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PaperClipAI/doc/grok-native-runner.md
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DottaandPaperclip 356c7de9b7 fix(runner): bind Grok packs to current admission source (#17972)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip manages agents and their work.
> - Native agents use verified Runner and provider-pack artifacts.
> - A protected installed pack can be reused when its selected provider
profile matches.
> - Grok kept profile 1 when its sidecar gained effort, search, and
startup diagnostics.
> - An older Grok sidecar can therefore pass compatibility and reject
the new session fields before provider startup.
> - This PR binds the current Grok profile to its admission source so a
fresh run selects the current verified pack.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

Refs: #17922, #17942, #17962. Related installation contract: #14024. No
duplicate repair was found.

**What happened?**

The selected Grok profile digest stayed unchanged across native session
contract changes. The installed-pack verifier correctly compared that
digest, but the unchanged value let a pre-effort sidecar satisfy a
current controller. That old parser rejects `grokEffort` and
`grokDisableWebSearch` before the new startup diagnostics run.

**Expected behavior**

A fresh Grok run must use a pack that supports its current session
contract. Source-only app changes must still permit warm reuse when the
selected Grok profile matches. Reattachment must keep its exact admitted
artifact authority.

**Steps to reproduce**

1. Retain a protected pack with published Grok profile 1 and ACPX
interface 1.
2. Upgrade the controller to the native effort and search contract.
3. Start Grok 4.7 with High effort and disabled web search.
4. The old profile passes installed-pack compatibility, but its sidecar
rejects the new fields.

**Paperclip version or commit**

Reproduced from master at `09ad9adce2cf4742944353a3707a2f908e9bb35e`.

## What Changed

- Advance Grok to profile 7. Keep historical versions 1–6 decodable and
keep the Grok 1.0.13 runtime pin.
- Stamp the Grok admission source identity into a generated launcher
comment. Keep the existing physical command-byte digest check unchanged.
Bind effort/search/credential handling, sidecar admission, and Rust
backend/session/diagnostic source.
- Check the source attestation in the existing TypeScript/Rust profile
build gate. Keep its required fixture in the Docker context. Refuse to
overwrite a versioned identity after source changes.
- Add regression coverage for rejecting the old pack, current-profile
warm reuse, exact historical recovery authority, and actual sidecar
dispatch of Grok 4.7 High with both search policies.
- Re-attest Copilot as profile 71 because its bound shared recovery
decoder now retains Grok 6. Preserve Copilot 70 and all earlier
identities. Keep the compatibility algorithm, other provider identities,
dependencies, lockfile, and workflows unchanged.

## Verification

- The production installed-pack regression failed before the profile
update: the old Grok pack was accepted. It now passes.
- 105 server manifest, artifact, archive, and authority tests passed.
- 246 Runner profile, physical launcher integrity, Grok
effort/search/credential, and actual sidecar process tests passed; six
existing platform cases were skipped.
- 31 Node packaging and identity tests passed, including an actual
generator CLI regression that preserves all authority files when a
versioned identity would change.
- 55 Rust ACPX unit tests and 17 real sidecar pipe tests passed. After
the final profile declaration, all 55 unit checks passed again.
- Final `pnpm -r typecheck` and `pnpm build` passed at the final source.
- CI on the preceding head caught Copilot’s stale attestation for the
shared recovery decoder. The same current-source test failed locally,
then passed after profile 71 was generated with version 70 retained. All
106 affected Copilot/profile checks pass. Final head
`78e6d76fc52f492371e15574482b3641735a6d89` passed the full CI workflow;
the failed prior job log is retained.
- Review follow-up: mutating the Rust backend’s actual Grok descriptor
field left the prior identity unchanged. This regression failed before
binding `acpx_provider_backend.rs` and passes afterward. Profile 7
retains the prior versioned fixture and recovery decoder. All 179
affected Runner checks and 75 focused server pack/manifest checks passed
after this change.
- `pnpm test:run` hit the recorded embedded PostgreSQL bootstrap failure
after five attempts. The full run also exposed a current-release fixture
with the historical Grok digest; it now reads the current profile. Its
11 focused manifest tests now pass. The failed local run log is
retained; final exact-head CI passed.
- The same filtered-context Docker build that failed CI now passes
locally after adding its required source fixture.
- A separate probe used the built sidecar in a private HOME with no
credentials. It admitted the current profile and the new Grok fields,
then returned the closed working-directory rejection before provider
launch or inference.
- A historical parser probe reproduced the pre-effort sidecar rejection.
These probes establish the contract boundary; they do not establish
native subscription task acceptance.
- Initial restricted local ownership tests failed because loopback
listeners were denied. The same tests passed with loopback access. One
new dispatcher fixture first lacked required instructions; the completed
request passed. These setup failures are retained in local evidence.
- Live native task acceptance remains pending deployment. Earlier
deployed attempts failed before tool output. No successful native shell
proof is claimed.

- Final exact-head merge gate: all 62 contexts are clean (57 success,
four intentional skips, one informational neutral formal review).
Greptile and Paperclip reviews are both 5/5, with no unresolved
actionable threads. The formal review uses the existing report-only
neutral policy.

