Files
PaperClipAI/packages/plugins/sdk
Nicky LeachandPaperclip 2506bcdaf4 Admit exact stopped Runner sources under the current run lease (#19134)
## Thinking Path

> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Native execution keeps provider state and a durable controller
journal.
> - A completed process can stop before the next run attaches.
> - The current run must own recovery of that exact source.
> - An old controller must lose permission to change the consumed source
journal.
> - This pull request adds explicit source admission and protected task
dispatch.
> - The benefit is a narrow recovery boundary that preserves the
original successful result.

## Linked Issues or Issue Description

Native prerequisites #19132 and #19153 are merged into master. This PR
targets master and updates the TypeScript Runner driver contract
alongside Core and SDK admission. This change adds the SDK and Core
admission boundary. Executor selection and fresh source preparation are
a separate change. Related #17916 supplies the workspace export holds
preserved here.

## What Changed

- Plugins advertise `codexSourceRecoveryVersion: 1` for Codex App Server
and `acpxSourceRecoveryVersion: 1` for ACPX. Hosts can qualify either,
both, or neither. Core selects the matching field, because a
stopped-source check for one provider cannot establish the other
provider’s recovery guarantees. ACPX orchestration is tracked separately
in #19196. Use the existing exact source identity and `resumeFrom` under
the authenticated current run. No public recovery mode is added. Require
the claimed source, current account and prepared launch at protected
dispatch.
- Keep the first source binding pinned on the consumer lease, including
after uncertain dispatch. A newly acquired coordinator can refresh only
the same source.
- Claim one stopped successful source under the current run's acquired
native lease. Store the token-free consumer reference in existing lease
metadata. Preserve the source status and result.
- Check the exact six source identity fields, encrypted journal header,
company, task, agent, environment, driver, workspace, account selection,
and current coordinator generation. Keep workspace export and legacy
settlement holds.
- Serialize claims and checkpoint writers in the same coordinator lock
order. Reject stale source writes after consumption. Check the current
consumer before recovered source writes.
- Check source admission before and after protected worker dispatch.
Keep the request and lease owned by the current run while the native
identity remains the source.
- Allow the same owner to prepare B after a fresh source submission,
using the exact consumed-source proof instead of a generic warm-reuse
flag. Recheck that proof after dispatch.
- Preserve ordinary cached adoption and repeated preparation after
launch. The current authenticated owner can differ from the adopted PRP
identity without requesting a new source launch. Keep ordinary suspended
recovery and live task attachment checks. Extract the shared source
resolver to avoid a module cycle, and make ordinary selection honor the
same durable source consumer.

## Verification

- Current head `cac9cf188a` includes merged #19300 and the symmetric
capabilities introduced in `b7e25a64b4`. The task-owner and warm-rebind
fixtures now identify their physical task. All 29 SDK schema cases, 95
Core ownership and source-admission cases, 25 native Codex and ACPX
recovery cases, and the binary metadata check passed on this head. The
SDK and Runner builds and server typecheck passed. Both native providers
reject the other provider’s capability. GitHub CI is green and [standard
Greptile scored this commit
5/5](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/19134#issuecomment-6645574114)
with no open threads.

- Previous head `bda49271a4ae362a15baf3fe6d6d297e25fd2000` is directly
based on master after #19132 and #19153 landed. [GitHub workflow
42072192023](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/42072192023)
passed on its first attempt. All check runs completed successfully or as
intentional workflow skips; Snyk passed. Standard Greptile scored this
exact head 5/5. That review had no unresolved findings.
- Runner and SDK TypeScript builds and server typecheck passed. The
focused SDK, task-owner, task-runtime, PostgreSQL source and authority
suites passed all 161 cases. The production transport-factory getter
regression and 14 native-lane selection checks also passed.
- The Linux native lane executed the new ordinary warm A→B process case.
It kept one Runner/provider process and completed two turns on the same
thread. The eager-getter mutation fails with
`native_runner_source_attachment_pending`; preserving the live getter
passes. The production factory test changes the current owner after
transport creation and checks that same options object.
- PostgreSQL cases cover both concurrent source-writer/claim orders,
exact source submission under the current caller, source-switch denial
after uncertain dispatch, same-source coordinator refresh, stale
same-boot generation, corrupted journal headers, competing consumers,
account changes and export holds.
- The protected dispatch sequence submits A, prepares B and retries B
preparation. It rejects undispatched sources, changed accounts and
foreign target bindings. Source status and accepted result remain
unchanged.
- Ordinary adopted A preparation under current B, repeated ordinary
preparation after launch and ordinary suspended continuation retain
their existing path. Absent or false claims preserve ordinary identity
denial; malformed claims fail closed.
- Earlier development attempts exposed ordinary preparation regressions
and the live-getter omission; the final regressions cover those fixes.
The first embedded PostgreSQL attempt needed missing library aliases
repaired in ignored dependencies. Those attempts are not passing
evidence.
- Historical, superseded CI heads had unchanged UI fake-timer and
Playwright health-response-lifetime failures. Their isolated cases and
scoped retries passed. The response-lifetime cause remains unproven. No
UI/test timeout was changed. The final rebased-head workflow above
passed without a retry.
- Whitespace and added-line secret/PII scans passed. Full workspace
checks ran on GitHub. No live vendor probe or deployment was performed.

## Risks

- Any driver that used the earlier Codex TypeScript option must use
`codexSourceRecoveryVersion`. The new plugin description rejects the
generic spelling. The Launcher’s existing Codex-specific HTTP header can
map to this property when the plugin adopts the new SDK. The change
requires no journal migration or ROM change.

- This is an inactive admission foundation. Executor orchestration is
separate in #19157. Native restore integrity and provider
stopped-source/account validation must be present before executor
activation. The native prerequisite uses ordinary recovery followed by
attachment. The composed executor proofs are in #19157.
- The source claim is durable. A later controller must recover the same
consumer or keep the hold. It cannot select another source after an
ambiguous launch.
- Admission adds bounded database checks around protected startup calls.
Busy issue locks fail closed; other lock waits have a one-second bound.
- No migration, snapshot format, proactive receipt, recurring worker, or
deployment is included. Full workspace checks and platform coverage run
in CI. These tests do not prove vendor history durability or a hosted
rollout.

## Model Used

OpenAI GPT-6.1 Sol (`gpt-6.1-sol`), high reasoning, through Codex with
repository tools and code execution. The runtime does not expose a
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 on the current head
- [x] Standard Greptile is 5/5 with no unresolved findings on the
current head
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge

---------

Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
2026-11-05 12:55:06 -08:00
..

@paperclipai/plugin-sdk

Official TypeScript SDK for Paperclip plugin authors.

  • Worker SDK: @paperclipai/plugin-sdk — definePlugin, context, lifecycle
  • UI SDK: @paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui — React hooks and slot props
  • Testing: @paperclipai/plugin-sdk/testing — in-memory host harness
  • Bundlers: @paperclipai/plugin-sdk/bundlers — esbuild/rollup presets
  • Dev server: @paperclipai/plugin-sdk/dev-server — static UI server + SSE reload

Reference: doc/plugins/PLUGIN_SPEC.md

Package surface

Import Purpose
@paperclipai/plugin-sdk Worker entry: definePlugin, runWorker, context types, protocol helpers
@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui UI entry: hooks, host navigation, HTTP-safe clipboard copy, shared components, and slot prop types
@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui/hooks Hooks only
@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui/types UI types and slot prop interfaces
@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/testing createTestHarness for unit/integration tests
@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/bundlers createPluginBundlerPresets for worker/manifest/ui builds
@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/dev-server startPluginDevServer, getUiBuildSnapshot
@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/protocol JSON-RPC protocol types and helpers (advanced)
@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/types Worker context and API types (advanced)

Manifest entrypoints

In your plugin manifest you declare:

  • entrypoints.worker (required) — Path to the worker bundle (e.g. dist/worker.js). The host loads this and calls setup(ctx).
  • entrypoints.ui (required if you use UI) — Path to the UI bundle directory. The host loads components from here for slots and launchers.

Install

pnpm add @paperclipai/plugin-sdk

Current deployment caveats

The SDK is stable enough for local development and first-party examples, but the runtime deployment model is still early.

