Create Agent AdapterCAUTION

The open-source app everyone uses to manage agents at work

The instruction file, verbatim from the audited commit — this is the text the model reads, and the surface the audit's instruction layer examines. Quoted here so you can judge it without cloning anything.

---
name: create-agent-adapter
description: >
  Create or modify Paperclip agent adapters across server, UI, and CLI surfaces.
  Use when adding support for a new CLI agent, API agent, custom process, or
  adapter package.
---

# Creating a Paperclip Agent Adapter

An adapter bridges Paperclip's orchestration layer to a specific AI agent runtime (Claude Code, Codex CLI, a custom process, an HTTP endpoint, etc.). Each adapter is a self-contained package that provides implementations for **three consumers**: the server, the UI, and the CLI.

---

## 1. Architecture Overview

```
packages/adapters/<name>/
  src/
    index.ts            # Shared metadata (type, label, models, agentConfigurationDoc)
    server/
      index.ts          # Server exports: execute, sessionCodec, parse helpers
      execute.ts        # Core execution logic (AdapterExecutionContext -> AdapterExecutionResult)
      parse.ts          # Stdout/result parsing for the agent's output format
    ui/
      index.ts          # UI exports: parseStdoutLine, buildConfig
      parse-stdout.ts   # Line-by-line stdout -> TranscriptEntry[] for the run viewer
      build-config.ts   # CreateConfigValues -> adapterConfig JSON for agent creation form
    cli/
      index.ts          # CLI exports: formatStdoutEvent
      format-event.ts   # Colored terminal output for `paperclipai run --watch`
  package.json
  tsconfig.json
```

Three separate registries consume adapter modules:

| Registry | Location | Interface |
|----------|----------|-----------|
| Server | `server/src/adapters/registry.ts` | `ServerAdapterModule` |
| UI | `ui/src/adapters/registry.ts` | `UIAdapterModule` |
| CLI | `cli/src/adapters/registry.ts` | `CLIAdapterModule` |

---

## 2. Shared Types (`@paperclipai/adapter-utils`)

All adapter interfaces live in `packages/adapter-utils/src/types.ts`. Import from `@paperclipai/adapter-utils` (types) or `@paperclipai/adapter-utils/server-utils` (runtime helpers).

### Core Interfaces

```ts
// The execute function signature — every adapter must implement this
interface AdapterExecutionContext {
  runId: string;
  agent: AdapterAgent;          // { id, companyId, name, adapterType, adapterConfig }
  runtime: AdapterRuntime;      // { sessionId, sessionParams, sessionDisplayId, taskKey }
  config: Record<string, unknown>;  // The agent's adapterConfig blob
  context: Record<string, unknown>; // Runtime context (taskId, wakeReason, approvalId, etc.)
  onLog: (stream: "stdout" | "stderr", chunk: string) => Promise<void>;
  onMeta?: (meta: AdapterInvocationMeta) => Promise<void>;
  authToken?: string;
}

interface AdapterExecutionResult {
  exitCode: number | null;
  signal: string | null;
  timedOut: boolean;
  errorMessage?: string | null;
  usage?: UsageSummary;           // { inputTokens, outputTokens, cachedInputTokens? }
  sessionId?: string | null;      // Legacy — prefer sessionParams
  sessionParams?: Record<string, unknown> | null;  // Opaque session state persisted between runs
  sessionDisplayId?: string | null;
  provider?: string | null;       // "anthropic", "openai", etc.
  model?: string | null;
  costUsd?: number | null;
  resultJson?: Record<string, unknown> | null;
  summary?: string | null;        // Human-readable summary of what the agent did
  clearSession?: boolean;         // true = tell Paperclip to forget the stored session
}

interface AdapterSessionCodec {
  deserialize(raw: unknown): Record<string, unknown> | null;
  serialize(params: Record<string, unknown> | null): Record<string, unknown> | null;
  getDisplayId?(params: Record<string, unknown> | null): string | null;
}
```

### Module Interfaces

```ts
// Server — registered in server/src/adapters/registry.ts
interface ServerAdapterModule {
  type: string;
  execute(ctx: AdapterExecutionContext): Promise<AdapterExecutionResult>;
  testEnvironment(ctx: AdapterEnvironmentTestContext): Promise<AdapterEnvironmentTestResult>;
  sessionCodec?: AdapterSessionCodec;
  supportsLocalAgentJwt?: boolean;
  models?: { id: string; label: string }[];
  agentConfigurationDoc?: string;
}

// UI — registered in ui/src/adapters/registry.ts
interface UIAdapterModule {
  type: string;
  label: string;
  parseStdoutLine: (line: string, ts: string) => TranscriptEntry[];
  ConfigFields: ComponentType<AdapterConfigFieldsProps>;
  buildAdapterConfig: (values: CreateConfigValues) => Record<string, unknown>;
}

// CLI — registered in cli/src/adapters/registry.ts
interface CLIAdapterModule {
  type: string;
  formatStdoutEvent: (line: string, debug: boolean) => void;
}
```

---

## 2.1 Adapter Environment Test Contract

Every server adapter must implement `testEnvironment(...)`. This powers the board UI "Test environment" button in agent configuration.

```ts
type AdapterEnvironmentCheckLevel = "info" | "warn" | "error";
type AdapterEnvironmentTestStatus = "pass" | "warn" | "fail";

interface AdapterEnvironmentCheck {
  code: string;
  level: AdapterEnvironmentCheckLevel;
  message: string;
  detail?: string | null;
  hint?: string | null;
}

interface AdapterEnvironmentTestResult {
  adapterType: string;
  status: AdapterEnvironmentTestStatus;
  checks: AdapterEnvironmentCheck[];
  testedAt: string; // ISO timestamp
}

interface AdapterEnvironmentTestContext {
  companyId: string;
  adapterType: string;
  config: Record<string, unknown>; // runtime-resolved adapterConfig
}
```

Guidelines:

- Return structured diagnostics, never throw for expected findings.
- Use `error` for invalid/unusable runtime setup (bad cwd, missing command, invalid URL).
- Use `warn` for non-blocking but important situations.
- Use `info` for successful checks and context.

Severity policy is product-critical: warnings are not save blockers.  
Example: for `claude_local`, an explicitly configured `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` or selected managed API connection is `info`: the user chose that authentication. An ambient server key overriding subscription login remains `warn`, not `error`.

---

## 3. Step-by-St

CAUTIONgrade B · trust 89/100 Install with care. The audit found things worth knowing before you trust its output.

What the source does

Filesystem

none-observed

Network

none-observed

Shell

none-observed

Dependencies

pinned

Secrets in source

none-found

Findings (2)

.claude/skills/company-creator

.claude/skills/paperclip

Gates applied: no_behavioural_pass.