Files
PaperClipAI/doc/evals.md
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DottaandPaperclip 1353a232f2 test(e2e): add a portable active follow-up journey (#18345)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip lets people direct agents while their work is active.
> - Product E2E checks must prove that saved user input reaches the
intended work.
> - The existing active chat story depends on a file in a local agent
workspace.
> - That setup cannot qualify an attached deployment with remote agent
execution.
> - This change adds one shared active follow-up journey through the
normal task UI and API.
> - Independent native operation, saved input, final reply, and cleanup
checks make the result inspectable across targets.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

**What existing behavior does this improve?**

Product E2E coverage for a user follow-up sent while a native agent is
working.

**Current behavior**

The classic chat story holds work open with a local file. The shared
deployment-targeted harness has no active follow-up journey. A running
heartbeat alone cannot prove that work was active when input arrived.

**Proposed behavior**

Run one bounded command through the real native provider. Observe its
active execution before and after one follow-up is saved. Require one
final reply with the late requirement, correct task and agent identity,
an empty input queue, and visible readback after reload. Use the same
story on managed and attached targets.

## What Changed

- Add a shared `followup-while-running` journey with normal task
creation and reply submission.
- Require a bound native turn and pending shell execution at the input
boundary. Retain a closed receipt with source identity and a row hash.
- Accept one steered work run or one normal successor (1–2 native runs).
Preserve every other journey's declared run contract.
- Reuse the saved native final reply observer, run binding checks, usage
collection, target lifecycle and private evidence path.
- Accept canonical builtin/process execution events independent of
provider tool display names; calibrate against real OpenCode, Codex and
ACP mappers. Reject Paperclip semantic tool names across native
wrappers/prefixes and unnamed or ambiguous builtin calls.
- Recognize only the observed legacy PRP v1
builtin/bash/unknown/readOnly=false command shape and fail promptly when
owned work finishes before a live boundary can be observed.
- Ready the task page/composer before the observed command boundary, use
a bounded 90-second command, and preserve active-after-persistence
proof.
- Add adversarial oracle and retained-result calibration. Register the
journey, include its sources in the definition hash, and document its
coverage.
- Keep six real browser document-readiness checks and verify
shared-deadline behavior with a deterministic clock/state test that
rejects timeout-reset mutations.

## Verification

Exact current head `e72e20ad111bd94728d38606015d1fdac3c92929` passed
[full CI run
41142552195](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/41142552195):
all 49 workflow jobs reached accepted terminal results, including
typecheck, build, every test lane and aggregate verify. All 59 reported
checks are terminal: 55 success, three expected skips and one neutral
5/5 Paperclip review. Snyk passed. [Fresh Greptile
review](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/18345#issuecomment-6528913235)
explicitly names this exact head and gives 5/5. No review threads remain
open. The PR is mergeable.

These source gates do not establish a live QA pass at this head. Fresh
protected QA at this exact source and the separately recorded deployed
application/runtime remains required before primary merge and daily
admission.

Historical live QA staging **PASS** on qualified commit
`af9e091b15b5e24b6b2cc1b424523430cc2ab024`: 6/6 checks, all five phases
including cleanup, two native work runs, and the configured
model/environment check passed. The [sanitized qualification
report](https://pages.paperclip.ing/evals-qa-smoke-41122620146-1/)
records that exact measurement.

Final integration head `e72e20ad111bd94728d38606015d1fdac3c92929` merges
exact actual squash `18b1637b6371a6a6adade857e2a73654ee626fef` from
[#18254](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/18254) into
previous head `e54d64743964b1a19d165537bebbe62c50389a23`. The merge had
no conflicts. All 18 files in this PR's change set, the complete 45-file
shared journey directory, and six shared native/evidence helpers retain
their exact previous-head Git blobs: 59 scoped files in total. The
production clarification helper remains blob
`800a747284db19b8484650b6759e8bd1f356839d`. Follow-up 1–2 runs, question
1–3 runs, older exact counts, owned native event checks,
active-before/after persistence proof, cleanup/accounting and feature
mappings remain unchanged.

Source integration head `e55d74491f5bcd99c1455e9ace02bd7ad7319fae`
integrates exact actual squash
`8595efc20bda3ce20a9fbbf34a5d156a6fcf6d57` from
[#18385](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/18385). The merge
had no conflicts. All 17 files in this PR's change set and six shared
native/evidence helpers retain their exact Git blobs from previous head
`162e341cda5b627639b486b4019a1675bb018ea2`. This preserves the follow-up
and question readiness checks, feature mappings, six closed follow-up
check IDs, immutable before/after active-operation proof, follow-up 1–2
runs, question 1–3 runs and older exact counts.

Previously reviewed head `e54d64743964b1a19d165537bebbe62c50389a23` adds
a separate test-only reliability repair on top of that source
integration. It replaces one scheduler-sensitive browser case with a
deterministic Vitest clock and locator-state model that calls the actual
production helper. The six other real Chromium checks remain
byte-for-byte unchanged and pass **6/6**. Focused unit suites pass
**51/51**, including the deterministic deadline case. This is six
browser checks plus focused unit coverage, not seven browser checks.

The model makes the panel ready at 100 ms, the supplied answer ready at
600 ms, and full valid content ready at 1,300 ms. It requires rejection
at the shared 1,000 ms deadline and records immutable rejection state
before simulating a 10-second scheduler stall. Both restarted-timeout
mutations fail: resetting all waits wrongly resolves at 1,300 ms;
resetting matcher timeouts while keeping the final real deadline guard
rejects only at 1,300 ms with valid content present. The genuine helper
rejects at 1,000 ms with the answer still incomplete. The production
helper is unchanged, Git blob
`800a747284db19b8484650b6759e8bd1f356839d`. That two-file test-only
patch changed no journey, application, run, accounting, model or runtime
behavior. Its six-browser/51-unit results are prior-head evidence; the
complete patch is unchanged in the new integration.

