## Thinking Path > - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for work. > - Connections give agents governed access to external services. > - Native connections should remain the first choice for a supported app. > - Other apps may be available through an external MCP provider. > - The user must know which external provider handles the connection and choose it before setup. > - This pull request adds ranked alternatives and server-authored instructions to connection search. > - Agents can follow the returned instructions while Paperclip validates saved choices and access. ## Linked Issues or Issue Description Related: #13879, which fixed inline MCP provider setup. This PR adds discovery and provider selection on top of that work. **Subsystem affected** Cross-cutting: shared connection contracts, server search and intent services, native runtime, CLI, inline setup UI, and evals. **Problem or motivation** An agent cannot offer a clear external-provider choice when Paperclip has no native connection for an app. Adding provider-specific branches to the core prompt would make those instructions harder to maintain. **Proposed solution** Prefer a native connection. Otherwise return verified alternatives in Composio, Arcade, Executor, Zapier order. Include an external-service disclosure, a question with None, and the next instruction in the search result. Validate the saved human choice before creating a selected fallback setup card. Reuse existing provider accounts and verify underlying app access separately. **Alternatives considered** Do not silently choose a provider. Do not claim that broad execution tools prove support for every app. Reuse existing questions and connection intents rather than add another connection model. **Roadmap alignment** Extends the existing MCP Tool Gateway & Apps and Agent evals & feedback capabilities. The MCP aggregators experiment remains the gate. No duplicate provider-routing PR was found in the public search. ## What Changed - Add a dated support index and authorized cached-tool evidence for external routes. - Return provider questions and next-step instructions from `connections_search`. - Preserve pending choices and declines across continuation. Validate company, task, agent, human, app, and current route eligibility. - Carry the selected app into new setup and account reuse, validate explicit provider requests against persisted human messages, and distinguish provider readiness from app authorization. - Sync native, MCP, REST, and CLI contracts. Keep core agent instructions provider-neutral. - Add production-component Storybooks, focused database tests, and three real-agent browser eval cases. - Record the plan, observed failures, fixes, passing evidence, and acceptance limits. ## Verification - Latest head `586f0e6cd`: 54 checks passed, 2 skipped; Greptile 5/5 and all review threads resolved. - After rebasing on master `18dac1e1e`: 64 focused shared, validator, route-contract, and database tests passed; server typecheck passed. - Embedded-browser test drive on the rebased head: native Jira card, HubSpot external-provider question, Arcade account reuse, one actual MCP read against a local synthetic fixture, reload persistence, and None preventing further calls. A real OpenAI-backed agent performed discovery and continuation. - UX observation: the agent initially combined mutually exclusive request fields; the server rejected it and the agent recovered without changing access. This extra retry remains visible in the transcript. - After rebase: 23 focused eval grader/catalog tests, affected TypeScript checks, token gates, production UI build, and Storybook build passed. Full local tests are intentionally excluded at the maintainer's request. - Before rebase: four browser/real-agent attempts passed: native Jira, None, and reuse of the second provider on two Codex profiles. - Browser evals used an isolated deterministic MCP fixture through the real Paperclip gateway. They do not prove production compatibility with all four providers. - Review `Apps / Connections / Provider choice` in Storybook. Choose Arcade, continue through Access, and verify the app name, external-service disclosure, and URL configuration. - The detailed verification report is `doc/connections/2026-09-23-aggregator-routing-verification.md`. ## Risks - The public support index is finite and can age. Account capability and app authorization still require verification after selection. - Existing installed-tool permissions remain in effect. Provider choice is not a new execution permission boundary. An early Mini attempt skipped search; clearer provider-neutral instructions made the targeted rerun pass. This is not a measured reliability rate. - Explicit requests skip provider confirmation only when a clear persisted human message or saved provider choice supports them. Other phrasing falls back to confirmation; the agent query alone is not consent. These routes do not add tool permissions. - No database migration or legacy Composio broker is added. Real-provider acceptance remains separate from fixture proof. ## Model Used OpenAI GPT-6 through Codex, with reasoning, repository tools, code execution, and browser tools. The exact deployment variant and context-window size are not exposed in this session. Product evals separately used the repository's primary Codex and Codex Mini profiles; those agents supplied test behavior, not independent provider compatibility proof. ## 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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Everyday Paperclip workflow evals
This manual suite tests useful work through the production browser, public API,
native runner, and normal agent instructions. It complements the tightly
scripted runner contract fixtures. It does not add a scheduled or default paid
run: --all and generic profile selectors exclude it. Select the suite or an
exact execution ID explicitly.