## Risks

- The first fresh Grok run after upgrade may need to stage the current
provider pack. Matching current profiles keep their existing reuse path.
- Fresh admission rejects older Grok profile identities. Historical
decoding and exact reattachment authority remain separate; this change
does not reinterpret an old identity or replace an active session's
pack.
- Future changes to bound source require a new Grok profile attestation.
The build gate fails if the checked-in identity is stale.
- Model, effort, search, credential, approval, and retry policy are
unchanged.

## Model Used

- OpenAI Codex, based on GPT-6, with reasoning, tool use, and code
execution. The exact deployment model ID and context-window size are not
exposed in this session.

## 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 (focused checks; full-suite
database failure is retained above)
- [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>
2026-10-28 07:15:13 -05:00

12 KiB
Raw Blame History

Grok Build native runner

Select Grok Build in the native runner provider selector. The stored contract is adapterType: "paperclip_runner" with provider: "acpx", acpxAgent: "grok", and model: "grok-4.7". Existing grok_local agents keep their legacy adapter until an explicit upgrade. On a qualified macOS ARM64 or Linux x64 computer, Harness / Runtime → Upgrade runner preserves the agent, model, account, instructions, and history. It starts fresh execution sessions. Advanced also offers an explicit Runner choice. Unsupported legacy settings are rejected before saving; select compatible settings or keep Legacy. New Grok runner agents default to Full auto (approve all) (acpxPermissionMode: "approve-all") in setup and the configuration form. API configurations that omit the permission mode use the same default. No additional permission setting is needed for unattended execution. Explicitly saved restrictions remain unchanged. Grok Build's qualified harness does not require the enableNativeRunner flag.

Explicit thinking effort uses reasoningEffort (minimal, low, medium, high, or xhigh). The immutable v10 execution input, provider descriptor, and recovery identity bind this value as grokEffort. The Grok provider boundary adds native _meta.modelId and _meta.reasoningEffort to session create, load, and resume requests before transport writes and observation. Grok 1.0.13 reports the selected effort in _meta["x.ai/sessionConfig"].options; it does not support the standard session/set_config_option effort API. The Runner checks that native acknowledgement and the effective model before a prompt. A lazy restored handle must connect through read-only native session inspection first. Reapplying the bound metadata on restore prevents Grok from resetting effort to its default. Missing configuration, a rejected value, or effort drift stops admission. Admission failures keep a closed Grok reason code through the sidecar boundary. Other startup failures retain their closed admission stage when no more specific known error code is available. These diagnostics contain no native payload, credential, arbitrary provider message, or workspace path. They do not change admission or retry policy. Omitting effort retains Grok's provider default. This setting remains outside the model-visible task prompt. Historical execution inputs retain their schemas.

The upgrade resolves an unset model or the legacy grok-build default to the native grok-4.7 default. Task-level model and effort overrides use the Grok catalog and keep the account and tool policy unchanged.

Migration also preserves the effective disableWebSearch setting, whose legacy default is true. Native input v10 carries it as grokDisableWebSearch through startup and recovery. Grok's private requirements.toml enforces disabled search above compatible project settings. Explicit false retains enabled search; unset native configurations retain their provider default. See Grok's configuration reference.

Grok Build speaks ACP over stdio. The runner owns grok agent --no-leader stdio through ACPX, including session identity, cancellation, recovery and the authenticated Paperclip MCP bridge. ACP permission requests are approved by the runner under the default full-auto policy. It does not add --always-approve: permission decisions remain under the selected ACPX policy. Grok's ACP metadata cannot independently establish Paperclip tool authority, so explicitly selecting approve-paperclip or approve-reads returns the approval-required outcome; deny-all rejects requests. Full auto does not bypass Paperclip's company permissions, governed approvals, or execution-environment boundaries. Isolated ask rules override project allow rules, and compatible always-approve settings are locked off. Compatible hook/MCP discovery and shell login capture are disabled.

Installation and identity

Grok support ships inside the native runner and the public Paperclip server npm artifact. There is no separate Grok npm package, binary payload, or npm lifecycle download. The built-in launcher is identified as builtin:grok-acp version 1; its native runtime identity is native:grok version 1.0.13. The historical agentServerPackage/agentRuntimePackage wire fields carry these identities, not npm dependencies. Existing npm-backed ACP bridges retain their package pins.

Grok launch profile 7 binds the native effort, search, credential, sidecar, and Runner admission source, including Rust backend descriptor writes. An older installed pack with the same ACPX interface version cannot satisfy this profile. The controller stages its current verified pack instead. A generated source-identity comment in the launcher preserves the existing command byte-digest check; no installation guard is relaxed. App source changes alone still permit reuse when the selected Grok profile matches. Historical profile versions remain decodable, but they do not authorize a fresh launch. After changing a bound source, advance the profile and run node packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/grok-profile-identity.mjs. The normal check:acpx-profiles build gate verifies this source identity. The generator refuses to replace an existing versioned identity with different source. Advance the version and retain the previous version's recovery decoder.