The final source also retains the actual merged question-primary squash
`d9354bbfc35ef74333e90e596ce21dc8e59149b9` from
[#18346](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/18346). Later
commits `409117451da260a03fc28a3107c7808ecbe68f8f` and
`ea3e7b1d1bed562351fcf4722c7175001b987b59` bound question document
readiness to one campaign deadline and test that waits cannot restart
it. Commit `162e341cda5b627639b486b4019a1675bb018ea2` adds
question/follow-up report feature mappings and coverage. These files are
unchanged by the final merge.

The imported upstream source has real application changes:
[#18334](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/18334) makes
managed skill content durable and extends native skill-test contracts;
[#18350](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/18350) requires
managed Cloud shared storage and bootstrap prerequisites. #18385 updates
TestOps job metadata and repairs their combined maintenance fixture. The
new merge additionally imports
[#18383](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/18383) at
`81ecaf0654fe79a2a2dbda6588f033e39ee610e4`, which bounds failed
lifecycle verification;
[#18357](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/18357) at
`45a3a92e6dc52d20923b9aa34a22fee2ec5443f9`, which persists
sandbox-creation ownership and updates cleanup/adapter/plugin contracts;
and #18254 at `18b1637b6371a6a6adade857e2a73654ee626fef`, which accepts
a valid late Antigravity authorization URL while native authentication
drains. This PR's diff against exact upstream
`18b1637b6371a6a6adade857e2a73654ee626fef` contains only journey tests,
report coverage and documentation. Harness source and deployed
application/runtime identity are separate inputs. This source
integration does not deploy the imported application changes or claim
the QA target runs this application revision.

This final SHA has not been measured by the historical run above:
**fresh QA at this exact final head is required before primary merge**,
followed by normal TestOps verification/admission. Fresh exact-head CI
and review have passed as recorded above. The live measurement must
record the actual separately deployed QA application/runtime identity.

Seven whole-file blobs remain identical to the qualified SHA. All paths
are relative to `tests/runner-e2e/`:

| Journey/helper | Unchanged Git blob |
| --- | --- |
| `product-journeys/active-followup-evidence.ts` |
`83a5d9fab52abb9849a40e83eca6b6a9c29bf587` |
| `product-journeys/active-followup.test.ts` |
`728160c610c18292d2cf06d4a87d25a8719f1734` |
| `native-task-reply.ts` | `59d11f1a178dad9db3da8fa2342ff93643cb9922` |
| `native-event-envelope.ts` |
`305b0b456c59c511ee328e529ad574c0583075a0` |
| `run-observations.ts` | `08c8ad184a821a7cd536926b3d7e3d1156a1e3da` |
| `user-actions.ts` | `e9611348dc41e17899367dab2e3b36d3d1be9480` |
| `stop-redirect-flow.ts` | `4580bd605a425bc72511e02d988492acbec8d60e` |

The follow-up preservation comparison against historical `af9` has three
explicit exceptions; no whole-file identity is claimed for them. The
separately documented question readiness and report additions above also
require final-source verification:

1. `product-journeys/agent-flows.ts` adds `question-answer-resume` to
the `AgentJourney` type exclusion, alongside follow-up. Its remaining
contents and runtime helper bodies are byte-for-byte unchanged.
Qualified blob `a0afaa968c1d854476159fef21de7b6dd50a4a98`; final blob
`0cc797c0ae594e7769338e63a80c4f67e29e4a54`.
2. The common run-count helper is centralized in `success-contract.ts`
and re-exported by the catalog. It accepts follow-up **1–2**,
clarification **1–3**, and each older paid journey's exact count. The
follow-up catalog entry, maximum of two runs, six required checks,
native dispatch, collection and retained-run contract remain
byte-for-byte unchanged. The helper's text differs; its preserved count
semantics are verified explicitly.
3. `product-journeys/active-followup-flow.ts` changes exactly one
composer readiness assertion from Playwright's implicit five-second
default to an explicit 30-second timeout, matching `submitTaskReply` for
attached targets. Prompts, actions, native evidence, before/after
persistence proof and grading otherwise compare byte-for-byte unchanged.
Qualified blob `64392329198a1a4d9828e32834d4507e175216e6`; final blob
`2746b5ba89e2af26b4097ba7897913186786ac5d`. This correction is why a
fresh final-head QA run is required.

