paperclip/doc/plans/2026-02-19-ceo-agent-creation-and-hiring.md

CEO Agent Creation and Hiring Governance Plan (V1.1)

Status: Proposed
Date: 2026-02-19
Owner: Product + Server + UI + Skills

1. Goal

Enable a CEO agent to create new agents directly, with lightweight but explicit governance:

• Company-level toggle: new hires require board approval (default ON).
• Agent-level permission: can_create_agents (default ON for CEO, OFF for everyone else).
• Clear hire workflow with draft/limbo state until approval.
• Config reflection so hiring agents can inspect available adapter configuration and compare existing agent configs (including self).
• Approval collaboration flow with comments, revision requests, and audit trail.

2. Current State (Repo Reality)

• Agent creation is board-only at POST /api/companies/:companyId/agents (server/src/routes/agents.ts).
• Approvals support pending/approved/rejected/cancelled and hire_agent + approve_ceo_strategy (packages/shared/src/constants.ts, server/src/services/approvals.ts).
• hire_agent approval currently creates the agent only on approval; there is no pre-created limbo agent.
• There is no agent permissions system today.
• There is no company setting for "new hires require board approval".
• Approvals have no comment thread or revision-request state.
• Inbox and Approvals UIs support approve/reject only; no approval detail route exists in app routes.
• Agent adapter configuration is free-form JSON; no runtime reflection endpoint exists for machine-readable or text discovery.

3. Product Decisions

3.1 Company setting

Add company setting:

• requireBoardApprovalForNewAgents: boolean
• Default: true
• Editable only in company advanced settings (not onboarding/company creation flow UI)

3.2 Agent permissions

Introduce lightweight permission model with one explicit permission now:

• can_create_agents: boolean

Defaults:

• CEO: true
• Everyone else: false

Authority:

• Board can edit permissions for any agent.
• CEO can edit permissions for agents in same company.

No broader RBAC system in this phase.

3.3 Limbo state for hires

Introduce dedicated non-operational status:

• pending_approval

Meaning:

• Agent record exists in org tree and can be reviewed.
• Agent cannot run, receive assignments, create keys, or be resumed to active states until approved.

4. Data Model Changes

4.1 companies

Add column:

• require_board_approval_for_new_agents boolean not null default true

Sync required:

• packages/db/src/schema/companies.ts
• packages/shared/src/types/company.ts
• packages/shared/src/validators/company.ts
• UI company API type usage and company advanced settings form

4.2 agents

Add columns:

• permissions jsonb not null default {}
• status value expansion to include pending_approval

Sync required:

• packages/db/src/schema/agents.ts
• packages/shared/src/constants.ts (AGENT_STATUSES)
• packages/shared/src/types/agent.ts
• packages/shared/src/validators/agent.ts
• status badges, filters, and lifecycle controls in UI

4.3 approvals

Keep approval as central governance record; extend workflow support:

• add status revision_requested
• ensure payload for hire approvals contains:
  • agentId
  • requestedByAgentId
  • requestedConfigurationSnapshot

4.4 New approval_comments table

Add discussion thread for approvals:

• id, company_id, approval_id, author_agent_id, author_user_id, body, timestamps

Purpose:

• review comments
• revision requests
• rationale for approve/reject
• permanent audit trail

5. API and AuthZ Plan

5.1 Permission helpers

Add server-side authz helpers:

• assertCanCreateAgents(req, companyId)
• assertCanManageAgentPermissions(req, companyId)

Rules:

• Board always passes.
• Agent passes can_create_agents check if self permission true and same company.
• Permission management by CEO or board.

5.2 Hire creation flow

Add route:

• POST /api/companies/:companyId/agent-hires

Behavior:

• Requires can_create_agents (or board).
• Creates agent row first.
• If company setting requires approval:
  • create agent with status=pending_approval
  • create approvals(type=hire_agent,status=pending,payload.agentId=...)
  • return both agent + approval
• If setting disabled:
  • create agent as idle
  • no approval record required

Board may continue using direct create route, but this route becomes canonical for CEO/agent-led hiring.

5.3 Approval workflow endpoints

Add/extend:

• GET /api/approvals/:id
• POST /api/approvals/:id/request-revision
• POST /api/approvals/:id/resubmit
• GET /api/approvals/:id/comments
• POST /api/approvals/:id/comments

Update existing approve/reject semantics:

• approve of hire transitions linked agent pending_approval -> idle
• reject keeps linked agent in non-active state (pending_approval or terminated/purged later)

5.4 Agent permission management endpoints

Add:

• PATCH /api/agents/:id/permissions

Supports initial key only:

• { "canCreateAgents": boolean }

5.5 Read config endpoints (protected)

Add permission-gated config-read endpoints:

• GET /api/companies/:companyId/agent-configurations
• GET /api/agents/:id/configuration

Access:

• board
• CEO
• any agent with can_create_agents

Security:

• redact obvious secret values from adapter config (env, API keys, tokens, JWT-looking values)
• include redaction marker in response

5.6 Reflection endpoints for adapter configuration

Add plain-text reflection routes:

• GET /llms/agent-configuration.txt
• GET /llms/agent-configuration/:adapterType.txt

Index file includes:

• installed adapter list for this Paperclip instance
• per-adapter doc URLs
• brief "how to hire" API sequence links

Per-adapter file includes:

• required/optional config keys
• defaults
• field descriptions
• safety notes
• example payloads

Auth:

• same gate as config-read endpoints (board/CEO/can_create_agents).

