Plugin SDK

@paperclipai/plugin-sdk is the worker-side authoring kit for Paperclip plugins. Import it from your plugin's worker entrypoint to declare a plugin, subscribe to host events, register jobs and data feeds, run RPC against the host, and reach the managed database, secrets, state, and the rest of the Paperclip API surface.

This page is for plugin authors: the developers writing the code that ships inside a plugin package. If you only run plugins — install, configure, enable, disable — you want Administration → Plugins instead.

The plugin runtime is in alpha. The SDK still ships breaking changes between Paperclip releases; pin your @paperclipai/plugin-sdk and @paperclipai/shared versions and re-read this page when you upgrade.

When to use

Reach for the plugin SDK when you want to:

• Add a long-running worker that reacts to Paperclip events (issue.created, agent.run.completed, …).
• Expose new pages, widgets, launchers, or settings inside the Paperclip UI.
• Register scheduled jobs, webhooks, tools, or managed agents and routines.
• Ship a managed database namespace alongside your plugin code.
• Bridge a new environment driver (custom sandbox / execution backend) into Paperclip.

When not to use

• Teaching Paperclip a new AI runtime. Use an adapter instead — adapters speak the per-run wire protocol; plugins extend the server.
• Adding instructions an agent should follow. Write a company skill — those are markdown an agent loads at run time, not server code.
• One-off scripts. A plugin needs to be installed, enabled, and managed. For ad-hoc automation, prefer the REST API or the CLI.

Package surface

The SDK package exposes two entrypoints:

• @paperclipai/plugin-sdk — the worker-side surface documented on this page. Default for definePlugin, runWorker, PluginContext, the protocol helpers, and all manifest/protocol types.
• @paperclipai/plugin-sdk/ui — UI-bundle surface for plugin UI contributions. Out of scope for this page; see Administration → Plugins for the operator-facing view.

All identifiers below are exported from @paperclipai/plugin-sdk. They are the source of truth — copy names verbatim.

Public API

Plugin definition

Types: PluginDefinition, PaperclipPlugin, PluginHealthDiagnostics, PluginConfigValidationResult, PluginWebhookInput, PluginApiRequestInput, PluginApiResponse, RunWorkerOptions, WorkerRpcHostOptions, WorkerRpcHost.

Plugin context

PluginContext is the parameter your setup(ctx) receives. It exposes one client per concern, all imported from @paperclipai/plugin-sdk as types:

When you emit a metric with metrics.write (via PluginMetricsClient) or write a line with log (via PluginLogger), you can pass an optional companyId to scope that record to a company so it is cascade-deleted when the company is removed; omit it or pass null to keep the record at instance scope.

Issue-domain helpers: PluginIssueMutationActor, PluginIssueRelationSummary, PluginIssueCheckoutOwnership, PluginIssueWakeupResult, PluginIssueWakeupBatchResult, PluginIssueRunSummary, PluginIssueApprovalSummary, PluginIssueCostSummary, PluginBudgetIncidentSummary, PluginIssueInvocationBlockSummary, PluginIssueOrchestrationSummary, PluginIssueSubtreeOptions, PluginIssueAssigneeSummary, PluginIssueSubtree, IssueDocumentSummary.

Workspace metadata for ctx.executionWorkspaces: PluginExecutionWorkspaceMetadata.

Agent-session helpers: AgentSession, AgentSessionEvent, AgentSessionSendResult.

Workspace, event, and scope helpers: PluginWorkspace, PluginEvent, EventFilter, ScopeKey, PluginJobContext.

Manifest types

Plugin manifests are validated against types re-exported from @paperclipai/shared. Importing them from the SDK gives you a single dependency:

Constant enum types: PluginStatus, PluginCategory, PluginCapability, PluginUiSlotType, PluginUiSlotEntityType, PluginLauncherPlacementZone, PluginLauncherAction, PluginLauncherBounds, PluginLauncherRenderEnvironment, PluginStateScopeKind, PluginJobStatus, PluginJobRunStatus, PluginJobRunTrigger, PluginWebhookDeliveryStatus, PluginDatabaseCoreReadTable, PluginDatabaseMigrationStatus, PluginDatabaseNamespaceMode, PluginDatabaseNamespaceStatus, PluginApiRouteAuthMode, PluginApiRouteCheckoutPolicy, PluginApiRouteMethod, PluginEventType, PluginBridgeErrorCode, JsonSchema.