- **310 focused tests passed at current final head
`e72e20ad111bd94728d38606015d1fdac3c92929`**: 286
journey/evidence/catalog/report/shared-deadline tests in 14 files and 24
native authentication/real-child stream-order tests in two files. Both
invocations used Node24 and one Vitest worker. The earlier `e55`
integration also passed 365 focused tests, including 40 Cloud
configuration and 40 TestOps metadata cases; those results remain
prior-source evidence.
- **157 explicit count assertions passed again at the current final
head**, including both interactive ranges, older exact counts,
invalid/fractional/non-number values and catalog/contract export
identity. The maximum bounds and six closed follow-up check IDs also
matched.
- Maps and diff checks passed. The official QA runtime-import preflight
passed on Node24 at the current final head without network access. It
uses a dummy adapter and no credentials. It does not prove target
connectivity, sign-in, model readiness or deployed application/runtime
identity. Those require the normal protected QA run. No model/provider
work or optional Runner release was dispatched.
- Current local runtime dependencies use ignored isolated
workspace-source views. No shared dependencies or compilers were
changed. A previous local typecheck attempt hit stale reused Runner
declarations. No full repository typecheck, test run or build was
repeated locally; the successful exact-head full CI run above now
supplies these gates.
- CI on previous head `162e341cda5b627639b486b4019a1675bb018ea2` failed
the Cloud/local maintenance fixture in [server shard
9](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/41133716802/job/124331643100),
plus dependent verify. The actual tested merge combined that head with
master `198218bf554877fe3b7a83742eefb3b8f12392c6`. A Cloud child
selected local-disk storage and hit the new shared-storage policy. This
was a deterministic upstream fixture mismatch; no unchanged failed-job
retry was used.
- The actual #18385 repair configures a valid Cloud child, verifies
local bytes independently, checks the expected provider mismatch and
retains exact stored-config readback. Its own final head
`b76d5dd40d7711f1b5f6b6316b1114c0aae02d57` passed 59 checks, including
[server shard
9](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/41133876636/job/124331450635).
That prior result supports the repair; it does not replace this final
head's fresh CI. Separate repair candidate #18392 and its
source/evidence are retained as superseded history.
- A local attempt to run the database fixture could not start PostgreSQL
because the host exhausted macOS semaphores. A first setup attempt also
failed package resolution before test execution. Skipped database cases
and these setup failures are not passes. No kernel settings, shared
processes or databases were changed.
- The complete previous-head CI run
[41138618869](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/41138618869)
finished with one underlying failure: [Runner Vitest shard
1](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/41138618869/job/124347859445)
expected native Antigravity login success but observed failure at
`antigravity-auth.test.ts:101`. The lane had one failed test, 1,994
passing tests and eight skipped tests. Aggregate verify failed only
because of this lane. All other 57 checks were accepted, including
build, typecheck, all server/browser suites, Runner shard 2, Snyk and
exact-head 5/5 reviews. No unchanged retry was requested.
- The independently reviewed #18254 repair removes an invalid cross-pipe
ordering assumption: a valid URL on stderr can arrive after the
authenticate response on stdout during drain. Its real-child regression
forces both orders. The current final source imports that actual squash;
the 24 focused authentication cases pass here. Fresh full CI and
exact-head review have now passed for this source, as recorded above.
The earlier failed result is not relabeled.
- The original live compatibility failure is retained: an older PRP v1
pack labeled builtin `bash` as operation `unknown`, causing the observer
to miss the command and never send the follow-up. Its exact shape was
reproduced red before repair. Generic unknown operations, semantic
tools, wrappers, read-only work and foreign provenance remain rejected.
The historical qualified pass used the repaired oracle; no failed result
was relabeled.
- Earlier CI on `6fad965d69` hit an unchanged heartbeat test's
three-second adapter-call wait; its original failure and one narrow
rerun remain recorded. The qualified SHA subsequently passed CI. An
earlier report-catalog subprocess failure is retained. The final focused
Node24 run now includes that suite and passes after the documented
report feature mappings.

## Risks

The fixture asks the native agent to run one bounded `sleep 90` command.
The observer must see actual active native execution; a fast or
noncompliant turn fails rather than passing from elapsed time. A
completed result requires one or two bounded native work runs, source
attribution, configured model/environment, and collection. Unknown
provider prices stay unknown. This change does not alter production
execution or grant new access.

## Model Used

OpenAI Codex, GPT-6 family, with reasoning and code execution. The host
does not expose an exact underlying model version or context-window
size.

## Checklist

- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with available 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; existing
follow-up execution fixes do not provide this deployment-targeted test
- [x] I have described the issue in-PR following the enhancement
template
- [x] I have not referenced internal/instance-local Paperclip issues or
links
- [x] My branch name describes the change and contains no internal
ticket or instance-derived details
- [x] I have run the new focused tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation
- [x] I have considered and documented risks
- [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 merge

