the flag off. - The full tool-access service suite passed 463/464 cases. One unchanged Google Workspace `slides.write` case timed out at 15 seconds; it passed on one isolated retry without source or timeout changes. Its exact test block matches master. The cause is not established; final-head CI must qualify the complete suite. - Maps, module boundaries, token gates, and whitespace checks passed. Byte comparisons confirm the former transfer/runtime/CLI surfaces match master. - Fresh exact-head Greptile is 5/5 with zero unresolved findings after an exhaustive feedback audit. Current-head CI workflow [39625691137](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/39625691137) succeeded, including both required checks (`ci / verify`, `ci / e2e`), Build, and browser E2E. Supplementary security/advisory scan status is recorded in the PR Checks panel and qualification receipt; prior-head scans are not counted. The superseded `4bd7af9b2e` completed CI successfully, but Greptile found the valid resources/prompts availability gap described above. It was fixed, replied to, and resolved; earlier-head results do not qualify this revision. Preserved environment failures: the first socket-restricted UI/route run had 93 listener setup failures, and the same 93 cases passed with local-socket access. The package-manager launcher could not fetch its signature metadata; installed compilers passed without dependency or configuration changes. The full service timeout and isolated retry remain recorded separately. The superseded `585e870e73` CI also failed an unchanged agent-chat project-plan revision assertion after task creation; the complete spec and relevant runtime sources match master, and a same-master prior run passed. Its cause is not established. Logs are preserved; no test or timeout was weakened and no old-head rerun was requested. The subsequent heads run full CI independently; no prior-head pass substitutes for current qualification. The Notebook uploader requires a separate service release. This public PR adds no uploader runtime to Paperclip and claims no newly deployed browser/agent acceptance. The Notebook-owned upload path is qualified separately. Code-owner review remains required before merge. ## Risks - The feature flag gates the curated connector; it does not create a Notebook service-side team allowlist or block arbitrary standard MCP URLs. - Publishing, sharing, and deletion retain the existing assignment and action-policy boundaries. - The hidden feature must be checked for retained tools and saved identity, including when connection labels change. - Disconnect removes local credentials. It does not revoke the remote Notebook authorization; the owner can revoke it in Notebook. - Ordinary refresh uses the existing client. A lost response after refresh-token rotation can require reconnect. - The standalone Notebook script and its bounded upload tools must ship together in the Notebook service before that documented convenience path is available. - No database schema, workflow, lockfile, shared transfer, or Runner change is included. No merge, deployment, or rollout is performed by this update. ## Model Used OpenAI GPT-6 in Codex, with reasoning, repository inspection, code execution, and tool use. The runtime did not expose a more specific 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: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
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Connection setup
People connect an app or account, choose who may use it, and recover incomplete setup from either Apps or a task that needs access. A saved draft, a completed provider login, a usable connection, and a resumed task are separate checkpoints. Chat channels additionally require an endpoint and linked sender identity.
Feature ID: connection-setup.
Agent access: companion.
Prompt Injection Prevention reuses shared OpenRouter API-key setup directly from Settings → Connections. It adds no Apps provider or transport. Credential ownership and audience rules are the existing connection rules; saving a connection alone does not activate the service. See service configuration.
Sub-features
catalog:connection-setup/catalog— find a provider, inspect its available methods, and open setup; unavailable methods explain their prerequisite rather than silently switching.identity-and-access:connection-setup/identity-and-access— select personal/shared identity and eligible agents; an empty explicit selection and company-wide access must not be confused.credentials:connection-setup/credentials— provider sign-in, key, or generic MCP URL follows its supported setup method; credentials are not retained in browser draft storage.handoff:connection-setup/handoff— provider popup/full-page callback returns to the correct setup host with the original task intent and identity choice intact.draft-recovery:connection-setup/draft-recovery— cancel, Back, Save & exit, reload, Finish setup, and reconnect preserve the exact draft rather than creating duplicate connections.task-request:connection-setup/task-request— only the addressed person resolves the requested connection; usable access releases the pending task request through normal continuation.channel-setup:connection-setup/channel-setup— provider endpoint, represented agent, linked sender, and communication instructions are configured before an external message is used.failure:connection-setup/failure— denied login, unreachable/private URL, expired credentials, and permission errors leave an actionable state rather than a false success.
How to get to it (user POV)
apps-catalog
Open Apps (/apps), choose an app, and connect from its landing page. Select an
available method and access, then complete setup. Existing connections open
their details; unfinished ones offer a way to finish setup.
mcp-link
Use Connect with a link or /apps/byo for a generic MCP server. Paste its
URL, select access, and follow the probe's sign-in/key guidance. Provider-specific
catalog setup and a generic endpoint may use different flows.
task-request
Open the task's pending connection request and its setup action as the named user. Setup can open in a task dialog and may use an OAuth popup. Follow the request's original link if setup falls back to a standalone page.
resume-connection
From Apps or connection details, use Finish setup, reconnect, or the offered authentication recovery action. Reload or return from the provider before checking whether the same saved connection became usable.
chat-channel
With chat connectors enabled, select a supported chat/email provider in Apps
or open /apps/chat/connect. Complete that provider's endpoint setup, then
open its settings (/apps/chat/:endpointId/settings). Follow identity linking
as the intended sender before messaging the agent externally.