Managed resources

"Managed resources" is the umbrella term for plugin-owned Paperclip records that the host materialises per company: managed agents, projects, routines, and skills. You declare them once on the manifest under top-level agents[], projects[], routines[], and skills[], and the host creates, relinks, or returns the existing record for the current companyId at runtime.

Reach for managed resources when your plugin needs durable business objects the operator should see in the board — a named worker, a stable project home for plugin-generated issues, a recurring routine that produces visible task trails, or a reusable skill surfaced on managed agents. Keep jobs[] for plugin runtime maintenance that does not need a board-visible task trail.

Each kind requires its own capability (agents.managed, projects.managed, routines.managed, skills.managed) and is reached through a dedicated client on PluginContext:

await ctx.projects.managed.reconcile("research", companyId);
await ctx.agents.managed.reconcile("researcher", companyId);
await ctx.routines.managed.reconcile("weekly-brief", companyId);
await ctx.skills.managed.reconcile("weekly-brief-skills", companyId);

The relevant methods are get(), reconcile(), and reset() — plus update() and run() on routines. reconcile() creates the missing resource, relinks a recoverable binding, or returns the existing resource. reset() reapplies the manifest defaults when the operator wants to restore the plugin's suggested configuration.

Dependencies between managed resources are declared with PluginManagedResourceRef — for example a routine's assigneeRef and projectRef. Reconcile the referenced agent and project before reconciling the routine; if a ref is still missing, the routine resolution reports missing_refs instead of guessing.

Keys are stable identity. Renaming agentKey, projectKey, routineKey, or skillKey after publishing creates a new managed resource from the host's point of view.

For the full manifest example and authoring rules, see the parent doc/plugins/PLUGIN_AUTHORING_GUIDE.md; the declaration types listed under Manifest types above are the source of truth for what each managed entry accepts.

External-object reference providers

An external-object reference provider teaches Paperclip to recognise URLs that point at work living in another system — a GitHub PR, a Linear issue — and to keep a status-aware reference to that object alongside your issues. When an operator pastes a supported URL into issue content, the host detects it, asks your plugin to resolve the current remote status, and then refreshes it on a schedule so the reference renders as a live, status-aware chip across issue surfaces instead of a plain link.

You declare providers on the manifest under top-level objectReferences[], and you implement the lifecycle as optional handlers on the object you pass to definePlugin({...}). Declaring objectReferences requires both the external.objects.detect and external.objects.read capabilities; the batch refresh handler additionally requires external.objects.refresh.

Declaring a provider

Each entry is a PluginObjectReferenceProviderDeclaration:

PluginObjectReferenceRefreshPolicy controls how long a resolved object is treated as fresh:

The detect → resolve → refresh lifecycle

You implement the lifecycle as three optional hooks on your plugin definition. Each is gated behind its own capability.

onDetectExternalObjects(params) — Paperclip calls this when it scans issue, comment, or document content and asks whether any sanitized URL candidates belong to your providers. The host has already stripped URL userinfo, query strings, and fragments unless provider-safe identity components were explicitly hashed. Requires external.objects.detect.

• Receives DetectExternalObjectsParams: companyId, an array of PluginExternalObjectUrlCandidate (sanitizedCanonicalUrl, sanitizedDisplayUrl, canonicalIdentityHash, canonicalIdentity, redactedMatchedText), and a PluginExternalObjectSourceContext (companyId, sourceIssueId, sourceKind, sourceRecordId, documentKey, propertyKey).
• Returns DetectExternalObjectsResult: { detections }, where each PluginExternalObjectDetection carries urlIdentityHash, providerKey, objectType, externalId, and optional displayKey, iconKey, displayTitle, and confidence.

onResolveExternalObject(params) — Paperclip calls this when it needs the current normalized status for one external object owned by a declared provider. Requires external.objects.read.

