Files
PaperClipAI/server
DottaandPaperclip ac9a883f8b Expire ask-user questions superseded by comments (#8799)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - Issue-thread interactions are how agents ask board users for typed
decisions and structured answers inside an issue thread
> - Confirmation interactions already become stale when a later
board/user comment supersedes the pending decision
> - Question interactions had the same workflow risk, because a
board/user could answer in a comment while the old question card stayed
pending
> - This pull request extends the supersede-by-comment lifecycle to
ask-user-question interactions and makes that status visible in the UI
> - The benefit is agents get a clear continuation signal and users do
not see stale question forms after the discussion has moved on

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

No exact public GitHub issue was found.

Bug report:

**Pre-submission checklist**

- [x] I have searched existing open and closed issues and this is not a
duplicate.
- [x] I am on the latest released version of Paperclip, or can reproduce
on `master`.
- [x] I have confirmed the error originates in Paperclip itself, not in
an agent adapter, API provider, or local configuration.

**What happened?**

Pending `ask_user_questions` interactions could remain open after a
later board/user comment changed or answered the request in-thread. That
left a stale form visible and kept the interaction in a pending state
even though the discussion had moved on.

**Expected behavior**

Question interactions should follow the same default
supersede-on-comment behavior as confirmation interactions, with an
explicit expired result that points to the superseding comment.

**Steps to reproduce**

1. Create an `ask_user_questions` interaction on an issue.
2. Add a board/user comment created at or after that interaction.
3. Observe that before this change, the question interaction stayed
pending instead of expiring as superseded by the comment.

**Paperclip version or commit**

Current `master` before this PR.

**Deployment mode**

Self-hosted server or local dev. The bug is in shared issue-thread
interaction lifecycle handling.

**Installation method**

Built from source.

**Agent adapter(s) involved**

Not adapter-specific. This is a core issue-thread interaction bug.

**Database mode**

Applies to the normal Paperclip database-backed interaction lifecycle.

**Access context**

Board user comments supersede agent-created questions.

**Relevant logs or output**

No crash output. The stale pending interaction was visible in the issue
thread state.

**Relevant config (if applicable)**

None.

**Additional context**

Confirmation-style interactions already supported this stale-by-comment
behavior. This PR brings question interactions into the same lifecycle
model.

**Privacy checklist**

- [x] I have reviewed all pasted output for PII and included no private
instance links, local ticket ids, secrets, logs, or screenshots.

## What Changed

- Added `supersedeOnUserComment` support to `ask_user_questions`
payloads, defaulting it to `true` during interaction creation.
- Expire pending question interactions when a later board/user comment
supersedes them, including a result with `expirationReason:
"superseded_by_comment"` and the superseding `commentId`.
- Updated interaction summaries and cards so expired question requests
show a clear amber state with a jump link to the comment and correct
singular/plural copy.
- Updated agent onboarding guidance to describe the new default and how
to opt out.
- Added shared, server, and UI test coverage for the new lifecycle
behavior.

## Verification

- `pnpm exec vitest run
packages/shared/src/issue-thread-interactions.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/issue-thread-interaction-routes.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/issue-thread-interactions-service.test.ts
ui/src/components/IssueThreadInteractionCard.test.tsx
ui/src/lib/issue-thread-interactions.test.ts --reporter=dot` passed: 5
files, 73 tests.
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/shared typecheck && pnpm --filter
@paperclipai/server typecheck && pnpm --filter @paperclipai/ui
typecheck` passed.
- `pnpm exec vitest run
server/src/__tests__/issue-thread-interactions-service.test.ts
--reporter=dot && pnpm --filter @paperclipai/server typecheck` passed
after the final type-safety cleanup.
- Confirmed the branch is rebased on current `origin/master`.
- Confirmed the diff does not touch `pnpm-lock.yaml`,
`.github/workflows`, or database migrations.

## Risks

- Low-to-medium risk: `ask_user_questions` now defaults to expiring
after later board/user comments. Existing callers that need questions to
stay open through discussion can set `supersedeOnUserComment: false`.
- Expired question interactions store an empty `answers` array, so
downstream consumers should treat the explicit `expirationReason` as the
meaningful outcome.

> 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, GPT-5-based coding agent in Paperclip CodexCoder runtime,
with terminal and repository tool use. Exact context window is not
exposed in this runtime.

## 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>
2026-07-01 09:28:43 -07:00
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