6. Adapter Protocol Extension

Extend ServerAdapterModule contract to expose config docs:

• agentConfigurationDoc (string) or getAgentConfigurationDoc()

Implement in:

• packages/adapters/claude-local
• packages/adapters/codex-local
• server/src/adapters/registry.ts

This is required so reflection is generated from installed adapters, not hardcoded.

7. UI Plan

7.1 Company advanced settings

In Companies UI, add advanced settings panel/modal with:

• toggle: "Require board approval for new agent hires" (default on)

Not shown in onboarding flow.

7.2 Agent permissions UI

In Agent Detail (board/CEO context):

• permissions section
• toggle for "Can create new agents"

7.3 Hire UX

Add "Hire Agent" flow (for CEO/authorized agents):

• choose role/name/title/reportsTo
• compose initial prompt/capabilities
• inspect adapter reflection docs
• inspect existing related agent configurations
• submit hire

State messaging:

• if approval required: show "Pending board approval"
• if not required: show active-ready state

7.4 Approvals UX

Add approval detail page and expand inbox integration:

• /approvals/:approvalId
• threaded comments
• revision request action
• approve/reject with decision note
• activity timeline (created, revisions, decisions)

7.5 Disapproved agent cleanup

Provide board-only destructive action in approval detail:

• "Delete disapproved agent"
• explicit confirmation dialog
• preserves approval + comment history (audit)

8. New Skill: paperclip-create-agent

Create new skill directory:

• skills/paperclip-create-agent/SKILL.md
• skills/paperclip-create-agent/references/api-reference.md

Skill responsibilities:

• Discover available adapter configuration via /llms/agent-configuration*.txt
• Read existing agent configurations (including self and related roles)
• Propose best-fit config for current environment
• Draft high-quality initial prompt for new agent
• Set manager/reporting line
• Execute hire API flow
• Handle revision loop with board comments

Also update skills/paperclip/SKILL.md to reference this skill for hiring workflows.

9. Enforcement and Invariants

New/updated invariants:

• pending_approval agents cannot:
  • be invoked/woken
  • be assigned issues
  • create or use API keys
  • transition to active lifecycle states except through hire approval
• approval transitions:
  • pending -> revision_requested | approved | rejected | cancelled
  • revision_requested -> pending | rejected | cancelled
• every mutation writes activity_log records.

10. Implementation Phases

Phase 1: Contracts and migration

• DB schema updates (companies, agents, approvals status expansion, approval_comments)
• shared constants/types/validators updates
• migration generation and typecheck

Phase 2: Server authz + hire flow

• permission resolver and authz guards
• agent-hires route
• limbo status enforcement in heartbeat/issue/key flows
• approval revision/comment endpoints

Phase 3: Reflection and config-read APIs

• adapter protocol docs support
• /llms/agent-configuration*.txt routes
• protected config-read endpoints with redaction

Phase 4: UI and skilling

• company advanced setting UI
• permission controls
• approval detail + comments/revision flow in inbox/approvals
• disapproved agent delete flow
• paperclip-create-agent skill + docs updates

11. Test Plan

Server tests:

• permission gate tests for hire/config-read/permission-update endpoints
• hire creation behavior with company setting on/off
• approval transitions including revision cycle
• pending_approval enforcement across wakeup/invoke/assignment/keys
• config redaction tests

UI tests:

• advanced setting toggle persistence
• approval detail comment/revision interactions
• hire flow states (pending vs immediate)

Repo verification before merge:

• pnpm -r typecheck
• pnpm test:run
• pnpm build

12. Risks and Mitigations

• Risk: leaking secrets through agent config reads.
  • Mitigation: strict redaction pass + allowlist/denylist tests.
• Risk: status explosion complexity.
  • Mitigation: single added status (pending_approval) with explicit transition guards.
• Risk: approval flow regressions.
  • Mitigation: centralize transition logic in approval service and back it with tests.

13. Open Decisions (Default Recommendation)

1. Should board direct-create bypass approval setting? Recommendation: yes, board is explicit governance override.

2. Should non-authorized agents still see basic agent metadata? Recommendation: yes (name/role/status), but configuration fields stay restricted.

3. On rejection, should limbo agent remain pending_approval or move to terminated? Recommendation: move to terminated on final reject; keep optional hard delete action for cleanup.