---------

Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
2026-10-30 18:37:17 -05:00

625 lines
39 KiB
Markdown

# Paperclip evaluation guide
The public directory calls full-product testing **E2E tests**. Suites describe
what is tested; deployment targets describe which app instance was tested.
QA smoke is a named selection of existing journeys against QA, and appears in
the same campaign history as other E2E runs. Agent execution (local or Daytona),
provider, model and profile are independent filters. Browser-only journeys need
no agent or model. Historical records without target metadata remain explicitly
"Not recorded" rather than being assigned an inferred environment.
The history sidebar includes the current suite catalog and retained historical
suites. Each suite has its latest matching run and latest full run, with full
coverage determined from the recorded suite definition, selection and execution
counts. An unexecuted full selection remains unfinished, and a subset
can pass without qualifying as a full suite run; failed full selections remain
visible. Changing a model filter does not redefine the suite's recorded coverage.
Existing `runner-e2e` URLs, test IDs, commands, and measurement timestamps remain
stable. **Runner protocol evals** remain a separate category because they test
the runner/provider against a mock control plane.
Sidebar suite links open that suite's campaign history with other filters cleared.
The Suite dropdown combines with the current filters instead. Explicit URLs retain
their selected filters; when a suite is absent from a preset, the empty state
explains the combination and links to the suite's runs.
Active filters have blue borders and tinted fields. The filter toolbar counts
active values, including a count beside More filters for collapsed controls.
Reset all filters clears every campaign filter and the sidebar suite search.
`node --import ./cli/node_modules/tsx/dist/loader.mjs tests/runner-e2e/history-browser.browser.mjs`
exercises the history UI using synthetic metadata and Chromium, with no model calls. It checks suite coverage, correlated
suite/target/model/execution filters, saved QA selections, URL history and mobile
navigation. Install the existing Playwright Chromium dependency before running.
For presentation-only refreshes,
`node --import ./cli/node_modules/tsx/dist/loader.mjs tests/runner-e2e/history-refresh.ts --history <history.json> --output <directory>`
renders an existing history file. Its optional `--public-campaign`, `--public-url` and
`--preset` arguments import a reviewed public measurement without replacing
existing campaigns. Private Cloud bundles are rejected. The output contains
only index HTML and history/pointer JSON; it does not upload evidence or change
retained campaign bundles.
The explicit-only [chat feature evals](../tests/runner-e2e/CHAT-FEATURES.md) promote
two natural-language task scenarios into local native Codex subscription and
OpenCode Product E2E cells. They
verify saving an unstarted task and delegating a saved announcement back to chat,
using ordinary production instructions, real browser messages and independent
state/provenance checks. A separately selected native OpenCode/DeepSeek1017
backlog cell measures TestOps integration acceptance with the same oracle and
original bounds. Its source registration is not an AWS or TestOps pass. The
broader YAML catalog remains planning inventory.
The explicit-only [Daytona restart continuity journey](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md)
extends the existing native restart oracle to a 125-second controller outage,
using the recorded Claude and Codex models in disposable development fixtures.
It requires same-process adoption, saved files and finalization without replay;
local regression checks and catalog discovery are separate from live acceptance.
The explicit-only [GitHub review bot journey](../tests/runner-e2e/GITHUB-REVIEW-JOURNEY.md)
converts the Ponytail walkthrough into attended App setup, scoped installation,
automatic PR review, and independent two-service checks. It supports attached
self-hosted/Cloud targets and separately selected local/Daytona agents. Account
and credential bindings stay in the private eval repo; registration and oracle
tests do not establish a completed live pass or unattended CI qualification.
The deployment-targeted `question-answer-resume` journey reuses the classic
two-question scenario and native continuation oracle on an attached target.
It checks the actual board answers, one to three bound work runs, an agent-authored
task document and browser readback after reload. It accepts provider questions and
durable questions proven by an applied semantic receipt or an immutable completed
native API mutation receipt. It does not qualify named-tool selection. Its provider owns target setup,
usage and cleanup. Registration and local calibration do not establish a fresh
Cloud pass or inclusion in a recurring selection.
The explicit-only [necessary free-text question journey](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#necessary-free-text-question)
checks one essential input, the rendered prompt and context, the real answer,
one bound continuation, and an exact saved confirmation. Its four development
cells use the recorded Codex and Claude models. Registration and calibration do
not establish Slack, staging authentication, warm lifecycle, or live qualification.
The explicit `followup-while-running` [Product journey](../tests/runner-e2e/PRODUCT-JOURNEYS.md#active-follow-up)
checks a saved message during independently observed native work, one attributed
reply with the late requirement, and persistence after reload. Its attached and
managed targets share the same story and permit one steered run or one normal
successor. Registration and calibration are separate from a live staging pass.
[Reusable Product journeys](../tests/runner-e2e/PRODUCT-JOURNEYS.md) add explicit
deployment targets and starting-state recipes. The shared task-properties
journey uses no model; Cloud onboarding supplies reusable verified state. Cloud
fleet operations and trusted CI remain private. Local eval gateway qualification
does not qualify Cloud routes, and these selections stay outside `--all`.
The explicit-only [case handoff workflow](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#persistent-case-handoffs-explicit-only)
contains arithmetic and receipt smoke cells for a same-task round trip among three native agents using real case/task
APIs, saved documents, handoff receipts, and browser readback. Receipt smoke has
an explicit terminal handoff to `done` on its fourth run, proving case closure
through normal task completion without a fifth provider run. It also has
an initial task-owned brief supplied at kickoff through `initialDocuments`,
ordinary native task document reads/writes, and case-page rollup readback.
Earlier case-document campaign results remain preserved and do not qualify
this subsequent document ownership change. The suite has
separately selectable local Codex API-key and subscription profiles with the
same model and limits. The API profile uses an encrypted company-secret
reference; the subscription profile receives only an explicitly supplied private
login fixture. The original arithmetic cell remains subscription-only.
The receipt cell declares exactly four task work runs, 90-second work-run limits,
a five-minute attempt, and 100-cent accounted-work budgets. Initial agent setup
also performs production hello probes outside heartbeat counts, budget accounting
and the work-run usage report. Up to three initial probes are expected; their
detailed tokens and cost are unavailable, and a timeout need not cancel an
in-flight probe immediately. These limits do not establish an absolute provider
inference cap, and unknown setup usage is not free. The original arithmetic cell
retains its own limits.
Service tests and workflow discovery remain distinct from a completed provider run.