  • Plugin workers and plugin UI should both be treated as trusted code today.
  • Plugin UI bundles run as same-origin JavaScript inside the main Paperclip app. They can call ordinary Paperclip HTTP APIs with the board session, so manifest capabilities are not a frontend sandbox.
  • Local-path installs and the repo example plugins are development workflows. They assume the plugin source checkout exists on disk.
  • For deployed plugins, publish an npm package and install that package into the Paperclip instance at runtime.
  • The current host runtime expects a writable filesystem, npm available at runtime, and network access to the package registry used for plugin installation.
  • Dynamic plugin install is currently best suited to single-node persistent deployments. Multi-instance cloud deployments still need a shared artifact/distribution model before runtime installs are reliable across nodes.
  • The host ships a small shared React component kit through @paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui. Use it for native Paperclip controls; custom React and CSS are still supported.
  • ctx.assets is not part of the supported runtime in this build. Do not depend on asset upload/read APIs yet.

If you are authoring a plugin for others to deploy, treat npm-packaged installation as the supported path and treat repo-local example installs as a development convenience.

Runner ingress failures

Environment providers can throw PluginEnvironmentRunnerIngressError from onEnvironmentRunnerIngressEndpoint with a validated SDK HTTP status and one closed phase: sandbox_lookup, sandbox_start, sandbox_refresh or private_preview. The worker forwards only this closed status/phase envelope. It omits response bodies, URLs, headers and causes. The host independently validates it with readEnvironmentRunnerIngressFailure. Do not derive a status from error text. Unknown and configuration failures keep their normal errors. The envelope alone grants no retry, accounting or cleanup authority; native execution also requires its complete, current controller checkpoint proof.

Stop failures

Environment providers can throw PluginEnvironmentStopError from onEnvironmentStopLease when they cannot stop a resource that is in a provider error state. The error takes one closed reason:

  • resource_unrecoverable: the provider reports that the resource cannot recover.
  • recovery_failed: the resource is in an error state again after one recovery attempt.
  • recovery_incomplete: recovery did not finish before the stop deadline.

The worker forwards only the reason. It omits messages, provider error text and causes. The host reads it with readEnvironmentStopFailure, which derives the terminal flag from the reason. The first two reasons are terminal: another automatic attempt cannot succeed without provider or operator action. The host escalates a terminal failure at once and retries it at its slowest cleanup interval. It never abandons the pending cleanup. Other stop errors keep their normal retry behavior.

Worker quick start

import { definePlugin, runWorker } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk";

const plugin = definePlugin({
  async setup(ctx) {
    ctx.events.on("issue.created", async (event) => {
      ctx.logger.info("Issue created", { issueId: event.entityId });
    });

    ctx.data.register("health", async () => ({ status: "ok" }));
    ctx.actions.register("ping", async () => ({ pong: true }));

    ctx.tools.register("calculator", {
      displayName: "Calculator",
      description: "Basic math",
      parametersSchema: {
        type: "object",
        properties: { a: { type: "number" }, b: { type: "number" } },
        required: ["a", "b"]
      }
    }, async (params) => {
      const { a, b } = params as { a: number; b: number };
      return { content: `Result: ${a + b}`, data: { result: a + b } };
    });
  },
});

export default plugin;
runWorker(plugin, import.meta.url);

Note: runWorker(plugin, import.meta.url) must be called so that when the host runs your worker (e.g. node dist/worker.js), the RPC host starts and the process stays alive. When the file is imported (e.g. for tests), the main-module check prevents the host from starting.

Worker lifecycle and context

Lifecycle (definePlugin):

Hook Purpose
setup(ctx) Required. Called once at startup. Register event handlers, jobs, data/actions/tools, etc.
onHealth?() Optional. Return { status, message?, details? } for health dashboard.
onConfigChanged?(newConfig) Optional. Apply new config without restart; if omitted, host restarts worker.
onShutdown?() Optional. Clean up before process exit (limited time window).
onValidateConfig?(config) Optional. Return { ok, warnings?, errors? } for settings UI / Test Connection.
onWebhook?(input) Optional. Handle POST /api/plugins/:pluginId/webhooks/:endpointKey; required if webhooks declared.

Context (ctx) in setup: config, localFolders, events, jobs, launchers, http, secrets, activity, state, entities, projects, companies, issues, agents, goals, access, authorization, data, actions, streams, tools, metrics, logger, manifest. Worker-side host APIs are capability-gated; declare capabilities in the manifest.

Agents: ctx.agents.invoke(agentId, companyId, opts) for one-shot invocation. ctx.agents.sessions for two-way chat: create, list, sendMessage (with streaming onEvent callback), close. See the Plugin Authoring Guide for details.

Jobs: Declare in manifest.jobs with jobKey, displayName, schedule (cron). Register handler with ctx.jobs.register(jobKey, fn). Webhooks: Declare in manifest.webhooks with endpointKey; handle in onWebhook(input). State: ctx.state.get/set/delete(scopeKey); scope kinds: instance, company, project, project_workspace, agent, issue, goal, run.

Trusted local folders: Declare manifest.localFolders[] and the local.folders capability when a plugin needs an operator-configured company-scoped folder. Use ctx.localFolders.configure(), status(), readText(), and writeTextAtomic() instead of resolving arbitrary filesystem paths yourself. The host validates absolute roots, read/write access, required relative folders/files, traversal attempts, symlink escapes, and writes through temp-file-plus-rename atomic replacement.

Events

Subscribe in setup with ctx.events.on(name, handler) or ctx.events.on(name, filter, handler). Emit plugin-scoped events with ctx.events.emit(name, companyId, payload) (requires events.emit).

Core domain events (subscribe with events.subscribe):

Event Typical entity
company.created, company.updated company
project.created, project.updated project
project.workspace_created, project.workspace_updated, project.workspace_deleted project_workspace
issue.created, issue.updated, issue.comment.created issue
issue.document.created, issue.document.updated, issue.document.deleted issue
issue.relations.updated, issue.checked_out, issue.released, issue.assignment_wakeup_requested issue
agent.created, agent.updated, agent.status_changed agent
agent.run.started, agent.run.finished, agent.run.failed, agent.run.cancelled run
goal.created, goal.updated goal
approval.created, approval.decided approval
budget.incident.opened, budget.incident.resolved budget_incident
cost_event.created cost
activity.logged activity

Plugin-to-plugin: Subscribe to plugin.<pluginId>.<eventName> (e.g. plugin.acme.linear.sync-done). Emit with ctx.events.emit("sync-done", companyId, payload); the host namespaces it automatically.

Filter (optional): Pass a second argument to on(): { projectId?, companyId?, agentId? } so the host only delivers matching events.

Company context: Events still carry companyId for company-scoped data, but plugin installation and activation are instance-wide in the current runtime. Access and authorization host services require an active company-scoped invocation such as an event, API route, tool run, environment call, or UI bridge call; the requested companyId must match that active scope.

Scheduled (recurring) jobs

Plugins can declare scheduled jobs that the host runs on a cron schedule. Use this for recurring tasks like syncs, digest reports, or cleanup.

  1. Capability: Add jobs.schedule to manifest.capabilities.
  2. Declare jobs in manifest.jobs: each entry has jobKey, displayName, optional description, and schedule (a 5-field cron expression).
  3. Register a handler in setup() with ctx.jobs.register(jobKey, async (job) => { ... }).

Cron format (5 fields: minute, hour, day-of-month, month, day-of-week):

Field Values Example
minute 0–59 0, */15
hour 0–23 2, *
day of month 1–31 1, *
month 1–12 *
day of week 0–6 (Sun=0) *, 1-5

Examples: "0 * * * *" = every hour at minute 0; "*/5 * * * *" = every 5 minutes; "0 2 * * *" = daily at 2:00.

Job handler context (PluginJobContext):

Field Type Description
jobKey string Matches the manifest declaration.
runId string UUID for this run.
trigger "schedule" | "manual" | "retry" What caused this run.
scheduledAt string ISO 8601 time when the run was scheduled.

