PaperClipAI/docs/guides/board-operator/importing-and-exporting.md

title, summary

title	summary
Importing & Exporting Companies	Export companies to portable packages and import them from local paths or GitHub

Paperclip companies can be exported to portable markdown packages and imported from local directories or GitHub repositories. This lets you share company configurations, duplicate setups, and version-control your agent teams.

Package Format

Exported packages follow the Agent Companies specification and use a markdown-first structure:

my-company/
├── COMPANY.md          # Company metadata
├── agents/
│   ├── ceo/AGENT.md    # Agent instructions + frontmatter
│   └── cto/AGENT.md
├── projects/
│   └── main/PROJECT.md
├── skills/
│   └── review/SKILL.md
├── tasks/
│   └── onboarding/TASK.md
└── .paperclip.yaml     # Adapter config, env inputs, routines

• COMPANY.md defines company name, description, and metadata.
• AGENT.md files contain agent identity, role, and instructions.
• SKILL.md files are compatible with the Agent Skills ecosystem.
• .paperclip.yaml holds Paperclip-specific config (adapter types, env inputs, budgets) as an optional sidecar.

Export & Import in the App

Both flows are also available in the web UI as company settings pages: Export and Import appear in the company settings navigation.

Cloud-managed instances: when a hosting platform manages the instance, the company is provisioned by the platform and importing is disabled — the Import page and buttons are hidden, and every import API route answers 403 with code: "cloud_managed". Export stays available, so you can always take your company's data with you. Self-hosted instances keep the full import surface.

The Export page lets you pick exactly which files go into the bundle before downloading it. Above the file tree it shows a "Not included in this export" panel — the export fidelity report — listing data the bundle will not carry (for example attachments, approvals, cost history, or activity log entries), with blocking issues highlighted.

The Import page previews the package, lets you resolve name collisions and adapter assignments, and applies the import. A "Start imported agents and routines paused" checkbox (on by default) makes imported agents and routines land paused instead of live. After the import finishes, an "Activate imported agents and routines" panel lists everything that was imported paused so you can resume the agents and activate the routines you select — nothing starts running until you say so.

Exporting a Company

Export a company into a portable folder:

paperclipai company export <company-id> --out ./my-export

Options

Option	Description	Default
--out <path>	Output directory (required)	—
--include <values>	Comma-separated set: company, agents, projects, issues, tasks, skills	company,agents
--skills <values>	Export only specific skill slugs	all
--projects <values>	Export only specific project shortnames or IDs	all
--issues <values>	Export specific issue identifiers or IDs	none
--project-issues <values>	Export issues belonging to specific projects	none
--expand-referenced-skills	Vendor skill file contents instead of keeping upstream references	false

Examples

# Export company with agents and projects
paperclipai company export abc123 --out ./backup --include company,agents,projects

# Export everything including tasks and skills
paperclipai company export abc123 --out ./full-export --include company,agents,projects,tasks,skills

# Export only specific skills
paperclipai company export abc123 --out ./skills-only --include skills --skills review,deploy

What Gets Exported

• Company name, description, and metadata
• Agent names, roles, reporting structure, and instructions
• Project definitions and workspace config
• Task/issue descriptions (when included)
• Skill packages (as references or vendored content)
• Adapter type and env input declarations in .paperclip.yaml

Secret values, machine-local paths, and database IDs are never exported.

Importing a Company

Import from a local directory, GitHub URL, or GitHub shorthand:

# From a local folder
paperclipai company import ./my-export

# From a GitHub URL
paperclipai company import https://github.com/org/repo

# From a GitHub subfolder
paperclipai company import https://github.com/org/repo/tree/main/companies/acme

# From GitHub shorthand
paperclipai company import org/repo
paperclipai company import org/repo/companies/acme

Options

Option	Description	Default
--target <mode>	new (create a new company) or existing (merge into existing)	inferred from context
--company-id <id>	Target company ID for --target existing	current context
--new-company-name <name>	Override company name for --target new	from package
--include <values>	Comma-separated set: company, agents, projects, issues, tasks, skills	auto-detected
--agents <list>	Comma-separated agent slugs to import, or all	all
--collision <mode>	How to handle name conflicts: rename, skip, or replace	rename
--ref <value>	Git ref for GitHub imports (branch, tag, or commit)	default branch
--dry-run	Preview what would be imported without applying	false
--yes	Skip the interactive confirmation prompt	false
--json	Output result as JSON	false

Target Modes

• new — Creates a fresh company from the package. Good for duplicating a company template.
• existing — Merges the package into an existing company. Use --company-id to specify the target.

If --target is not specified, Paperclip infers it: if a --company-id is provided (or one exists in context), it defaults to existing; otherwise new.

Collision Strategies

When importing into an existing company, agent or project names may conflict with existing ones:

• rename (default) — Appends a suffix to avoid conflicts (e.g., ceo becomes ceo-2).
• skip — Skips entities that already exist.
• replace — Overwrites existing entities. Only available for non-safe imports (not available through the CEO API).

Interactive Selection

When running interactively (no --yes or --json flags), the import command shows a selection picker before applying. You can choose exactly which agents, projects, skills, and tasks to import using a checkbox interface.

Preview Before Applying

Always preview first with --dry-run:

paperclipai company import org/repo --target existing --company-id abc123 --dry-run

The preview shows:

• Package contents — How many agents, projects, tasks, and skills are in the source
• Import plan — What will be created, renamed, skipped, or replaced
• Env inputs — Environment variables that may need values after import
• Warnings — Potential issues like missing skills or unresolved references

Imported agents always land with timer heartbeats disabled. Assignment/on-demand wake behavior from the package is preserved, but scheduled runs stay off until a board operator re-enables them.

Imports can additionally request pauseAutomations (the default in the app's Import page) so imported agents and routines land fully paused. Use the post-import activation panel — or resume the agents and activate the routines individually — when you are ready for them to run.

Common Workflows

Clone a company template from GitHub:

paperclipai company import org/company-templates/engineering-team \
  --target new \
  --new-company-name "My Engineering Team"

Add agents from a package into your existing company:

paperclipai company import ./shared-agents \
  --target existing \
  --company-id abc123 \
  --include agents \
  --collision rename

Import a specific branch or tag:

paperclipai company import org/repo --ref v2.0.0 --dry-run

Non-interactive import (CI/scripts):

paperclipai company import ./package \
  --target new \
  --yes \
  --json

API Endpoints

The CLI commands use these API endpoints under the hood:

Action	Endpoint
Export company	POST /api/companies/{companyId}/export
Export fidelity report	GET /api/companies/{companyId}/export/fidelity
Preview import (existing company)	POST /api/companies/{companyId}/imports/preview
Apply import (existing company)	POST /api/companies/{companyId}/imports/apply
Preview import (new company)	POST /api/companies/import/preview
Apply import (new company)	POST /api/companies/import

Import apply requests accept pauseAutomations: true to create imported agents and routines in a paused state.

CEO agents can also use the safe import routes (/imports/preview and /imports/apply) which enforce non-destructive rules: replace is rejected, collisions resolve with rename or skip, and issues are always created as new.

GitHub Sources

Paperclip supports several GitHub URL formats:

• Full URL: https://github.com/org/repo
• Subfolder URL: https://github.com/org/repo/tree/main/path/to/company
• Shorthand: org/repo
• Shorthand with path: org/repo/path/to/company

Use --ref to pin to a specific branch, tag, or commit hash when importing from GitHub.