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PaperClipAI/doc/evals.md
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DottaandPaperclip 96bf004a79 fix: use persisted state for lifecycle continuation and retry budgets (#13888)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Its control plane decides when a task can continue, wait, stop, or
complete.
> - Legacy continuation could change when an agent changed its wording
without changing task state.
> - Shared attempt counts also let repair and infrastructure retries
affect each other's limits.
> - This pull request uses persisted state and separate, bounded
allowances for these decisions.
> - If automatic repair stops, the task explains what happened and
offers a guarded retry.
> - Paired tests and real-provider evaluations verify that Stop,
approvals, ownership, and spending limits remain authoritative.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

Related work: Refs #13761, Refs #11126, Refs #13610. These cover
obsolete continuation dispatch and retry storms. Open and closed issues
and PRs were searched for related lifecycle, continuation, and retry
work.

**What happened?**
Legacy continuation depended on English wording and progress heuristics.
Repair, failure retry, and productive continuation could consume shared
counts. When bounded repair stopped, the task showed a technical
recovery message without a clear next action.

**Expected behavior**
Persisted disposition and owned execution paths determine the next
action. Missing disposition prompts bounded agent repair. Explicit work
mode determines planning mode. Narrative changes and raw activity counts
cannot replenish allowances. An exhausted repair shows a readable
notice. An explicit retry checks current controls and preserves the
assigned agent.

**Steps to reproduce**
Run `pnpm test:lifecycle-baseline`. The paired probes keep structured
state constant while varying completion, planning, blocker, and progress
prose. Run the explicit `lifecycle-baseline` and
`continuation-accounting` Product E2E suites for real-provider coverage.
In Storybook, open **Design previews / Recovery notice** to inspect the
production component's normal, pending, acknowledged, unavailable,
failure, and mobile states.

## What Changed

- Hide the image attachment button, icon, and drop/paste hint in answer
composers. Image paste and drop support remains available.
- Merge current master and retain both browser regression sets. Use a
production-stamped service worker in the offline recovery browser
fixture.
- Share one state-based legacy continuation decision across immediate,
delayed, and recovered dispatch. Bind bounded repairs to their source
run and episode.
- Remove title and description wording from work-mode authority. Agents
can still write requested plans in execution mode.
- Persist separate failure-retry and productive-continuation counters.
Disposition repair and resource waits cannot consume or reset those
allowances.
- Validate delayed repair identity, then recheck current gates before
provider dispatch. Fence native startup cancellation.
- Show **Agent needs attention**, a plain-language explanation, **Retry
agent**, and expandable details in both task interfaces. Report request
progress, acknowledgement, and errors inline.
- Store typed recovery notice metadata. Recognize older active notices
only through exact stored action and run IDs. Notice text never grants
retry authority.
- Use the existing recovery-action endpoint for retry. Recheck current
action, status, owner, agent availability, dependencies, active runs,
pending questions and confirmations, approvals, pause controls, and
budget. Duplicate requests do not wake twice.
- Add component, page, route, database, contract, and Storybook
coverage. Keep the scenario inventory and executable evals here.
Historical reports and snapshots live in the [commit-pinned
paperclip-evals
archive](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip-evals/blob/ce3e5afcd4a1184650f586a2b5b8be5874c66c8b/experiments/2026-09-lifecycle-authority/README.md).
- Preserve unsaved project fields while the same project URL changes to
its canonical alias. Do not reuse data across projects or companies.
This separate fix addresses the repeated repository-editor browser
failure without changing the browser test.
- Keep the development service worker from intercepting Vite module
reloads. Update the connection-intent browser fixture to record progress
and completion through the agent API.

## Verification

Merge preparation on September 25, commit
`c1e8e4b7ddd9fbc4913ed55ce21b8e12906c2f97`:

- Merged master `bd2030932` and resolved the browser test-list conflict
by keeping both sets of regressions.
- Deterministic lifecycle baseline: 1,090/1,090 assertions passed; no
failures, skips, or missing selected evidence. Unit 423, runner 184,
database integration 397, grading 86.
- Browser support: 17/17 passed. The offline recovery test first failed
with an unstamped development worker, then passed with the production
stamp. Its assertions are unchanged.
- Focused interaction UI and offline fallback tests: 19/19 passed.
Verified the custom-answer composer in Storybook: no attachment controls
or hint; entering an answer enables Next.
- Recursive typecheck, production build, token gates, and diff checks
passed. The worktree is clean. No new real-provider campaign was run.
- Current CI and review: [Current PR CI
passed](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/36166011243):
55 successful checks and two optional Storybook skips. Greptile scored
this exact commit 5/5. Hiding the question attachment controls is an
intentional UI change; paste/drop remains available.