Runs can be triggered by the schedule, manually from the UI/API, or as a retry (when an operator re-runs a job after a failure). Re-throw from the handler to mark the run as failed; the host records the failure. The host does not automatically retry—operators can trigger another run manually from the UI or API.

Example:

Manifest — include jobs.schedule and declare the job:

// In your manifest (e.g. manifest.ts):
const manifest = {
  // ...
  capabilities: ["jobs.schedule", "plugin.state.write"],
  jobs: [
    {
      jobKey: "heartbeat",
      displayName: "Heartbeat",
      description: "Runs every 5 minutes",
      schedule: "*/5 * * * *",
    },
  ],
  // ...
};

Worker — register the handler in setup():

ctx.jobs.register("heartbeat", async (job) => {
  ctx.logger.info("Heartbeat run", { runId: job.runId, trigger: job.trigger });
  await ctx.state.set({ scopeKind: "instance", stateKey: "last-heartbeat" }, new Date().toISOString());
});

UI slots and launchers

Slots are mount points for plugin React components. Launchers are host-rendered entry points (buttons, menu items) that open plugin UI. Declare slots in manifest.ui.slots with type, id, displayName, exportName; for context-sensitive slots add entityTypes. Declare launchers in manifest.ui.launchers (or legacy manifest.launchers).

Slot types / launcher placement zones

Slot types describe where a component mounts. Most values also exist as launcher placement zones.

Slot type / placement zone Scope Entity types (when context-sensitive)
page Global —
sidebar Global —
routeSidebar Global —
sidebarPanel Global —
settingsPage Global —
dashboardWidget Global —
globalToolbarButton Global —
appShellOverlay (slot only) Signed-in application shell —
detailTab Entity project, issue, agent, goal, run
taskDetailView Entity (task/issue context)
commentAnnotation Entity comment
commentContextMenuItem Entity comment
projectSidebarItem Entity project
toolbarButton Entity varies by host surface
contextMenuItem Entity varies by host surface

Scope describes whether the slot requires an entity to render. Global slots render without a specific entity but still receive the active companyId through PluginHostContext — use it to scope data fetches to the current company. Entity slots additionally require entityId and entityType (e.g. a detail tab on a specific issue).

Entity types (for entityTypes on slots): project | issue | agent | goal | run | comment. Full list: import PLUGIN_UI_SLOT_TYPES and PLUGIN_UI_SLOT_ENTITY_TYPES from @paperclipai/plugin-sdk.

Slot component descriptions

page

A full-page extension mounted at /plugins/:pluginId (global) or /:company/plugins/:pluginId (company-context route). Use this for rich, standalone plugin experiences such as dashboards, configuration wizards, or multi-step workflows. Receives PluginPageProps with context.companyId set to the active company. Requires the ui.page.register capability.

sidebar

Adds a navigation-style entry to the main company sidebar navigation area, rendered alongside the core nav items (Dashboard, Issues, Goals, etc.). Use this for lightweight, always-visible links or status indicators that feel native to the sidebar. Receives PluginSidebarProps with context.companyId set to the active company. Requires the ui.sidebar.register capability.

routeSidebar

A contextual sidebar shown while the current route is a plugin page route with the same routePath. Use this for full-page plugin workspaces that need their own local navigation. It does not replace the app sidebar: the host collapses the main <Sidebar/> to its 64px icon rail (still hover/peek-able) and renders your routeSidebar in a secondary pane beside it, producing [ app rail ][ your sidebar ][ content ]. Receives PluginRouteSidebarProps with context.companyId and context.companyPrefix set to the active company. Requires the ui.sidebar.register capability.

Do not mount RequestCollapsedSidebar (or otherwise try to collapse the app sidebar) from a routeSidebar plugin — the host drives the collapse automatically while your route is active and restores the user's preference when they navigate away. The collapse is a hard invariant: a secondary sidebar always forces the app rail collapsed (hiding its expand toggle), overriding any user pin, but it never mutates the user's saved expanded/collapsed preference — that is restored as soon as they leave your route.

sidebarPanel

Renders richer inline content in a dedicated panel area below the company sidebar navigation sections. Use this for mini-widgets, summary cards, quick-action panels, or at-a-glance status views that need more vertical space than a nav link. Receives context.companyId set to the active company via useHostContext(). Requires the ui.sidebar.register capability.

settingsPage

Replaces the auto-generated JSON Schema settings form with a custom React component. Use this when the default form is insufficient — for example, when your plugin needs multi-step configuration, OAuth flows, "Test Connection" buttons, or rich input controls. Receives PluginSettingsPageProps with context.companyId set to the active company. The component is responsible for reading and writing config through the bridge (via usePluginData and usePluginAction).

dashboardWidget

A card or section rendered on the main dashboard. Use this for at-a-glance metrics, status indicators, or summary views that surface plugin data alongside core Paperclip information. Receives PluginWidgetProps with context.companyId set to the active company. Requires the ui.dashboardWidget.register capability.

detailTab

An additional tab on a project, issue, agent, goal, or run detail page. Rendered when the user navigates to that entity's detail view. Receives PluginDetailTabProps with context.companyId set to the active company and context.entityId / context.entityType guaranteed to be non-null, so you can immediately scope data fetches to the relevant entity. Specify which entity types the tab applies to via the entityTypes array in the manifest slot declaration. Requires the ui.detailTab.register capability.

Agent detail tabs can also appear in task side panels. taskSidePanel makes the view available for manual selection with the running or assigned agent. Manual selection mounts the same component as the agent detail page, including while the task is idle. An optional activity mapping also opens it automatically:

taskSidePanel: {
  availabilityPath: "/agents/:entityId/view/availability",
  activation: { namespace: "example.runtime", activityKey: "desktop.used" },
}

Declare the exact availability path as a board-only GET API route with companyResolution: { from: "agent", param: "entityId" }. Core maps the declared namespace/activity pair to installed agent detail tabs. Runner knows no plugin or UI slot. Declarations without activation support manual task-panel selection. Activity controls automatic opening and grants no access permission.

Runtime activity recording

A runtime client captures Runner's opaque activity context before an eligible operation, then sends a structured notification after successful use:

context=$("$PAPERCLIP_RUNTIME_NOTIFICATION_HELPER" notification-context)
# Perform the operation; notify only on success.
"$PAPERCLIP_RUNTIME_NOTIFICATION_HELPER" record-activity "$context" example.runtime desktop.used

Runner supplies the matching absolute executable as PAPERCLIP_RUNTIME_NOTIFICATION_HELPER and an atomic endpoint descriptor as PAPERCLIP_RUNTIME_NOTIFICATION_CONTEXT. Configured task environment cannot override them. Provider launch boundaries preserve both values. Codex receives read access to the helper, descriptor and publisher lock, plus write access to one named pipe. The pipe and lock live in a private temporary directory, outside durable Runner state. The enclosing directories remain protected.

The helper captures context locally. After success, it publishes newline-delimited JSON through a nonblocking pipe. A leading newline terminates an interrupted previous write. A read-only file lock serializes publishers with a 500 ms deadline. Runner reuses its bounded line reader: 2 KiB per record, 128 queued records and 16 records per control-loop iteration. Idle transport blocks; cleanup removes only its pipe, lock and empty private directory.

A successful helper exit means publication to the pipe. Runner validates context against the active run, deduplicates up to 128 activity pairs per authority, and persists runtime.activity.recorded through its authenticated event stream. Warm attachment and process recovery rotate context. The helper accepts no run identity. Clients treat this hint as best effort, including with older runtimes. Notify only after successful use; exclude help, schema discovery, status probes and failures. No agent instruction is required.

Identifiers are 1–160 Unicode code points, excluding C0 controls and DEL. Core maps declared activity identifiers to its consumers and applies their existing discovery, authorization and availability checks.

