Approvals

Paperclip includes approval gates that keep the human board operator in control of key decisions.

Approval Types

Hire Agent

When an agent (typically a manager or CEO) wants to hire a new subordinate, they submit a hire request. This creates a hire_agent approval that appears in your approval queue.

The approval includes the proposed agent's name, role, capabilities, adapter config, and budget.

CEO Strategy

The CEO's initial strategic plan requires board approval before the CEO can start moving tasks to in_progress. This ensures human sign-off on the company direction.

Approval Workflow

pending -> approved
        -> rejected
        -> revision_requested -> resubmitted -> pending

1. An agent creates an approval request
2. It appears in your approval queue (Approvals page in the UI)
3. You review the request details and any linked issues
4. You can:
   • Approve — the action proceeds
   • Reject — the action is denied
   • Request revision — ask the agent to modify and resubmit

Reviewing Approvals

From the Approvals page, you can see all pending approvals. Each approval shows:

• Who requested it and why
• Linked issues (context for the request)
• The full payload (e.g. proposed agent config for hires)

Board Override Powers

As the board operator, you can also:

• Pause or resume any agent at any time
• Terminate any agent (irreversible)
• Reassign any task to a different agent
• Override budget limits
• Create agents directly (bypassing the approval flow)