Earlier recovery UI verification, commit
`21be0fec0e90e86b6d662b8ee4831847cd041cdb`:

- Recursive typecheck, production build, token gates, and diff checks
passed.
- Focused UI coverage: 338 tests passed across six suites (336 before
the interaction guard, with the two affected suites rerun at 149 passed
after it). Covers both task interfaces, the real page mutation,
pending/error acknowledgement, stale state, and unavailable controls.
- Recovery database integration: 352 tests passed before the interaction
guard. The complete recovery-action and mutation-route suites passed 181
tests after it. The two new pending question/confirmation regressions
failed before the fix and passed afterward, including
resolved-interaction controls. Shared validator suite: 31 passed. E2E
catalog suites: 34 passed.
- Browser inspection passed for light/dark themes, mobile layout,
expandable details, pending retry, acknowledgement, failure, and
disabled retry. Storybook renders the production component; its request
is simulated.
- The broad local run hit two chat callback-order wait failures and was
stopped after all CI unit/database/runner shards passed. Both local
failures passed when rerun without the competing full-suite process.
- CI exposed a repeated project-repository draft-loss race during
canonical redirects. A new unit regression failed before the fix; all
nine project-page tests now pass, including controls for other projects
and companies. Both unchanged repository browser tests passed against a
fresh local server. UI typecheck, production UI build, and token gates
passed after this fix.
- [Earlier PR CI
passed](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/36072486798)
on `21be0fec0e90e86b6d662b8ee4831847cd041cdb`: 55 successful checks, two
optional Storybook skips, and no failed or pending checks. The
repository browser shard passed with the production fix. Greptile is 5/5
on this exact commit with no unresolved review threads. The PR is
mergeable.

Historical, source-qualified lifecycle evidence:

- Lifecycle baseline: 1,074 assertions. Native session coverage: 447
tests. Product E2E support: 515 tests. Browser support: 11 tests. Full
earlier verification is retained in the archive.
- [Real-provider campaign: 8/8 passed, zero
retries](https://d1p6rlowie26tp.cloudfront.net/runner-e2e/campaigns/gha-35881382080-1/index.html),
source `e88d210417280140b44a36449027290adcb1aeaa`. Evidence and cleanup
checks passed. This includes deliberately exhausted repair cases that
correctly remain blocked; it does not mean every task finished Done.
This campaign predates the recovery UI change.
- Archive migration verified all 16 original JSON files byte-for-byte
and all 24 checksum entries. App tests do not need private archive
access. [Archive PR
#27](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip-evals/pull/27) is merged.

## Risks

- Agents that omit durable disposition receive at most two repair
attempts by default. Prose-only completion exposes missing state rather
than silently changing scheduling.
- A retry is an explicit board action. The server rechecks current
controls. A successful response confirms the task returned to To do; it
does not claim that the provider has already started.
- Existing notice metadata remains valid. Only older active notices with
matching structured evidence receive the new UI. Historical notices
without that evidence keep their existing rendering. No schema migration
is required.
- Old run records require conservative retry accounting. Tests cover old
counters, alternating retry lanes, restarts, and exhausted repairs.
- Historical snapshots require private `paperclip-evals` access. The app
index retains public campaign links. Live campaigns qualify specific
sources and scenarios; no new real-provider campaign has run for the
recovery UI commit.

> This fixes existing lifecycle and recovery behavior and does not
duplicate planned core work.

## Model Used

OpenAI GPT-6 through Codex assisted implementation, reasoning, code
execution, and review. The exact serving model ID and context window are
not exposed in this task. Historical real-provider evaluations used
Codex model `gpt-5.6-sol`, separately from the implementation assistant.