Core reads durable activity on mount/reconnect and uses the existing live stream. The authorized run binding identifies company, task and agent; caller payloads cannot override them. Core replaces :entityId with the running agent ID, adds runId and issueId, and requires { available: true }. History/live hints merge without losing earlier activity. Only matching current-task activity can open a panel automatically. Readiness and transient discovery failures get at most three attempts; authorization failures are not retried. No periodic readiness polling is added. Dismissal stays scoped to the current run. Only tab identity is stored in browser state; activity remains in the authorized run log. Failed history reads, unavailable views and access failures prevent automatic opening. Manual selection uses the viewer's own authorization and status handling. Missing or disabled plugins add no view. The plugin owns labels, content and controls. No private integration identifier belongs in Core.

taskDetailView

A specialized slot rendered in the context of a task or issue detail view. Similar to detailTab but designed for inline content within the task detail layout rather than a separate tab. Receives context.companyId, context.entityId, and context.entityType like detailTab. Requires the ui.detailTab.register capability.

projectSidebarItem

A link or small component rendered once per project under that project's row in the sidebar Projects list. Use this to add project-scoped navigation entries (e.g. "Files", "Linear Sync") that deep-link into a plugin detail tab: /:company/projects/:projectRef?tab=plugin:<key>:<slotId>. Receives PluginProjectSidebarItemProps with context.companyId set to the active company, context.entityId set to the project id, and context.entityType set to "project". Use the optional order field in the manifest slot to control sort position. Requires the ui.sidebar.register capability.

globalToolbarButton

A button rendered in the global top bar (breadcrumb bar) that appears on every page. Use this for company-wide actions that are not scoped to a specific entity — for example, a universal search trigger, a global sync status indicator, or a floating action that applies across the whole workspace. Receives only context.companyId and context.companyPrefix; no entity context is available. Requires the ui.action.register capability.

toolbarButton

A button rendered in the toolbar of an entity page (e.g. project detail, issue detail). Use this for short-lived, contextual actions scoped to the current entity — like triggering a project sync, opening a picker, or running a quick command on that entity. The component can open a plugin-owned modal internally for confirmations or compact forms. Receives context.companyId, context.entityId, and context.entityType; declare entityTypes in the manifest to control which entity pages the button appears on. Requires the ui.action.register capability.

contextMenuItem

An entry added to a right-click or overflow context menu on a host surface. Use this for secondary actions that apply to the entity under the cursor (e.g. "Copy to Linear", "Re-run analysis"). Receives context.companyId set to the active company; entity context varies by host surface. Requires the ui.action.register capability.

commentAnnotation

A per-comment annotation region rendered below each individual comment in the issue detail timeline. Use this to augment comments with parsed file links, sentiment badges, inline actions, or any per-comment metadata. Receives PluginCommentAnnotationProps with context.entityId set to the comment UUID, context.entityType set to "comment", context.parentEntityId set to the parent issue UUID, context.projectId set to the issue's project (if any), and context.companyPrefix set to the active company slug. Requires the ui.commentAnnotation.register capability.

commentContextMenuItem

A per-comment context menu item rendered in the "more" dropdown menu (⋮) on each comment in the issue detail timeline. Use this to add per-comment actions such as "Create sub-issue from comment", "Translate", "Flag for review", or custom plugin actions. Receives PluginCommentContextMenuItemProps with context.entityId set to the comment UUID, context.entityType set to "comment", context.parentEntityId set to the parent issue UUID, context.projectId set to the issue's project (if any), and context.companyPrefix set to the active company slug. Plugins can open drawers, modals, or popovers scoped to that comment. The ⋮ menu button only appears on comments where at least one plugin renders visible content. Requires the ui.action.register capability.

Launcher actions and render options

Launcher action Description
navigate Navigate to a route (plugin or host).
openModal Open a modal.
openDrawer Open a drawer.
openPopover Open a popover.
performAction Run an action (e.g. call plugin).
deepLink Deep link to plugin or external URL.
Render option Values Description
environment hostInline, hostOverlay, hostRoute, external, iframe Container the launcher expects after activation.
bounds inline, compact, default, wide, full Size hint for overlays/drawers.

Capabilities

Declare in manifest.capabilities. Grouped by scope:

Scope Capability
Company companies.read
projects.read
project.workspaces.read
issues.read
issue.comments.read
issue.documents.read
issue.relations.read
issue.subtree.read
agents.read
goals.read
goals.create
goals.update
activity.read
costs.read
issues.orchestration.read
access.members.read
access.invites.read
authorization.grants.read
authorization.policies.read
authorization.audit.read
database.namespace.read
issues.create
issues.update
issues.checkout
issues.wakeup
issue.comments.create
issue.comments.create_human_attributed
issue.documents.write
issue.relations.write
activity.log.write
metrics.write
telemetry.track
database.namespace.migrate
database.namespace.write
external.objects.detect
external.objects.read
external.objects.write
external.objects.refresh
Instance instance.settings.register
plugin.state.read
plugin.state.write
Runtime events.subscribe
events.emit
jobs.schedule
webhooks.receive
api.routes.register
http.outbound
secrets.read-ref
environment.drivers.register
local.folders
Agent agent.tools.register
agents.invoke
access.members.write
access.invites.write
authorization.grants.write
authorization.policies.write
agent.sessions.create
agent.sessions.list
agent.sessions.send
agent.sessions.close
UI ui.sidebar.register
ui.page.register
ui.detailTab.register
ui.dashboardWidget.register
ui.commentAnnotation.register
ui.action.register

Full list in code: import PLUGIN_CAPABILITIES from @paperclipai/plugin-sdk.

External Object Reference Providers

Trusted connector plugins can declare generic external object providers in the manifest. The host owns URL scanning, sanitized canonical URLs, core storage, normalized status rendering, and issue/comment/document write durability. The plugin only identifies provider-owned objects and resolves board-safe status metadata.

objectReferences: [
  {
    providerKey: "mocktracker",
    displayName: "Mock Tracker",
    objectTypes: ["ticket"],
    urlPatterns: ["https://mock.example/tickets/:id"],
    refreshPolicy: { defaultTtlSeconds: 300, staleAfterSeconds: 1800 },
  },
],
capabilities: ["external.objects.detect", "external.objects.read"],

Implement onDetectExternalObjects() to map sanitized URL candidates to providerKey, objectType, provider-stable externalId, and optional display metadata such as displayKey/iconKey. Implement onResolveExternalObject() to return a normalized snapshot with statusCategory, statusTone, statusLabel, optional statusIconKey, board-safe data, and freshness metadata. Slow or failing plugins are isolated: Paperclip logs the failure and continues saving the source issue, comment, or document.

MVP security posture: provider plugins are trusted installs. Manifest capabilities gate host APIs and provider invocation paths, but they are not a sandbox boundary for untrusted marketplace code. Plugin UI is same-origin JavaScript and must not be mounted inline in markdown; inline external-object rendering uses host-owned metadata only. Treat untrusted providers as future work that requires worker sandboxing plus isolated plugin UI.

Restricted Database Namespace

Trusted orchestration plugins can declare a host-owned PostgreSQL namespace:

database: {
  migrationsDir: "migrations",
  coreReadTables: ["issues"],
}

Declare database.namespace.migrate and database.namespace.read; add database.namespace.write when the worker needs runtime writes. Migrations run before worker startup, are checksum-recorded, and may create or alter objects only inside the plugin namespace. Runtime ctx.db.query() allows SELECT from ctx.db.namespace plus manifest-whitelisted public core tables. Runtime ctx.db.execute() allows INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE only against the plugin namespace.

Trusted Local Folders

Trusted local plugins can request operator-configured folders per company:

export const manifest = {
  // ...
  capabilities: ["local.folders"],
  localFolders: [
    {
      folderKey: "content-root",
      displayName: "Content root",
      access: "readWrite",
      requiredDirectories: ["sources", "pages"],
      requiredFiles: ["schema.md"],
    },
  ],
};

The host stores the selected path in company-scoped plugin settings and exposes readiness through:

  • GET /api/plugins/:pluginId/companies/:companyId/local-folders
  • GET /api/plugins/:pluginId/companies/:companyId/local-folders/:folderKey/status
  • POST /api/plugins/:pluginId/companies/:companyId/local-folders/:folderKey/validate
  • PUT /api/plugins/:pluginId/companies/:companyId/local-folders/:folderKey

Worker code should access files through ctx.localFolders.readText() and ctx.localFolders.writeTextAtomic(). Relative paths must stay inside the configured root; symlinks that escape the root are rejected.

