## Thinking Path > - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for work. > - Slack connections let people start and continue agent tasks. > - The Require at-mention setting currently applies to channels and direct messages. > - A person who sends a direct message has already selected the agent. > - This pull request exempts direct messages from mention checks, including queued work. > - People can talk normally in DMs while channel messages keep the configured mention rule. ## Linked Issues or Issue Description Refs #15612, which introduced the Require at-mention setting. Searches found no duplicate PR for the DM exemption. **What happened?** With Require at-mention enabled, a plain Slack DM does not start or continue agent work. New Slack connections enable the setting by default. **Expected behavior** Direct messages do not need an at-mention. Top-level DM replies remain top-level. Channel messages and channel thread replies still follow the saved mention setting. **Steps to reproduce** 1. Enable Allow direct messages and Require at-mention on a Slack connection. 2. Send a plain DM from an authorized sender. 3. Confirm the agent responds without an at-mention. Send a plain follow-up and confirm it also works. 4. Confirm unmentioned channel messages remain filtered when Require at-mention is enabled. 5. Disable Allow direct messages and confirm new DMs remain blocked. **Paperclip version or commit** Source baseline: `eb06c9fedd`. **Deployment mode** Built from source. Automated tests use disposable local Postgres and provider fixtures. This change has not been deployed or retested in live Slack. ## What Changed - Exempt DMs at inbound admission, task mutation, work authorization, and heartbeat queue claim. - Keep channel mention checks and all existing sender, endpoint, and destination checks. - Update regressions for new connections, follow-ups, deferred delivery, and coalesced queued messages. - Clarify the Slack settings copy, connection documentation, and verification maps. - Refresh the affected Storybook review references after source inspection. ## Verification - Passed 55 Slack and durable scheduler tests with Vitest on the current rebased commit, including admission through the extracted inbound module. - Passed `pnpm -r typecheck` and `pnpm build` on the rebased PR commit. - Passed token gates and map checks. - Passed Storybook catalog validation after rebase: 223 files and 2,210 stories. - Full local `pnpm test:run` was stopped before completion after three failures in the unchanged tool-access suite. All 418 tests in that suite passed in a standalone rerun. The focused regressions passed; full GitHub CI remains the merge gate. - Greptile reviewed commit `b0293fa6571403c5e01c30bb7b5fcc5e91b88c97`: 5/5, with no findings or unresolved review threads. All 55 GitHub checks passed on this commit; two optional Storybook jobs were skipped. - No live Slack messages were sent during implementation verification. ## Risks Existing Slack connections now accept authorized plain DMs even when Require at-mention is enabled. Allow direct messages and sender authorization still apply. Queued DM work follows the same exemption. Channel behavior and DM reply routing are unchanged. No schema or migration change is required. ## Model Used OpenAI GPT-6, running as Codex, with reasoning, tool use, and code execution. The runtime does not expose a more specific model ID 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 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>
6.2 KiB
External chat and email conversations — agent access
Product map: External chat and email conversations.
Review date: 2026-10-12. Source commit: 58e16dbddfc9c8d0cf60867f9d9847f0feda055b.
Native REST transport reconciled in this change; see the
shared transport contract.
This is a source-reviewed baseline of representative operations and known gaps. Each capability needs operation-level review before its entire scope can be qualified. No live agent execution is claimed. Follow the map contract for format, permission checks, evidence and maintenance.
providers
Review: baseline.
API: present — representative operation IDs:
POST /api/companies/{companyId}/chat-endpoints.
Agent access: restricted — Board setup APIs; native connection request can ask for
setup.
Policy: Endpoint management/identity linking requires a board user; delivery is server-owned and agent tools use scoped assignments.
Evidence: source-only — implementation
at the reviewed commit above.
Verification: not-run — assert the documented agent denial with an owned test fixture;
verify any listed agent request/result path separately. A delegated operation needs its
own policy and access review.
Gaps: Provider installation and account enrollment are not available to an ordinary agent actor.
identity
Review: baseline.
API: present — representative operation IDs:
POST /api/chat-identity-links/confirm.
Agent access: restricted — Human identity-link flow.
Policy: Endpoint management/identity linking requires a board user; delivery is server-owned and agent tools use scoped assignments.
Evidence: source-only — implementation
at the reviewed commit above.
Verification: not-run — assert the documented agent denial with an owned test fixture;
verify any listed agent request/result path separately. A delegated operation needs its
own policy and access review.
Gaps: Identity linking requires a signed-in board user, rollout admission and
provider checks at the HTTP route. Native call_api preserves these permissions.
conversation
Review: baseline.
API: present — representative operation IDs:
POST /api/chat-endpoints/{endpointId}/conversations/{conversationId}/publications.
Agent access: partial — Assigned-agent reply pipeline; native completion; provider
tools where assigned.
Policy: Endpoint management/identity linking requires a board user; delivery is server-owned and agent tools use scoped assignments.
Evidence: source-only — implementation
at the reviewed commit above.
Verification: not-run — exercise a listed permitted operation with actual agent
credentials/run context; inspect its result and applicable persistence/attribution.
Assert the relevant denied actor, owner, company or mode from Policy. Review the
remaining operations before qualifying the whole capability.
Gaps: Normal agent replies work through server delivery. Explicit endpoint publication APIs are board management paths.
Slack's Require at-mention policy applies to channel messages and channel thread replies, including queued work. DMs are exempt from mention checks; endpoint availability, Allow direct messages, and sender authorization still apply. Top-level DM replies retain their linear conversation destination. Source: admission and queued run policy. Live Slack verification of this exemption remains separate from provider-fixture coverage.
New conversations resolve typed project/workspace defaults from their endpoint and destination under the task-creation transaction. Defaults do not authorize private sources: admission checks the linked user's authority and assigned agent. An existing conversation keeps its task binding. See creation service and defaults contract.
attachments
Review: baseline.
API: present — representative operation IDs:
GET /api/issues/{id}/attachments.POST /api/companies/{companyId}/issues/{issueId}/attachments.
Agent access: partial — Native register_deliverable / attachment tools when admitted;
agent REST; server-owned delivery.
Policy: Endpoint management/identity linking requires a board user; delivery is server-owned and agent tools use scoped assignments.
Evidence: source-only — implementation
at the reviewed commit above.
Verification: not-run — exercise a listed permitted operation with actual agent
credentials/run context; inspect its result and applicable persistence/attribution.
Assert the relevant denied actor, owner, company or mode from Policy. Review the
remaining operations before qualifying the whole capability.
Gaps: Uploading/registering is supported. Provider delivery status and board replay are separate operations.
lifecycle
Review: baseline.
API: present — representative operation IDs:
GET /api/chat-endpoints/{endpointId}/activity.PATCH /api/chat-endpoints/{endpointId}.PUT /api/chat-endpoints/{endpointId}/resourcesconfigures destination defaults.
Agent access: restricted — Board lifecycle APIs; agent requests repair when blocked.
Policy: Endpoint management/identity linking requires a board user; delivery is server-owned and agent tools use scoped assignments.
Evidence: source-only — implementation
at the reviewed commit above.
Verification: not-run — assert the documented agent denial with an owned test fixture;
verify any listed agent request/result path separately. A delegated operation needs its
own policy and access review.
Gaps: Activity/repair/replay/disable use board endpoint access, not the agent's ability to reply.
Endpoint/destination execution defaults use the same board-only management boundary. Agents select an authorized workspace for their current task through the workspace APIs, rather than editing channel configuration.