## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - The release channels (canary → nightly → beta → stable) select by
install target, and users discover them today only through
maintainer-oriented docs
> - A user who wants to know "which lane am I on, and what else is
there" has no self-serve answer
> - The channel rollout planned a read-only CLI command for exactly this
> - This pull request adds `paperclipai channels`: every lane with the
version its dist-tag resolves to, the install command for it, and which
lane the running install follows
> - The benefit is self-serve lane discovery without reading release
documentation
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
Refs #11008 — the user-facing discovery surface for the channel model
completed there.
**Subsystem affected**
CLI: `cli/src/commands/channels.ts` (new), `cli/src/index.ts`,
`doc/CHANNELS.md`, tests.
**Problem or motivation**
Channel selection is install-based (`@latest` / `@beta` / `@nightly` /
`@canary`), but nothing in the product tells a user which channel their
install follows or what the other lanes currently resolve to. The
information lives in `doc/CHANNELS.md` and the npm registry, neither of
which a running install surfaces.
**Proposed solution**
A read-only `paperclipai channels` command: prints each channel with the
version its dist-tag currently resolves to (per-lane registry lookups
that degrade to `unavailable` individually), the install command for
each, and the running install's lane parsed from its version suffix —
source checkouts carry the repository's placeholder version and are
reported as unmapped rather than guessed. `--json` emits the same data
for scripting.
## What Changed
- `cli/src/commands/channels.ts` (new): channel table, lane parsing,
registry resolution, human and `--json` output
- `cli/src/index.ts`: registers `channels`
- `doc/CHANNELS.md`: "Seeing where you are" section
- `cli/src/__tests__/channels.test.ts` (new): lane parsing including
unknown versions, full resolution against a fake runner, per-lane
degradation, table/dist-tag sync
## Verification
- `vitest run cli/src/__tests__/channels.test.ts`: 5 pass
- `pnpm typecheck` in `cli/`
- Live run against the real registry shows all four lanes with their
current versions (`2026.722.0` / `2026.811.0-beta.0` /
`2026.811.0-nightly.0` / canary) and correctly reports a source checkout
as unmapped
## Risks
- Low. Read-only command reusing the existing `resolvePublishedVersion`
registry helper; no state, no auth, no publish surface
## Model Used
Claude Fable 5 (`claude-fable-5`, Anthropic) in Claude Code, with
extended thinking and full tool use. All changes model-authored under
human direction.
## 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
- [ ] All Paperclip CI gates are green (pending — will confirm before
merge)
- [ ] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
(pending — will confirm before merge)
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
Devin Foley