Scoped API Routes

Manifest-declared apiRoutes expose JSON routes under /api/plugins/:pluginId/api/* without letting a plugin claim core paths:

apiRoutes: [
  {
    routeKey: "initialize",
    method: "POST",
    path: "/issues/:issueId/smoke",
    auth: "board-or-agent",
    capability: "api.routes.register",
    checkoutPolicy: "required-for-agent-in-progress",
    companyResolution: { from: "issue", param: "issueId" },
  },
]

Implement onApiRequest(input) in the worker to handle the route. The host performs auth, company access, capability, route matching, and checkout policy before dispatch. The worker receives route params, query, parsed JSON body, sanitized headers, actor context, and companyId; responses are JSON { status?, headers?, body? }.

Issue Orchestration APIs

Workflow plugins can use ctx.issues for orchestration-grade issue operations without importing host server internals.

Expanded create/update fields include blockers, billing code, board or agent assignees, labels, namespaced plugin origins, request depth, and safe execution workspace fields:

const child = await ctx.issues.create({
  companyId,
  parentId: missionIssueId,
  inheritExecutionWorkspaceFromIssueId: missionIssueId,
  title: "Implement feature slice",
  status: "todo",
  assigneeAgentId: workerAgentId,
  billingCode: "mission:alpha",
  originKind: "plugin:paperclip.missions:feature",
  originId: "mission-alpha:feature-1",
  blockedByIssueIds: [planningIssueId],
});

If originKind is omitted, the host stores plugin:<pluginKey>. Plugins may use sub-kinds such as plugin:<pluginKey>:feature, but the host rejects attempts to set another plugin's namespace.

Blocker relationships are also exposed as first-class helpers:

const relations = await ctx.issues.relations.get(child.id, companyId);
await ctx.issues.relations.setBlockedBy(child.id, [planningIssueId], companyId);
await ctx.issues.relations.addBlockers(child.id, [validationIssueId], companyId);
await ctx.issues.relations.removeBlockers(child.id, [planningIssueId], companyId);

Subtree reads can include just the issue tree, or compact related data for orchestration dashboards:

const subtree = await ctx.issues.getSubtree(missionIssueId, companyId, {
  includeRoot: true,
  includeRelations: true,
  includeDocuments: true,
  includeActiveRuns: true,
  includeAssignees: true,
});

Agent-run actions can assert checkout ownership before mutating in-progress work:

await ctx.issues.assertCheckoutOwner({
  issueId,
  companyId,
  actorAgentId: runCtx.agentId,
  actorRunId: runCtx.runId,
});

Plugins can request assignment wakeups through the host so budget stops, execution locks, blocker checks, and heartbeat policy still apply:

await ctx.issues.requestWakeup(child.id, companyId, {
  reason: "mission_advance",
  contextSource: "missions.advance",
});

await ctx.issues.requestWakeups([featureIssueId, validationIssueId], companyId, {
  reason: "mission_advance",
  contextSource: "missions.advance",
  idempotencyKeyPrefix: `mission:${missionIssueId}:advance`,
});

Use ctx.issues.summaries.getOrchestration() when a workflow needs compact reads across a root issue or subtree:

const summary = await ctx.issues.summaries.getOrchestration({
  issueId: missionIssueId,
  companyId,
  includeSubtree: true,
  billingCode: "mission:alpha",
});

By default, ctx.issues.createComment attributes the comment to the calling plugin's own agent (authorAgentId). A plugin that relays a message a human actually sent — a chat gateway bridging Slack/Telegram replies back onto an issue, for example — can instead attribute the comment to that person by passing actorUserId:

await ctx.issues.createComment(issueId, replyText, companyId, {
  actorUserId: verifiedSlackUser.paperclipUserId,
});

This requires the issue.comments.create_human_attributed capability in addition to issue.comments.create. The host independently verifies that actorUserId is an active human member of the issue's company before applying the comment — a plugin cannot forge attribution to an arbitrary or inactive user id. When the issue has a non-terminal status and an assigned agent, a human-attributed comment also wakes that assignee, the same way a board user's comment does in the web app.

Required capabilities:

API Capability
ctx.issues.relations.get issue.relations.read
ctx.issues.relations.setBlockedBy / addBlockers / removeBlockers issue.relations.write
ctx.issues.getSubtree issue.subtree.read
ctx.issues.assertCheckoutOwner issues.checkout
ctx.issues.createComment issue.comments.create
ctx.issues.createComment with actorUserId issue.comments.create + issue.comments.create_human_attributed
ctx.issues.requestWakeup / requestWakeups issues.wakeup
ctx.issues.summaries.getOrchestration issues.orchestration.read

Plugin-originated mutations are logged with actorType: "plugin" and details fields sourcePluginId, sourcePluginKey, initiatingActorType, initiatingActorId, and initiatingRunId when a user or agent run initiated the plugin work.

UI quick start

import { usePluginData, usePluginAction } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

export function DashboardWidget() {
  const { data } = usePluginData<{ status: string }>("health");
  const ping = usePluginAction("ping");
  return (
    <div style={{ display: "grid", gap: 8 }}>
      <strong>Health</strong>
      <div>{data?.status ?? "unknown"}</div>
      <button onClick={() => void ping()}>Ping</button>
    </div>
  );
}

Hooks reference

usePluginData<T>(key, params?)

Fetches data from the worker's registered getData handler. Re-fetches when params changes. Returns { data, loading, error, refresh }.

import { usePluginData } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

interface SyncStatus {
  lastSyncAt: string;
  syncedCount: number;
  healthy: boolean;
}

export function SyncStatusWidget({ context }: PluginWidgetProps) {
  const { data, loading, error, refresh } = usePluginData<SyncStatus>("sync-status", {
    companyId: context.companyId,
  });

  if (loading) return <div>Loading…</div>;
  if (error) return <div>Error: {error.message}</div>;

  return (
    <div>
      <p>Status: {data!.healthy ? "Healthy" : "Unhealthy"}</p>
      <p>Synced {data!.syncedCount} items</p>
      <p>Last sync: {data!.lastSyncAt}</p>
      <button onClick={refresh}>Refresh</button>
    </div>
  );
}

usePluginAction(key)

Returns an async function that calls the worker's performAction handler. Throws PluginBridgeError on failure.

import { useState } from "react";
import { usePluginAction, type PluginBridgeError } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

export function ResyncButton({ context }: PluginWidgetProps) {
  const resync = usePluginAction("resync");
  const [busy, setBusy] = useState(false);
  const [error, setError] = useState<string | null>(null);

  async function handleClick() {
    setBusy(true);
    setError(null);
    try {
      await resync({ companyId: context.companyId });
    } catch (err) {
      setError((err as PluginBridgeError).message);
    } finally {
      setBusy(false);
    }
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <button onClick={handleClick} disabled={busy}>
        {busy ? "Syncing..." : "Resync Now"}
      </button>
      {error && <p style={{ color: "red" }}>{error}</p>}
    </div>
  );
}

useHostContext()

Reads the active company, project, entity, and user context. Use this to scope data fetches and actions.

import { useHostContext, usePluginData } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";
import type { PluginDetailTabProps } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

export function IssueLinearLink({ context }: PluginDetailTabProps) {
  const { companyId, entityId, entityType } = context;
  const { data } = usePluginData<{ url: string }>("linear-link", {
    companyId,
    issueId: entityId,
  });

  if (!data?.url) return <p>No linked Linear issue.</p>;
  return <a href={data.url} target="_blank" rel="noopener">View in Linear</a>;
}

useHostNavigation()

Routes Paperclip-internal plugin links through the host router without a full document reload. Use linkProps() for anchors so the browser still gets a real href for copy-link, modifier-click, middle-click, and open-in-new-tab behavior.

import { useHostNavigation } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

export function WikiSidebarLink() {
  const hostNavigation = useHostNavigation();
  return <a {...hostNavigation.linkProps("/wiki")}>Wiki</a>;
}

linkProps("/wiki") resolves against the active company prefix, so in company PAP it renders href="/PAP/wiki". Already-prefixed paths such as /PAP/wiki are not prefixed again. For button-style commands, call hostNavigation.navigate("/issues/PAP-123").