Driving it with Playwright and the Paperclip CLI
Preconditions: follow the baseline. Choose a disposable provider account/resource and record its auth method, deployment mode, account ownership, and access selection. For live setup, use the provider's documented prerequisites in the connector playbook. Automated fixtures do not establish OAuth registration, public callbacks, or production provider access.
apps-catalog
Automated: Browse, unconnected app, and AppsConnect cover catalog entry, access selection, provider-specific method choices, and setup failures with mocked APIs. Connection intents drives store and task setup against one fake provider through a useful continuation:
pnpm exec vitest run ui/src/pages/apps/Browse.test.tsx ui/src/pages/apps/AppsConnect.test.tsx
pnpm exec playwright test -c tests/e2e/playwright.config.ts tests/e2e/connection-intents.spec.ts
Manual: connect from an unconnected provider landing. Select the intended identity and agent access, complete authentication, reload, and inspect the saved connection. Run a permitted read-only action with an eligible agent and verify its useful result. Try an ineligible agent and confirm denial. Repeat with a user who cannot install company-wide; the UI must not imply broad access.
Notebook is internally gated by enablePaperclipNotebook (default off, no settings toggle). Disabled instances hide setup/discovery and deny curated Notebook dispatch and publishing; local removal and grant revocation remain available.
Availability is catalog metadata evaluated by shared connector checks. Notebook publication and file uploads stay in the Notebook service.
Paperclip Notebook uses the existing personal-account MCP OAuth setup at
https://notebook.paperclip.app/mcp. Sign in through Cloud, assign agents, and
verify tool discovery. The connection keeps its default catalog name.
Reconnect must preserve agent assignments and Allowed / Ask first / Off choices.
Removal disables local use and clears saved credentials. Remote authorization
can be revoked separately in Notebook's Connected apps screen; automatic remote
cleanup and custom keyed refresh recovery are deferred. A lost rotating-token
response may require reconnecting. Notebook tools use the selected connection's
ordinary action gateway. See Notebook
for the Notebook-owned uploader and fixture coverage. Live Notebook qualification
still requires the deployed service and both hosted and self-hosted clients.
Daytona follows this same key/access wizard. Its native method exposes the published platform and Toolbox HTTP actions using provider sandbox IDs, without a Paperclip task or lease requirement. Daytona browser setup checks the catalog, password field, access controls, and optional organization pin. It does not submit a key or qualify a real provider account. See Daytona for API-key authority and OAuth limits.
mcp-link
Automated: AppsConnect's generic MCP cases cover probe-driven auth, private or unreachable endpoints, preregistered clients, secret-backed headers, and unsafe authorization URLs. These are component/API mocks, not remote provider proof.
Catalog publication uses PostgreSQL and a controlled MCP response to check bounded writes, repeated page entries, preserved action choices, rollback, and concurrent publication. It does not verify a live provider's discovery contract.
Manual: connect a known test MCP URL through the link flow, verify its saved endpoint and a read-only action, then repeat with a bad URL and wrong credential. The error should explain the next action and preserve non-secret setup context. Test no-auth and authenticated endpoints separately; never infer one from the other.
task-request
Automated: interaction card checks addressed-user controls. AppsConnect tests cover page/dialog parity, task-bound OAuth, popup handoff, and verifying a saved connection before closing. Withdrawn requests render a terminal acknowledgement with no setup action; the interaction-body test and narrow Storybook journey cover this recovery state. The connection-intents browser suite above exercises fixture-backed continuation.
Manual: ask an agent to use an unavailable app, open its request as the named user, and complete setup in the dialog. Verify the card settles, the exact task resumes, and the agent returns a useful provider result. Repeat the page-host fallback and denied OAuth path. As another user, confirm that merely seeing the task does not grant the right to resolve the request.
resume-connection
Automated: AppsConnect tests cover exact-draft resume, declined OAuth, reconnect lookup failure/retry, response-lost creation, archived connection revival, and saved account reuse. App detail covers the connection host. These tests do not complete a real provider login.
Manual: leave setup through its footer, reload Apps, choose Finish setup, and confirm the same connection is resumed. Decline provider login and recover from that checkpoint. Reconnect an expired disposable account and verify a permitted action afterwards. Count connections before/after to catch accidental duplicates.
chat-channel
Automated: setup routing, saved setup state, email setup, and identity confirmation cover shared UI logic with fixtures. Provider-specific live setup is not implied.
Channel integration also covers bounded Telegram subscription recovery at startup and after committed configuration changes, saved retry deadlines, rollback, and parking pending repair while an endpoint or connection is inactive. The provider responses are fixtures. Settled maintenance leaves no discovery timer or database scans.
Manual: complete setup for one named provider, reload endpoint settings, link the intended sender, and send a disposable message. Verify one task and a useful reply in the originating conversation. Inspect an unlinked sender's denial and the endpoint's pause behavior. Repeat independently for each provider at issue; Slack setup does not qualify Discord, Telegram, GitHub, email, or iMessage.
Gotchas
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For connecting an assistant to Paperclip itself, use Assistant connections (MCP). This recipe's MCP-link journey connects Paperclip to an external app server.
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Private endpoint rejection depends on deployment: owned loopback MCP servers are supported in local-trusted/private instances. Public authenticated deployments apply the private-network restriction.
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A successful OAuth callback is not proof of saved connection access or task continuation. Verify all three checkpoints.
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Personal identity, shared account access, and per-agent access are distinct. Connecting an account does not waive an Off action or Ask first review.
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A tool app connection is not a chat endpoint. The same provider can offer both.
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Old Apps/Connections URLs can redirect to Apps. Use the current navigation and record the actual destination rather than documenting an obsolete screen.
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Full provider matrix, AI-account selection, gateway/profile administration, and account revocation lifecycles remain outside this seed recipe.
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For governed actions after setup, use questions and approvals.
Documentation scope: App catalog and connection setup
Provider-specific authentication/revocation, credential-only accounts, and aggregator administrative variants still need their own detailed matrices.