## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - The server keeps one postgres.js pool (`packages/db/src/client.ts`,
`createDb`) for every query it runs. #10795 made the pool tunable from
the environment, but the defaults stayed at the driver defaults: an idle
connection never closes, the pool reports itself as `postgres.js`, and
no code path ever calls `sql.end()`.
> - On a hosted Paperclip deployment the server entered a restart loop
(a bundled plugin failure that #12953 describes made every run fail, and
the pool saturated). Each generation opened its ten connections, died,
and left the backends open on the PostgreSQL side until TCP keepalive
reaped them hours later. After about 20 generations the backends
exceeded `max_connections`, and every later boot died on its first
bootstrap query with `sorry, too many clients already`, before
`server.listen()`. The loop could not heal itself. #9555 describes the
same shape on a launchd-supervised self-hosted install.
> - Three properties of the pool combine to make this possible: idle
connections are never reaped, the pool is never ended on any exit path,
and an operator cannot even find the leaked backends in
`pg_stat_activity` because they carry the generic driver name.
> - This pull request gives the pool a 60 second idle timeout and the
`paperclip` application name by default, exposes `max_lifetime` and
`application_name` through the same `DATABASE_*` environment contract
that #10795 introduced, and ends the pool on the orderly SIGINT/SIGTERM
path and on the fail-loud startup path.
> - The benefit is that a restarting or crash-looping server releases
its backends instead of accumulating them, and an operator can see and
count Paperclip's connections.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
- Refs #9555 — database connection pool leak causes an infinite restart
loop under load. This PR closes the "pool never ends, idle connections
never close" part of that report.
- Refs #12953 — hosted outage report. The pool exhaustion is the second
half of that incident; the first half (a stuck sandbox provider plugin)
has its own PR.
- Related prior PRs: #9597 and #8780 both propose hard-coded
`idle_timeout` / `max_lifetime` values in `createDb`. Both predate
#10795 (merged), which made these options environment-driven; this PR
builds on the merged shape and adds the shutdown `end()` that neither
covers. #4006 and #7481 are closed earlier attempts in the same area.
## What Changed
- `packages/db/src/client.ts`
- New `resolveDatabaseClientOptions()` applies Paperclip defaults on top
of the environment: `idleTimeoutSeconds` defaults to 60
(`DEFAULT_DATABASE_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`) and `applicationName` to
`paperclip` (`DEFAULT_DATABASE_APPLICATION_NAME`). `createDb` uses it
for both the environment path and explicit options.
- `DATABASE_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS` now accepts `0` to restore the driver
default (keep idle connections open). Negative or non-integer values
still throw.
- New environment variables: `DATABASE_MAX_LIFETIME_SECONDS` (positive
integer, maps to `max_lifetime`) and `DATABASE_APPLICATION_NAME`
(non-empty string, maps to `connection.application_name`).
- `postgresJsOptions()` maps the two new options.
- `server/src/shutdown.ts`
- `finalizeServerShutdown` gains two optional ordered steps:
`closeHttpListener` runs first, before the application services stop;
`closeDatabase` runs after the application services and before the
embedded PostgreSQL stop. A failure in either is logged and does not
stop the teardown. Final order: listener → application services →
database pool → embedded PostgreSQL → instrumentation → Sentry.
- New `closeHttpListenerForShutdown()`: stops accepting requests, closes
idle keep-alive sockets, waits up to 5 s for open connections, then
closes whatever is left. Requests still in flight are drained while
every service is available, and none can reach a route after
`sql.end()`, on the signal path and the programmatic path alike (the
programmatic path's later `server.close` finds the listener closed and
skips).
- `server/src/app.ts`: the app shutdown hook (`shutdownAppServices`) now
stops the plugin job scheduler, whose tick queries the database, so a
programmatic `shutdown()` leaves no timer running against the ended
pool.
- `server/src/index.ts`
- `startServer()` is now a thin wrapper around the boot sequence. When
the boot sequence throws after the pool exists, the wrapper ends the
pool (and the separate migration pool, when configured) before it
rethrows. This covers the `process.exit(1)` path in the main module and
the CLI `paperclip run` path alike.
- The orderly shutdown passes the same `closeDatabaseClients` to
`finalizeServerShutdown`.
