Files
PaperClipAI/feature-map/onboarding.md
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DottaandPaperclip cc88b61c09 feat: add portable verification skills and refresh the feature map (#15983)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Contributors use the feature map to select verification recipes.
> - The repository needs separate skills to create a verifier, maintain
recipes, and run checks.
> - Shared recipes must match current routes, controls, and
prerequisites.
> - This pull request adds portable verification skills and updates the
existing map.
> - The benefit is a repeatable verification workflow with clear
ownership and evidence limits.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

Refs: #15288, which added the existing feature map. The related test
cleanup in #15978 changes test ownership; this PR changes skill
instructions and recipes.

**Issue type**

Missing documentation and outdated verification instructions.

**Where is the issue?**

The project-local skills in `.agents/skills/` and the recipes in
`feature-map/`.

**What's wrong?**

The repository lacks the portable creation and maintenance skills. The
verifier mixes live verification with map editing. Some recipes describe
old controls or omit required flags, identities, and provider setup.

**Suggested fix**

Import the skills and their complete references from Paperclip's pstack
fork. Keep the existing map in its current directory. Let the verifier
read recipes and report drift. Let the maintenance skill update the map.

## What Changed

- Add `create-verification-skill` and `maintain-verification-skill` from
the portable fork of Poteto's pstack. Include invocation policies, all
feature-map examples, self-contained attribution notices and the full
MIT license in each skill folder.
- Use the existing `feature-map/` directory and Poteto's recipe format.
Omit the fork's separate runtime skill and runtime-skill dependencies
because Paperclip supplies execution.
- Add `verify-paperclip` with executable launch, readiness, onboarding,
and cleanup helpers. Use isolated temporary data and separate evidence
directories.
- Make `verify-paperclip` consume the map and report recipe drift. Give
map editing to `maintain-verification-skill`.
- Review all 35 feature files and correct 30 recipes. Clarify routes,
flags, current controls, persistence scope, and the limits of linked
tests.
- Remove the unrelated Conference Room flag change from the onboarding
smoke helper.
- Add a standard-library ownership test. It proves that doctor and stop
reject a foreign checkout without stopping its live server. A
delayed-exit fixture also proves cleanup waits for runtime exit.
- Keep audit screenshots and scratch reports outside the repository. No
product code, migrations, lockfile, or workflow changes.

## Verification

- Passed after rebase: metadata validation for all three skills, Python
syntax and executable checks, JavaScript syntax, 35-entry map/index
consistency, relative links, license preservation, and `git diff
--check`.
- Ran one isolated live audit before rebase. Checked task persistence,
document upload/download bytes, goal hierarchy, project edits, search,
local process Agent Chat, question replies, queued-message discard/stop,
and a harmless loopback MCP call.
- Checked local settings and draft flows. Synthetic cost events reached
a small budget limit and paused the test agent. These checks do not
prove external model quality or provider billing.
- Checked cleanup of the audit server, database, local MCP fixture, and
workspace service inventory.
- Passed: `pnpm -r typecheck`.
- Greptile: 5/5 on commit `4344ac4df7`. The cleanup finding is fixed and
its review thread is resolved. A fresh review is pending for the notice
relocation.
- Passed: `python3 -m unittest discover -s
.agents/skills/verify-paperclip/tests -v`. Both tests pass: the foreign
fixture stayed alive after rejection, and owned cleanup waited for
delayed runtime exit.
- Passed: `pnpm build`.
- All GitHub CI checks were green on commit `4344ac4df7`. The cloud-auth
browser shard passed after one retry for a disposed mocked API response.
The notice relocation passed skill metadata, relative-link, and
license-preservation checks; fresh CI/review is pending.
- The full local `pnpm test:run` did not complete. It was interrupted
after nearly 30 minutes once the complete CI suite passed on the same
commit. Exit code: 130. The new helper safety tests passed locally. The
local full-suite checklist item stays unchecked.
- Full live coverage is incomplete. Authenticated multi-user checks and
external provider journeys need their own identities, credentials, and
targets.
- The corrected onboarding helper could not be re-tested after removing
the flag mutation. Two fresh launches failed before server startup.
Direct PostgreSQL initialization reported exhausted shared-memory IDs or
limits. The host had free disk space. No host-wide limits or unrelated
instances were changed.

