## Thinking Path > - Paperclip manages agents and their work. > - First-task onboarding turns a user's goal into an approved proposal. > - The interview offers a plan and a team to carry out that plan. > - The instructions leave execution after acceptance unclear. > - An agent can add a plan-only approval boundary and finish without doing the requested work. > - This change makes the approval scope explicit and tests both execution and plan-only outcomes. ## Linked Issues or Issue Description **What happened?** An onboarding agent can treat an interview about building a product as a request for a plan only. It can then retain the approved plan and close onboarding without creating execution tasks. The interview evaluation previously accepted that result. **Expected behavior** Acceptance of an execution proposal starts its selected work. An explicit plan-only request stops after planning. User-requested separate approvals and existing permission and budget controls still apply. **Steps to reproduce** 1. Choose the onboarding interview and describe a deliverable. 2. Accept the saved plan proposal. 3. Check that the agent starts the approved work instead of closing with only a plan. ## What Changed - Clarify execution intent, approval wording, continuation, and completion in the first-task prompt. - Require assigned child work and saved output in the interview acceptance evaluation. Use checkbox acceptance in the regular interview journey and retain conversational acceptance in the approval-reply suite. - Add an explicit plan-only acceptance journey and nine grader regression checks. - Update evaluation counts, grading versions, and onboarding verification guidance. ## Verification - Passed: all applicable CI checks on `198a6b47cac7`, including typechecks, the general and serialized server tests, Runner checks, build, and browser E2E shards. [CI run](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/actions/runs/42324855376). - Passed locally: the full Runner support suite, 6,860 tests across 323 files (three skipped), plus 13 onboarding asset tests. - Passed locally: the full workspace build, workspace package typechecks (server rechecked after restoring excluded-plugin SDK links), and the Runner evaluation TypeScript check. - Passed: map validation and whitespace checks. - Initial broad local checks failed during checkout preparation because PostgreSQL library symlinks and runtime/SDK assets were missing. Restoring the dependency setup made the affected controls pass. The full root test suite passed in CI; it was not rerun locally after that repair. - Live model journeys have not been run. Grader tests do not prove model compliance. ## Risks - Prompt behavior needs live qualification across providers. This change adds no server-side enforcement or permission bypass. - The new plan-only case adds four local evaluation cells. A full campaign now has 56 first-task cells. - Existing proposals that reserve later approval keep that restriction. This change does not rewrite tenant data or start existing onboarding tasks. - No schema migration or deployment is included. ## Model Used - OpenAI `gpt-6.1-sol`, xhigh reasoning effort, with repository tools and local test execution. Context window size is not exposed by 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 (focused and full Runner support locally; full root coverage passed in CI) - [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 <[email protected]>
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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.
Feature ID: onboarding.
Implementation: web wizard, CLI setup.
Agent access: companion.
Sub-features
-
instance:onboarding/instance— choose local instance configuration and start the server. -
company:onboarding/company— create a company with its identity and initial agent. -
adapter:onboarding/adapter— choose an available harness, model, account, and execution environment. -
first-task:onboarding/first-task— leave setup with a task whose execution or missing prerequisite is visible. -
resume:onboarding/resume— return to an incomplete wizard without losing saved state.
The Cloud Product onboarding journey defines portal workspace creation, API-key connection, native Codex creation, and a first downloadable artifact with an independent oracle. Its dependent task-properties journey reuses onboarding state. This is a scripted coverage recipe, not a claim of a completed Cloud run or strict browser-only discovery.
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.
First-agent onboarding offers only Claude and Codex, subject to instance adapter availability. Other providers remain available through Add agent after onboarding. A saved draft for another provider requires a new choice.
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/onboardingin a fresh self-hosted instance, enters a unique name ine.g. Northwind Labs, and choosesContinue. 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.
For Codex or Claude, choose the harness to prove automatic first-agent runner selection. On a qualified target it saves Paperclip Runner. The wizard has no runner dropdown or empty Advanced section. Do not switch runners after onboarding when claiming proof of that default. Test the selected runtime and account, then complete a bounded useful task and follow-up with an independently checked file artifact. Saved execution configuration and recorded run identity must match after reload. The Codex first-task eval applies operator QA bounds before Get started through the existing agent configuration API. It verifies that only timeout and concurrency change; automatic runner, account and environment choices remain. These campaign bounds are separate from production creation defaults. Use runner validation and environment qualification for the prerequisites; a successful login alone is insufficient.
For managed Cloud setup, an outdated default Claude CLI is prepared automatically in a private versioned runtime directory before its hello test. Verify that the selected model and account stay unchanged and that the compatible executable is actually used. A failed installation still blocks hiring. Cloud failures must not display Manual debug shell commands or legacy operator hints; self-hosted failures retain that help. Wizard controls and runtime controls cover these boundaries. They do not establish live Cloud onboarding success.