• Receives ResolveExternalObjectParams: companyId, providerKey, objectType, externalId, and the current object as a PluginExternalObjectRecordSnapshot (the persisted row — id, companyId, providerKey, objectType, externalId, sanitizedCanonicalUrl, canonicalIdentityHash, displayKey, iconKey, displayTitle, statusKey, statusLabel, statusIconKey, statusCategory, statusTone, liveness, isTerminal, data, remoteVersion, etag).
• Returns PluginExternalObjectResolveResult, a discriminated union:
  • { ok: true, snapshot }, where snapshot is a PluginExternalObjectResolvedSnapshot carrying the refreshed statusCategory and statusTone plus optional displayKey, iconKey, displayTitle, statusKey, statusLabel, statusIconKey, isTerminal, data, remoteVersion, etag, and ttlSeconds.
  • { ok: false, liveness, errorCode, errorMessage?, retryAfterSeconds? }, where liveness is constrained to "auth_required" or "unreachable" — use this to report an expired token or an unreachable remote without dropping the reference.

onRefreshExternalObjects(params) — an optional batch resolver for providers that can refresh many objects more efficiently than calling onResolveExternalObject one at a time. Requires external.objects.refresh.

• Receives RefreshExternalObjectsParams: companyId and an array of PluginExternalObjectRecordSnapshot objects.
• Returns RefreshExternalObjectsResult: { results }, an array of { objectId, result } where each result is a PluginExternalObjectResolveResult shaped exactly like the single-object resolve return.

If you implement only onResolveExternalObject, the host refreshes objects one at a time within the window set by your refreshPolicy; declaring onRefreshExternalObjects lets you collapse those into a single round trip. For a concrete reference implementation, see the parent server/src/services/github-external-object-provider.ts.

JSON-RPC protocol

The SDK speaks JSON-RPC 2.0 between host and worker. Most plugin authors never call these directly, but they are exported for advanced use (custom transports, tests, replay tools).

Helpers and constants:

• JSONRPC_VERSION, MESSAGE_DELIMITER
• JSONRPC_ERROR_CODES, PLUGIN_RPC_ERROR_CODES
• HOST_TO_WORKER_REQUIRED_METHODS, HOST_TO_WORKER_OPTIONAL_METHODS
• createRequest, createSuccessResponse, createErrorResponse, createNotification
• isJsonRpcRequest, isJsonRpcNotification, isJsonRpcResponse, isJsonRpcSuccessResponse, isJsonRpcErrorResponse
• serializeMessage, parseMessage
• JsonRpcParseError, JsonRpcCallError

Protocol types: JsonRpcId, JsonRpcRequest, JsonRpcSuccessResponse, JsonRpcError, JsonRpcErrorResponse, JsonRpcResponse, JsonRpcNotification, JsonRpcMessage, JsonRpcErrorCode, PluginRpcErrorCode, plus the parameter shapes for each RPC method: InitializeParams, InitializeResult, ConfigChangedParams, ValidateConfigParams, OnEventParams, RunJobParams, GetDataParams, PerformActionParams, ExecuteToolParams, and the host method tables HostToWorkerMethods / HostToWorkerMethodName / WorkerToHostMethods / WorkerToHostMethodName / HostToWorkerRequest / HostToWorkerResponse / WorkerToHostRequest / WorkerToHostResponse / WorkerToHostNotifications / WorkerToHostNotificationName.

External-object protocol shapes: PluginExternalObjectUrlCandidate, PluginExternalObjectSourceContext, DetectExternalObjectsParams, PluginExternalObjectDetection, DetectExternalObjectsResult, PluginExternalObjectRecordSnapshot, ResolveExternalObjectParams, PluginExternalObjectResolvedSnapshot, PluginExternalObjectResolveResult, RefreshExternalObjectsParams, RefreshExternalObjectsResult. See External-object reference providers for the lifecycle that uses them.