Stories and assertions
| Story | Cases | Required evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Build a small project and revise it | build-revise |
Download both ZIPs through the UI; independently execute the delivered CLI and import its function; test the revision; retrieve the original bytes again. |
| Delegate and incorporate late feedback | delegate-feedback |
One child assigned to Riley; send feedback while the child runs; find it in the child history and independently test --max-length in the delivered ZIP. The worker must not execute on the parent. |
| Hire a teammate and use them again | hire-reuse |
One Morgan QA reporting to the lead, native runner and the same encrypted connection bindings, real child execution, then a second usable delivery from that same agent. |
| Decide on an installed service action | service-approve, service-decline |
Assign an authenticated local MCP fixture with Ask first; match its tool action and connection ID; no provider call before approval; exactly one after approval and a verified document; none after decline. |
| Decline a new connection | connection-decline |
Start without service connections; match a Notion connection intent; click Not now; verify the saved rejection, no new connection or repeated request, and an explanation followed by Done. |
| Continue work after a controller restart | recover-controller |
Observe saved source, persist a user message, restart the isolated controller, and independently test the delivered result. |
| Stop work and change direction | stop-redirect |
Click Stop, send one new request, reload, observe exactly one stored user message and the new answer, and reach Done. |
| Create and edit a company skill | create-skill-studio |
Create one skill through the runner, verify its persisted library entry and activity-feed card, open Skill Studio, save an edit, and verify the edit after returning. Local Codex, local ACPX Claude, and warm Daytona cells are explicit. |
For normal completion, all story tasks must reach Done, with no active run,
pending completion confirmation, or scheduled recovery. Runs must prove native
identity and native terminal contracts. A workspace-contention cancellation is
not provider execution only when the persisted pre-dispatch record explicitly
says providerWorkStarted: false and no process/session/runner identity exists.
Other unexplained cancellations remain failures. Twelve total run records bound
each story, including contention and recovery.
Arbitrary runner-process termination is not part of the model scorecard. The
historical recover-runner, recover-runner-safe, and recover-runner-uncertain
attempts remain available as diagnostics, with their original grades and costs.
The first two did not establish a safe restart boundary, and the uncertainty
case measures a deterministic safety rule. None supports ranking models.
See controlled recovery tests.
Matrix and running
The local matrix has nine cases on native Codex gpt-5.6-sol, native ACPX Claude
claude-sonnet-5, and native Codex gpt-5.4-mini: 27 cells. The two core profiles
also declare build/revise, delegation, controller-restart, and skill-creation cases
on Daytona: eight cells. Remote runner-process killing is not supported. For remote controller
restart, a verified first download supplies the persistence checkpoint; the
controller is interrupted during a subsequent revision with another queued
requirement.
pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --list --suite everyday-workflows
pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --suite everyday-workflows --environment local --max-parallel 2
pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --id everyday-workflows.runner-codex-mini.local.build-revise
pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --suite everyday-workflows --environment daytona --max-parallel 2
Before project stories or the Python calibration tests, start Docker on the harness host and fetch the pinned oracle image. CI prepares and verifies this same pinned image before the paid project-story cells; artifact checks run on the harness host. The workflow verifies the exact repository digest after the pull. This is required for local and Daytona stories.
docker pull python@sha256:9d2e5553305c7c7b0097999bb17187c69b921ccd6bc9d40e4bb5ebe652c00285
python3 tests/runner-e2e/everyday-artifact.py --preflight
The harness checks this prerequisite before it creates the task. It does not pull an image during a model attempt or fall back to host execution.
Use the credential and immutable Daytona image setup in README.md. Provider calls cost money. Each cell owns an isolated instance and project. There are no real third-party mutations in the service fixture; it exercises production connection, transport, tool approval, and document delivery paths.
Deterministic checks and calibration
pnpm test:e2e:runner:typecheck
pnpm test:e2e:runner:unit
python3 -m unittest discover -s tests/runner-e2e -p test_everyday_artifact.py
The independent oracle rejects wrong output, ignored late feedback, trailing separator bugs, invalid argument acceptance, duplicate source modules, archive path traversal, and symlinks. Passing agent-authored tests cannot override it. Lifecycle calibration rejects legacy execution, missing runner identity, unexpected crashes, workers on the parent, and answers left in review.
ZIP evaluation runs delivered Python in a Docker container with a read-only project mount and root filesystem, no network, a non-root user, no Linux capabilities, and bounded CPU, memory, process count, output, and duration. Only the extracted delivery enters the container. The container is removed after grading. Calibration includes attempts to read a host file and reach a host loopback service.
Evalbook evidence and qualification
Each packaged attempt retains snapshots/everyday-workflow.json, downloaded
ZIPs, assertions, actual task comments and run records, timing, accounting,
source provenance, and screenshots. The story records a digest of its harness
sources. Infrastructure failures and failed attempts must remain inspectable.
Import packaged results with paperclip-evals/evals/everyday-workflows/import_results.py.
It uses the canonical Runner Evalbook generator and the built Runner Lab viewer.
It does not invent provider transcripts, tool counts, model observations, or
cost estimates. The selected model is checked against persisted native execution
inputs; that is distinct from provider-side model identity verification.
Initial live results are diagnostic. They are not a reliability estimate or a model ranking. Before promotion, freeze both source revisions and harness digest, run at least three independent local repetitions, qualify the eight remote cells against a verified image, and review every failure. Keep model quality, lifecycle correctness, infrastructure availability, and latency separate.