The [Slack connector probe catalog](../server/src/services/connectors/slack/evals/README.md)
organizes eleven manual model acceptance probes and a selector for existing
deterministic regressions (`pnpm test:slack-connector`). It is not a registered
model campaign; transport fixtures do not prove that an agent chooses a tool
or that a real Slack interaction completes.
The explicit-only [live provider connection suite](../tests/runner-e2e/PROVIDER-CONNECTIONS.md)
is a Product E2E workflow for fresh subscription/API-key/gateway connections,
with attended login and independent artifact checks against local or staging targets.
The explicit-only [Antigravity additional-agent journey](../tests/runner-e2e/ANTIGRAVITY-AGENT-JOURNEY.md)
converts the saved-subscription setup and two-turn file walkthrough into one
local native cell. It measures agent creation through the ordinary UI,
instruction-dependent downloaded bytes, same native conversation, durable Done
lineage and owned runtime cleanup. Current support requires an attached
self-hosted loopback macOS ARM64 candidate; fresh OAuth, Cloud/remote execution
and global release qualification are separate gates.
The bounded [personal Muse receiver probe](muse-personal-agent.md#bounded-24-hour-probe)
uses ordinary task APIs and retained native receipts to measure unattended
receiver behavior. It is a separate manual qualification probe, not a registered
Product E2E campaign. Synthetic receiver tests cannot qualify personal Muse;
real setup, clarification and fresh-conversation collaboration remain separate
release gates.
Paperclip has two live eval families with different questions, owners, and
evidence. Choose the family before selecting a model, profile, or case.
The explicit-only [native instruction consolidation comparison](plans/2026-10-03-native-completion-consolidation.md)
uses six Product E2E cells per source variant. It measures the completion
constraint reduction separately from the earlier native tool-description
trial. Provider-free start/resume payload capture is a byte measurement;
behavioral qualification requires the original paired live outcomes and
retained content. Neither source admission nor a scripted pass proves model
behavior.
- **Runner Evals:** real Runner/provider behavior against a seeded mock control
plane. Definitions live in `paperclip-evals/evals/paperclip-runner`; see the
[direct live protocol evals](../packages/paperclip-runner/docs/runner-protocol-live-evals.md).
- **Product E2E Evals:** real browser, Paperclip server, database, Runner,
provider, and (where selected) Daytona, using an isolated instance and
grading oracle. See [`tests/runner-e2e`](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md) and
[Everyday Workflows](../tests/runner-e2e/EVERYDAY-WORKFLOWS.md).
The [chat scenario catalog](../tests/runner-e2e/chat-scenarios/README.md) is a
planning inventory within Product E2E: natural user requests, assumed context and
expected outcomes linked to the feature and agent-access maps. It includes
conditional setup, permission, approval and recovery journeys. Its YAML files
are not registered runnable cells and contribute no passing coverage or scores.
Runner Evals answer whether a real runner/provider can perform a bounded
protocol operation against the expected control-plane contract. Product E2E
Evals answer whether a person can complete a product workflow through the real
Paperclip surfaces and whether the resulting artifact and state are usable.
The names describe the system under test; “headless” is an execution option,
not an eval category.
The explicit Product E2E `completion-updates` suite compares onboarding and
idle, busy, multiple-task, and restart Agent Chat handoffs on native Claude/Codex. It separates mechanical
completion delivery/result access from semantic review of the retained answer;
see the [probe contract](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#completion-update-probes-explicit-only).
The explicit-only [task-titles suite](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#automatic-task-titles)
checks that production guidance causes a real native agent to name prompt-only
standard/Ask tasks early, while preserving user-supplied titles. Its oracle
correlates browser creation, native tool receipts, durable titles, audit ownership,
and the reloaded task UI; fixture prompts contain no naming instructions.
The explicit-only [native connection guidance suite](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#native-connection-guidance-explicit-only)
adds neutral decline prompts, same-task run-attributed explanations, and measured
no-use controls across three native local profiles. Its fifteen configured cells
are preparation for future matched instruction comparisons, not a live result.
Historical Everyday cases and production prompts are preserved.
## Selecting a family
Pi's explicit-only `pi-controls` Product suite tests Stop while native permission
is unanswered and browser-originated same-turn steering, locally and on Daytona.
Its [fixture contract](../tests/runner-e2e/FIXTURES.md#pi-active-controls) separates
control acknowledgment, actual message consumption and owned process retirement.
The current Pi matrix has 26 explicit cells (13 local and 13 Daytona), including
these four controls, pending-native-question controller restart, and a Daytona-only
exact-Pi-child provider-death journey. Provider death must expire the original
unanswered card and reject stale replies without a replacement run; any durable
fallback is distinct from restoration. File editing
also requires native edit/validation events and a registered artifact download.
All remain unqualified until measured on the exact candidate runtime and harness.
Use **Runner Evals** for a runner protocol, adapter, transport, native session,
tool grant, or one-turn provider qualification question. The workflow checks
out an exact `paperclip-evals` revision, builds the Runner and viewer, runs a
live roster, and renders the canonical Evalbook report. The control plane is a
seeded test authority, so a passing result does not prove browser UX, production
server behavior, database persistence, Daytona behavior, or a real third-party
mutation.
Use **Product E2E Evals** for browser interaction, issue/task lifecycle,
approval and clarification UI, project/repository selection, persistence over a
controller restart, artifact delivery, billing/evidence behavior, or runner
continuity in local or Daytona environments. The harness creates a fresh
Paperclip instance per cell and uses public APIs and the production browser
surface. The suite's [Everyday Workflows](../tests/runner-e2e/EVERYDAY-WORKFLOWS.md)
are Product E2E even when their results are imported into Evalbook.
Do not combine a partial Runner campaign and a partial Product E2E campaign into
one score. A campaign is comparable when its definition/grader, model/profile,
environment, and contract match. The evaluated Paperclip revision may
intentionally differ for a before/after fix comparison; record it as a
comparison axis.
## Ownership and codepaths
Runner Evals are owned by the Runner/evals maintainers. Definitions, rosters,
case prompts, and the report program live in the sibling private repository
`paperclipai/paperclip-evals`; Runner integration, viewer, aggregation, and
publication code live under `packages/paperclip-runner` and the
`runner-protocol-live-evals.yml` workflow. The public-facing report uses the
same Evalbook renderer and Runner Lab viewer as the trusted report after
sanitization.
Product E2E Evals are owned by the runner E2E maintainers. The catalog and
harness are under `tests/runner-e2e`; the package scripts are `test:e2e:runner`,
`test:e2e:runner:unit`, `test:e2e:runner:typecheck`, and
`test:e2e:runner:report`. `README.md`, `FIXTURES.md`, `SECURITY.md`, and
`EVERYDAY-WORKFLOWS.md` are the detailed sources of truth. The harness starts
the server and embedded database, creates the company/agent/task through the
