## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - Scheduled routines provide recurring control-plane work without
manual intervention
> - The new activity gate can suppress scheduled runs when no external
work occurred
> - The core scheduler and database support landed without a public
create/update contract
> - Agents, operators, and managed plugins need validated fields plus
discoverable semantics to opt in safely
> - This pull request exposes the activity gate through routine APIs,
revisions, plugin contracts, tests, and skill documentation
> - The benefit is backward-compatible control over idle scheduled work
without losing activity-triggered follow-up
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
- Refs #8534
## What Changed
- Added shared activity-gate policy and scope enums with create/PATCH
validation.
- Persisted activity-gate fields through routine creation, updates,
revision snapshots, pipeline snapshots, and revision restores.
- Defaulted legacy revision snapshots during restore and added
regression coverage for pre-field snapshots.
- Extended managed-plugin routine declarations, production
reconciliation, and the SDK test harness to preserve non-default gate
settings.
- Added end-to-end API coverage for create/PATCH/list/detail
round-trips, defaults, and invalid enum rejection.
- Documented schedule-only semantics, activity windows,
own-run/read-action exclusions, scopes, and an hourly quiet-night
watcher example.
## Verification
- `pnpm exec vitest run packages/shared/src/validators/routine.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/routines-service.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/routines-e2e.test.ts`
- `pnpm exec vitest run packages/shared/src/validators/plugin.test.ts
packages/plugins/sdk/tests/testing-actions.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/plugin-managed-routines.test.ts
server/src/__tests__/routines-service.test.ts -t 'activity
gate|preserves declared activity gate settings|resolves routine agent
and project refs'`
- `pnpm exec vitest run ui/src/lib/workspace-routines.test.ts
ui/src/pages/Routines.test.tsx`
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/shared typecheck`
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/plugin-sdk typecheck`
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/server typecheck`
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/ui typecheck`
- `pnpm check:token-gates`
- GitHub CI: all final-head checks green; Storybook visual regression
skipped by path rules.
- Greptile: 5/5 with no unresolved review threads.
## Risks
- Low risk: defaults remain `always` and `company`, preserving existing
routine behavior and old revision snapshots.
- Managed plugin manifests can now declare the same validated gate
settings as the public routine API; omitted values retain core defaults.
- Revision snapshots now include the new fields so policy changes are
not lost or treated as no-ops during restore.
> For core feature work, checked `ROADMAP.md`: this extends the existing
Scheduled Routines roadmap item and does not duplicate a separate
planned capability.
## Model Used
- OpenAI GPT-5.5 via Codex CLI, with repository tool use and code
execution; context-window size was 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>
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