## 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 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>
2026-09-25 15:28:11 -07:00

260 lines
14 KiB
Markdown

# Paperclip evaluation guide
Paperclip has two live eval families with different questions, owners, and
evidence. Choose the family before selecting a model, profile, or case.
- **Runner Evals:** real Runner/provider behavior against a seeded mock control
plane. Definitions live in `paperclip-evals/evals/paperclip-runner`; see the
[direct live protocol evals](../packages/paperclip-runner/docs/runner-protocol-live-evals.md).
- **Product E2E Evals:** real browser, Paperclip server, database, Runner,
provider, and (where selected) Daytona, using an isolated instance and
grading oracle. See [`tests/runner-e2e`](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md) and
[Everyday Workflows](../tests/runner-e2e/EVERYDAY-WORKFLOWS.md).
Runner Evals answer whether a real runner/provider can perform a bounded
protocol operation against the expected control-plane contract. Product E2E
Evals answer whether a person can complete a product workflow through the real
Paperclip surfaces and whether the resulting artifact and state are usable.
The names describe the system under test; “headless” is an execution option,
not an eval category.
## Selecting a family
Use **Runner Evals** for a runner protocol, adapter, transport, native session,
tool grant, or one-turn provider qualification question. The workflow checks
out an exact `paperclip-evals` revision, builds the Runner and viewer, runs a
live roster, and renders the canonical Evalbook report. The control plane is a
seeded test authority, so a passing result does not prove browser UX, production
server behavior, database persistence, Daytona behavior, or a real third-party
mutation.
Use **Product E2E Evals** for browser interaction, issue/task lifecycle,
approval and clarification UI, project/repository selection, persistence over a
controller restart, artifact delivery, billing/evidence behavior, or runner
continuity in local or Daytona environments. The harness creates a fresh
Paperclip instance per cell and uses public APIs and the production browser
surface. The suite's [Everyday Workflows](../tests/runner-e2e/EVERYDAY-WORKFLOWS.md)
are Product E2E even when their results are imported into Evalbook.
Do not combine a partial Runner campaign and a partial Product E2E campaign into
one score. A campaign is comparable when its definition/grader, model/profile,
environment, and contract match. The evaluated Paperclip revision may
intentionally differ for a before/after fix comparison; record it as a
comparison axis.
## Ownership and codepaths
Runner Evals are owned by the Runner/evals maintainers. Definitions, rosters,
case prompts, and the report program live in the sibling private repository
`paperclipai/paperclip-evals`; Runner integration, viewer, aggregation, and
publication code live under `packages/paperclip-runner` and the
`runner-protocol-live-evals.yml` workflow. The public-facing report uses the
same Evalbook renderer and Runner Lab viewer as the trusted report after
sanitization.
Product E2E Evals are owned by the runner E2E maintainers. The catalog and
harness are under `tests/runner-e2e`; the package scripts are `test:e2e:runner`,
`test:e2e:runner:unit`, `test:e2e:runner:typecheck`, and
`test:e2e:runner:report`. `README.md`, `FIXTURES.md`, `SECURITY.md`, and
`EVERYDAY-WORKFLOWS.md` are the detailed sources of truth. The harness starts
the server and embedded database, creates the company/agent/task through the
real APIs, drives Chromium, and invokes the selected local or Daytona runner.
The explicit-only `agent-chat-hardening` Product E2E suite covers native chat
recovery, hiring, status evidence, and review handoff on local and selected warm
Daytona paths. Its [fixture contract](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md) distinguishes
startup cancellation from active response cancellation and HTTP send replay
from ambiguous provider action recovery. Select it explicitly; `--all` excludes it.
The explicit-only `agent-chat-stories` suite covers the experimental settings
lifecycle for a configured native agent and follow-ups during active work. Its
fixture-driven file wait and persisted-plan oracle are documented in the
[Product E2E guide](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md). It does not qualify the native
onboarding wizard or change the native API-tool rollout defaults.
## Validation ladder
Start with credential-free checks and a catalog listing. For Product E2E:
```sh
pnpm test:e2e:runner:typecheck
pnpm test:e2e:runner:unit
pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --list
```
For one explicitly selected local cell, configure only the credentials named
