<!-- entire-trail-link-start --> https://entire.com/gh/paperclipai/-/trails/209/changes/paperclip/209 <!-- entire-trail-link-end --> ## Thinking Path > - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for work. > - Agents use managed launchers for Git and GitHub commands. > - These launchers exclude host credentials and host Git identity. > - A checkout without an author cannot save a local commit when managed GitHub identity is absent. > - A local author default belongs in the launcher that owns this isolation. > - This pull request supplies a private Paperclip default and preserves explicit and managed identity selection. > - Agents can save local work without manual author setup or extra GitHub access. ## Linked Issues or Issue Description **What happened?** An ordinary `git commit` fails with `Author identity unknown` in a fresh checkout without author settings or a usable managed GitHub identity. An agent must set its own author to continue. **Expected behavior** The managed launcher supplies a default local author. Repository and command settings override that default. A current managed identity retains its existing precedence. **Steps to reproduce** Run the managed launcher in a fresh Git repository without author settings or broker credentials. Add a file, then run `git commit -m work`. **Paperclip version or commit** Reproduced at `063cfd43813cabf18417605fb9eefb9aacf95c8d` on Linux with Node 25.9.0 and pnpm 9.15.4. **Deployment mode** Managed sandbox execution. The shared launcher also serves local and SSH execution that selects managed access. Related: #16662 changes precedence for a connected GitHub account. #8945 assigns identity to managed worktrees. This repair supplies the missing anonymous launcher default and keeps the current managed precedence. It does not require either change. ### Hypothesis and thesis for a fix **Hypothesis:** The launcher removes inherited author variables and host Git config. Without a broker identity or explicit repository settings, it has no author. Four real-Git cases reproduce the reported error on the base revision. **Thesis for a fix:** Put `Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>` in a private Git config for each operation. Git treats it as global config, so repository and command settings can override it. The existing broker environment still takes precedence. Do not store a person's identity in shared checkout config, where it could remain after steering or revocation. The default grants no GitHub access. ## What Changed - Write the default author to the existing private operation directory with mode `0600`. Remove it when the operation exits. - Point managed Git at this file while keeping host global/system config, credentials and SSH identity excluded. - Add real-Git regressions for missing, absent, unavailable and rejected access. Preserve explicit overrides, identity changes and revocation controls. - Verify two shell commits through normal launcher staging and a commit after anonymous heartbeat cleanup. Check saved files, commit metadata and temporary config cleanup. - Update identity documentation and the two run map recipes. ## Verification - Red: the four new local-commit cases fail on the base launcher with `Author identity unknown`. - Green: all 80 focused tests pass in one run across `github-launcher.test.ts`, `github-launcher-environment.test.ts`, `heartbeat-github-launchers.test.ts` and `native-github-access.test.ts` (23.31 seconds). - A controlled filesystem failure first made the candidate discard valid managed credentials. After the correction, the same real launcher process retains them. Default-author file failure does not change operation-directory readiness. - Review found a second failure: a partial write can leave invalid Git config. The real-process test failed before the repair with `fatal: bad config line` from `git status`. The launcher now selects the default file only after the write succeeds. Both write-failure cases retain managed credentials, allow status, require identity when no default is available, and save a commit with explicit identity. The test reads the stored commit metadata with real Git. - Real shells, generated launchers and Git create and inspect saved commits. Sandbox transport and broker replies use controlled fixtures. No live cloud rollout or GitHub write acceptance is claimed. - The isolated test process excludes inherited task launcher paths, Git config and broker authentication variables. An initial run exposed those test-environment inputs; the isolated replay passed. The heartbeat assertion now checks the private default file and its cleanup instead of expecting `/dev/null`. - Adapter-utils typecheck and build pass. Map validation and `git diff --check` pass. - Conflict repair on 2026-10-29: merged master `fa5e70faf47ef2ca20bf2daf95b7503c94469b89` into the PR branch. Resolved 19 conflict paths by retaining master for unrelated files. All seven Git identity files remain byte-for-byte equal