## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Paperclip runs across the CLI, server, adapters, plugins, CI, and
container images.
> - These surfaces declared different Node.js versions from 20 through
24.
> - A newer `@types/node` major can expose APIs that the supported
runtime does not provide.
> - Node.js 20 is no longer a suitable project baseline, and Node.js 24
is the current LTS line.
> - This pull request sets Node.js 24.11.0 as one repository-wide
baseline, adds a drift check, and gives users actionable startup
guidance when their runtime is too old.
> - The benefit is one clear runtime contract for development, release,
installation, and published packages.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
Refs #2734
Refs #11727
Refs #739
## What Changed
- Require Node.js 24.11.0 or newer in all 42 package manifests and
runtime checks.
- Use Node.js 24 in GitHub Actions, Docker images, smoke images, sandbox
setup, portable installs, and esbuild targets.
- Align every direct `@types/node` declaration on `^24.0.0`.
- Prevent Dependabot from opening major `@types/node` upgrades without a
matching runtime decision.
- Add `.nvmrc` and a CI policy check for Node version drift.
- Update ACP version gates, tests, and user documentation for the new
minimum.
- Print a non-blocking warning on CLI and server startup when Node is
unsupported, with remediation through a version manager or the
documented downloaded `install.sh` workflow.
- Deduplicate that warning when `paperclipai run` boots the CLI and
server in the same process.
## Verification
- `node scripts/check-node-version-policy.mjs`
- `node --check scripts/check-node-version-policy.mjs`
- `node --check cli/esbuild.config.mjs`
- `node --check scripts/generate-npm-package-json.mjs`
- `bash -n scripts/install.sh scripts/test-install-sh-docker.sh
scripts/e2e-install-lifecycle.sh`
- Parsed all 42 package manifests and confirmed `engines.node` is
`>=24.11.0`.
- `git diff --check`
- `vitest run
packages/adapter-utils/src/sandbox-install-command.test.ts` passed with
3 tests.
- `vitest run cli/src/node-version.test.ts` passed with 4 tests.
- Directly exercised the shared warning helper for unsupported-version
messaging and same-process deduplication.
- The focused exe.dev suite could not resolve the locally unbuilt plugin
SDK from this isolated worktree. A full offline workspace install was
also blocked because the package-manager signature verifier requires
registry access. The full suite was not run locally; draft CI performs a
clean install and evaluates the wider impact.
## Risks
- This is a breaking runtime change for users, plugins, and deployments
that still use Node.js 20 or 22.
- Published workspace packages will now produce an engine warning or
failure in strict package managers on older Node.js releases.
- Node.js 24 can reveal dependency, native module, Playwright, or agent
CLI compatibility issues in CI.
- The bootstrap installer now installs Node.js 24 when the current
runtime is older than 24.11.0.
- The portable sandbox fallback is pinned to Node.js 24.11.0 and depends
on that upstream tarball remaining available.
- Unsupported runtimes continue booting after a warning, so a later
incompatibility can still fail at its point of use.
- The CLI and server share the warning policy through the published
`@paperclipai/shared` package; packaging checks must keep that subpath
export available.
- This PR does not commit `pnpm-lock.yaml` because repository policy
assigns lockfile generation to CI.
> 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 based on GPT-5. The exact deployment ID and context
window are not exposed in this session. Reasoning, repository tools,
shell execution, and GitHub tools 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
---------
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - Sandbox-provider plugins (cloudflare, daytona, e2b, exe-dev,
kubernetes, modal, novita) and `plugin-workspace-diff` are published as
standalone npm packages, but during local dev they need the in-repo
`@paperclipai/plugin-sdk` symlinked in
> - Each of these plugins shipped a `postinstall` lifecycle script that
traversed *out* of its own package directory (`node
../../../../scripts/link-plugin-dev-sdk.mjs`) to do that linking
> - The publishable manifest is built by a `prepack` whitelist that
drops the `scripts` field, so npm consumers don't see the postinstall
today — but that safety property depends entirely on `prepack` running
on every publish. A publish that skips lifecycle scripts would ship a
tarball whose postinstall escapes its package directory at consumer
install time
> - This pull request removes the escape-the-package-dir lifecycle
script from every plugin source manifest and moves the dev linking to a
single root-level postinstall that iterates the excluded plugin
directories itself
> - The benefit is that plugin tarballs can no longer carry an
install-time script that reaches outside their own directory, regardless
of whether `prepack` runs
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
This is a follow-up hardening change flagged during review of the Novita
sandbox provider PR (#7595).
**Problem (security):** Excluded plugin packages each carried
`"postinstall": "node ../../../../scripts/link-plugin-dev-sdk.mjs"`. The
relative path traverses outside the package root. Today the published
manifest is sanitized by a `prepack` whitelist that drops `scripts`, so
consumers are unaffected in the normal publish path. The risk is that
this is a defense-in-depth gap: if a publish ever skips lifecycle
scripts (e.g. `npm publish --ignore-scripts` is *not* used, or a tool
publishes the raw manifest), the tarball would ship a postinstall that
runs out-of-tree code at the consumer's install time.