For a new Claude agent on an explicit immutable sandbox image or a Daytona named snapshot, use Connect to qualify the selected environment through the existing permission-gated probe. Do not preprobe outside onboarding when claiming this first-use path. Fresh scoped discovery determines the runner for both the account test and hire; the measured Legacy result remains valid. An instance-admin denial, incomplete cleanup, missing lease or changed configuration stops setup before the adapter test or hire. Daytona resolves the selected snapshot to its immutable provider ID before creating the measured lease; native execution pins that same ID. Mutable image tags and other providers’ named templates remain unqualified. Helper controls and mounted wizard/new-agent tests use mocks; live managed acceptance remains a separate gate. For a new Codex agent with Auto on a saved immutable OCI sandbox, Connect first uses the existing saved environment probe when authoritative qualification is absent. The board actor needs the existing instance-environment administration permission. Refresh company/environment-scoped discovery before testing the selected runtime. A denied probe, unconfirmed cleanup or setup failure must be visible and retryable through setup. Creation and discovery themselves allocate no target. A valid measured unsupported target follows the server's Legacy default. Named Cloud snapshots remain a separate unqualified boot-identity and fresh-signup gap.
Selected native setup derives its target isolation as task execution does. The hello probe retains its read-only permission profile, approval-never policy and bounded provider turn. It skips Codex's project-instruction discovery in its new, empty private workspace; ordinary tasks still load their project instructions. Local and SSH transports retain Codex isolation. An injected environment flag cannot establish an outer sandbox identity. Verify these boundaries with the existing native setup controls and a real managed task/follow-up; source checks alone are insufficient.
The explicit manual Product E2E cell
confirmation-replies.runner-codex.daytona.task-card-accept covers this fresh
managed wizard path without fixture agent creation or a fixture preprobe. Its
existing attachment oracle checks a downloaded physical file and follow-up
continuity. Setup evidence must correlate both lease IDs with the same company,
environment and provider; missing responses or unmatched rows keep cost coverage
unknown. Run this cell only on an eligible target with separately authorized
provider, runtime and cleanup reservations. Its source and mock controls are
prepared. The literal ea6c8eb5e16d61111968f633a66748b397b64a3e live attempt
failed: the child document existed, but the physical file was attached to the
parent, and recovery stopped the completion callback before a provider turn.
The failed report remains evidence; the revised source still needs live proof.
Local cases and automatic selection remain unchanged.
For accepted file-producing work, verify exactly one self-assigned child with a self-contained description. The onboarding run must yield through the existing dependency/block disposition so the child's own execution can publish its file. Native file registration remains bound to the executing task. On completion, the original conversation must receive the actual child and downloadable file links. Document-only child work may finish inline. Interview execution proposals must start their selected work after acceptance; a saved plan alone is not the requested result. Only an explicitly plan-only request stops at planning. Existing first-task asset controls check the instructions, not model compliance. Inspect the child's execution, document, downloaded file and source-correlated completion reply in the real journey.
Leave and resume during harness/runner setup. Confirm the draft retains the explicit choice and compatible account bindings, old native Codex setup links recover the harness and runner, and a changed harness or runner invalidates stale test results. Existing Legacy agents remain Legacy when their onboarding/setup configuration is reopened; this journey does not migrate them.
Reload both /onboarding and the company-prefixed route after the first agent is
saved but before Get started. The authorized draft must retain its current step
and that agent's execution choice. An explicit new-company opening still starts
fresh. Opening another company must clear the previous company's resource IDs;
an unauthorized account must not restore its draft. Existing component controls
cover these boundaries; they do not substitute for the managed first-task eval.
The existing mocked-login browser case reopens and reloads Connect directly. It
checks the saved company/name/harness/runner, exact active authorization session,
one login start and no hire while login is pending. This is login UI evidence,
not a provider or managed-environment qualification.
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.
Storybook verification
resume
Capability ID: onboarding/resume.
Scope: ui Storybook: Restored incomplete wizard; invalid or unauthorized saved company; temporarily withheld draft; account switch; storage failure. Production: Reload company-prefixed onboarding without duplicating company; restore only authorized account/company draft and retain input after recoverable loading failure. Sources: Source: OnboardingWizard.tsx, onboarding-state.ts. Tests: OnboardingWizard.test.tsx, onboarding-state.test.ts, onboarding.spec.ts
instance
Capability ID: onboarding/instance.
Scope: cli Storybook: No authored UI story required for host installation and startup. Production: Configure isolated data directory, start instance, confirm printed URL/identity/health, restart with saved configuration. Sources: Source: onboard.ts, onboard-service.ts. Tests: onboard.test.ts, onboard-service.test.ts, test-drive.test.ts
Documentation scope: Login, invitations, and access
Deployment modes and core login/invite/member/token paths are mapped; exhaustive identity-provider, expiry, role, and resource-policy combinations remain.