Environment-driver protocol shapes: PluginEnvironmentDiagnostic, PluginEnvironmentDriverBaseParams, PluginEnvironmentValidateConfigParams, PluginEnvironmentValidationResult, PluginEnvironmentProbeParams, PluginEnvironmentProbeResult, PluginEnvironmentLease, PluginEnvironmentAcquireLeaseParams, PluginEnvironmentResumeLeaseParams, PluginEnvironmentReleaseLeaseParams, PluginEnvironmentDestroyLeaseParams, PluginEnvironmentRealizeWorkspaceParams, PluginEnvironmentRealizeWorkspaceResult, PluginEnvironmentExecuteParams, PluginEnvironmentExecuteResult, PluginEnvironmentInteractiveSetupStatus, PluginEnvironmentInteractiveSetupConnectionType, PluginEnvironmentTemplateRefKind, PluginEnvironmentInteractiveSetupConnectionSummary, PluginEnvironmentInteractiveSetupConnectionPayload, PluginEnvironmentInteractiveSetupSession, PluginEnvironmentStartInteractiveSetupParams, PluginEnvironmentGetInteractiveSetupParams, PluginEnvironmentCaptureTemplateParams, PluginEnvironmentCaptureTemplateResult, PluginEnvironmentCancelInteractiveSetupParams, PluginEnvironmentCancelInteractiveSetupResult, PluginEnvironmentDeleteTemplateParams, PluginEnvironmentDeleteTemplateResult, PluginEnvironmentTemplateConfigBinding. The last block backs the optional interactive-setup and template-capture hooks described below.

Interactive setup and reusable templates (optional)

An environment-driver plugin can go beyond leasing and executing: it can stand up a sandbox interactively so an operator can log in and get it just right, then capture that live sandbox as a reusable "custom image" template for future leases. These hooks are optional — only implement them if your driver supports interactive setup or capturing reusable environment templates. A driver that just leases and executes can ignore them entirely.

You implement them as optional methods on the object you pass to definePlugin({...}):

• onEnvironmentStartInteractiveSetup(params: PluginEnvironmentStartInteractiveSetupParams): Promise<PluginEnvironmentInteractiveSetupSession> — start an interactive setup sandbox and return redacted connection metadata.
• onEnvironmentGetInteractiveSetup(params: PluginEnvironmentGetInteractiveSetupParams): Promise<PluginEnvironmentInteractiveSetupSession> — read setup status and, when authorized, a one-time connection payload.
• onEnvironmentCaptureTemplate(params: PluginEnvironmentCaptureTemplateParams): Promise<PluginEnvironmentCaptureTemplateResult> — capture a reusable provider template from a live setup sandbox.
• onEnvironmentCancelInteractiveSetup(params: PluginEnvironmentCancelInteractiveSetupParams): Promise<PluginEnvironmentCancelInteractiveSetupResult> — cancel and clean up a setup sandbox without promoting a template.
• onEnvironmentDeleteTemplate(params: PluginEnvironmentDeleteTemplateParams): Promise<PluginEnvironmentDeleteTemplateResult> — optional best-effort cleanup of a captured provider template.

The typical flow is start → get (poll for status and, once authorized, fetch the one-time connection payload) → capture, with cancel as the escape hatch and delete-template as later cleanup.

Launcher render shapes: PluginModalBoundsRequest, PluginRenderCloseEvent, PluginLauncherRenderContextSnapshot.

Host client factory

For embedding the host side of the bridge in tests or custom integrations:

• createHostClientHandlers — build the handler map a host needs to answer worker-to-host RPC calls.
• getRequiredCapability — look up the capability gate a given worker-to-host call sits behind.
• CapabilityDeniedError — thrown by host handlers when the plugin is missing a required capability.

Types: HostServices, HostClientFactoryOptions, HostClientHandlers.

Bundling and dev server

Helpers for the plugin's build pipeline:

• createPluginBundlerPresets — returns esbuild-like and rollup-like presets that pin the right externals/entry shape for plugin bundles.
• startPluginDevServer — local dev server for the plugin UI bundle.
• getUiBuildSnapshot — read the current UI build snapshot, useful in tests.

Types: PluginBundlerPresetInput, PluginBundlerPresets, EsbuildLikeOptions, RollupLikeConfig, PluginDevServer, PluginDevServerOptions.

Testing utilities

The SDK ships a first-class test harness so you do not have to spin up a real host:

• createTestHarness — base harness for unit-testing a plugin against in-memory host stubs.
• createEnvironmentTestHarness — harness for testing environment-driver plugins.
• createFakeEnvironmentDriver — synthesised driver implementation for assertions.
• filterEnvironmentEvents, assertEnvironmentEventOrder, assertLeaseLifecycle, assertWorkspaceRealizationLifecycle, assertExecutionLifecycle, assertEnvironmentError — assertion helpers for the environment-driver flow.