Avoid raw same-origin hrefs or window.location.assign() for Paperclip-internal navigation from plugin UI. Those bypass the host router and can reload the whole app. External links should keep normal anchors with target="_blank" and rel="noopener noreferrer" as appropriate.

usePluginStream<T>(channel, options?)

Subscribes to a real-time event stream pushed from the plugin worker via SSE. The worker pushes events using ctx.streams.emit(channel, event) and the hook receives them as they arrive. Returns { events, lastEvent, connecting, connected, error, close }.

import { usePluginStream } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

interface ChatToken {
  text: string;
}

export function ChatMessages({ context }: PluginWidgetProps) {
  const { events, connected, close } = usePluginStream<ChatToken>("chat-stream", {
    companyId: context.companyId ?? undefined,
  });

  return (
    <div>
      {events.map((e, i) => <span key={i}>{e.text}</span>)}
      {connected && <span className="pulse" />}
      <button onClick={close}>Stop</button>
    </div>
  );
}

The SSE connection targets GET /api/plugins/:pluginId/bridge/stream/:channel?companyId=.... The host bridge manages the EventSource lifecycle; close() terminates the connection.

UI authoring note

The host provides selected shared UI components through @paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui. Plugins can also use normal React components, their own CSS, or small design primitives inside the plugin package.

Use copyTextToClipboard for every plugin copy action. The host selects the modern Clipboard API in secure contexts and a compatible fallback in plain-HTTP deployments.

import { copyTextToClipboard } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

await copyTextToClipboard("text to copy");

Use the shared components when the plugin needs to look and behave like a native Paperclip surface:

Component Use when
MarkdownBlock Rendering markdown from plugin or host data
MarkdownEditor Editing markdown with the host editor treatment
FileTree Showing serializable workspace/wiki/import paths
IssuesList Embedding a company-scoped native issue list
AssigneePicker Selecting an agent or board user with the same picker as the new issue pane
ProjectPicker Selecting a project with the same picker as the new issue pane
ManagedRoutinesList Showing plugin-managed routines in settings UI

Shared Markdown Components

Plugin UI can render markdown and edit markdown using the same host components used by Paperclip issue comments and documents:

import { MarkdownBlock, MarkdownEditor } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

export function WikiPageEditor() {
  const [body, setBody] = useState("# Wiki page");

  return (
    <>
      <MarkdownBlock content={body} />
      <MarkdownEditor value={body} onChange={setBody} bordered />
    </>
  );
}

MarkdownBlock can opt into Obsidian-style wikilinks when a plugin owns the target URL shape:

<MarkdownBlock
  content={"See [[wiki/entities/paperclip|Paperclip]]."}
  enableWikiLinks
  wikiLinkRoot="/wiki/page"
/>

Shared FileTree

Plugin UI can render the host file tree without importing host internals:

import { FileTree, type FileTreeNode } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

const nodes: FileTreeNode[] = [
  { name: "AGENTS.md", path: "AGENTS.md", kind: "file", children: [] },
  {
    name: "wiki",
    path: "wiki",
    kind: "dir",
    children: [
      { name: "index.md", path: "wiki/index.md", kind: "file", children: [] },
    ],
  },
];

export function WikiFiles() {
  return (
    <FileTree
      nodes={nodes}
      expandedPaths={["wiki"]}
      selectedFile="wiki/index.md"
      onToggleDir={(path) => console.log("toggle", path)}
      onSelectFile={(path) => console.log("select", path)}
    />
  );
}

Shared Assignee and Project Pickers

Use AssigneePicker and ProjectPicker when a plugin needs to create, filter, or configure work against Paperclip entities. Both are controlled components and load their options from the host for the provided company.

import { AssigneePicker, ProjectPicker } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

export function AssignmentControls({ companyId }: { companyId: string }) {
  const [assignee, setAssignee] = useState("");
  const [projectId, setProjectId] = useState("");

  return (
    <>
      <AssigneePicker
        companyId={companyId}
        value={assignee}
        onChange={(value, selection) => {
          setAssignee(value);
          console.log(selection.assigneeAgentId, selection.assigneeUserId);
        }}
      />
      <ProjectPicker
        companyId={companyId}
        value={projectId}
        onChange={setProjectId}
      />
    </>
  );
}

Slot component props

Each slot type receives a typed props object with context: PluginHostContext. Import from @paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui.

Slot type Props interface context extras
page PluginPageProps —
sidebar PluginSidebarProps —
routeSidebar PluginRouteSidebarProps —
settingsPage PluginSettingsPageProps —
dashboardWidget PluginWidgetProps —
globalToolbarButton PluginGlobalToolbarButtonProps —
detailTab PluginDetailTabProps entityId: string, entityType: string
toolbarButton PluginToolbarButtonProps entityId: string, entityType: string
commentAnnotation PluginCommentAnnotationProps entityId: string, entityType: "comment", parentEntityId: string, projectId, companyPrefix
commentContextMenuItem PluginCommentContextMenuItemProps entityId: string, entityType: "comment", parentEntityId: string, projectId, companyPrefix
projectSidebarItem PluginProjectSidebarItemProps entityId: string, entityType: "project"

Example detail tab with entity context:

import type { PluginDetailTabProps } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";
import { usePluginData } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

export function AgentMetricsTab({ context }: PluginDetailTabProps) {
  const { data, loading } = usePluginData<Record<string, string>>("agent-metrics", {
    agentId: context.entityId,
    companyId: context.companyId,
  });

  if (loading) return <div>Loading…</div>;
  if (!data) return <p>No metrics available.</p>;

  return (
    <dl>
      {Object.entries(data).map(([label, value]) => (
        <div key={label}>
          <dt>{label}</dt>
          <dd>{value}</dd>
        </div>
      ))}
    </dl>
  );
}

Launcher surfaces and modals

V1 does not provide a dedicated modal slot. Plugins can either:

  • declare concrete UI mount points in ui.slots
  • declare host-rendered entry points in ui.launchers

Supported launcher placement zones currently mirror the major host surfaces such as projectSidebarItem, globalToolbarButton, toolbarButton, detailTab, settingsPage, and contextMenuItem. Plugins may still open their own local modal from those entry points when needed.

Declarative launcher example:

{
  "ui": {
    "launchers": [
      {
        "id": "sync-project",
        "displayName": "Sync",
        "placementZone": "toolbarButton",
        "entityTypes": ["project"],
        "action": {
          "type": "openDrawer",
          "target": "sync-project"
        },
        "render": {
          "environment": "hostOverlay",
          "bounds": "wide"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

The host returns launcher metadata from GET /api/plugins/ui-contributions alongside slot declarations.

When a launcher opens a host-owned overlay or page, useHostContext(), usePluginData(), and usePluginAction() receive the current renderEnvironment through the bridge. Use that to tailor compact modal UI vs. full-page layouts without adding custom route parsing in the plugin.

Project sidebar item

Plugins can add a link under each project in the sidebar via the projectSidebarItem slot. This is the recommended slot-based launcher pattern for project-scoped workflows because it can deep-link into a richer plugin tab. The component is rendered once per project with that project’s id in context.entityId. Declare the slot and capability in your manifest:

{
  "ui": {
    "slots": [
      {
        "type": "projectSidebarItem",
        "id": "files",
        "displayName": "Files",
        "exportName": "FilesLink",
        "entityTypes": ["project"]
      }
    ]
  },
  "capabilities": ["ui.sidebar.register", "ui.detailTab.register"]
}

Minimal React component that links to the project’s plugin tab (see project detail tabs in the spec):

import {
  useHostNavigation,
  type PluginProjectSidebarItemProps,
} from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

export function FilesLink({ context }: PluginProjectSidebarItemProps) {
  const hostNavigation = useHostNavigation();
  const projectId = context.entityId;
  const projectRef = projectId; // or resolve from host; entityId is project id
  return (
    <a {...hostNavigation.linkProps(`/projects/${projectRef}?tab=plugin:your-plugin:files`)}>
      Files
    </a>
  );
}

Use optional order in the slot to sort among other project sidebar items. See §19.5.1 in the plugin spec and project detail plugin tabs (§19.3) for the full flow.