by that cell in `.env.runner-e2e.local`, then run a narrow ID:
```sh
pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --id core-compatibility.runner-codex.local.message-marker
```
Use the selectors documented in the [runner E2E README](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md)
for a suite, profile, case, group, or environment. Daytona needs the immutable
image digest and `DAYTONA_API_KEY`; follow the README and fixture security guide.
`--all` excludes manual suites such as `everyday-workflows`. Select that suite
explicitly; use a narrow selector while developing a fixture.
For Runner Evals, the narrowest useful local validation is the report program's
help/validation path and the deterministic Runner checks documented in
[`runner-workflow-evals.md`](../packages/paperclip-runner/docs/runner-workflow-evals.md).
Hosted direct live runs must use the default-branch workflow, an exact 40
character `evals_sha`, an explicitly selected roster (or the maintained
enabled `all` campaign), and the protected paid environment. The complete
hosted command is intentionally kept in the workflow and
[direct live protocol guide](../packages/paperclip-runner/docs/runner-protocol-live-evals.md).
Live provider runs can spend money; use the existing workflow authorization and
the user's stated scope when selecting them.
## Failure taxonomy
Record the primary failure class and preserve the evidence that supports it.
- **Product failure:** evidence shows Paperclip or Runner behavior violates the
authored case or a hard invariant, such as wrong task state, missing approval
gate, lost persistence, bad artifact, or incorrect protocol operation.
- **Model/provider behavior failure:** the provider turn completed with usable
evidence but the model gave the wrong answer, ignored an interaction, failed
to complete the authored operation, or violated a semantic assertion. It is
scored as behavior, not silently retried as infrastructure.
- **Grading/evidence failure:** the case or matcher cannot establish its claim,
a required recording/screenshot/result is malformed, or the report contract
is invalid. Fix the harness or grader before interpreting the score.
- **Infrastructure failure:** the evidence points to provider/profile
unavailability, transport admission failure, service startup failure, a
missing credential/image, or inability to produce usable evidence. Startup,
transport, and timeout symptoms can instead be product defects when evidence
implicates Paperclip or Runner; classify from the observed failure and
supported cause, rather than the symptom name alone. Preserve the artifact.
Missing usage or price data means unknown, not free. Keep provider-reported
costs separate from estimates, and include retry costs when available.
Latency, cleanup, billing coverage, and unpriced usage are dimensions of the
result and should remain visible alongside the primary class. A timeout after
successful product state reads can be a product behavior failure; a failed
server-health read may be infrastructure, but inspect its cause. Use the
family-specific classifier and read the attempt evidence before changing an
analytical label.
## Evidence, provenance, and history
Retained result snapshots and dated measurement reports belong in
`paperclip-evals`; application tests, Product E2E fixtures/graders, and executable
scenario inventories remain in this repository. Keep a compact results index
with immutable archive links and public report links, as in the
[lifecycle baseline](../tests/lifecycle-baseline/README.md#recorded-results-moved-to-paperclip-evals).
The private archive is not a dependency of app test execution. Keep large logs,
traces, and videos in the existing campaign artifact storage.
An Evalbook report is a presentation of immutable attempt records, not the
source of truth. Keep the campaign ID, Paperclip commit, `paperclip-evals`
commit, catalog/roster or definition fingerprint, model/profile, environment,
grader version, selected cells, retries, and provider/runtime usage with the
report. Public projections follow each family's reviewed allowlist and may
include sanitized fixture conversation, named tool outcomes, screenshots, and
structured evidence intended for public history. Credentials, secrets, private
data, raw unredacted records, and hidden reasoning stay out of public
projections.
Distinguish a complete campaign from a partial campaign. A narrow selector,
manual diagnostic, missing cell, or infrastructure retry can be useful evidence
without being a qualification run. History should retain both, with explicit
coverage and completeness, while trend and latest-green views compare only
compatible complete campaigns. Refreshing an existing report from retained
evidence has zero provider calls and is a new presentation of the old