to the reviewed fix. The final diff is seven files, 145 additions and 15 deletions. - At head `c501e3f28369d404c91082b89188dc150c9362a9`, all 80 focused tests pass again (37.53 seconds). Adapter-utils typecheck and build pass. Map validation and migration checks pass. The PR diff passes `git diff --check`. - Full workspace typecheck and build were attempted again. Both stop because this sandbox has no Rust `cargo`. The duplicate full local Vitest run was stopped after about five minutes without a final result while full CI was running. The earlier full local attempt was stopped without a final result. No local full-suite pass is claimed. - GitHub now reports the PR as mergeable. All current-head checks have completed. [Full CI run 40878973679](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/40878973679) passes, including typecheck, build, Rust, test shards and all eight E2E shards. The exact-head check inventory has 54 successes, one neutral Paperclip Review and two Storybook skips. Snyk passes. Greptile and Paperclip each reviewed `c501e3f28369d404c91082b89188dc150c9362a9` at 5/5 with no actionable findings. All review threads are resolved. GitHub reports the PR as clean and mergeable. - The prior CI run had one failed E2E test: `a lost creation response requires reload and cannot blindly replay commands`. Its YAML parser received page text that starts with `Skip to Main Content`. The new run passes E2E shard 7/8 and the full E2E gate. The prior failure remains part of this record. A passing run does not establish the earlier failure's cause. This change does not alter that test or the agent configuration UI. ## Risks - Commits without explicit or managed identity now use the generic Paperclip author. Operators can still set repository or command identity. - `git config --global` writes to temporary operation config and does not persist. The documentation states this behavior. - If the private config directory cannot be prepared, commits still need explicit identity. Existing redacted diagnostics and credential isolation remain. - One small synchronous file write is added to a directory the launcher already creates. No new subprocess, network request, persistent identity or authority cache is added. > For core feature work, check [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md) first and discuss it in `#dev` before opening the PR. Feature PRs that overlap with planned core work may need to be redirected — check the roadmap first. See `CONTRIBUTING.md`. ## Model Used OpenAI Codex, based on GPT-6, with reasoning, shell execution and tool use. The runtime does not expose the exact model ID or context window size to this agent. ## 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>
@paperclipai/adapter-utils
Shared utilities for Paperclip adapters: process spawning, environment injection, sandbox/SSH transport, workspace sync, and the round-trip helpers that move code between the local execution-workspace cwd and wherever the agent actually runs.
For the adapter-author guide see
docs/adapters/creating-an-adapter.md
and the in-repo notes at packages/adapters/AUTHORING.md.
Sandbox bridge deadlines
Command-managed bridge control operations (queue reads, input delivery, setup, and cleanup) have a host-enforced deadline of at most 30 seconds per shell command. A shorter configured timeout still applies. These operations cannot inherit the agent run's hours-long lifetime or wait forever on a provider that ignores its timeout. Long-lived agent session commands keep their own limits.
A control timeout reports a transport failure. It does not prove that the remote command stopped and does not replay an uncertain write. The process session closes failed input delivery and uses its existing shutdown path; normal execution settlement must still verify termination.
No-remote-git contract
The local execution-workspace cwd is the only persistence boundary across runs. No adapter may depend on a git remote for cross-run state.
Adapters that run the agent on a different host should use the SSH round-trip
helpers in src/ssh.ts:
prepareWorkspaceForSshExecution({ spec, localDir, remoteDir })— bundles the local cwd (tracked files, dirty edits, untracked additions, and the git history needed to reconstruct it) toremoteDirbefore the run starts. Runs with nogit remoteconfigured.restoreWorkspaceFromSshExecution({ spec, localDir, remoteDir, ... })— syncs the remote cwd back intolocalDirafter the run, including any new commits the agent created. Also runs with nogit remoteconfigured.
prepareRemoteManagedRuntime in
src/remote-managed-runtime.ts wraps both
calls for adapters that want a per-run remote workspace and an automatic
restoreWorkspace() finally hook.
The invariant is pinned by the no-remote-git contract case in
src/ssh-fixture.test.ts, which asserts that a
remote-only commit propagates to the local worktree through the
prepare → restore round-trip with no git remote configured at any point. Do
not regress that test.