Toolbar launcher with a local modal

Two toolbar slot types are available depending on where the button should appear:

  • globalToolbarButton — renders in the top bar on every page, scoped to the company. No entity context. Use for workspace-wide actions.
  • toolbarButton — renders on entity detail pages (project, issue, etc.). Receives entityId and entityType. Declare entityTypes to control which pages the button appears on.

For short-lived actions, mount the appropriate slot type and open a plugin-owned modal inside the component. Use useHostContext() to scope the action to the current company or entity.

Project-scoped example (appears only on project detail pages):

{
  "ui": {
    "slots": [
      {
        "type": "toolbarButton",
        "id": "sync-toolbar-button",
        "displayName": "Sync",
        "exportName": "SyncToolbarButton",
        "entityTypes": ["project"]
      }
    ]
  },
  "capabilities": ["ui.action.register"]
}
import { useState } from "react";
import {
  useHostContext,
  usePluginAction,
} from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

export function SyncToolbarButton() {
  const context = useHostContext();
  const syncProject = usePluginAction("sync-project");
  const [open, setOpen] = useState(false);
  const [submitting, setSubmitting] = useState(false);
  const [errorMessage, setErrorMessage] = useState<string | null>(null);

  async function confirm() {
    if (!context.projectId) return;
    setSubmitting(true);
    setErrorMessage(null);
    try {
      await syncProject({ projectId: context.projectId });
      setOpen(false);
    } catch (err) {
      setErrorMessage(err instanceof Error ? err.message : "Sync failed");
    } finally {
      setSubmitting(false);
    }
  }

  return (
    <>
      <button type="button" onClick={() => setOpen(true)}>
        Sync
      </button>
      {open ? (
        <div
          role="dialog"
          aria-modal="true"
          className="fixed inset-0 z-50 flex items-center justify-center bg-black/40 p-4"
          onClick={() => !submitting && setOpen(false)}
        >
          <div
            className="w-full max-w-md rounded-lg bg-background p-4 shadow-xl"
            onClick={(event) => event.stopPropagation()}
          >
            <h2 className="text-base font-semibold">Sync this project?</h2>
            <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-muted-foreground">
              Queue a sync for <code>{context.projectId}</code>.
            </p>
            {errorMessage ? (
              <p className="mt-2 text-sm text-destructive">{errorMessage}</p>
            ) : null}
            <div className="mt-4 flex justify-end gap-2">
              <button type="button" onClick={() => setOpen(false)}>
                Cancel
              </button>
              <button type="button" onClick={() => void confirm()} disabled={submitting}>
                {submitting ? "Running…" : "Run sync"}
              </button>
            </div>
          </div>
        </div>
      ) : null}
    </>
  );
}

Prefer deep-linkable tabs and pages for primary workflows. Reserve plugin-owned modals for confirmations, pickers, and compact editors.

Real-time streaming (ctx.streams)

Plugins can push real-time events from the worker to the UI using server-sent events (SSE). This is useful for streaming LLM tokens, live sync progress, or any push-based data.

Worker side

In setup(), use ctx.streams to open a channel, emit events, and close when done:

const plugin = definePlugin({
  async setup(ctx) {
    ctx.actions.register("chat", async (params) => {
      const companyId = params.companyId as string;
      ctx.streams.open("chat-stream", companyId);

      for await (const token of streamFromLLM(params.prompt as string)) {
        ctx.streams.emit("chat-stream", { text: token });
      }

      ctx.streams.close("chat-stream");
      return { ok: true };
    });
  },
});

API:

Method Description
ctx.streams.open(channel, companyId) Open a named stream channel and associate it with a company. Sends a streams.open notification to the host.
ctx.streams.emit(channel, event) Push an event to the channel. The companyId is automatically resolved from the prior open() call.
ctx.streams.close(channel) Close the channel and clear the company mapping. Sends a streams.close notification.

Stream notifications are fire-and-forget JSON-RPC messages (no id field). They are sent via notifyHost() synchronously during handler execution.

UI side

Use the usePluginStream hook (see Hooks reference above) to subscribe to events from the UI.

Host-side architecture

The host maintains an in-memory PluginStreamBus that fans out worker notifications to connected SSE clients:

  1. Worker emits streams.emit notification via stdout
  2. Host (plugin-worker-manager) receives the notification and publishes to PluginStreamBus
  3. SSE endpoint (GET /api/plugins/:pluginId/bridge/stream/:channel?companyId=...) subscribes to the bus and writes events to the response

The bus is keyed by pluginId:channel:companyId, so multiple UI clients can subscribe to the same stream independently.

Streaming agent responses to the UI

ctx.streams and ctx.agents.sessions are complementary. The worker sits between them, relaying agent events to the browser in real time:

UI ──usePluginAction──▶ Worker ──sessions.sendMessage──▶ Agent
UI ◀──usePluginStream── Worker ◀──onEvent callback────── Agent

The agent doesn't know about streams — the worker decides what to relay. Encode the agent ID in the channel name to scope streams per agent.

Worker:

ctx.actions.register("ask-agent", async (params) => {
  const { agentId, companyId, prompt } = params as {
    agentId: string; companyId: string; prompt: string;
  };

  const channel = `agent:${agentId}`;
  ctx.streams.open(channel, companyId);

  const session = await ctx.agents.sessions.create(agentId, companyId);

  await ctx.agents.sessions.sendMessage(session.sessionId, companyId, {
    prompt,
    onEvent: (event) => {
      ctx.streams.emit(channel, {
        type: event.eventType,       // "chunk" | "done" | "error"
        text: event.message ?? "",
      });
    },
  });

  ctx.streams.close(channel);
  return { sessionId: session.sessionId };
});

UI:

import { useState } from "react";
import { usePluginAction, usePluginStream } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui";

interface AgentEvent {
  type: "chunk" | "done" | "error";
  text: string;
}

export function AgentChat({ agentId, companyId }: { agentId: string; companyId: string }) {
  const askAgent = usePluginAction("ask-agent");
  const { events, connected, close } = usePluginStream<AgentEvent>(`agent:${agentId}`, { companyId });
  const [prompt, setPrompt] = useState("");

  async function send() {
    setPrompt("");
    await askAgent({ agentId, companyId, prompt });
  }

  return (
    <div>
      <div>{events.filter(e => e.type === "chunk").map((e, i) => <span key={i}>{e.text}</span>)}</div>
      <input value={prompt} onChange={(e) => setPrompt(e.target.value)} />
      <button onClick={send}>Send</button>
      {connected && <button onClick={close}>Stop</button>}
    </div>
  );
}

Agent sessions (two-way chat)

Plugins can hold multi-turn conversational sessions with agents:

// Create a session
const session = await ctx.agents.sessions.create(agentId, companyId);

// Send a message and stream the response
await ctx.agents.sessions.sendMessage(session.sessionId, companyId, {
  prompt: "Help me triage this issue",
  onEvent: (event) => {
    if (event.eventType === "chunk") console.log(event.message);
    if (event.eventType === "done") console.log("Stream complete");
  },
});

// List active sessions
const sessions = await ctx.agents.sessions.list(agentId, companyId);

// Close when done
await ctx.agents.sessions.close(session.sessionId, companyId);

Requires capabilities: agent.sessions.create, agent.sessions.list, agent.sessions.send, agent.sessions.close.

Exported types: AgentSession, AgentSessionEvent, AgentSessionSendResult, PluginAgentSessionsClient.

Testing utilities

import { createTestHarness } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/testing";
import plugin from "../src/worker.js";
import manifest from "../src/manifest.js";

const harness = createTestHarness({ manifest });
await plugin.definition.setup(harness.ctx);
await harness.emit("issue.created", { issueId: "iss_1" }, { entityId: "iss_1", entityType: "issue" });

Bundler presets

import { createPluginBundlerPresets } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/bundlers";

const presets = createPluginBundlerPresets({ uiEntry: "src/ui/index.tsx" });
// presets.esbuild.worker / presets.esbuild.manifest / presets.esbuild.ui
// presets.rollup.worker / presets.rollup.manifest / presets.rollup.ui

Local dev server (hot-reload events)

paperclip-plugin-dev-server --root . --ui-dir dist/ui --port 4177

Or programmatically:

import { startPluginDevServer } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk/dev-server";
const server = await startPluginDevServer({ rootDir: process.cwd() });

Dev server endpoints:

  • GET /__paperclip__/health returns { ok, rootDir, uiDir }
  • GET /__paperclip__/events streams reload SSE events on UI build changes

Persistent application shell contributions

An appShellOverlay slot uses ui.action.register and the standard PluginWidgetProps context. It survives navigation and unmounts on account or company changes, sign-out and onboarding. Plugins own panel accessibility and request cleanup. See the distribution and lifecycle contract.

