Docker Quickstart

Run Paperclip in Docker without installing Node or pnpm locally.

All commands below assume you are in the project root (the directory containing package.json), not inside docker/.

Building the image

docker build -t paperclip-local .

The Dockerfile installs common agent tools (git, gh, curl, wget, ripgrep, python3) and the Claude, Codex, and OpenCode CLIs.

Build arguments:

docker build -t paperclip-local \
  --build-arg USER_UID=$(id -u) --build-arg USER_GID=$(id -g) .

One-liner (build + run)

docker build -t paperclip-local . && \
docker run --name paperclip \
  -p 3100:3100 \
  -e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
  -e PAPERCLIP_HOME=/paperclip \
  -e BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32) \
  -v "$(pwd)/data/docker-paperclip:/paperclip" \
  paperclip-local

Open: http://localhost:3100

Data persistence:

• Embedded PostgreSQL data
• uploaded assets
• local secrets key
• local agent workspace data

All persisted under your bind mount (./data/docker-paperclip in the example above).

Docker Compose

Quickstart (embedded SQLite)

Single container, no external database. Data persists via a bind mount.

BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32) \
  docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.quickstart.yml up --build

Defaults:

• host port: 3100
• persistent data dir: ./data/docker-paperclip

Optional overrides:

PAPERCLIP_PORT=3200 PAPERCLIP_DATA_DIR=../data/pc \
  docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.quickstart.yml up --build

Note: PAPERCLIP_DATA_DIR is resolved relative to the compose file (docker/), so ../data/pc maps to data/pc in the project root.

If you change host port or use a non-local domain, set PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL to the external URL you will use in browser/auth flows.

Pass OPENAI_API_KEY and/or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY to enable local adapter runs.

Full stack (with PostgreSQL)

Paperclip server + PostgreSQL 17. The database is health-checked before the server starts.

BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32) \
  docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml up --build

PostgreSQL data persists in a named Docker volume (pgdata). Paperclip data persists in paperclip-data.

Untrusted PR review

Isolated container for reviewing untrusted pull requests with Codex or Claude, without exposing your host machine. See doc/UNTRUSTED-PR-REVIEW.md for the full workflow.

docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.untrusted-review.yml build
docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.untrusted-review.yml run --rm --service-ports review

Authenticated Compose (Single Public URL)

For authenticated deployments, set one canonical public URL and let Paperclip derive auth/callback defaults:

services:
  paperclip:
    environment:
      PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_MODE: authenticated
      PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_EXPOSURE: private
      PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL: https://desk.koker.net

PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL is used as the primary source for:

• auth public base URL
• Better Auth base URL defaults
• bootstrap invite URL defaults
• hostname allowlist defaults (hostname extracted from URL)

Granular overrides remain available if needed (PAPERCLIP_AUTH_PUBLIC_BASE_URL, BETTER_AUTH_URL, BETTER_AUTH_TRUSTED_ORIGINS, PAPERCLIP_ALLOWED_HOSTNAMES).

Set PAPERCLIP_ALLOWED_HOSTNAMES explicitly only when you need additional hostnames beyond the public URL host (for example Tailscale/LAN aliases or multiple private hostnames).

Claude + Codex Local Adapters in Docker

The image pre-installs:

• claude (Anthropic Claude Code CLI)
• codex (OpenAI Codex CLI)

If you want local adapter runs inside the container, pass API keys when starting the container:

docker run --name paperclip \
  -p 3100:3100 \
  -e HOST=0.0.0.0 \
  -e PAPERCLIP_HOME=/paperclip \
  -e OPENAI_API_KEY=... \
  -e ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=... \
  -v "$(pwd)/data/docker-paperclip:/paperclip" \
  paperclip-local

Notes:

• Without API keys, the app still runs normally.
• Adapter environment checks in Paperclip will surface missing auth/CLI prerequisites.

Podman Quadlet (systemd)

The docker/quadlet/ directory contains unit files to run Paperclip + PostgreSQL as systemd services via Podman Quadlet.