- `endDatabaseClient` tolerates a client without `$client` (test
doubles) and uses a 5 second end timeout.
- Docs: `docs/deploy/database.md` gets a "Connection Pool Settings"
table with every `DATABASE_*` pool variable, its default and its effect;
`doc/DATABASE.md` lists the two new variables.
- Tests
- `packages/db/src/client-options.test.ts`: parsing of the new
variables, `0` for the idle timeout, rejection of malformed values,
driver option mapping, and the `resolveDatabaseClientOptions` defaults.
- `packages/db/src/client.test.ts` (embedded PostgreSQL):
`createDb(url)` reports `application_name = paperclip` for its own
backend, and a pool with `idleTimeoutSeconds: 1` has zero backends in
`pg_stat_activity` after the timeout.
- `server/src/shutdown.test.ts`: the listener closes before the
application services, and the database close runs between the
application services and the embedded PostgreSQL stop; a failing
database close is logged while the teardown still finishes;
`closeHttpListenerForShutdown` closes idle sockets and resolves on
close, force-closes after the grace period, and is a no-op when the
listener was never bound.
## Verification
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/db typecheck` — passes (`check:migrations`
+ `tsc --noEmit`).
- `cd server && pnpm typecheck` — passes.
- `cd packages/db && pnpm exec vitest run src/client-options.test.ts
src/client.test.ts src/client-teardown-registry.test.ts` — 9 + 18 + 3
tests pass (the `client.test.ts` cases need embedded PostgreSQL; the new
one waits up to 10 s for the idle reap and passed in about 3 s).
- `cd server && pnpm exec vitest run src/shutdown.test.ts
src/__tests__/server-startup-feedback-export.test.ts
src/__tests__/bootstrap-claim-routes.test.ts` — 34 + 11 tests pass. The
startup-feedback suite exercises `startServer()` with a mocked
`createDb`, which is why `endDatabaseClient` tolerates a client without
`$client`.
- Manual check for a reviewer: start the server against any PostgreSQL,
then run `SELECT application_name, state, count(*) FROM pg_stat_activity
GROUP BY 1, 2;`. Paperclip's backends now show `paperclip`. Leave the
server idle for more than 60 s and the idle backends disappear. Send
SIGTERM and the backends close before the process exits.
## Risks
- Behavior change with no environment set: idle pooled connections now
close after 60 s. The next query after an idle period pays a reconnect
(single-digit milliseconds on a local socket). postgres.js reconnects
transparently. Set `DATABASE_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS=0` to keep the
previous behavior.
- `application_name` changes from `postgres.js` to `paperclip`. Anything
that filtered `pg_stat_activity` on the old name would need an update;
nothing in this repo does.
- The HTTP listener now closes at the start of the final teardown (after
the heartbeat run drain, which still needs the API for running agents).
The pool close runs after the application services. A late query from a
timer that survived the service shutdown would fail with a driver
"connection ended" error instead of running; the known database-backed
timer (the plugin job scheduler) is now stopped in the service shutdown.
- The listener drain adds at most 5 s to a shutdown while long-lived
connections (for example WebSocket clients) are open; after that they
are closed forcibly.
- `startServer()` is split into a wrapper and the boot sequence. The
exported signature and return type are unchanged.
- No migration, no schema change.
## Model Used
- Claude Fable 5.1 (`claude-fable-5-1`) via Claude Code, extended
thinking, tool use (file edits, shell, test runs). The change was
produced with the model and reviewed by the submitting human.
## 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
- [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
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
https://claude.ai/code/session_014t3bi2beVNVVHAxK36dmXm
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5.1 <noreply@anthropic.com>
## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - The server stores all state in PostgreSQL through Drizzle and the
postgres.js driver
> - Self-hosted installs run Postgres on localhost, so per-query latency
is near zero; hosted installs often attach Postgres over a network,
sometimes through a transaction-mode pooler
> - The DB client passes no options to the driver, so operators cannot
disable prepared statements or tune the pool without a source edit, and
the deploy docs told them to edit `client.ts`
> - The attention feed also runs its related-data lookups one after
another, so its latency grows as queries × network round trip
> - This pull request adds optional environment configuration for the DB
client and batches the independent attention-feed lookups with
`Promise.all`
> - The benefit is that network-attached deployments get correct pooler
support and a much faster attention feed, while self-hosted behavior
does not change
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
No public issue exists for this; description follows the bug report
template:
**What happened?**
On deployments where PostgreSQL is network-attached (managed providers,
pooled endpoints), the attention feed endpoint is slow:
`attentionService.list()` awaits ~15–20 queries strictly in sequence, so
a 70ms round trip turns into more than one second of pure network wait
per call. Separately, connecting through a transaction-mode pooler
(pgbouncer, Supavisor port 6543, Neon `-pooler` hosts) requires
disabling prepared statements, and the only documented way was to
hand-edit `packages/db/src/client.ts` — which `doc/DATABASE.md` itself
tells operators not to do.