measurement, not a new model run.
Existing public histories are available at
[Runner protocol history](https://d1p6rlowie26tp.cloudfront.net/runner-protocol-evals/index.html)
and [Runner Product E2E history](https://d1p6rlowie26tp.cloudfront.net/runner-e2e/).
The consolidated eval hub is at
[pages.paperclip.ing/evals](https://pages.paperclip.ing/evals/).
For a repeatable workflow, use the matching skill: [paperclip-evals](../.agents/skills/paperclip-evals/SKILL.md),
[add-runner-eval](../.agents/skills/add-runner-eval/SKILL.md), or
[add-product-e2e-eval](../.agents/skills/add-product-e2e-eval/SKILL.md).
## Install the authoring skills
The reviewable sources live in this repository's `.agents/skills`. For a
multi-repository workspace, install the three skills at
`~/paperclipai/.agents/skills` (not `~/paperclipai/skills`). From the Paperclip
checkout, run:
```sh
for skill in paperclip-evals add-runner-eval add-product-e2e-eval; do
install -d "$HOME/paperclipai/.agents/skills/$skill"
install -m 644 ".agents/skills/$skill/SKILL.md" \
"$HOME/paperclipai/.agents/skills/$skill/SKILL.md"
done
```
This replaces only the three named skill entrypoints. Run it again after
updating their tracked sources. Each skill locates the repository independently
of its installation directory.
## Maintain the public hub
The hub is a static directory with two links to the existing history systems.
It displays a dated snapshot, not a live scoreboard. It does not run models,
create another result archive, or change the existing campaign URLs.
Build from the public history feeds and check its summary logic:
```sh
python3 -m unittest discover -s scripts/evals-hub -p 'test_*.py'
python3 scripts/evals-hub/build.py --output .paperclip/evals-hub
```
The hub checks need Python 3 and do not call model providers.
For offline checks, pass `--history-dir <directory>` containing
`runner-protocol-evals-history.json` and `runner-e2e-history.json`.
For a pre-merge preview, pass `--docs-ref <branch-or-sha>` to link the guide
at that revision. The default guide link uses `master`.
Publish with the [Paperclip page helper](../.agents/skills/paperclip-page/SKILL.md)
and the configured page-uploader credentials. Use Bash 4 or newer; macOS's
system Bash 3 cannot run this helper. On macOS with Homebrew Bash installed,
put `$(brew --prefix bash)/bin` first in `PATH` before these commands:
```sh
export PAPERCLIP_PAGE_BUCKET=pages.paperclip.ing
export PAPERCLIP_PAGE_BASE_URL=https://pages.paperclip.ing
export AWS_REGION=us-east-1
bash .agents/skills/paperclip-page/scripts/publish.sh .paperclip/evals-hub --slug evals --dry-run
bash .agents/skills/paperclip-page/scripts/publish.sh .paperclip/evals-hub --slug evals
```
For later refreshes, rebuild in the same output directory and publish with
`--update`. Keep its ignored `.paperclip-page/state.json` ownership record;
without that record, the helper will refuse to overwrite an existing prefix.
Verify the public page and its links after publication. This manual refresh
does not add a scheduled workflow. Preserve the measurement date when choosing
a newer rendering of the same campaign.
Remaining native chat boundaries are in the explicit-only
`agent-chat-qualification` suite: active task reassignment, user Retry after
verified worker process loss, and multi-turn answers grounded in actual task
records. See the [workflow and qualification limits](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#remaining-native-agent-chat-qualification).
The 26 native `first-task` cells exercise onboarding before native selection
becomes the UI default. Live results and semantic answer reviews must accompany
any qualification claim; catalog presence alone is not a pass.
## Lifecycle behavior baseline
The credential-free [lifecycle baseline](../tests/lifecycle-baseline/README.md)
joins unit, scripted-runner, and database integration assertions to a scenario
inventory before changing narrative-based lifecycle policy. Run
`pnpm test:lifecycle-baseline` to retain current passes and failures. Its Product
E2E matcher calibration is separate from live execution; unrun live coverage
remains explicitly unmeasured.
The separate [live lifecycle baseline](../tests/runner-e2e/LIFECYCLE-BASELINE.md)
defines 46 real-provider Product E2E cells, including paired narrative probes and
named existing controls on legacy and native Codex. Discover it with
`pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --list --suite lifecycle-baseline`. Historical execution
results and follow-up coverage are recorded in that suite's guide.
Continuation accounting has an explicit-only eight-cell Product E2E [baseline suite](../tests/runner-e2e/CONTINUATION-ACCOUNTING.md), complementing the deterministic lifecycle inventory.