Setup

1. Build the image (see above).

2. Copy quadlet files to your systemd directory:

   shCopy

   # Rootless (recommended)
   cp docker/quadlet/*.pod docker/quadlet/*.container \
     ~/.config/containers/systemd/
   
   # Or rootful
   sudo cp docker/quadlet/*.pod docker/quadlet/*.container \
     /etc/containers/systemd/
   

3. Create a secrets env file (keep out of version control):

   shCopy

   cat > ~/.config/containers/systemd/paperclip.env <<EOL
   BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)
   POSTGRES_USER=paperclip
   POSTGRES_PASSWORD=paperclip
   POSTGRES_DB=paperclip
   DATABASE_URL=postgres://paperclip:[email protected]:5432/paperclip
   # OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...
   # ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=sk-...
   EOL
   

4. Create the data directory and start:

   shCopy

   mkdir -p ~/.local/share/paperclip
   systemctl --user daemon-reload
   systemctl --user start paperclip-pod
   

Quadlet management

journalctl --user -u paperclip -f        # App logs
journalctl --user -u paperclip-db -f     # DB logs
systemctl --user status paperclip-pod    # Pod status
systemctl --user restart paperclip-pod   # Restart all
systemctl --user stop paperclip-pod      # Stop all

Quadlet notes

• First boot: Unlike Docker Compose's condition: service_healthy, Quadlet's After= only waits for the DB unit to start, not for PostgreSQL to be ready. On a cold first boot you may see one or two restart attempts in journalctl --user -u paperclip while PostgreSQL initialises — this is expected and resolves automatically via Restart=on-failure.
• Containers in a pod share localhost, so Paperclip reaches Postgres at 127.0.0.1:5432.
• PostgreSQL data persists in the paperclip-pgdata named volume.
• Paperclip data persists at ~/.local/share/paperclip.
• For rootful quadlet deployment, remove %h prefixes and use absolute paths.

Onboard Smoke Test (Ubuntu + npm only)

Use this when you want to mimic a fresh machine that only has Ubuntu + npm and verify:

• npx paperclipai onboard --yes completes
• the server binds to 0.0.0.0:3100 so host access works
• onboard/run banners and startup logs are visible in your terminal

Build + run:

./scripts/docker-onboard-smoke.sh

Open: http://localhost:3131 (default smoke host port)

Useful overrides:

HOST_PORT=3200 PAPERCLIPAI_VERSION=latest ./scripts/docker-onboard-smoke.sh
PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_MODE=authenticated PAPERCLIP_DEPLOYMENT_EXPOSURE=private ./scripts/docker-onboard-smoke.sh
SMOKE_DETACH=true SMOKE_METADATA_FILE=/tmp/paperclip-smoke.env PAPERCLIPAI_VERSION=latest ./scripts/docker-onboard-smoke.sh

Notes:

• Persistent data is mounted at ./data/docker-onboard-smoke by default.
• Container runtime user id defaults to your local id -u so the mounted data dir stays writable while avoiding root runtime.
• Smoke script defaults to authenticated/private mode so HOST=0.0.0.0 can be exposed to the host.
• Smoke script defaults host port to 3131 to avoid conflicts with local Paperclip on 3100.
• Smoke script also defaults PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL to http://localhost:<HOST_PORT> so bootstrap invite URLs and auth callbacks use the reachable host port instead of the container's internal 3100.
• In authenticated mode, the smoke script defaults SMOKE_AUTO_BOOTSTRAP=true and drives the real bootstrap path automatically: it signs up a real user, runs paperclipai auth bootstrap-ceo inside the container to mint a real bootstrap invite, accepts that invite over HTTP, and verifies board session access.
• Run the script in the foreground to watch the onboarding flow; stop with Ctrl+C after validation.
• Set SMOKE_DETACH=true to leave the container running for automation and optionally write shell-ready metadata to SMOKE_METADATA_FILE.
• The image definition is in docker/Dockerfile.onboard-smoke.

General Notes

• The docker-entrypoint.sh adjusts the container node user UID/GID at startup to match the values passed via USER_UID/USER_GID, avoiding permission issues on bind-mounted volumes.
• Paperclip data persists via Docker volumes/bind mounts (compose) or at ~/.local/share/paperclip (quadlet).