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PaperClipAI/maps/agent-access-map/skills.md
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DottaandPaperclip 4970d5ed3d fix(skills): unblock agent attachment and preserve Latest selections (#16899)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Operators attach company skills to agents from the skill library.
> - Attachment first reads the agent's skill snapshot to preserve other
assignments.
> - That read materialized and validated repository files for the entire
library, even in read-only mode.
> - The response also treated resolved runtime versions as stored pins.
Saving could then fail with beta pins disabled.
> - This pull request makes version-cache inspection lightweight and
returns the stored assignment choices.
> - The benefit is a responsive attachment flow that preserves Latest
and explicit pins.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

**What happened?**

Adding a repository skill to an agent could stall before the save
request. The prerequisite snapshot read projected or checked every file
in every installed repository skill. Once it returned, an existing
Latest assignment could become a version pin in the save payload. The
server then rejected that save when beta skill pins were disabled.

**Expected behavior**

Reading assignments must not prepare all repository snapshots for
execution. Adding a skill must preserve the other assignments and their
Latest or pinned choices.

**Steps to reproduce**

1. Install repository-backed skills with stored immutable versions and
cold disk caches.
2. Assign one repository skill to a Claude agent with Latest selected.
Leave beta skill pins disabled.
3. Open another skill, select Add to agent, choose the same agent, and
save.
4. Observe the expensive prerequisite read and the beta-pin rejection
after that read completes.

**Paperclip version or commit**

Reproduced from master at `ac9459bae3329395f10bc81c638a374eef152baa`.

**Deployment mode**

Observed in hosted staging. Reproduced with a disposable local instance,
embedded PostgreSQL, and the Claude local adapter on macOS arm64 with
Node 26.4.0.

Related: https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/9995 adds a
separate read-only assignment endpoint for peer-agent access. This fix
keeps the existing configuration-gated snapshot and its permissions.

## What Changed

- Respect read-only listing for current and pinned version caches. Check
directory and entrypoint safety without projecting repository contents,
reading all support files, or updating cache access records.
- Keep complete snapshot restoration and byte validation at run
preparation. Missing caches are restored from stored data. Corrupted
files are repaired there.
- Return stored assignment version choices in both list and sync
responses. Keep runtime version details in the snapshot entries.
- Add database-backed regressions for cold and warm reads, pinned
versions, execution repair, and unsafe entrypoints. Add HTTP regressions
for save round trips and explicit pins.
- Update developer documentation and verification recipes.

## Verification

- Red: both latest and pinned read-only cache regressions failed on the
original code. The original code created caches during listing.
- Red: the HTTP save-roundtrip regression returned 400 with the beta-pin
error. The explicit-pin regression also failed.
- Green: the updated API and cache suites passed all 145 tests. The
three related company-skill service suites also passed.
- Real browser: attached a repository skill to a paused test agent with
another repository skill already set to Latest and beta pins disabled.
The success toast appeared. The skill's Agents tab retained the
assignment after reload. API reads confirmed both assignments remained
unpinned and no repository version caches were created.
- Local synthetic fixture: six skills share a 606-file repository
snapshot. A cold HTTP skill-list request completed in 241 ms. This is
local evidence, not a staging latency measurement.
- Real service comparison on that fixture: the baseline cold list wrote
3,648 version/cache files. A warm baseline list read 3,642 version files
and wrote six access records (457 ms). The fixed warm list read and
wrote zero version/cache files (61 ms). Both services returned the same
16 library entries.
- `pnpm -r typecheck` passed. The final API edit also passed the server
typecheck.
- `pnpm build` passed.
- `node scripts/check-maps.mjs` and `git diff --check` passed.
- The broad `pnpm test:run` invocation reported six failures in the
untouched `tool-gateway-service.test.ts` suite. An isolated rerun passed
all 59 tests. The broad run was stopped after recording those failures,
so it is not a green full-local result. The PR CI matrix separately
passed those suites. Greptile completed on the current commit with 5/5,
zero comments, and no open threads.
- One CI shard was interrupted by runner shutdown, with no failed
assertion in its log. A single failed-job retry passed on the same
commit. The aggregate CI gate passed. All current-head PR checks are
complete with no failing or pending checks.
- This PR does not claim that the fix has been deployed to staging.

## Risks

- Settings reads check cache locations and entrypoints. They defer full
support-file validation to execution. Regression tests verify that
execution still repairs corrupt bytes and restores missing versions.
- The response now distinguishes stored pins from resolved runtime
versions. Explicit historical pins remain intact. Company,
configuration, connector, and beta-pin authorization gates keep their
existing behavior.
- No schema migration or dependency change.

## Model Used

- OpenAI GPT-6 through Codex, with reasoning, code execution, and
browser tools. The exact runtime build ID and context-window size are
not exposed in this session.

## 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>
2026-10-19 16:33:02 -05:00

11 KiB

Skill discovery, authoring, and policy — agent access

Product map: Skill discovery, authoring, and policy.

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.

discovery

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • GET /api/companies/{companyId}/skills.
  • POST /api/companies/{companyId}/skills/import.

Agent access: available — REST / native call_api / CLI skills and sources. Queue and HTTP/2 sandbox callbacks also admit company skill detail and file reads; file paths travel in the existing path query parameter. Skill mutations stay subject to the existing bridge restrictions.

Policy: Company skill policy by action/resource plus platform invariants; test execution additionally requires task-assignment authority.

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: Installation/import is governed by company skill policy, not inferred from an agent's role name.

authoring

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • POST /api/companies/{companyId}/skills.
  • PATCH /api/companies/{companyId}/skills/{skillId}/files.

