Files
PaperClipAI/packages/paperclip-runner/protocol
DottaandClaude Opus 5.5 65f41593d1 fix(runner): tell agents a skill found in a directory is imported, not re-created (#19983)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - Agents can add skills to the company library in two ways: author new
content with `create_skill`, or import an existing skill so its source
is kept
> - #18717 told agents in the `create_skill` contract to import "an
existing skill" instead of copying it
> - An agent read "existing" as "already in the company library"
> - It searched the library, found no match, and saved a managed copy of
a SKILL.md from a vetted local directory
> - The copy has no source locator, so update, audit and reset flows
cannot follow the source
> - This pull request says in the same contract that a SKILL.md in a
local directory, repository, URL or catalog is an existing skill even
when the library has no match
> - The benefit is that agents import such skills and keep their
provenance

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

Refs #18717

**What happened**

A person asked the CEO agent: "Find a useful accessibility-review skill
and add it to our company." The conversation pointed to a vetted local
directory with a SKILL.md. The agent called `search_skills`, found no
match, and wrote in its reasoning "No existing accessibility skill. Now
create it via paperclip_create_skill". It saved a `managed` skill with
`sourceLocator: null`. It did not call the import API that the
`create_skill` description recommends.

**Expected behavior**

The agent imports the skill from its directory through `POST
/api/companies/{companyId}/skills/import`. The saved skill is
`local_path` with the directory as its source locator.

**Steps to reproduce**

1. Put a SKILL.md in a directory that a company project workspace
allows.
2. Give the directory path to the agent in chat, and ask it to add the
skill to the company.
3. Look at the saved skill. Before this change, the agent can save a
`managed` copy without a source locator.

## What Changed

- Add one sentence to the `create_skill` description in
`packages/paperclip-runner/src/protocol-actions/create-skill.ts`: a
SKILL.md in a local directory, repository, URL or catalog is an existing
skill, even when the company library has no match, so import it instead
of copying its content.
- Regenerate the semantic action catalog, the semantic tool contracts,
the protocol manifest digest and the seeded catalog digest.
- Extend the existing contract test so that the discovered, live and
scenario descriptions all contain the new rule.

## Verification

- `pnpm exec vitest run
src/semantic-tools/paperclip-semantic-tools.test.ts -t "distinguishes
authored skills"` in `packages/paperclip-runner` passes. The new
assertion fails on the parent, because the parent description does not
contain the sentence.
- `node scripts/generate-semantic-action-catalog.mjs --check`, `node
scripts/generate-protocol-manifest.mjs --check` and `node
scripts/generate-semantic-contracts.mjs --check` pass.
- End-to-end chat eval `skills.find-and-install` (runner-opencode,
local), with this commit cherry-picked onto the eval branch: before, run
42448994428 failed because the agent saved a managed copy. After, run
42450246200 passed. The agent quoted the new sentence in its reasoning,
imported the directory through the import API, and the saved skill is
`local_path` with the vetted directory as its source locator.

## Risks

- Low risk. The change is model-facing text only. It does not change
permissions, routes or tool inputs.
- Agents that author truly new skills still use `create_skill`. The
sentence applies only when a SKILL.md already exists somewhere.

## Model Used

- Anthropic Claude Opus 5.5 (`claude-opus-5-5`), with tool use and code
execution in Claude Code.

## 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
- [ ] All Paperclip CI gates are green
- [ ] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge

🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)

Co-authored-by: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-11-07 23:47:30 -06:00
..

PRP v1/v2 Contract

The JSON Schema files in schemas/ are the language-neutral source of truth for Paperclip Runner Protocol versions 1 and 2. The fixtures in fixtures/ define accepted and rejected compatibility cases.

Compatibility

  • protocolVersion, fixtureVersion, and event.schemaVersion are required.
  • A consumer fails closed when a required version or schema discriminator is not supported.
  • A v1 envelope can contain an unknown optional property when its schema marks that object as extensible.
  • A consumer ignores an unknown optional property until a later contract gives it meaning.
  • A required field, enum value, or typed structured-input field is not optional.
  • Question and answer identifiers are stable across the provider boundary.
  • Peers negotiate the highest mutually supported protocol version. Existing v1 runners remain compatible but cannot receive v2-only session-goal commands.

The unknown-optional-fields.json fixture must be accepted. The unsupported-required-version.json fixture must be rejected.

Session goals (v2)

PRP v2 adds a provider-neutral durable session-goal lifecycle. Every v2 capability snapshot includes sessionGoals, even when its availability is unsupported or policy_disabled. Paperclip sends controls only when the negotiated capability advertises the corresponding action.

Commands:

  • session.goal.get
  • session.goal.set for objective, status, and optional token budget changes
  • session.goal.clear

Events:

  • session.capabilities.updated
  • session.goal.snapshot
  • session.goal.updated
  • session.goal.cleared

Goal state is separate from Paperclip's company/business goal hierarchy. The snapshot distinguishes the durable status from workingNow, because an active goal can be idle between autonomous turns. A runner emits the full capability and authoritative snapshot after every session open or resume. Missing v1 capability is unsupported; clients do not infer support from an adapter name.

