## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - Agent adapters stage referenced projects into controlled sandboxes
> - The ignore scan must preserve exact Git path bytes and fail closed
on unsafe input
> - Unbounded ignored-path data and raw diagnostics can harm resource
use or expose host details
> - This pull request adds exact path parsing, input bounds, fixed
failure categories, and saturation-only retry
> - The benefit is safer and more predictable referenced-project staging
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
**What happened?**
The referenced-project ignore scan trimmed NUL-delimited Git paths. It
also accepted a large ignored-path set and exposed raw failure details
through staging errors and warnings.
**Expected behavior**
The scan must preserve leading and trailing whitespace in Git paths. It
must reject oversized ignored-path data and expose only fixed failure
categories.
**Steps to reproduce**
1. Run the referenced-project ignore scan with paths that start or end
with whitespace.
2. Provide more than 10,000 ignored entries or more than 2 MiB of path
bytes.
3. Trigger a scan failure and inspect the reported reason.
**Paperclip version or commit**
d560bc2ae2
**Deployment mode**
Built from source.
**Installation method**
Built from source.
**Agent adapter(s) involved**
Not adapter-specific.
**Database mode**
Not database-related.
**Additional context**
This change covers the overlay diff, untracked, deleted, and ignored Git
paths. It also retries only typed scheduler saturation failures.
## What Changed
- Preserve all bytes in NUL-delimited Git path records.
- Bound ignored-entry count and total UTF-8 path bytes during parsing.
- Redact scan failure details to three fixed reason categories.
- Retry only the typed scheduler saturation error, with three total
attempts and 1 second then 2 second waits.
- Add tests for path whitespace, limits, diagnostics, retry behavior,
and scheduler code parity.
## Verification
- `npx tsc --noEmit` in `packages/adapter-utils` passed.
- `npx vitest run packages/adapter-utils` passed with 977 tests and 4
skipped.
- Continuous integration must run the server suite and the full
repository gates.
## Risks
The scan now rejects ignored-path data above fixed limits. Saturation
retries add up to 3 seconds before a final failure. The resolver still
fails closed for all other errors.
## Model Used
OpenAI GPT-5. The model used tool calls, code inspection, and command
execution. The exact context window and reasoning mode are not exposed
by the runtime.
## 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 adapters stage project files before an agent starts.
> - Referenced projects ignored Git-ignored paths and copied large local
directories.
> - This behavior increased staging time and disk use, and it differed
from anchor workspaces.
> - This pull request resolves Git-ignored paths once and shares that
result across all referenced-project consumers.
> - The benefit is smaller, faster, and consistent project staging.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
No public GitHub issue exists for this bug.
**What happened?**
Referenced-project staging copied Git-ignored paths, except for a fixed
list of heavy directory names. A large repository therefore used much
more time and disk space than the same repository in an anchor
workspace.
**Expected behavior**
Referenced-project staging should exclude the same Git-ignored paths
that the workspace staging path excludes.
**Steps to reproduce**
1. Create a referenced project with a large Git-ignored directory.
2. Start a sandbox or SSH run that stages the referenced project.
3. Observe that the ignored directory enters the staged content.
**Paperclip version or commit**
Commit `9964b034bbff24e700c8eccf5a8b1fc3daa44bf2`.
**Deployment mode**
Built from source.
## What Changed
- Resolve each referenced project's Git-ignored paths once before
staging.
- Carry the resolved paths as a required field on
`SandboxAdditionalSource`.
- Reuse the resolved paths in sandbox staging, SSH staging, and
content-signature code.
- Harden the read-only Git helper with a bounded process, a reduced
environment, and disabled system and global configuration.
- Fail closed on Git errors, timeouts, and invalid path relations.
- Escape tar glob metacharacters in ignore-derived exclude entries.
- Add and update unit tests for the resolver and its three consumers.
## Verification
- `pnpm vitest run --config packages/adapter-utils/vitest.config.ts`
passes 266 tests locally.
- `pnpm exec tsc --noEmit -p packages/adapter-utils/tsconfig.json`
passes locally.
- CI must pass on this pull request.
- Greptile must report 5/5 with no unresolved comments before merge.
## Risks
- A Git error or timeout now prevents staging for the affected
referenced project.
- The resolver uses a bounded read-only Git process and fails closed by
design.
- The change stays inside `packages/adapter-utils` and does not change
the database schema.
## Model Used
Claude Sonnet 5 (Anthropic) assisted the implementation with code
execution and tool use. The exact context window and reasoning mode are
not recorded.
## 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
> - Runs can reference more than one project
> - Each referenced project must land in its own sandbox tree so one run
does not mix files across projects
> - The anchor workspace must keep its own git history and overlay rules
> - Fail closed on sync and confinement errors, and keep the other
projects alive
> - This pull request stages referenced projects into isolated project
directories under the run sandbox root
> - The benefit is safer multi-project runs with clear failure isolation
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
No public issue exists.
Related PR: #10448.
## What Changed
- Thread additional referenced-project sources through the run prepare
path and the runtime layers.
- Stage each referenced project into its own `project-<projectId>`
directory under the runtime root.
- Keep the anchor workspace history and overlay semantics unchanged.
- Fail closed on confinement or sync errors for one project, and keep
the other projects running.