real APIs, drives Chromium, and invokes the selected local or Daytona runner.
The explicit-only `agent-chat-hardening` Product E2E suite covers native chat
recovery, hiring, status evidence, and review handoff on local and selected warm
Daytona paths. Its [fixture contract](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md) distinguishes
startup cancellation from active response cancellation and HTTP send replay
from ambiguous provider action recovery. Select it explicitly; `--all` excludes it.
The explicit-only [production hiring templates suite](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#production-hiring-templates)
adds two local native Codex/Claude cells. It exercises API-created production
CEO defaults, an explicitly requested hiring skill/reference read, a permanent
coder hire, independently computed saved JSON fixtures and worker reuse.
Each cell requires five work turns and admits at most two strictly attributed
server task-completion turns. Every actual run remains counted; unknown or
extra-work turns fail. Source/read coverage and workflow outcome are
separate: missing read provenance leaves the candidate/baseline pair
uncomparable even if work succeeds. Baseline bundles and coder examples derive
from their own source revision, without requiring candidate wording or length.
The explicit-only `context-integrity` Product E2E suite covers ordered public
comment continuation and explicit invocation of an assigned pinned skill across
the seven selected legacy/native local profiles. Select it by suite or exact
execution ID because `--all` excludes explicit-only suites. Each cell applies a
1,000-cent company and agent budget hard stop before task creation and records
both limits in its evidence.
The explicit-only [stock-harness suite](../tests/runner-e2e/STOCK-HARNESS.md)
reuses skill, ordered-continuation, and chat-restart journeys across eight local
legacy/native profiles with production-default hires. It closes the custom QA
manual coverage gap. Its required credential-free prerequisite maps vendor
instruction layering, the tiny hire bundle, and shared startup/resume reductions
to executable checks. The 24 live cells are configured; no live qualification is
claimed from their setup or unit calibration.
The explicit-only `agent-chat-stories` suite covers the experimental settings
lifecycle for a configured native agent and follow-ups during active work. Its
fixture-driven file wait and persisted-plan oracle are documented in the
[Product E2E guide](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md). It does not qualify the native
onboarding wizard or change the native API-tool rollout defaults.
The explicit-only `grok-qualification` and `grok-subscription-qualification`
Product suites exercise Grok Build with API and company subscription
authentication respectively. Keep their results separate; the subscription
fixture seeds an explicitly supplied login and does not qualify interactive
login. See the [Grok fixture contract](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#grok-build-qualification).
The explicit [Direct blocker guidance suite](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#direct-blocker-guidance)
checks the legacy coordination skill against human authority, missing hiring
permission, and requester scope decisions through saved browser interactions.
## Validation ladder
The native Codex Daytona `recover-controller` cell in Everyday Workflows
requires active process and lease continuity, native receipt continuity and
workspace finalization. See the [restart evidence contract](../tests/runner-e2e/EVERYDAY-WORKFLOWS.md).
Catalog discovery and deterministic calibration do not establish live recovery.
The explicit-only [public MCP suite](../tests/runner-e2e/PUBLIC-MCP.md) evaluates
paid assistant delegation, later retrieval, feedback, review, uncertain retries
and permission boundaries. It uses the Product E2E fixtures, launcher, evidence
packaging and dashboard, with separate external-assistant and team-worker billing.
The [2026-10-01 results](plans/2026-10-01-public-mcp-paid-eval-results.md) retain
two complete model matrices, provenance, costs and the earlier failure history.
Start with credential-free checks and a catalog listing. For Product E2E:
```sh
pnpm test:e2e:runner:typecheck
pnpm test:e2e:runner:unit
pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --list
```
For one explicitly selected local cell, configure only the credentials named
by that cell in `.env.runner-e2e.local`, then run a narrow ID:
```sh
pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --id core-compatibility.runner-codex.local.message-marker
```
Use the selectors documented in the [runner E2E README](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md)
for a suite, profile, case, group, or environment. Daytona needs the immutable
image digest and `DAYTONA_API_KEY`; follow the README and fixture security guide.
`--all` excludes manual suites such as `everyday-workflows`. Select that suite
explicitly; use a narrow selector while developing a fixture.
For Runner Evals, the narrowest useful local validation is the report program's
help/validation path and the deterministic Runner checks documented in
[`runner-workflow-evals.md`](../packages/paperclip-runner/docs/runner-workflow-evals.md).
Hosted direct live runs must use the default-branch workflow, an exact 40
character `evals_sha`, an explicitly selected roster (or the maintained
enabled `all` campaign), and the protected paid environment. The complete
hosted command is intentionally kept in the workflow and
[direct live protocol guide](../packages/paperclip-runner/docs/runner-protocol-live-evals.md).
Live provider runs can spend money; use the existing workflow authorization and
the user's stated scope when selecting them.
## Failure taxonomy
Record the primary failure class and preserve the evidence that supports it.
- **Product failure:** evidence shows Paperclip or Runner behavior violates the
authored case or a hard invariant, such as wrong task state, missing approval
gate, lost persistence, bad artifact, or incorrect protocol operation.
- **Model/provider behavior failure:** the provider turn completed with usable
evidence but the model gave the wrong answer, ignored an interaction, failed
to complete the authored operation, or violated a semantic assertion. It is
scored as behavior, not silently retried as infrastructure.
- **Grading/evidence failure:** the case or matcher cannot establish its claim,
a required recording/screenshot/result is malformed, or the report contract
is invalid. Fix the harness or grader before interpreting the score.
- **Infrastructure failure:** the evidence points to provider/profile
unavailability, transport admission failure, service startup failure, a
missing credential/image, or inability to produce usable evidence. Startup,
transport, and timeout symptoms can instead be product defects when evidence
implicates Paperclip or Runner; classify from the observed failure and
supported cause, rather than the symptom name alone. Preserve the artifact.
Missing usage or price data means unknown, not free. Keep provider-reported
costs separate from estimates, and include retry costs when available.
Latency, cleanup, billing coverage, and unpriced usage are dimensions of the
result and should remain visible alongside the primary class. A timeout after
successful product state reads can be a product behavior failure; a failed
server-health read may be infrastructure, but inspect its cause. Use the
family-specific classifier and read the attempt evidence before changing an
analytical label.
## Evidence, provenance, and history
Polling latency is an interval rather than an exact first-detection time. The
[Product E2E timing contract](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#latency-observation-bounds)
keeps last-absent/first-present bounds, resolution, strict or inclusive targets,
and pass/fail/inconclusive timing verdicts alongside the unchanged workflow grade.