## What Changed
- Added a single root `package.json` `postinstall`: `node
scripts/link-plugin-dev-sdk.mjs`.
- Rewrote `scripts/link-plugin-dev-sdk.mjs` to iterate the excluded
plugin directories itself (`packages/plugins/sandbox-providers/*` + the
orchestration smoke example) instead of relying on each plugin to invoke
it from its own cwd. Preserves both prior behaviors: leave a real
installed SDK dir alone, and skip when already correctly symlinked
(idempotent).
- Removed `scripts.postinstall` from all 7 sandbox-provider plugins
(cloudflare, daytona, e2b, exe-dev, kubernetes, modal, novita).
- Removed `scripts.postinstall` from `plugin-workspace-diff` (a pnpm
workspace member — pnpm already links the SDK, so the script was a no-op
there).
## Verification
- `node scripts/link-plugin-dev-sdk.mjs` from repo root: links the SDK
into the excluded plugins and reports skipped (already-linked) dirs;
re-running is idempotent.
- `grep -r "link-plugin-dev-sdk" packages/plugins/*/package.json
packages/plugins/sandbox-providers/*/package.json` returns no matches —
no plugin source manifest references the linker any longer.
- All affected `package.json` files re-validated as parseable JSON.
## Risks
Low risk. Dev-only tooling: the linker only runs at the repo root during
local install and only touches `node_modules/@paperclipai/plugin-sdk`
symlinks inside excluded plugin dirs. No change to published plugin
behavior or runtime code. Worst case if the root postinstall failed to
run, local dev of an excluded plugin would not find the SDK symlink —
easily re-run manually.
## Model Used
Claude Opus (claude-opus-4-8), extended reasoning, with tool use / code
execution in an agentic coding harness.
## 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 OR (b) described the
issue in-PR following the relevant issue template
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable (added
`scripts/link-plugin-dev-sdk.test.js`, wired into
`test:release-registry`)
- [ ] If this change affects the UI, I have included before/after
screenshots (N/A — no UI change)
- [ ] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes (N/A)
- [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
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Paperclip already separates agent adapters from execution
environments, so agents can run locally, over SSH, or through sandbox
providers.
> - Sandbox provider plugins let Paperclip add new cloud runtimes
without changing each agent adapter.
> - Novita Agent Sandbox is a cloud runtime for AI agent workloads with
isolated filesystems, command execution, templates, timeout controls,
and pause/resume behavior.
> - Paperclip currently has sandbox provider examples for Daytona and
Cloudflare, but not Novita.
> - This pull request adds a Novita sandbox provider plugin using the
existing provider-plugin lifecycle.
> - The benefit is that Paperclip users can run existing adapters such
as Codex, Claude, Gemini, OpenCode, Cursor, or ACPX inside Novita Agent
Sandbox environments.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
Fixes#7596
## What Changed
- Added `packages/plugins/sandbox-providers/novita` as a standalone
sandbox provider plugin package.
- Registered provider key `novita` with `kind: "sandbox_provider"` and
`environment.drivers.register` capability.
- Implemented Novita environment lifecycle hooks: validate config,
probe, acquire lease, resume lease, release lease, destroy lease,
realize workspace, and execute commands.
- Added config support for `apiKey`, `domain`, `template`,
`requestedCwd`, `timeoutMs`, `requestTimeoutMs`, `secure`, `autoPause`,
and `reuseLease`.
- Added README documentation for setup, configuration, and lifecycle
behavior.
- Added tests for manifest shape, config parsing, safe shell command
wrapping, stdin delimiter safety, and env-key validation.
## Verification
From `packages/plugins/sandbox-providers/novita`:
- `pnpm typecheck`
- `pnpm test`
The tests avoid live Novita API calls and cover the provider's static
contract and command-wrapping behavior. Live end-to-end verification
requires a Paperclip instance with the plugin installed and a Novita API
key configured as either a Paperclip secret or `NOVITA_API_KEY` in the
worker environment.
## Risks
- This adds a new direct dependency on the Novita Sandbox JS SDK
(`novita-sandbox`). Socket/Snyk should review the package as part of
normal dependency checks.
- The implementation relies on Novita SDK command execution semantics;
live provider behavior should be verified with a real Novita sandbox
before marking the plugin production-ready.
- `reuseLease` maps Paperclip release behavior to Novita `betaPause()`.
If pause is unavailable for a selected template, the plugin falls back
to best-effort kill during release.
- Low migration risk for existing users because this is a new standalone
provider plugin and does not change existing adapters or built-in
providers.
> 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 GPT-5 Codex via Codex CLI, with repository file access, shell
command execution, GitHub CLI/API usage, and local TypeScript/Vitest
verification. Web and local documentation context were used for Novita
Sandbox SDK/API behavior.
## 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 run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [ ] If this change affects the UI, I have included before/after
screenshots
- [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
---------
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
Co-authored-by: Devin Foley <devin@paperclip.ing>
Nicky Leach
Devin Foley
Alex