Provision Grok Build 1.0.13 at /opt/paperclip/providers/grok/1.0.13/grok in the selected execution environment. The sandbox provisioning helper is explicit and is never run by npm:

sudo node packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/provision-grok.mjs /opt/paperclip/providers/grok/1.0.13/grok

The standard Daytona image provisions it separately from the provider pack. Custom images and local execution hosts must provide the same prerequisite. The runner verifies the native executable checksum before credential refresh or ACP startup; a missing prerequisite reports the required path and version. Only macOS arm64 and Linux x64 are qualified. No ambient grok from PATH is used. ACP must report the requested exact model; mismatches fail closed.

The distribution identity change deliberately rejects resume bindings from the former private-package profile. Start a fresh session after upgrading that unreleased profile; do not silently reinterpret its saved identity.

Instructions use Grok ACP session rules. Assigned skills live in the isolated Grok home. Steering and goals are unsupported. Token and cost values remain unknown when Grok does not report them; missing usage is not zero usage.

Authentication

Use the existing Grok company connection/login flow for subscription execution. An explicitly selected company-secret XAI_API_KEY selects paid API execution. There is no automatic subscription-to-API fallback. Remote execution cannot borrow the operator's home credentials. Local execution can use the operator's existing Grok login when no company login has been selected.

Only the selected credential is staged in the private runtime home. An ownership lease fences concurrent processes. Before ACP startup, an expiring subscription credential is refreshed through the verified Grok executable’s non-inference models command. This bounded step suppresses output and prevents Grok 1.0.13 from caching a pre-refresh model list. Exact model verification still precedes any prompt; refresh failure requires reconnecting Grok Build. After the provider exits, refreshed credentials are copied back through Grok's existing identity and refresh checks. Runtime credentials, refresh handoffs, and diagnostic logs are excluded from workspace backups and removed on close. Session history remains available for resume. Host configuration, other provider credentials and unselected keys are not forwarded to Grok.

Evaluation

The private paperclip-evals repository maintains live-acpx-grok-4.7.json and rosters/live-acpx-grok.json. The roster covers all 39 protocol cases. Its campaign lane remains disabled pending complete live qualification.

Product E2E exposes runner-acpx-grok in core local/Daytona compatibility and local session integrity. The explicit grok-qualification suite covers replies, planning approvals, structured questions, downloadable project revisions, stop/resume and continuation after controller restart in both environments. Run with --suite grok-qualification; it is excluded from scheduled --all. Use the canonical Product E2E dashboard and Evalbook reports.

The separate grok-subscription-qualification suite covers the same workflows with the explicit GROK_AUTH_JSON fixture credential. It seeds only the disposable company's private login home and supplies no API key. It does not exercise the interactive sign-in UI. Authentication mode remains part of the profile identity. After a subscription upgrade, a fresh grok login may be needed if the existing login still reports the previous entitlement through ACP.

packages/paperclip-runner/scripts/grok-native-smoke.mjs records explicit auth, model/binary identity, MCP outcome, durable resume and restrictive permissions. Pass --auth subscription --auth-file /private/path/auth.json --output /private/report.json or --auth api --output /private/report.json with an explicitly supplied key. Each attempt is retained; unknown usage and cost are null.

Qualification requires the full protocol roster, selected product workflows, subscription and API execution locally and on Daytona, and three successful repetitions of core tool, approval and resume cases. Deterministic tests or a single successful browser task do not establish that qualification.

Remote verification

Do not run Docker on a developer laptop when using remote verification. The Docker Runner check workflow offers maintainer-authorized manual Linux image builds and broad source checks without provider credentials. It records the source revision, resolved lock digest and immutable image reference. Paid Product E2E remains behind the protected default-branch workflow and environment.

The public npm consumer check uses a digest-pinned, unprivileged container with no checkout or credentials mounted. It downloads dependencies with lifecycle scripts disabled and freezes the resulting consumer lockfile. It completes the clean install with offline npm rebuild, running the deferred lifecycle hooks without re-resolving bundled optional dependencies. Networking stays disabled, the lockfile must remain unchanged, and a sentinel proves scripts actually ran. The pinned image includes native build tools and local Node headers so dependency hooks can compile without network access. Both executable admission probes run in the same isolation. The verification user provisions Grok inside the disposable test directory without privilege elevation or host /opt changes. Only the positive probe mounts that binary read-only at the canonical sandbox path.

The Cloud application image also carries the controller-owned provider pack and sets PAPERCLIP_RUNNER_REMOTE_PROVIDER_PACK_PATH. Remote ACPX execution verifies the sandbox against that pack before using it, or stages the matching pack when needed. The Cloud controller image does not install the native Grok executable; the selected sandbox image must provide the prerequisite above. Cloud builds must supply the full source SHA through PAPERCLIP_BUILD_COMMIT to produce that verified pack. Unstamped local Cloud builds still work for other features, but omit the pack and cannot start remote ACPX sessions.