## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - The Paperclip Runner keeps durable run and provider state outside
one server process.
> - A server restart can leave that runner alive or can interrupt it
after a provider checkpoint.
> - The old startup path used handoff intent and PID evidence, but it
did not reconstruct native ownership.
> - That gap could block the issue, create a replacement run, or start
duplicate provider work.
> - This pull request adds durable same-run recovery for coordinated and
uncoordinated restarts.
> - The benefit is exact recovery of the run, runner, session, provider,
steering, and finalization state.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
Refs #9628. That pull request added earlier local-adapter hot-restart
work. This change adds native PRP authority reconstruction and same-run
provider resume.
Refs #10935. That pull request handles missing hot-restart snapshots.
This change also supports hard restarts with no snapshot.
Refs #11624. That pull request prevents unsafe retry after an adopted
legacy process exits. This change reconciles native terminal evidence
before provider recovery.
Refs #12070. That pull request improves process liveness checks. This
change also binds recovery to a process-start fingerprint and fails
closed on ambiguity.
**What happened?**
The server could record hot-restart intent, but startup did not rebuild
native runner ownership. A live runner could not re-register its PRP
authority. A dead runner could not resume the exact native and provider
session on the same heartbeat run. Generic recovery could then block the
issue or create replacement work.
**Expected behavior**
A live native runner must reconnect with the same PID and logical
identities. A dead runner must resume the same durable session and
heartbeat run with only a new operating-system PID. A proposed or
terminal result must finalize once before any provider turn starts.
Ambiguous process or session evidence must stay blocked without a signal
or duplicate spawn.
**Steps to reproduce**
1. Start a Paperclip Runner heartbeat and wait for an active provider
turn.
2. Restart only the Paperclip server, with or without a hot-restart
marker.
3. Observe that the old startup path does not reconstruct the native
control-plane authority.
4. Kill both the server and runner after a provider checkpoint.
5. Observe that the old path cannot resume the exact native session on
the original heartbeat run.
**Paperclip version or commit**
The defect was reproduced from commit
`1991f31fd53e7f7794d5c2e4b93be384ade2b41d`. This branch is rebased onto
the current `master`.
**Deployment mode**
Local development and self-hosted server deployments that use the local
Paperclip Runner.
## What Changed
- Added correlated hot-restart requests and version-compatible native
handoff fields.
- Added controller boot identity, process-start identity, controller
generation, recovery state, request id, and bounded history to the
native finalization ledger.
- Added transactional recovery claims for live-runner reattach,
dead-runner resume, and incomplete bootstrap.
- Added fail-closed ownership takeover rules and process identity
validation.
- Added live runner adoption to the local runner transport without a
duplicate spawn.
- Added same-run provider checkpoint resume and legacy retry-row
compatibility.
- Reconciled proposed and terminal results before runner or provider
recovery.
- Bound the HTTP and PRP listener before startup recovery and delayed
scheduling and generic reapers until classification completes.
- Added restart-aware health diagnostics, run-log recovery transitions,
durable runner diagnostics, and bounded shutdown finalizer draining.
- Moved restart-survivable diagnostics into runner-owned, pre-redacted
bounded writes; raw stdout and stderr are never persisted.
- Added process-start fencing for controller, runner, and provider PIDs;
startup classifies every candidate without an implicit cap.
- Added crash-recoverable, contention-safe development restart-request
coordination and failed-startup listener cleanup.
- Added a credential-free real-process restart suite for eight restart,
scale, and identity scenarios.
- Documented native restart operation, persistence, diagnostics, and
verification.
## Verification
- The documented native restart commands passed. They ran eight
real-process/database recovery scenarios and the live runner adoption
transport test.
- Native executor tests passed: 111 tests.
- Heartbeat recovery tests passed: 124 tests.
- Hot restart, health, and shutdown tests passed: 52 tests.
- The broader affected server suite passed: 350 tests.
- Focused native recovery and startup tests passed: 49 tests.
- Runner transport and control-plane tests passed: 63 tests.
- Runner-owned diagnostic tests passed for write-time bounding,
credential redaction, private file modes, and raw stream
non-persistence.
- Development restart coordination tests passed: 11 tests.