Revised evaluation contract (14 September, second campaign)
That campaign used 32 cells: the original local stories plus two local Codex
text-only safe-replacement probes, and the unchanged six remote cells. The old
recover-runner results remain historical; recover-runner-uncertain is a new
case that expects a visible Blocked safety stop, preserved source and queued
input, and no unverified provider replay. Its Retry control is inspected, not
claimed to restore work. Successful manual recovery remains unqualified.
recover-runner-safe interrupts a text-only Codex turn and queues new direction.
A pass requires the server's durable verified_safe_replacement evidence and the
new answer. No safety proof is injected or fabricated. If that premise cannot be
verified in a live probe, report it as an unqualified recovery boundary, not an
established product defect. Claude has no catalog cell for this Codex-specific
replacement proof. Deterministic native-safe-replacement tests cover its proof
and admission gates independently of model behavior.
Delegation now submits feedback through the existing child task composer and records the delivered comment ID. The child must consume the message and deliver the revised program. This does not require a lead to relay a parent comment. The separate issue-update-comment-wakeup route tests exercise exact supported mention routing, including access, dependency, identity, and duplicate-wake gates.
The approval case provisions an authenticated local service through the public API, with a random server-held credential that never enters the agent environment or browser trace. Approval/decline interactions still use the browser. Provider captures distinguish rejected unauthenticated requests from accepted calls. The old public-endpoint attempts remain boundary evidence, not an isolation promise.
Stop now waits for the owned runner to exit, records project file hashes, and checks them again after the new response. This proves stability over that interval, not indefinite monitoring. Hiring and declined-access policy changes are deferred by user decision; their old results must not be presented as new campaign runs.
Decline correction (14 September, third campaign)
That campaign used 35 cells (29 local, six remote). service-decline tests
rejection of a protected action on an already installed service; its former
"connection request" title was misleading. connection-decline separately tests
Not now on new Notion setup. Both permit a brief explanation as the complete
fallback, so Done is expected after that explanation. Neither test requires
completion after refusing work that is still required.
The installed-service decline fixture now uses the same server-held credential
as approval. The harness requires one pending interaction, validates its kind
and connection/provider identity before clicking, and waits for the exact
interaction's saved decision. Wrong interactions fail decision-request-matches-story
with a screenshot; they are not evidence of an ignored decline. Both decline
stories check a new explanation after the decision and reject repeated requests.
Historical attempts remain unchanged. This campaign resumes the previously deferred decline cases; hiring remains deferred. Notion setup is declined in the UI, so this test neither authenticates to nor reads real Notion data.
Decision screenshots are included in the evidence package. Before capturing the final screen, the harness waits for the thread and latest persisted agent comment to render, then scrolls that comment into view. A Done header alone is not proof that the final response was visible.
Recovery scope correction (14 September)
This correction reduced the catalog to 30 cells: 24 local and six remote. Forced runner crash probes are retired from paid selection. Their original attempt IDs remain in Evalbook's Diagnostics history and Latest pages; they are excluded from the main matrix without changing grades or deleting evidence. Reported spend still includes all attempts.
recover-controller and stop-redirect retain concrete supported journeys:
restart the controller while preserving the runner, or use Stop and submit a new
direction. Their assertions verify pending input, saved work, and the next
usable result. Neither claims recovery from an arbitrary provider-process crash.
A future user-facing crash-recovery case needs a reproducible recoverable fault, an identified supported recovery action, and evidence through the final usable result. A missing test premise must be reported as unexercised, not a model failure. Do not introduce a new paid case just to replace a retired row.
Skill creation (16 September)
create-skill-studio adds five cells: three local profiles and the two core
profiles on Daytona. The current catalog has 35 cells: 27 local and eight
remote. The test opens the created skill from its task-feed card, checks the
canonical skill identity in Studio, saves an edit, and returns to the same skill
in the task sidebar. A model's authored document heading is not used as the
identity check.
External-provider fallback
Three explicit local cases cover aggregator routing with the normal production agent guidance. They add nine local cells; the suite now has 47 cells total.
provider-native: Jira is supported natively and by aggregators. Require the Jira connection card directly, decline it in the browser, and verify no provider question, connection creation, or repeated request.provider-decline: HubSpot has no built-in connector in this fixture. Require Composio, Arcade, Zapier, and None in that order with external-service disclosure. Restart the controller, reload the question, choose None through the UI, and verify one saved answer, no connection changes, and no fabricated result.provider-second: Install a deterministic Arcade gateway with a read-only HubSpot action through public APIs. Choose Arcade in the browser after restart. Require no calls before selection, exactly one call afterwards, the independently generated contact marker in the agent response, and no duplicate connection.
These use the existing native profiles and 12-minute local attempt deadline;
expected provider runs are two per case. There are no real third-party mutations.
The fixture server is closed and the harness cleans its disposable instance.
Provider-choice screenshots, persisted interactions, gateway call counts, source
revision, harness digest, and existing usage/cost evidence accompany each attempt.
connection-routing-evidence.test.ts calibrates the grader against undisclosed
routing, incorrect ordering, early calls, duplicate questions, and fabricated reads.
Run a single everyday-workflows.runner-codex-mini.local.provider-decline cell
first; do not treat these fixtures as live provider compatibility tests.