## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - The Paperclip Runner needs a narrow server trust boundary before an
adapter can start it.
> - The package has durable runner transport, but the server does not
host or authorize that transport.
> - Native persistence exists, but no writer connects PRP events to
those records.
> - A direct adapter must not enter this path by accident.
> - This pull request adds a hidden, run-bound PRP server coordinator.
> - The benefit is a recoverable server boundary that remains
unavailable to normal execution.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
Refs #11962
Refs #12129
Refs #12169
**Subsystem affected**
Cross-cutting. The change affects the runner package and server
orchestration.
**Problem or motivation**
The server cannot authenticate runnerd, commit PRP events before ACK,
authorize semantic tools, or enter native finalization from a durable
runner result. The application must have this hidden boundary before a
guarded adapter can use the runner.
**Proposed solution**
Add an authenticated PRP WebSocket authority and register it only for
one exact persisted native Codex run. Bind each connection and event to
the company, issue, agent, run, runner, session, turn, item, and
verified runner identity. Commit each event before its cumulative ACK.
Project only authorized same-task read tools. Rebuild the accepted
result and finalization record from durable result and terminal events.
**Alternatives considered**
The server could expose a broad runner API key or route semantic calls
through existing adapter endpoints. Those options grant too much
authority and weaken replay recovery. The server could also add the
user-facing adapter in this pull request. That option would mix rollout
selection with the transport trust boundary and make legacy
compatibility harder to review.
**Roadmap alignment**
This work supports the shipped enforced-outcomes, governed-tool, and
self-healing-run milestones. It does not add a new roadmap surface.
## What Changed
- Add the durable PRP server authority with one-use bootstrap tickets,
reconnect leases, encrypted frames, bounded state, cumulative ACKs, and
idempotent commands.
- Add `/api/runner/v1/connect/:runId`. Derive its `ws://` or `wss://`
URL from the configured Paperclip API URL.
- Register one authority only after the coordinator verifies the
complete native Codex run binding.
- Commit validated PRP events to `heartbeat_run_events` before ACK.
Reject source gaps and conflicting replays.
- Rebuild accepted results and finalization records from durable result
and terminal events. Enforce finalization owner leases and retry times.
- Project five same-task read operations. Recheck run, agent, task, and
company authority for each call.
- Keep the route hidden. No adapter selects this coordinator, and no
code starts runnerd.
- Vendor the compiled runner TypeScript runtime into the server package
while keeping the workspace package development-only for the server.
- Document the package, database writer, run-log payload, and credential
exclusions.
## Verification
- Run `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/paperclip-runner check:all`. All
TypeScript protocol checks and 69 Vitest tests pass, including
commit-before-ACK crash recovery. All 43 Rust unit tests and 13 Rust
integration tests pass. Conformance and replay parity pass.
- Run the focused server WebSocket, coordinator, package-build, and
startup-wiring suites. All 26 tests pass, including a clean-checkout
reproduction with the runner `dist` directory absent.
- Run `pnpm -r typecheck`.
- Run `pnpm test:run`.
- Run `pnpm build`.
- Confirm that the diff contains 19 files. Confirm that it contains no
workflow or `pnpm-lock.yaml` change.
## Risks
- The server installs the WebSocket route at startup. An unregistered or
malformed run path fails closed and creates no native record.
- Bootstrap tickets are one use. The private state directory uses mode
`0700`, and the state file uses mode `0600`. The file stores derived
authentication verifiers and never stores raw tickets or lease tokens.
- The journal has explicit frame, command, event-window, and file-size
bounds. A bound violation closes the runner connection or rejects the
command.
- A runner event reaches the database before its ACK. A crash between
event commit and ACK causes a byte-equivalent replay, not a second
logical effect.
- The coordinator accepts only an existing queued or running native
Codex row with exact company, task, agent, runner, session, and
completion-contract ownership.
- Existing direct adapters do not call this service. They keep their
current execution, transcript, result, and finalization paths.
- The server has no production dependency on the private runner package.
Its build copies the compiled runtime into `server/dist`; the workspace
link is development-only. This adds no external package and does not
change the lockfile.
> 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 with GPT-5. The exact deployment ID and context-window
size are not exposed. The model used agentic reasoning, repository
tools, code execution, and test execution.
## 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
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