Project storage and task workspaces

A storage provider declares workspaceProvider: { modes: ["isolated_workspace"], strategies: ["git_worktree"] }, workspaces.manage, and resourceLifecycle: ["project"] (with events.subscribe). The same plugin must implement onResourceLifecycle and onWorkspaceOperation. Project lifecycle creates and retains the storage; workspace operations manage task checkouts in that storage. Execution remains a separate environment driver contract.

project.executionWorkspacePolicy.storageProviderPluginId holds a project's storage: an installed plugin's UUID, or null or no value for Core/local storage. Core applies the installed company-enabled default once, when it creates the project. A provider claims that default by declaring, for example:

workspaceProvider: {
  modes: ["isolated_workspace", "operator_branch"],
  strategies: ["git_worktree"],
  defaultForProjects: { mode: "isolated_workspace", strategy: "git_worktree" },
}

The declared defaults must be supported by the provider. Installing a provider does not change existing projects. A Core/local project can move to a provider, and a plugin-backed project stays attached to that plugin: requests to change it fail, and it never falls back to local storage. Core applies missing mode and strategy settings without writing them. Explicit settings remain intact; incompatible settings fail with a configuration error. If more than one enabled provider claims the default, creating a project needs an explicit choice. Core sends a provider project lifecycle events only for projects attached to it, and acknowledges the others on its behalf. No company settings row means enabled, matching the normal plugin contract.

New and imported tasks leave an unspecified project mode inherited. Provider-owned workspaces retain explicit project and task strategies in shared and operator-branch modes. If neither supplies a strategy, those modes use project_primary; an agent's Git strategy remains a fallback only for isolated mode.

Project responses keep the stored executionWorkspacePolicy and expose the separate workspaceProvider configuration, including its source, effective policy, provider choices and configuration error. The project configuration UI supports inheritance, explicit plugins and Core/local storage. Conflicts remain readable so operators can resolve them through this flow.

Core reserves an execution-workspace row and binds the task before calling onWorkspaceOperation. Source-free task directories do not prepare project storage. The resolved provider choice, including Core/local, stays fixed through source resolution and preparation. Existing workspaces, including local workspaces, retain their original owner. Changing defaults never migrates, resets or recreates them; normal retirement and cleanup gates still apply on disable/uninstall.

The hook receives a company, project, source revision, execution-workspace ID, lifecycle generation, deadline, and stable operation ID. Run and agent IDs are optional context. A storage hook must work without an environment lease, a live agent, or a filesystem mount on Core. It must reconcile ambiguous retries before repeating side effects. Use the workspace ID and generation to fence provider operations; the operation ID identifies a retry of the same request. Fresh inspections get a new operation ID so provider result caches cannot reuse an earlier checkout status. Prepare and removal retries retain their IDs.

  • prepare creates or restores the checkout. It returns an opaque, durable WorkspaceProviderBinding, a branch, and the starting commit. branchMode: "existing" must use an existing logical branch and must never reset its history. A provider may materialize a local ref from a confirmed existing remote branch. Retried preparation must keep local work. Providers may reject modes or strategies they do not support.
  • inspect reports tracked, untracked, and ignored/local-only changes, the current commit, merge state, and whether remote storage can recover it. Use null when a remote recovery or merge check is unknown.
  • remove checks the expected commit again and confirms removal. Busy, failed, unsafe, and uncertain removal must throw. Core requires a clean checkout and affirmative remote recovery or merge evidence before requesting removal.

References contain the installed plugin ID, project/source/workspace IDs, source revision, and opaque provider coordinates. They must not contain secrets. Core stores no local cwd for managed rows. /workspaces/<id> is a logical path in Core's existing run metadata; Core must not use it for filesystem access.

For the initial execution integration, select a task-capable environment driver from the same plugin. Core validates declared modes and strategies before it reserves a workspace. Core pins the binding on the environment lease and supplies it as PluginEnvironmentTaskParams.workspace. The execution hook resolves the provider reference to guest mounts and the actual working directory. Core rejects an execution driver from a different plugin. Native execution also requires the plugin Runner task bridge; Core refuses to fall back to a host Runner when that bridge is unavailable. This does not require merging the storage and execution interfaces.

Core's existing archive, reopen, and terminal cleanup fences also cover provider workspaces. The plugin must prevent project storage retirement while its task workspaces still contain local data. Repository source and storage owner changes are blocked while live managed workspaces depend on them. An authorized storage owner or source edit retires closed workspaces whose provider removal is confirmed; retired records cannot reopen. Inspection reconciles a pending restoration with its recorded request, advances its generation, and keeps the Core row closed. Cleanup must then inspect that generation afresh; it cannot reuse an earlier removal receipt. Direct removal refuses unresolved restoration intent. Core commits storage intent and recovery results with cleanup notifications so incremental terminal-workspace sweeps revisit changed records. Pending deletion is replayed before inspection, including after a lost removal result. File browsing and other Core-host filesystem operations are unavailable for managed storage.

Use createWorkspaceProviderHarness from @paperclipai/plugin-sdk/testing to validate hook inputs and outputs without allocating an execution environment.

Private project instance credentials

Project lifecycle plugins can opt into projects.instance-secrets alongside events.subscribe and resourceLifecycle: ["project"]. Automatic project callbacks receive event.instanceSecrets; return an instanceSecrets patch with an acknowledged result. Core stores the patch in the existing native instance-secret system and acknowledges the event in one transaction. A null value removes a key. Retry and deferred results do not store patches.

Each company/project/installed-plugin owns its credentials. Up to 16 lowercase snake_case keys may change per result; nonempty string values are limited to 128 KiB each. Core rejects replies if configuration, project sources, lifecycle state, or secret versions changed during the callback. A duplicate response to an acknowledged event cannot overwrite credentials. Deleted projects allow removal only; their secrets are also deleted by the native owner foreign key.

Trusted worker code can use ctx.projects.getInstanceSecrets(projectId, companyId) during a company-scoped invocation to read its credentials without an external service call. Archived or missing projects cannot be read this way. Values never appear in ordinary lifecycle inbox listings or the company secret catalog. Do not expose values through plugin entities, state, data handlers, UI, or logs. Agent instance secrets retain their existing lifecycle contract. Back up the tenant's existing local secrets master key together with its database.

Project Git credentials

Trusted workspace providers can declare projects.git-credentials and call ctx.projects.resolveGitCredential(projectId, workspaceId, companyId) from the matching host-issued project lifecycle or workspace operation. Other invocations cannot obtain credentials through this method. The workspace must be a current repository in that project and company; plugins cannot supply arbitrary URLs.

Background work uses a project writer's explicit consent to their own personal, company-installed GitHub Connector grant. It does not retain task context. Core checks the exact grant and its owner's active company membership on every use. Foreground preparation uses the active run's identity and trust policy instead. Public repositories return null and require no connection. Private repositories without authorization wait before provisioning. Repository visibility comes from the Connector catalog and retained project selections; legacy URL-only sources use anonymous discovery when visibility is unknown. A revoked or invalid private repository authorization fails closed. There is no fallback to another grant. Project consent follows the connection's current repository access, including sources added later, rather than a separate project repository approval list. The consenting user must retain project read access, and background credential export requires the project's existing trust policy to allow standard execution. Archived projects keep credential access only for host-issued workspace inspection and removal with existing consent; provisioning remains blocked.

The return value is transient raw credential material with the Connector's existing permissions. This capability is for trusted execution infrastructure, not agent-facing tools or UI. Never expose or persist it. See GitHub identity.