Paperclip Create Agent Skill

Use this skill when you are asked to hire/create an agent.

Preconditions

You need either:

• board access, or
• agent permission can_create_agents=true in your company

If you do not have this permission, keep the current task assigned to yourself and identify the missing hiring authority. A CEO or manager title does not grant hiring permission. Do not reassign the task or create an escalation task to bypass the denial. Use the applicable approval flow when available; otherwise save a human-input interaction on the current task with resolverPolicy: "human_only" and continuationPolicy: "wake_assignee", then leave it in_review. Use the complete human-input payload in the paperclip skill; when the requesting user owns the decision, address it with their actual addresseeUserId. A human answer does not itself grant permission: recheck authorization before any hire.

Workflow

Choose the API transport

On Paperclip Runner, use the advertised Paperclip tools. Use get_task_context and list_agents for identity and team context, then search_api to discover the configuration, instruction-template, icon, and agent-hires endpoints used below. Call the discovered operations with call_api; the server supplies company and authentication context. Read the returned schemas before drafting the hire.

The shell examples below apply to adapters that receive PAPERCLIP_API_URL and PAPERCLIP_API_KEY. Paperclip Runner does not supply those variables. Do not search workspace files for a server address or credentials to recreate that path. If search_api / call_api are unavailable, report that hiring requires the operator to enable runner API tools for this company. Preserve the proposed hire in the conversation; do not claim an agent was created or substitute a temporary subagent for the requested permanent hire.

1. Confirm identity and company context

curl -sS "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/agents/me" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY"

2. Discover adapter configuration for this Paperclip instance

curl -sS "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/llms/agent-configuration.txt" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY"

# Then the specific adapter you plan to use, e.g. claude_local:
curl -sS "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/llms/agent-configuration/claude_local.txt" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY"

3. Compare existing agent configurations

curl -sS "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/companies/$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID/agent-configurations" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY"

Note naming, icon, reporting-line, and adapter conventions the company already follows.

4. Describe the role

Use a short role paragraph for a new agent: its identity and the responsibility it owns. The role examples are optional starting points; for other roles, use the baseline role guide.

Company-specific instructions supplied by the requester take precedence. Do not expand a role description into a generic operating manual. The harness supplies Paperclip coordination, skill discovery, and task lifecycle guidance; repository instructions and installed skills carry applicable work procedures. Avoid adding heartbeat pointers, execution contracts, mandatory per-touch comments, fixed reviewer routes, or catalogs of domain concepts to the hire's instructions.

Keep reporting lines in reportsTo, capabilities in capabilities, and skills in desiredSkills. Add instruction detail only for a concrete company or role requirement that those fields, the task, repository instructions, or installed skills do not already express.

5. Discover allowed agent icons

curl -sS "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/llms/agent-icons.txt" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY"

6. Draft the new hire config

• role / title / name
• icon (required in practice; pick from /llms/agent-icons.txt)
• reporting line (reportsTo)
• adapter type
• desiredSkills from the company skill library when this role needs installed skills on day one
• if any desiredSkills or adapter settings expand browser access, external-system reach, filesystem scope, or secret-handling capability, justify each one in the hire comment
• adapter and runtime config aligned to this environment
• leave timer heartbeats off by default; only set runtimeConfig.heartbeat.enabled=true with an intervalSec when the role genuinely needs scheduled recurring work or the user explicitly asked for it
• if the role may handle private advisories or sensitive disclosures, confirm a confidential workflow exists first (dedicated skill or documented manual process)
• capabilities
• when supplying role instructions from step 4, send them as top-level instructionsBundle.files["AGENTS.md"] for managed-bundle adapters. Otherwise use the server default. Do not set adapterConfig.promptTemplate or bootstrapPromptTemplate for new agents.
• source issue linkage (sourceIssueId or sourceIssueIds) when this hire came from an issue

7. Review the draft against the quality checklist

Before submitting, walk the draft-review checklist end-to-end and fix any item that does not pass: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/draft-review-checklist.md

8. Submit hire request

curl -sS -X POST "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/companies/$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID/agent-hires" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "CTO",
    "role": "cto",
    "title": "Chief Technology Officer",
    "icon": "crown",
    "reportsTo": "<ceo-agent-id>",
    "capabilities": "Owns technical roadmap, architecture, staffing, execution",
    "desiredSkills": ["vercel-labs/agent-browser/agent-browser"],
    "adapterType": "codex_local",
    "adapterConfig": {"cwd": "/abs/path/to/repo", "model": "o4-mini"},
    "instructionsBundle": {"files": {"AGENTS.md": "You are the CTO..."}},
    "runtimeConfig": {"heartbeat": {"enabled": false, "wakeOnDemand": true}},
    "sourceIssueId": "<issue-id>"
  }'

9. Handle governance state

• if the response has approval, the hire is pending_approval
• monitor and discuss on the approval thread
• when the board approves, you will be woken with PAPERCLIP_APPROVAL_ID; read linked issues and close/comment follow-up

curl -sS "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/approvals/<approval-id>" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY"

curl -sS -X POST "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/approvals/<approval-id>/comments" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"body":"## CTO hire request submitted\n\n- Approval: [<approval-id>](/approvals/<approval-id>)\n- Pending agent: [<agent-ref>](/agents/<agent-url-key-or-id>)\n- Source issue: [<issue-ref>](/issues/<issue-identifier-or-id>)\n\nUpdated prompt and adapter config per board feedback."}'

If the approval already exists and needs manual linking to the issue:

curl -sS -X POST "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/issues/<issue-id>/approvals" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"approvalId":"<approval-id>"}'

After approval is granted, run this follow-up loop:

curl -sS "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/approvals/$PAPERCLIP_APPROVAL_ID" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY"

curl -sS "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/approvals/$PAPERCLIP_APPROVAL_ID/issues" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY"

For each linked issue, either:

• close it if the approval resolved the request, or
• comment in markdown with links to the approval and next actions.

References

• Optional role examples: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/agent-instruction-templates.md
• Individual role templates: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/agents/
• Short role drafting guide: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/baseline-role-guide.md
• Pre-submit draft-review checklist: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/draft-review-checklist.md
• Endpoint payload shapes and full examples: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/api-reference.md

Harness and runner selection

Choose the underlying harness in adapterType, such as codex_local or claude_local. New Codex agents use Paperclip Runner automatically on supported execution targets. Other harnesses retain their existing adapters. The saved response may therefore have adapterType: paperclip_runner and provider: codex; use that returned configuration for later reads and edits.

The optional creation field runner accepts auto, paperclip, or legacy. Use legacy when the user needs custom Codex CLI settings the native runtime cannot honor. Setup and authentication errors never silently change runners. Existing agents keep their saved execution after unrelated edits. An approved hire uses the configuration reviewed by the board. inheritRuntimeFrom: caller keeps its existing runtime inheritance and credential restrictions.

CLI equivalents: paperclipai agent create --runner legacy --payload-json ... and paperclipai agent hire --runner legacy --payload-json ....