paperclip/packages/paperclip-runner/docs/capability-execution-modes.md

Capability execution modes and identity

Capability runs the same semantic tool catalog, authorization engine, and mock ControlPlanePort under two agent modes. Whichever mode is active, the surface always names three separate actors so a reader never mistakes one for another.

Three actors, always separate

Actor	What it is in Capability	What it is not
Real Codex	A real Codex app-server session driving the turn loop. The agent has no Paperclip skill; it sees only the semantic tools the scenario exposes.	Not a scripted stand-in, and not a Paperclip-aware agent.
Real runnerd	The real package-local paperclip-runnerd binary. It owns the Codex child process group and proxies newline-delimited JSON-RPC over stdio.	Not an in-process fake and not the production Paperclip runtime.
Mock Paperclip	The deterministic in-process ControlPlanePort adapter. It holds every issue, comment, document, interaction, approval, and audit record as mock state.	Not the Paperclip control plane, database, or API. No request leaves the process for a Paperclip service.

The live surface renders a Real Codex, Real runnerd, and Mock Paperclip marker at all times. Mock records carry an MCK- identifier prefix so a mock issue is never confused with a real PAP- issue.

Two agent modes

Scripted (deterministic) — fake mode

The scripted driver replays a recorded conversation over the same mock core. It needs no provider credential, no runnerd process, and no network after pnpm install. It is the mode used for:

• the 106-case conformance suite and its bounded parity report;
• the byte-stable screenshot matrix;
• replay of a recorded session.

Because it is fully deterministic, two runs of the same route produce byte-identical output. A scripted (mode=fake) artifact cannot satisfy a live acceptance criterion — it proves the contract, not a real provider turn.

Codex (bounded) — live mode

Live mode starts a real paperclip-runnerd process and a real Codex app-server session. The package server — never the browser — owns the Codex process, the session, the tool loop, and provider authentication. The browser receives no provider, runner, mock-control-plane, or real-control-plane credential.

Live mode requires a locally authenticated Codex installation. When that relay is not present, the UI keeps Codex disabled with a named reason and scripted mode stays available. Live mode is the only mode eligible for the final Revision 3/4 acceptance criteria that require a real provider turn.

Mode-independent controls

These behave the same in either mode because they operate on the mock core and the runner session, not on the agent:

• Reset restores the original clean mock seed under new run/session authority and rotates or clears the old session authority. It does not affect another browser session's state.
• Stop cancels only the active turn and reaps the runnerd process group; the session and its transcript survive. Cleanup evidence shows no abandoned child process and no active session afterward.
• Replay reproduces a recorded canonical timeline. It is always scripted and always labelled as fake-derived, even inside a session that also ran a live turn.
• Refresh / reconnect restores the same durable session, pending interaction, transcript, and mock state. Reconnect starts a fresh runnerd and Codex app-server and resumes the persisted provider thread; the session does not restart because the browser reconnected.

Two entry points, one live mode

Live mode is reachable from both primary surfaces:

• the preset scenario explorer, with mode=live on a chosen scenario;
• the clean-room chat at #/chat, which has no other mode. It starts blank on a freshly minted mock tenant, pins mode=live in the route, and reports a failure to start real Codex rather than falling back to a fixture or a recording.

Eligibility summary

Evidence	Eligible for
Scripted / mode=fake run	106-case conformance, replay determinism, screenshot matrix, contract proofs
Live Codex run on the final build	Revision 3/4 final acceptance criteria that require a real provider turn
Revision 2 preview (build da0d32d74a, historical URL)	Historical comparison only — not eligible for final acceptance

See the live runnerd and Codex loop reference for the session API and verification commands behind each row above.