## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work.
> - Heartbeats are the control-plane path that turns scheduled,
comment-driven, or on-demand wakeups into adapter executions.
> - Budgeting and recurring work need enforcement before an adapter
starts, not only after model usage is recorded.
> - Empty timer wakes also need an opt-in fast-exit path so operators
can keep routine schedules without paying for no-op model turns.
> - This pull request adds heartbeat preflight gates for daily run and
daily cost caps, plus an explicit timer no-work skip policy.
> - The benefit is safer autonomous operation: capped agents stop before
new execution, queued work is cancelled cleanly at claim time, and
proactive agents still run by default unless the operator opts into
no-work skipping.
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
No public issue exists for this change. Inline bug report:
### What happened?
Heartbeat execution can start without enforcing per-agent daily
invocation and spend limits at the heartbeat boundary. A run that was
queued before a cap was reached can also be claimed later and invoke the
adapter unless the cap is checked again immediately before execution.
Operators also do not have an explicit opt-in fast-exit policy for
generic timer wakes with no actionable assigned work.
### Expected behavior
Configured daily run and daily cost caps should stop new heartbeat runs
before adapter execution. Already queued runs should be rechecked at
claim time and cancelled cleanly when a cap is now reached. Queued issue
runs cancelled by daily caps should release their issue execution locks
and promote deferred wakeups without entering immediate recovery loops.
Generic timer no-work skipping should be opt-in so proactive agents
continue to run by default.
### Steps to reproduce
1. Configure an agent heartbeat policy with a one-run daily cap or a
daily cost cap.
2. Create or queue heartbeat wakeups for that agent after the cap has
already been consumed.
3. Observe that without preflight and claim-time checks, the heartbeat
path can still enqueue or claim work that should be blocked before
adapter execution.
### Paperclip version or commit
Reproduced against `master` before this branch.
### Deployment mode
Local dev (`pnpm dev`) / built from source.
### Installation method
Built from source (`pnpm dev` / `pnpm build`).
### Agent adapter(s) involved
Not adapter-specific (core heartbeat scheduling and claim logic).
### Database mode
External Postgres in tests via embedded test harness.
### Access context
Not applicable.
### Node.js version
Node 20 in CI-compatible local development.
### Operating system
macOS local development, Linux CI-compatible tests.
### Relevant logs or output
The regression suite added in this PR covers the failing paths:
```shell
pnpm exec vitest run server/src/__tests__/heartbeat-stale-queue-invalidation.test.ts
```
### Relevant config (if applicable)
```json
{
"heartbeat": {
"maxDailyRuns": 1,
"maxDailyCostCents": 1,
"skipTimerWhenNoActionableWork": true
}
}
```
### Additional context
This affects recurring/autonomous operation because the safest place to
stop excess work is before adapter execution starts.
### Privacy checklist
Reviewed for sensitive data; no private logs, credentials, or local
instance URLs are included.
## What Changed
- Added heartbeat policy parsing for per-agent daily run caps, daily
cost caps, and opt-in no-actionable-work timer skipping.
- Added pre-queue daily cap checks while preserving same-issue wake
coalescing.
- Added claim-time cap checks so already queued runs are cancelled
before adapter execution when a cap is reached.
- Added skipped wakeup metadata for cap and timer fast-exit decisions.
- Released issue execution locks for queued issue runs cancelled by
daily caps, with deferred wake promotion and without immediate recovery
loops while caps are active.
- Added regression coverage for timer skipping, proactive default
behavior, run caps, cost caps, queued-run cancellation, started
cancelled runs, and deferred issue wake promotion.
## Verification
- `git diff --check`
- `node -c server/src/services/heartbeat.ts`
- `pnpm exec vitest run
server/src/__tests__/heartbeat-stale-queue-invalidation.test.ts`
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/server typecheck`
- Local autoreview: `skills/autoreview/scripts/autoreview --mode branch
--base origin/master --engine codex --model gpt-5.5 --thinking high`
- Result: clean, no accepted/actionable findings
## Risks
- Medium operational risk because this changes heartbeat scheduling and
claim-time behavior.
- The no-actionable-work timer fast-exit is explicitly opt-in to avoid
suppressing proactive agents unexpectedly.
- Daily run caps count runs by `startedAt` so old queued rows do not
consume today’s cap, while started runs still count even if they later
end as cancelled.
- Queued issue-run cap cancellation uses the existing release/promotion
path with immediate recovery suppressed to avoid retry loops while caps
are active.
## Model Used
Codex with GPT-5.5 high reasoning assisted with implementation, local
testing, and autoreview. The final review gate used local autoreview
with `gpt-5.5` high reasoning.
## 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)
- [ ] 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] If this change affects the UI, I have included before/after
screenshots
- [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
- [ ] 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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