Agent access: available — Native create_skill/update_skill for single-file operations; REST for other files/metadata.

Policy: Company skill policy by action/resource plus platform invariants; test execution additionally requires task-assignment authority.

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: Writable/fork policy and expected version apply. Native helpers intentionally support a narrower shape than full API.

versions

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • GET /api/companies/{companyId}/skills/{skillId}/versions.

Agent access: available — REST / native call_api / CLI skills.

Policy: Company skill policy by action/resource plus platform invariants; test execution additionally requires task-assignment authority.

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: Revision metadata has an API; pinned execution skill versions and installed latest are distinct.

Runtime disk-cache expiration does not delete version records or change access. Normal execution rematerializes saved bytes after existing skill authorization; cleanup is an internal company-scoped maintenance operation, with no new agent endpoint. Verify pinned restoration and active-run protection with server/src/__tests__/skill-version-cache.test.ts and the assembled heartbeat runtime-skill tests; live acceptance remains separate.

Native runs with an empty effective or saved selection do not read skill files or wait for the company cache lock. Explicit references still require the existing skill authorization. Selected skills and legacy operational skills retain cache exclusion and immutable version pinning. This changes no agent endpoint or grant; the configuration tests cover the held-lock boundary with real PostgreSQL.

Concurrent preparations share only in-flight inventory reconciliation. After that work, each actor's visible skill rows are read again under the company cache lock. Snapshot delivery and durable run pins complete before the lock is released. No permission result is shared or kept between requests. The concurrency tests cover separate actors and project-access revocation; this adds no agent API.

policy

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • PUT /api/companies/{companyId}/skill-policy.
  • POST /api/agents/{id}/skills/sync.

Agent access: partial — REST / native call_api under users:manage_permissions or target configuration policy.

Policy: Company skill policy by action/resource plus platform invariants; test execution additionally requires task-assignment authority.

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: Policy administration has an explicit agent grant branch; assigning agent skills also checks the target's config authority.

The configuration-gated GET /api/agents/{id}/skills reads repository cache locations without materializing versions or validating their support files. Assignment mutations and run preparation retain their existing authorization. The database-backed cache tests cover latest/pinned reads and full validation during execution; they do not prove live agent access. Both skill-list and skill-sync responses preserve stored version pins rather than returning a resolved runtime version as a pin. Latest remains unpinned across an assignment round trip.

testing

Review: baseline.

API: present — representative operation IDs:

  • POST /api/companies/{companyId}/skills/{skillId}/test-runs.

Agent access: available — Permitted agent REST / native call_api creation, control and history; no dedicated CLI test command found.

Policy: Company skill policy by action/resource plus platform invariants; test execution additionally requires task-assignment authority.

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: No dedicated native orchestration binding; generic REST calls retain skills.test policy, task-assignment authorization, responsible-user intersection and admitted skill-test JWT scope.

Project-source API additions: GET /api/companies/{companyId}/skill-sources/project-repositories, POST /api/companies/{companyId}/skill-sources/adopt-project with workspaceId, and PATCH /api/companies/{companyId}/skill-sources/{sourceId}/settings with expected revision and update/connection preferences. trackingRef accepts a branch or explicit ref; "HEAD" keeps default-branch tracking. GET /api/companies/{companyId}/skill-sources/{sourceId}/branches returns a bounded branch list and the default branch, with optional connectionId for connection repair. It requires source access and skills.edit, and reads only through the caller's authorized GitHub grant. Saving validates the requested ref before changing an independent source; active project bindings must be edited through their project configuration. Responses identify branch, connection, or retry repair and distinguish queued imports from imports under an active worker lease. Native API discovery uses the OpenAPI registration.

Project-derived read/use permission follows current project authorization, with access through either originating project. File/version reads, source metadata, mutations, editable copies, tests and runtime delivery retain that boundary. Unattended refresh uses the revalidated setup identity and connection, not the requesting agent's token. These additions need actual permitted/denied agent-run acceptance; service tests alone are not live credential proof.

Direct GitHub source imports share the project setup-identity boundary. API-key agents may import permitted public content, but their responsible-user field does not authorize unattended credential use. They need human connection repair for automatic refresh. Authenticated agent runs derive the setup person from the persisted active run. Legacy agent activity without a matching run cannot recover a refresh person. Route and database tests cover these distinctions; this addition makes no new live-provider acceptance claim.

Initial project imports check skills.import before provider reads; denied jobs do not retry automatically. Deferred jobs remain durable behind per-project and company admission limits. Scheduled refresh compares immutable tree identity and uses a persistent work allowance; manual refresh still requires its existing policy/access checks. These limits grant no content or execution access.

Repository import, preview, and refresh share the bounded dependency-package fallback. Missing-reference warnings do not deny an otherwise authorized import. Recovered files come only from the same immutable, authorized Git tree and pass the existing content audit; no host paths or additional credentials are consulted. Source tests cover transitive files, limits, retained versions, and legacy dependency-error recovery.

Agent repository setup preserves the active run's selected GitHub connection/grant IDs. Missing selections require human repair; the worker never searches the responsible person's other grants for an agent-created source.

Initial automatic imports reserve company work credits before provider reads. Failures retain the reservation; completed jobs cannot replenish the queue's work allowance. Jobs remain durable and resume as company credits refill.

Plugin runtime synchronization uses the agent's current skill access and immutable version resolver. A change to an installed skill invalidates its referencing agents. Private-source access changes also request reconciliation. This is a host-to-plugin hook, not a new agent-facing endpoint. See contract and database coverage.