- Database migration checks and the partial-application/replay
regression test passed.
- Server, database, and Paperclip Runner typechecks passed.
- `git diff --check` passed.
- Full Paperclip PR CI passed, including build, canary, all five general
server shards, all five serialized server shards, all three browser E2E
shards, workspace suites, and release-registry verification.
- Greptile completed at 5/5 with no outstanding findings,
recommendations, follow-ups, or open review threads.
## Risks
- Moderate risk. This changes startup ordering and ownership transfer
for active native runs.
- The migration adds nullable columns and does not rewrite existing
rows.
- Recovery fails closed when process or durable session identity is
incomplete or contradictory.
- The first implementation supports the local Paperclip Runner. Remote
targets keep their existing behavior.
- The real-process suite covers cleanup and asserts that no runner or
provider process survives each test.
> For core feature work, check [`ROADMAP.md`](ROADMAP.md) first and
discuss it in `#dev` before opening the PR. Feature PRs that overlap
with planned core work may need to be redirected — check the roadmap
first. See `CONTRIBUTING.md`.
## Model Used
- OpenAI Codex with GPT-5. The runtime did not expose a more specific
model revision or context-window size. Repository editing, shell
execution, database tests, and real-process test execution were enabled.
## 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
## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - The runner package already provides the production protocol and
execution spine.
> - Contributors still need stable SDK surfaces, deterministic test
tools, and local inspection tools.
> - Those surfaces share generated contracts and must change as one
package boundary.
> - This pull request adds the package-local SDK, labs, examples, and
drift checks.
> - The benefit is a reviewable developer platform that does not change
application execution selection.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
**Subsystem affected**
`packages/paperclip-runner` — runner SDK, conformance tools, and
developer tooling.
**Problem or motivation**
The production runner spine is present, but package consumers cannot
build deterministic integrations, inspect sessions, or verify
provider-neutral behavior through supported surfaces.
**Proposed solution**
Add browser, React, standalone, live-session, scenario, conformance, and
evaluation surfaces. Add generated contract inventories and
package-local verification scripts. Keep production application routing
unchanged.
**Alternatives considered**
We considered splitting each generated catalog, SDK surface, and demo
into separate pull requests. Those changes share exports, fixtures, and
drift gates. Splitting them would create intermediate package states
that do not build.
**Roadmap alignment**
No overlapping item appears in `ROADMAP.md`. This work extends the
runner package that is already on `master`.
## What Changed
- Add browser, React, standalone, live-session, and issue-thread SDK
surfaces.
- Add deterministic mock control-plane, scenario, conformance, replay,
and evaluation tools.
- Add bounded Codex, OpenCode, and ACPX development transports and
fixtures.
- Keep deferred managed-provider execution fail-closed. Persisted
compatibility data remains readable.
- Add generated capability inventories with their source files and drift
checks.
- Add examples, package documentation, browser checks, and
clean-consumer checks.
- Preserve the reviewed protocol bounds, replay compatibility aliases,
process environment isolation, and semantic redaction limits.
- Update the ACPX package patch that the existing workspace patch
registry already tracks.
- Do not change `pnpm-lock.yaml`, repository workflows, server runtime
selection, or the application UI.
## Verification
GitHub Actions is the verification authority for this pull request. The
repository CI, package TypeScript and Rust checks, package tests,
generated-output drift checks, browser checks, security scans, and
Greptile review must pass on the exact head.
Local test suites were not run because this series uses parallel GitHub
Actions for verification.
## Risks
This is a large greenfield package change. The main risks are public
export drift, generated-output drift, and optional React consumer
compatibility. Package boundary checks, clean-consumer checks, and
browser tests cover those risks. Production adapter selection and server
execution are outside this pull request.
## Stack
1. **This PR:** runner SDK and developer tooling.
2. [Codex production server
integration](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/12616).
3. [Provider-neutral task-thread
UI](https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip/pull/12617).
## Model Used
OpenAI Codex, GPT-5, high-reasoning mode, with tool use and code
execution.
## 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 described the issue in-PR following the feature request
template
- [x] I have not referenced internal/instance-local Paperclip issues or
links
- [x] My branch name describes the change and contains no internal
Paperclip ticket id
- [ ] 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 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
Dotta