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, escalate to your CEO or board.

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. Choose the instruction source (required)

This is the single most important decision for hire quality. Pick exactly one path:

• Exact template — the role matches an entry in the template index. Use the matching file under references/agents/ as the starting point.
• Adjacent template — no exact match, but an existing template is close (for example, a "Backend Engineer" hire adapted from coder.md, or a "Content Designer" adapted from uxdesigner.md). Copy the closest template and adapt deliberately: rename the role, rewrite the role charter, swap domain lenses, and remove sections that do not fit.
• Generic fallback — no template is close. Use the baseline role guide to construct a new AGENTS.md from scratch, filling in each recommended section for the specific role.

Template index and when-to-use guidance: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/agent-instruction-templates.md

Generic fallback for no-template hires: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/baseline-role-guide.md

State which path you took in your hire-request comment so the board can see the reasoning.

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
• managed instructions bundle (AGENTS.md) for adapters that support it; avoid durable promptTemplate config
• for coding or execution agents, include the Paperclip execution contract: start actionable work in the same heartbeat; do not stop at a plan unless planning was requested; leave durable progress with a clear next action; use child issues for long or parallel delegated work instead of polling; mark blocked work with owner/action; respect budget, pause/cancel, approval gates, and company boundaries
• instruction text such as AGENTS.md built from step 4; for local managed-bundle adapters, send this as top-level instructionsBundle.files["AGENTS.md"]. 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

• Template index and how to apply a template: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/agent-instruction-templates.md
• Individual role templates: skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/agents/
• Generic baseline role guide (no-template fallback): 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