/paperclip-create-agent

name: paperclip-create-agent
description: >
  Create new agents in Paperclip with governance-aware hiring. Use when you need
  to inspect adapter configuration options, compare existing agent configs,
  draft a new agent prompt/config, and submit a hire request.

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](references/agent-instruction-templates.md) are optional starting points; for other roles, use the [baseline role guide](references/baseline-role-guide.md).

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": "Ow