Harness credential updates

auth.credentials.updated is a P0 runner event available in the v1, v2, and v3 event schemas. Its payload uses paperclip.auth.credentials.updated.v1 and contains only provider, bindingId, revision, and detection. No tokens, account identifiers, credential paths, or credential fingerprints are permitted.

An updated consumer opts in with observeCredentials: true in run.prepare, before session.open. The bundled runner transport opts in for fresh sessions; set its observeCredentials option to false to disable observation for a fresh session. Older hosts that omit the field receive no new event. Consumers must update their schemas before opting in: an event-enum addition is not an unknown optional property. Existing runner binaries ignore the optional flag and do not provide observation; absence of an event does not establish support.

The current Unix runner observes native Codex's managed CODEX_HOME/auth.json and the Codex/Grok ACPX session homes. It uses a non-recursive directory watch plus a one-second polling fallback, so atomic file replacement is handled. Grok's initial inline subscription credential is the baseline, allowing a refresh during launcher startup to be detected. A first valid credential file without a prior baseline establishes the baseline without claiming a refresh. Account identity changes also emit updates, even when token values stay the same, and establish the baseline for later refreshes on the new account. Hosts must evaluate the current credential through their private credential channel and account checks; the event does not authorize an account switch. Metadata-only changes, partial writes, and deletion do not emit updates. Unsupported harnesses and refreshes retained only in memory need their own observer or native-hook integration; adding this event does not make them observable.

bindingId: "harness-auth" identifies the selected harness authentication within the envelope's normalized session. Revisions increase for that binding and survive runner restarts and warm run attachments. The baseline fingerprint and pending event are persisted together in a private runner state file. Source retries retain the same event identity until the durable PRP outbox accepts it. Hosts should commit an idempotent reaction or durable work item through onCommittedEvent before returning and advancing the cumulative ACK. The bundled transport exposes onCredentialsUpdated(event) for this commit. It awaits the callback before ACK, including during warm idle, attachment, and provider cleanup. Callback failures leave delivery unacknowledged for retry; callbacks must therefore deduplicate by the original source event identity. When configured, credential updates bypass the turn notification queue. Paperclip commits them directly to the run log in a separate credential source namespace, preserving the original PRP envelope and avoiding collisions with the driver's normalized event sequence. A turn-only notification consumer cannot reliably handle idle or cleanup updates; use this callback instead.

detection: "credential_store" reports an observed credential change, not proof that an OAuth refresh succeeded. Multiple changes between observations can be coalesced; this is not an audit of every refresh exchange. The schema also allows native_hook for integrations with an explicit signal. Observation continues during warm idle and checks at turn terminal and close boundaries, including Grok's private refresh handoff after live-store cleanup. Retained runner observations enter the durable outbox before a suspend or shutdown command completes, without draining the provider backlog. A final check after provider cleanup also enters the outbox and waits for the host ACK. The runner retains its terminal recovery fence if that delivery fails.

The event authorizes no credential access or write on its own. A host that needs rotated token values must use a separately authorized handoff with its existing account-identity and freshness safeguards. The default Paperclip credential copy-back behavior remains in place.

Scope

The first provider descriptor and adapter fixture cover Codex only. The schemas for provider-neutral events and semantic receipts do not enable those actions. Discovery and authorization are separate contracts.

The conformance manifest records every source file and its SHA-256 digest. Run pnpm generate:protocol-manifest from this package after a source change. CI runs the same generator with --check to reject drift. This check also compiles the JSON Schemas and validates every replay, question, and cross-language conformance fixture against its declared schema.

The files in fixtures/replay/golden/ are deterministic reducer oracles. Each accepted replay fixture has a complete session snapshot and a compact parity summary. pnpm generate:replay-goldens updates them after an intentional reducer change; package build and CI fail when they drift.

The files in fixtures/local-runner/scripts/ drive the package-local fake harness. They cover successful, failed, interrupted, interactive, duplicate terminal, process-cleanup, and oversized-frame behavior without starting a production adapter.

runtime.activity.recorded is a P1 Runner event in v1, v2 and v3 with exactly { namespace, activityKey }. Both opaque identifiers contain 1–160 Unicode code points and exclude C0 controls and DEL. namespace groups a producer's activity types; activityKey names an activity within that group. Consumers use the pair to select a response to activity in the run. The authenticated outer envelope provides run and session identity, source sequence and emission time. Core resolves the run's company, task and agent through its existing authorized run binding; callers cannot supply those identities in the payload. Recording activity does not independently verify the reported action or grant access to any resource. The event uses the ordinary durable outbox, acknowledgement and replay contract.

Local clients capture an opaque context with paperclip-runnerd notification-context before an operation and invoke record-activity CONTEXT NAMESPACE ACTIVITY_KEY after success. Runner publishes its matching absolute executable as host-owned PAPERCLIP_RUNTIME_NOTIFICATION_HELPER and the stable endpoint descriptor path as PAPERCLIP_RUNTIME_NOTIFICATION_CONTEXT. Configured task environment cannot override either value. Context is invalidated on warm attachment and process recovery, so a caller cannot attribute a later completion to a different run.