**Expected behavior**
The DB client is configurable from the environment (prepared statements,
pool size, timeouts) with driver defaults when unset, and hot read paths
do not multiply network latency by issuing independent queries
sequentially.
**Steps to reproduce**
1. Run the server with `DATABASE_URL` pointing at a Postgres instance
with ~70ms round-trip latency.
2. Open the attention feed (`GET /companies/:companyId/attention`) and
measure response time — it exceeds one second even with little data.
3. Try to connect through a transaction-mode pooler: there is no
supported configuration to disable prepared statements.
## What Changed
- `packages/db/src/client.ts`: `createDb` accepts a
`DatabaseClientOptions` argument and reads optional env config —
`DATABASE_PREPARED_STATEMENTS`, `DATABASE_POOL_MAX`,
`DATABASE_IDLE_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`, `DATABASE_CONNECT_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`.
When nothing is set, no option is passed to the driver and behavior is
identical to the previous bare `postgres(url)`.
- `packages/db/src/client-options.test.ts` (new): env parsing and
driver-option mapping tests, including malformed-value rejection.
- `server/src/services/attention.ts`: the independent related-data
lookups in each feed section now run under `Promise.all` (issue
summary/image/plan-document maps, decision bundle titles, blocked-issue
maps, the newer-runs scan). Section order, item assembly, and query
shapes are unchanged.
- `doc/DATABASE.md` and `docs/deploy/database.md`: the edit-source
pooling instruction is replaced with the env toggle, plus a short
client-tuning reference.
## Verification
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/db exec vitest run
src/client-options.test.ts` — 6 tests pass.
- `pnpm --filter server exec vitest run
src/__tests__/attention-service.test.ts` — 22 tests pass.
- `pnpm --filter server exec vitest run
src/__tests__/decisions-service.test.ts
src/__tests__/decision-training.test.ts` — 45 tests pass; this covers
the call path that runs `attentionService.list()` inside
`db.transaction`, where postgres.js serializes queries on the reserved
connection.
- `tsc` reports no errors in the changed files.
## Risks
- Low risk for self-hosted installs: with no env vars set,
`postgres(url, {})` receives an empty options object, which postgres.js
treats the same as no options — driver defaults throughout.
- The `Promise.all` batches only group queries that had no data
dependency on each other; on the transaction call path the driver still
executes them one at a time on the reserved connection, so transactional
semantics are unchanged.
- Malformed env values now fail fast at startup with a clear message
instead of being silently ignored; this is intentional and only affects
operators who set the new variables.
## Model Used
Claude Fable 5 (`claude-fable-5`), Anthropic — via Claude Code CLI,
extended thinking enabled, tool use (test execution, live latency
measurement against a network-attached Postgres to size the problem).
## 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 (searched "prepared statements", "pgbouncer", "pool",
"attention feed", "lockfile" — closest matches are #10573/#10787
lockfile chores, unrelated to this change)
- [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
- [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
- [ ] All Paperclip CI gates are green
- [ ] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
- Restored docs/ directory that was accidentally deleted by `git add -A`
in the v0.2.3 release script
- Replaced generic "P" favicon with actual paperclip icon using brand
primary color (#2563EB)
- Added light/dark logo SVGs for Mintlify navbar (paperclip icon + wordmark)
- Updated docs.json with logo configuration for dark/light mode
- Fixed release.sh to stage only release-related files instead of `git add -A`
to prevent sweeping unrelated changes into release commits
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Jannes Stubbemann
Devin Foley
Dotta
Forgotten