- Keep the path inert by default behind the multi-project workspace-sync
kill-switch.
- No documentation update was needed for this code-only runtime change.
## Verification
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/adapter-utils exec vitest run
src/sandbox-file-sync.test.ts src/command-managed-runtime.test.ts
src/sandbox-managed-runtime.test.ts src/remote-managed-runtime.test.ts`
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/adapter-utils exec tsc --noEmit`
- The branch points at `871378e4064a95adc8e4647e442ec1359768de61` on
`origin/feat/stage-referenced-projects-into-sandbox`.
- GitHub CI is green on PR #10469.
## Risks
- A referenced project can skip if confinement or sync fails.
- A new runtime tree layout can affect tools that assume one project
root.
- The kill-switch keeps the path inert until operators enable it.
## Model Used
OpenAI Codex, GPT-5, tool use 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 or
confirmed no docs update was needed
- [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 control plane people use to coordinate AI agents
and their execution environments.
> - Environment realization decides where an agent runs and which
filesystem and toolchain are authoritative.
> - Copy-based realization is unsafe for container-anchored tasks
because absolute paths such as `/app` can point outside the synchronized
tree and task-specific binaries may be absent.
> - That mismatch can let an agent successfully verify work in a phantom
writable path while sync-back silently discards the result.
> - Existing task environments already provide the authoritative
filesystem and toolchain, so they should be executed in place rather
than copied.
> - Copy mode still needs explicit confinement rules so aliases target
the synchronized workspace and unsynchronized writable paths fail
visibly.
> - This pull request adds typed realization metadata, propagates the
authoritative root through orchestration, and teaches Codex to honor it.
> - The benefit is that container-anchored tasks operate on
verifier-visible state with the intended tools, while copy mode remains
safe and backward compatible.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
No public GitHub issue exists for this defect.
GitHub duplicate searches for in-place execution, workspace realization,
and authoritative workspace roots found no related pull request to link.
### What happened?
Environment-backed agent runs were always realized through a copied
workspace. Tasks anchored to absolute container paths could therefore
write outside the synchronized tree, and task-provided toolchains were
unavailable in the copy. A run could report success even though
sync-back discarded its output.
### Expected behavior
Existing task environments should run against their real authoritative
root and toolchain. Copy-mode runs should map declared absolute aliases
into the synchronized tree and reject writable paths that cannot be
restored.
### Steps to reproduce
1. Run a Codex task environment whose required files live under `/app`
or `/workspace` and whose required binary exists only in the task
container.
2. Observe that copy realization changes the effective
filesystem/toolchain or permits writes outside the synchronized root.
3. Complete and verify the task inside the agent sandbox.
4. Observe that the verifier cannot see out-of-tree artifacts or that
task-specific commands were unavailable.
### Reproduction context
- Paperclip commit: `3a16b91217483d2c233926de5b7f7bc3a1077924`
- Deployment: built from source in a task-container execution
environment
- Adapter: Codex local
- Database: not database-related
- Access context: agent execution
## What Changed
- Added typed `copy | in_place` workspace-realization metadata,
authoritative roots, confined aliases, and outbound restore paths to
shared execution-target contracts.
- Selected in-place realization for existing task environments and
skipped archive prepare/restore when the authoritative environment is
used directly.
- Propagated the authoritative root into adapter context so Codex uses
it for cwd and `PAPERCLIP_WORKSPACE_*` semantics, including ACP
execution.
- Bound copy-mode aliases such as `/app` to the synchronized workspace
and rejected writable out-of-tree paths without explicit restore
mappings.
- Added focused regression coverage while preserving existing copy-mode
archive restore behavior.
## Verification
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/shared typecheck` — passed.
- `pnpm exec vitest run
packages/adapter-utils/src/local-process-sandbox.test.ts
packages/adapters/codex-local/src/server/acp.test.ts
packages/adapters/codex-local/src/server/execute.remote.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/environment-run-orchestrator.test.ts` — 48 passed,
4 skipped.
- `pnpm -r typecheck` — passed.
- `env -u AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID -u AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY -u
AWS_SESSION_TOKEN pnpm test:run` — passed across all general and
serialized Vitest shards.
- `pnpm build` — passed.
- Codex `k=1` acceptance run completed July 24, 2026 at 23:54:30 UTC
with 4 completed, 0 exceptions, and mean reward 1.0: `build-cython-ext`,
`openssl-selfsigned-cert`, `prove-plus-comm`, and `sqlite-db-truncate`
each received terminal grade 1.0 against real task-environment paths and
toolchains.
## Risks
- In-place mode deliberately exposes the authoritative task root to the
adapter; incorrect environment metadata could point execution at the
wrong root. Typed metadata and focused orchestration tests cover
selection and propagation.
- Copy-mode writable-path validation is stricter and may reject
previously accepted unsafe configurations. The rejection is intentional
and produces a visible error instead of silently losing output.
- The acceptance run is focused on four Codex task-environment
workloads, not a broad cross-adapter benchmark. Existing copy-mode
archive tests and the full repository suite remain green.
> 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 CLI coding agent; exact model ID and context-window size
were not exposed to this runtime. Capabilities used: extended reasoning,
repository editing, shell execution, test/build execution, Git, GitHub
CLI, and Paperclip API tool use.
## 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>
Nicky Leach
Dotta