Paperclip

1. What is Paperclip?

Paperclip is open-source software for managing a "staff" of AI agents. You set a goal, "hire" agents (AI programs that work on their own, such as Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or OpenClaw) into roles like CEO, engineer or marketer, and then follow the team's work and spending from a dashboard in your browser. The project puts it this way: if OpenClaw is an employee, Paperclip is the company.

On the surface it looks like a task manager. Underneath it has an org chart, a monthly budget per agent, approval steps, and a log of everything each agent did.

Paperclip itself is free (MIT licence), runs on your own computer, and needs no Paperclip account. The agents are not free, though: each one uses an AI service, and you pay that service through your own API key or subscription.

To be direct: this is for people who already use AI agents and are comfortable with a command line. The project itself says Paperclip is not a chatbot, and that if you have a single agent you probably do not need it yet.

A good fit if:

• You run several agents at once and have lost track of who is doing what.
• You want agents working on a schedule while keeping oversight and a spending cap.
• You like assigning work by creating tasks, as in a task manager.

Not a good fit if:

• You want a chat box for asking an AI questions.
• You have never used an AI agent and have no API key.
• You only have a phone. The dashboard can be viewed on a phone, but the server has to run on a computer.

2. What you need

• A computer running macOS, Linux, or Windows with WSL2. The official installer supports macOS, Linux and WSL2.
• WSL2 (Windows only): a Windows feature that runs Linux inside your PC. Microsoft's guide: https://learn.microsoft.com/windows/wsl/install . Once it is set up, type every command in this guide in the Ubuntu window.
• Node.js 24.11 or newer: the runtime Paperclip is built on. The official installer takes care of it; to install it yourself, go to https://nodejs.org
• An API key, or an agent that is already signed in: for example a key from Anthropic, OpenAI or OpenRouter, or Claude Code/Codex already logged in on your machine. This is the part that costs money; prices are set by the provider.
• No database to install. On a personal machine Paperclip creates its own embedded PostgreSQL database.
• Git and pnpm 9.15 or newer: only if you run from source (for developers).

3. Step-by-step installation

There are two main routes. Option A is a quick trial that installs nothing permanently. Option B is what the project recommends if you intend to keep using it.

Option A: Try it with one command

Step 1: Check Node.js

node --version

You should see v24.11 or higher. If the number is lower or the command fails, install Node.js from https://nodejs.org or go to Option B.

Step 2: Run Paperclip

npx --registry https://registry.npmjs.org paperclipai onboard --yes

This fetches Paperclip for temporary use and sets it up with default choices. It worked if the screen ends by printing the dashboard address (a link starting with http://). Open that address in your browser.

Option B: Managed install (recommended)

Step 1: Download the installer and its checksum

curl -fsSLO https://paperclip.ing/install.sh
curl -fsSLO https://paperclip.ing/install.sh.sha256

Two files, install.sh and install.sh.sha256, appear in the current folder.

Step 2: Verify the download is intact

Linux and WSL2:

sha256sum -c install.sh.sha256

macOS:

shasum -a 256 -c install.sh.sha256

You should see install.sh: OK.

Step 3: Run the installer

bash install.sh

The installer checks your operating system, makes sure Node.js 24.11 or newer is present, installs the paperclipai command, and starts asking a few setup questions. If a command needs administrator rights, it shows the command and asks before running it. During setup it asks whether Paperclip should run in the background and start again when you log in.

It worked if you end up with the dashboard address on screen and your browser opens that page.

Step 4: Check it

paperclipai doctor

This checks the install, your PATH, the Node.js version and the background service, and reports anything that is off.

Option C: Run from source (developers)

git clone https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip.git
cd paperclip
pnpm install
pnpm dev

The server runs at http://localhost:3100.

4. First use

Step 1: Open the dashboard

Open the address the installer printed. If you closed the window and installed the background service, look it up again with:

paperclipai service status

Step 2: Follow the three basic steps

The project describes the workflow in three steps:

1. Define the goal. Write down what your AI company should achieve. Every later task links back to it, so agents know why they are doing the work.
2. Hire the team. Add agents to roles. Each agent has a title, a manager and a monthly budget.
3. Approve and run. Review the strategy the agents propose, set budgets, start them, and watch from the dashboard.

By default agents do not run non-stop. They "wake up" on a schedule or when something happens (a task is assigned, they are mentioned), check their work and act.

A quick trial that comes with a CEO agent

For an isolated test instance that already has a CEO agent, use test-drive with your API key (replace the dots with a real key):

ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=... npx paperclipai test-drive

This trial runs in the command-line window, installs no background service, and opens the browser only once setup succeeds. Its data sits in a temporary folder whose path is printed at startup.

Note: Set a low budget for your first run. When an agent reaches its limit it stops and queued work is cancelled, which protects you from surprise bills.

Screen-by-screen instructions are in the official documentation: https://docs.paperclip.ing

5. Common errors and fixes

Symptom	Cause	Fix
npx returns E404 for paperclipai	npm on your machine points at a private registry (often set by an employer in .npmrc).	Check with npm config get registry, then rerun the command with --registry https://registry.npmjs.org.
A warning that Node.js is too old	Paperclip needs Node.js 24.11 or newer.	Upgrade Node.js, or download install.sh and run it as in Option B. Do not use the one-line form (piping curl straight into bash) to fix this, because that form requires a supported Node.js to be present already.
paperclipai: command not found after installing	~/.local/bin is not on your PATH.	Add the export PATH line the installer printed to your shell startup file, then open a new command-line window.
paperclipai run refuses to start	Paperclip is already running as a background service. Each instance should have one server process.	Stop the service first with paperclipai service stop.
The background service cannot be installed	The machine is a container, uses WSL1, or has no supported service manager.	Nothing is broken. Paperclip tells you to run it directly with paperclipai run; keep that window open while you use it.
You upgraded Node.js but the background service still reports the old one	Background services do not read your shell configuration.	Put the new Node.js folder first on PATH, run npx paperclipai@latest install --yes, then paperclipai service restart.
It is not working and you cannot tell why	You need the logs.	Run paperclipai doctor, then paperclipai service logs -f to watch the log live.

6. Uninstalling and updating

Update:

paperclipai update

Before switching versions Paperclip backs up the database and verifies the new build; if anything fails, the previous version stays active. If the background service is stopped, start it with paperclipai service start before updating so the backup can be taken. The latest release at the time of writing is v2026.916.1, published on 21 September 2026.

Go back to the previous version:

paperclipai update --rollback

Uninstall:

paperclipai service uninstall
paperclipai uninstall

These remove the background service and the program. Your data (configuration, database, uploads, logs, secrets, backups) is deliberately kept in ~/.paperclip/instances/. Delete that folder only when you are sure you want everything gone, and make a backup first.

7. Frequently asked questions

Does Paperclip cost anything? The software is free and open source, with no Paperclip account. You pay for the AI services your agents use, through your own API keys or subscriptions.

Is my data sent anywhere? Your work data stays on your machine. Paperclip does collect anonymous usage statistics, and this is switched on by default. The project says it never collects personal information, task content, prompts, file paths or secrets. To turn it off, set the environment variable PAPERCLIP_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=1 or DO_NOT_TRACK=1. Separately, whatever you hand to an agent is sent to that agent's AI provider.

Do I need an internet connection? Yes, to install it and for agents to reach their AI services.

Can I check it from my phone? The interface works on phones. To reach it from another device you must set up authenticated mode with paperclipai onboard --yes --bind lan or --bind tailnet (using Tailscale). See the official documentation for details.

Can one install manage several companies? Yes. The project states that a single deployment can run many companies with fully separated data.