## Risks

- Recipe drift can return as the UI changes. The map records
verification scope, not proof of a passed journey.
- The new helpers assume a source checkout with installed dependencies,
Python, Node, and `lsof`. The onboarding helper also needs Playwright.
- The local audit found observations that need separate investigation:
an action test returned fixture data while the connection control showed
Off and native profiles existed; a failed status-card setup task left
the card showing Setting up. Workspace service start also did not reach
a running state. This PR does not change product behavior or redefine
those outcomes as success.
- The main audit trace did not finalize during browser shutdown.
Screenshots, text captures, and iteration results were retained.
- Live evidence was captured before rebase. The onboarding helper
re-test and full provider/auth qualification remain incomplete.

## Model Used

OpenAI GPT-6 through Codex assisted with this change. The session does
not expose the exact serving model ID, configured context-window size,
or reasoning setting. Capabilities used: source analysis, read-only
source subagents, file edits, shell commands, and browser automation.

## 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
- [ ] 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

---------

Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
2026-10-12 13:31:44 -05:00

3.5 KiB

Onboarding and first work

An operator can start an instance, create a company, configure its first agent, and reach a real first task. Instance setup and company onboarding are separate steps.

Implementation: web wizard, CLI setup.

Sub-features

  • instance: choose local instance configuration and start the server.
  • company: create a company with its identity and initial agent.
  • adapter: choose an available harness, model, account, and execution environment.
  • first-task: leave setup with a task whose execution or missing prerequisite is visible.
  • resume: return to an incomplete wizard without losing saved state.

How to get to it (user POV)

web-wizard

Open /onboarding or the onboarding launcher in an empty company context. Use /<company-prefix>/onboarding to resume an existing company's agent setup; the unprefixed route starts at organization naming on self-hosted instances. Cloud-managed instances reuse their existing company for agent setup.

cli-setup

Use paperclipai onboard --help or paperclipai run --help to select an isolated data directory before setup.

Driving it with Playwright and the Paperclip CLI

Preconditions: follow the baseline. Use a new isolated data directory and record deployment mode. A configured adapter may still need account authentication.

web-wizard

Automated: wizard tests cover mocked wizard behavior; onboarding browser suite supplies its own test environment. Live model execution is a separate check.

  • Create company and resume. Start a fresh empty instance and run doctor using the verification skill. Run node .agents/skills/verify-paperclip/scripts/onboarding-smoke.mjs --evidence-dir "$VERIFY_EVIDENCE_DIR". The helper opens /onboarding in a fresh self-hosted instance, enters a unique name in e.g. Northwind Labs, and chooses Continue. The agent-name field must appear and the saved company must have no invented goal. Reopen the company-prefixed onboarding route and reload; the agent step must appear without creating another company. Screenshots and a trace capture the real UI action and result. This proves company creation/resumption, not hiring or a first model run.

Manual: Create a disposable company and first agent. Leave midway, reopen the company's onboarding route, and finish; drafts save automatically. Follow the created first task, verify the selected agent and company, and inspect its output or explicit authentication gate. Reload both company and task.

cli-setup

Automated: CLI onboarding and isolated test drive cover their setup contracts; they do not establish that every model account is usable.

Manual: Run setup in the disposable directory, open the URL it prints, and confirm the instance identity and company. Restart using that same configuration and verify saved state. Exercise an unavailable adapter and confirm an actionable error.

Gotchas

  • An empty company, an empty instance, and an unauthenticated browser are different states.
  • Creating an agent does not prove its provider login or first execution succeeded.
  • See access for authenticated deployments and agents for later hiring.