Types: TestHarness, TestHarnessOptions, TestHarnessLogEntry, EnvironmentTestHarness, EnvironmentTestHarnessOptions, EnvironmentEventRecord, FakeEnvironmentDriverOptions.

Re-exports

• z — zod is re-exported so plugin authors do not need to add a separate dependency. Use it for instanceConfigSchema and tool parametersSchema declarations.
• Constants from @paperclipai/shared: PLUGIN_API_VERSION, PLUGIN_STATUSES, PLUGIN_CATEGORIES, PLUGIN_CAPABILITIES, PLUGIN_UI_SLOT_TYPES, PLUGIN_UI_SLOT_ENTITY_TYPES, PLUGIN_STATE_SCOPE_KINDS, PLUGIN_JOB_STATUSES, PLUGIN_JOB_RUN_STATUSES, PLUGIN_JOB_RUN_TRIGGERS, PLUGIN_WEBHOOK_DELIVERY_STATUSES, PLUGIN_EVENT_TYPES, PLUGIN_BRIDGE_ERROR_CODES.

Example

A minimal worker entrypoint that wires up an event subscription, a job, and a data feed:

// dist/worker.ts
import { definePlugin, runWorker, z } from "@paperclipai/plugin-sdk";

const plugin = definePlugin({
  async setup(ctx) {
    ctx.logger.info("Plugin starting up");

    ctx.events.on("issue.created", async (event) => {
      ctx.logger.info("Issue created", { issueId: event.entityId });
    });

    ctx.jobs.register("full-sync", async (job) => {
      ctx.logger.info("Starting full sync", { runId: job.runId });
      // ... sync implementation
    });

    ctx.data.register("sync-health", async ({ companyId }) => {
      const state = await ctx.state.get({
        scopeKind: "company",
        scopeId: String(companyId),
        stateKey: "last-sync-at",
      });
      return { lastSync: state };
    });
  },

  async onHealth() {
    return { status: "ok" };
  },
});

export default plugin;
runWorker(plugin, import.meta.url);

The shape above is the canonical example in the SDK's own index.ts header. For the matching manifest types and capability flags, see the corresponding Plugin*Declaration types listed above.

Worker entrypoint validation

runWorker(plugin, import.meta.url) only starts the JSON-RPC host when the file it is called from is the process entrypoint. The check is intentionally tolerant of symlinked package layouts — common during local plugin development, where a pnpm-linked SDK or a workspace-linked plugin sits behind one or more symlinks.

The exported helper that backs this is isWorkerEntrypoint(entry, moduleUrl):

• It takes process.argv[1] (the path Node was invoked with) and the import.meta.url you passed to runWorker.
• It resolves both sides through fs.realpathSync.native, falling back to a plain path.resolve if the realpath call throws (for example, on a path that doesn't exist yet).
• It compares the resolved real paths for equality. If they match, the file is the entrypoint and runWorker calls startWorkerRpcHost({ plugin }). If they don't, runWorker returns silently — useful when the same module is also imported from tests or re-export shims.

The practical implications:

• Symlinked plugin packages work. When the host runs node /Users/you/.../dist/worker.js against a path that resolves through a symlink, the real-path comparison still matches import.meta.url and the worker boots.
• In-process tests skip the check. Passing both stdin and stdout in RunWorkerOptions makes runWorker start the host directly without consulting process.argv[1]. The test harnesses (createTestHarness, createEnvironmentTestHarness) use this path.
• Re-importing a worker file is safe. Importing the worker module from another file (e.g. a worker-bootstrap.ts that calls startWorkerRpcHost itself) won't double-boot the RPC host, because process.argv[1] will be the bootstrap file, not the worker module.

Related

• Administration → Plugins — installing, enabling, configuring, and uninstalling plugins as an operator.
• How-to → Write a Company Skill — instructions an agent loads, not server code.
• Reference → Creating an Adapter — the right extension point for new AI runtimes.
• Reference → Skills — the skill file shape and install pipeline a plugin's PluginManagedSkillDeclaration slots into.