## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - The local heartbeat/runtime subsystem starts long-running local
agent processes and records their run state.
> - Operators sometimes need to rebuild and restart the Paperclip server
while local agent processes are still alive.
> - A normal restart should remain conservative, but a guarded
production hot restart needs an explicit marker, startup reconciliation,
and an inspectable report.
> - The broader hot-restart PR is currently merge-conflicted, so this
pull request lands the minimal server-side recovery path on current
`master`.
> - The benefit is that deploy operators can restart from a current
branch without reverting production changes and without marking adopted
live runs as `process_lost`.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
No public GitHub issue exists for this deploy-safety fix.
Bug fix:
- What happened: the current deployable `master` branch did not include
the hot-restart marker CLI, startup adoption report path, or health
version proof needed by guarded service restarts.
- Expected behavior: a deploy operator can write a one-shot marker
before restarting, the old server snapshots eligible running child
processes, the new server reports adopted/finalized/lost runs, and
adopted live runs are not reaped as `process_lost`.
- Steps to reproduce: restart a server with running local child-process
heartbeat runs without the marker/adoption path; startup orphan reaping
has no adoption metadata and treats live detached children as lost.
- Paperclip version/commit: fixed on top of `master` at `b606869a6`.
- Deployment mode: production/local-service style deployments that
rebuild and restart the primary `paperclip.service`.
- Related PR: Refs #9628. This PR intentionally lands a smaller
deploy-safe subset because #9628 is currently merge-conflicted.
- Duplicate search: searched public PRs/issues for `hot restart` and
`process_lost adoption`; #9628 is the directly related prior
implementation.
## What Changed
- Added `scripts/request-hot-restart.ts` to write a one-shot hot-restart
intent marker under `PAPERCLIP_HOME`.
- Added `server/src/services/hot-restart.ts` for intent/report path
resolution, parsing, atomic writes, shutdown snapshots, and marker
cleanup.
- Wired server shutdown/startup so explicit hot restarts snapshot active
runs, skip the normal heartbeat drain, reconcile live child processes on
boot, and write `hot-restart-report.json`.
- Preserved adopted run metadata so normal orphan reaping does not
regress adopted live runs to `process_lost`.
- Added `serverVersion` health proof alongside existing `version`, plus
docs and regression coverage.
## Verification
- `pnpm vitest run server/src/__tests__/health.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/heartbeat-process-recovery.test.ts` — 2 files
passed, 100 tests passed.
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/server typecheck`
- `env PAPERCLIP_HOME="$PAPERCLIP_RUN_SCRATCH_DIR/hot-restart-cli-smoke"
pnpm --filter @paperclipai/server exec tsx
../scripts/request-hot-restart.ts --server-pid 12345`
- Branch ancestry checked after `git fetch origin master`:
`origin/master` was `b606869a6`, and `HEAD..origin/master` was empty.
## Risks
- Medium risk: process adoption depends on PID/PGID metadata and the
service manager leaving child processes alive for the guarded restart.
- Normal restarts remain conservative, but an incorrect marker PID
intentionally falls back to graceful drain instead of adoption.
- The PR is server-only and does not include the broader
UI/experimental-setting work from #9628.
> 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 via Codex coding agent in a Paperclip execution
workspace; tool use and shell/code execution enabled; context window not
surfaced by this 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>
Dotta