Retained result snapshots and dated measurement reports belong in
`paperclip-evals`; application tests, Product E2E fixtures/graders, and executable
scenario inventories remain in this repository. Keep a compact results index
with immutable archive links and public report links, as in the
[lifecycle baseline](../tests/lifecycle-baseline/README.md#recorded-results-moved-to-paperclip-evals).
The private archive is not a dependency of app test execution. Keep large logs,
traces, and videos in the existing campaign artifact storage.
An Evalbook report is a presentation of immutable attempt records, not the
source of truth. Keep the campaign ID, Paperclip commit, `paperclip-evals`
commit, catalog/roster or definition fingerprint, model/profile, environment,
grader version, selected cells, retries, and provider/runtime usage with the
report. Public projections follow each family's reviewed allowlist and may
include sanitized fixture conversation, named tool outcomes, screenshots, and
structured evidence intended for public history. Credentials, secrets, private
data, raw unredacted records, and hidden reasoning stay out of public
projections.
Distinguish a complete campaign from a partial campaign. A narrow selector,
manual diagnostic, missing cell, or infrastructure retry can be useful evidence
without being a qualification run. History should retain both, with explicit
coverage and completeness, while trend and latest-green views compare only
compatible complete campaigns. Refreshing an existing report from retained
evidence has zero provider calls and is a new presentation of the old
measurement, not a new model run.
Product E2E test details and screenshot galleries show the recorded application
URL when it is available. The worker environment, such as Daytona, does not
imply an application URL. Public projections can retain the reviewed URL in
`targetUrl`. Test details put recorded checks first and keep raw usage, timing,
and startup evidence under Diagnostics. Optional `presentation` metadata in a
retained campaign supplies its title, description, notes, and evidence links
inside the shared report shell when the dashboard is regenerated.
Standard runner Product E2E attempts also retain a sanitized `taskChat` recording
for Test details: task briefs, complete saved messages, requests and answers,
and native agent progress. Related task threads are separate; incomplete capture
is labeled. This automatic capture runs before teardown on success and failure.
See the [Product E2E evidence contract](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#evidence-and-cleanup).
Existing public histories are available at
[Runner protocol history](https://d1p6rlowie26tp.cloudfront.net/runner-protocol-evals/index.html)
and [Runner Product E2E history](https://d1p6rlowie26tp.cloudfront.net/runner-e2e/).
The consolidated eval hub is at
[pages.paperclip.ing/evals](https://pages.paperclip.ing/evals/).
For a repeatable workflow, use the matching skill: [paperclip-evals](../.agents/skills/paperclip-evals/SKILL.md),
[add-runner-eval](../.agents/skills/add-runner-eval/SKILL.md), or
[add-product-e2e-eval](../.agents/skills/add-product-e2e-eval/SKILL.md).
## Diagnose failures before buying another campaign
Use this loop to turn eval failures into product improvements. The unit of work
is a broken user outcome or invariant, not an individual red cell.
1. **Freeze the evidence.** Record the inspected application revision and each
campaign's evaluated revision, definition/grader fingerprint, model/profile,
environment, exact selected IDs, attempts, and usage coverage. Read the
history feed and retained attempt records before launching models. A report
refresh, skipped workflow, passing unit suite, or old-definition green cell
is not a new live measurement. Inventory explicit-only suites separately
from `--all`.
2. **Reconstruct the failed boundary.** Read durable task state, interactions,
event chronology, source/worker identity, delivered output, and the failing
assertion. State whether the test reached the boundary it claims to test.
Separate observed failure, machine class, analytical cause, and confidence.
A cancelled queued wake does not by itself prove lost work; a failed decline
assertion does not prove unauthorized execution. A saved artifact does not
prove the user received a correct completion update.
3. **Group by cause and product contract.** Join cells only when their evidence
supports the same mechanism. Check for already-merged fixes and definition
corrections before proposing new work. Keep product defects, provider/model
behavior, grading defects, infrastructure, and unexercised boundaries
distinct. Preserve the original grades when attribution changes.
4. **Design the smallest general correction.** Name the desired user behavior,
the authoritative state/transaction or provider boundary that owns it, the
affected callers, and the existing guarantees that must survive. Check it
against `PRODUCT.md` and `SPEC-implementation.md`. A change to an intentional
product rule is a contract change, not an excuse to delete its guard. Avoid
case-name branches, phrase-specific prompts, unconditional retries, or
weakening approval, ownership, cancellation, and budget gates to get green.
5. **Prove the mechanism cheaply.** Calibrate a grader against correct and
plausible wrong retained evidence. Reproduce a product race with scripted
providers or service tests. Pair every proposed fix with a regression that
exercises the opposite boundary (for example, eligible delivery versus
revoked access, benign obsolete wake versus interrupted active work).
Presentation-only changes use the existing report refresh path and make no
provider calls; do not claim replay can prove changed runtime behavior.
6. **Select a bounded live confirmation.** Write the exact failed representative
IDs and only the passing controls affected by the change. Pin the source,
definitions, models, and remote image. Record an attempt cap, provider and
compute budget, wall-clock deadline, and concurrency before dispatch under
the existing live-run authorization. Missing pricing means unknown, not free.
Do not rerun unaffected green cells during diagnosis or retry usable behavior
failures until they happen to pass. Preserve every attempt. Expand to a
compatible qualification campaign only after the causal fix passes.
7. **Close with evidence and remaining scope.** Report original versus new
measurements, exact selected coverage, regression results, cost coverage,
and unresolved boundaries. A partial verification may close one defect; it
cannot turn the full catalog green or establish reliability from one attempt.
Keep one triage record per cause with: affected cell IDs; evidence links;
observed failure; supported cause and confidence; existing fix/revision; proposed
product contract; invariant regressions; next exact live selection; budget and
stop condition; owner; and disposition. Useful dispositions include confirmed
product defect, model behavior, grader correction, infrastructure repair,
fixed-but-not-remeasured, historical pass, and unqualified coverage.
Parallelize independent artifact inventory, deterministic checks, and isolated
cells. Keep a cell's dependent turns ordered. When delegating, use inexpensive
agents for bounded extraction, catalog reconciliation, and test execution; keep
causal attribution, product design, and final review with the lead. Begin local
browser campaigns at the documented conservative concurrency and increase only
with measured host headroom. Hosted fanout must respect the workflow's provider
and fleet caps; more simultaneous timeouts do not improve wall-clock efficiency.
Current tools support exact-ID selection and retained-evidence report refresh,
but not an automatic cause-aware "rerun unresolved failures" planner. Build an
explicit selection manifest rather than treating `--all` as that planner. Review
the launcher's automatic retry policy when budgeting; Product E2E may create one
fresh attempt for a retryable failure.
## Install the authoring skills
The reviewable sources live in this repository's `.agents/skills`. For a
multi-repository workspace, install the three skills at
`~/paperclipai/.agents/skills` (not `~/paperclipai/skills`). From the Paperclip
checkout, run:
```sh
for skill in paperclip-evals add-runner-eval add-product-e2e-eval; do
install -d "$HOME/paperclipai/.agents/skills/$skill"
install -m 644 ".agents/skills/$skill/SKILL.md" \
"$HOME/paperclipai/.agents/skills/$skill/SKILL.md"
done
```
This replaces only the three named skill entrypoints. Run it again after
updating their tracked sources. Each skill locates the repository independently
of its installation directory.
## Maintain the public hub
The hub is a static directory with two links to the existing history systems.
It displays a dated snapshot, not a live scoreboard. It does not run models,
create another result archive, or change the existing campaign URLs.
Build from the public history feeds and check its summary logic:
```sh
python3 -m unittest discover -s scripts/evals-hub -p 'test_*.py'
python3 scripts/evals-hub/build.py --output .paperclip/evals-hub
```
The hub checks need Python 3 and do not call model providers.
For offline checks, pass `--history-dir <directory>` containing
`runner-protocol-evals-history.json` and `runner-e2e-history.json`.
For a pre-merge preview, pass `--docs-ref <branch-or-sha>` to link the guide
at that revision. The default guide link uses `master`.
Publish with the [Paperclip page helper](../.agents/skills/paperclip-page/SKILL.md)
and the configured page-uploader credentials. Use Bash 4 or newer; macOS's
system Bash 3 cannot run this helper. On macOS with Homebrew Bash installed,
put `$(brew --prefix bash)/bin` first in `PATH` before these commands:
```sh
export PAPERCLIP_PAGE_BUCKET=pages.paperclip.ing
export PAPERCLIP_PAGE_BASE_URL=https://pages.paperclip.ing
export AWS_REGION=us-east-1
bash .agents/skills/paperclip-page/scripts/publish.sh .paperclip/evals-hub --slug evals --dry-run
bash .agents/skills/paperclip-page/scripts/publish.sh .paperclip/evals-hub --slug evals
```
For later refreshes, rebuild in the same output directory and publish with
`--update`. Keep its ignored `.paperclip-page/state.json` ownership record;
without that record, the helper will refuse to overwrite an existing prefix.
Verify the public page and its links after publication. This manual refresh
does not add a scheduled workflow. Preserve the measurement date when choosing
a newer rendering of the same campaign.
Remaining native chat boundaries are in the explicit-only
`agent-chat-qualification` suite: active task reassignment, user Retry after
verified worker process loss, and multi-turn answers grounded in actual task
records. See the [workflow and qualification limits](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#remaining-native-agent-chat-qualification).
The 26 native `first-task` cells inspect the production wizard's saved native
default on qualified targets, without an API runner switch. The 26 Legacy cells
select Legacy explicitly in Advanced. Live results and semantic answer reviews must accompany
any qualification claim; catalog presence alone is not a pass.
The explicit-only [native question/resume qualification](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#task-continuation)
separates a completed two-answer user journey from semantic-tool documentation
qualification. It verifies the exact provider-pause or native response-wake
binding for each answer and preserves prior grades when the definition changes.
## Lifecycle behavior baseline
The credential-free [lifecycle baseline](../tests/lifecycle-baseline/README.md)
joins unit, scripted-runner, and database integration assertions to a scenario
inventory before changing narrative-based lifecycle policy. Run
`pnpm test:lifecycle-baseline` to retain current passes and failures. Its Product
E2E matcher calibration is separate from live execution; unrun live coverage
remains explicitly unmeasured.
The separate [live lifecycle baseline](../tests/runner-e2e/LIFECYCLE-BASELINE.md)
defines 46 real-provider Product E2E cells, including paired narrative probes and
named existing controls on legacy and native Codex. Discover it with
`pnpm test:e2e:runner -- --list --suite lifecycle-baseline`. Historical execution
results and follow-up coverage are recorded in that suite's guide.
Continuation accounting has an explicit-only eight-cell Product E2E [baseline suite](../tests/runner-e2e/CONTINUATION-ACCOUNTING.md), complementing the deterministic lifecycle inventory.
The explicit Product E2E `instruction-persistence` suite verifies private file
edits, nested and binary agent files, stopped-provider directory saves, server restart, and a fresh task's
downloaded proof on local native/legacy Codex and native Daytona. See the
[Product E2E runbook](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md).
The explicit-only Product E2E `api-response-reading` suite verifies retrieval of
large saved API responses on local and Daytona native Codex runs. See the
[Runner E2E guide](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#bounded-api-response-reading).
The explicit-only Product E2E `extended-harnesses` suite covers pending Cursor,
Copilot and Pi ACP profiles on local and Daytona. See the
[fixture admission, credentials and budget contract](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#extended-acp-harnesses-explicit-only).
The private Runner Evals campaign of the same name provides complementary
semantic protocol cases; catalog membership is not live qualification.
The explicit local [Copilot protection fixtures](../tests/runner-e2e/FIXTURES.md#copilot-native-protection)
exercise native permission denial with operator cancellation and bounded attached
command settlement. Their registration remains separate from paid qualification;
source/pack provenance and complete persisted evidence are required.
The explicit-only Product E2E `confirmation-replies` suite tests conversational
approval and rejection, persisted message provenance, approval before execution,
ambiguous proposals, and the existing card-click path with native Claude/Codex.
See the [suite contract](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#conversational-confirmation-replies-explicit-only).
Hiring notification accounting now also requires exact completed action attribution. Missing native/provider ID mapping is uncomparable evidence; it must not be reported as a model task regression or waived through name/order matching. The fixture waits for both known completion callbacks and settled bracketed observations, including the gap before pending outbox work becomes a wake. Strict action replay and original machine verdicts are retained separately.
The explicit-only [planning guidance utility comparison](../tests/runner-e2e/PLAN-TASK-GUIDANCE.md) measures task decomposition and handoffs with current, short, and disabled skills.
The explicit-only [task-workspaces Product E2E suite](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#projectless-task-workspaces-explicit-only)
covers projectless task files, deferred repository acquisition, controller restart
and nested Git/dirty-file persistence on legacy local, native local and native
Daytona OpenCode. Its three configured cells use independent filesystem, public
API and download oracles; no live qualification is implied by fixture registration.
The explicit-only [feedback persistence case](../tests/runner-e2e/README.md#feedback-persistence-explicit-only)
checks real native complaint/suggestion submissions and retained bodies with
run-attributed tool receipts on local and Daytona execution. Its four native
Claude/Codex cells are explicit-only. Remote registrations remain unqualified
until retained live attempts prove them. It uses the normal Product E2E report
and keeps synthetic feedback distinct from actionable product findings.