Pipelines Tutorial: Release to Published Content

This walkthrough is the CLI/API version of the 12-step release-to-content worked example. It uses three linked pipelines:

release-coverage: one release case answers "is this release covered?"
feature-content: one feature case per approved feature rolls up content coverage.
content-production: one content-piece case moves through drafting, assets, assembly, final review, publishing, and a terminal result.

The walkthrough intentionally labels conventions separately from primitives. Those conventions are future primitive candidates: if they hurt, we want to see exactly where.

Prerequisites

Run this against a dev Paperclip instance with a board token or an agent token that can manage pipelines, routines, and issues.

export PAPERCLIP_API_URL=http://localhost:3100
export PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID=<company-id>
export PAPERCLIP_API_KEY=<token>

# Optional: assign routine-created drafting issues to a specific agent.
export DRAFTING_AGENT_ID=<agent-id>

export RUN_KEY="$(date +%Y%m%d%H%M%S)"
export RELEASE_PIPELINE="release-coverage-$RUN_KEY"
export FEATURE_PIPELINE="feature-content-$RUN_KEY"
export CONTENT_PIPELINE="content-production-$RUN_KEY"

Step 1: Setup The Three Pipelines

Create Release Coverage. It is thin on purpose: the release case stays in intake until its feature children are terminal, then autoAdvanceOnChildrenTerminal moves it to covered.

cat > /tmp/release-stages.json <<'JSON'
[
  {
    "key": "intake",
    "name": "Intake",
    "kind": "open",
    "position": 100,
    "config": { "autoAdvanceOnChildrenTerminal": "covered" }
  },
  { "key": "covered", "name": "Covered", "kind": "done", "position": 900 },
  { "key": "cancelled", "name": "Cancelled", "kind": "cancelled", "position": 1000 }
]
JSON

paperclipai pipelines create \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  --key "$RELEASE_PIPELINE" \
  --name "Release Coverage $RUN_KEY" \
  --stages-file /tmp/release-stages.json

Create Feature Content. The review stage lets the human approve features into production or drop them from this release.

cat > /tmp/feature-stages.json <<'JSON'
[
  { "key": "suggesting", "name": "Suggesting", "kind": "open", "position": 100 },
  {
    "key": "suggestion_review",
    "name": "Suggestion Review",
    "kind": "review",
    "position": 200,
    "config": {
      "approveToStageKey": "producing",
      "rejectToStageKey": "cancelled",
      "requestChangesToStageKey": "suggesting",
      "requireRejectReason": true,
      "reviewerKind": "human"
    }
  },
  {
    "key": "producing",
    "name": "Producing",
    "kind": "working",
    "position": 300,
    "config": { "autoAdvanceOnChildrenTerminal": "covered" }
  },
  { "key": "covered", "name": "Covered", "kind": "done", "position": 900 },
  { "key": "cancelled", "name": "Cancelled", "kind": "cancelled", "position": 1000 }
]
JSON

paperclipai pipelines create \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  --key "$FEATURE_PIPELINE" \
  --name "Feature Content $RUN_KEY" \
  --stages-file /tmp/feature-stages.json

Create Content Production. Assets and Assembly are working stages, not review stages. Final Review is the review stage and has all three exits: approve, request changes, and drop.

cat > /tmp/content-stages.json <<'JSON'
[
  {
    "key": "drafting",
    "name": "Drafting",
    "kind": "working",
    "position": 100,
    "config": { "autonomy": "suggest" }
  },
  {
    "key": "assets",
    "name": "Assets",
    "kind": "working",
    "position": 200
  },
  {
    "key": "assembly",
    "name": "Assembly",
    "kind": "working",
    "position": 300,
    "config": { "autoAdvanceOnChildrenTerminal": "final_review" }
  },
  {
    "key": "final_review",
    "name": "Final Review",
    "kind": "review",
    "position": 400,
    "config": {
      "approveToStageKey": "publishing",
      "rejectToStageKey": "dropped",
      "requestChangesToStageKey": "drafting",
      "requireRejectReason": true,
      "reviewerKind": "human"
    }
  },
  { "key": "publishing", "name": "Publishing", "kind": "working", "position": 500 },
  { "key": "published", "name": "Published", "kind": "done", "position": 900 },
  { "key": "dropped", "name": "Dropped", "kind": "cancelled", "position": 1000 }
]
JSON

paperclipai pipelines create \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  --key "$CONTENT_PIPELINE" \
  --name "Content Production $RUN_KEY" \
  --stages-file /tmp/content-stages.json

Show enforceTransitions on one pipeline. The release case can only auto-cover or cancel.

cat > /tmp/release-transitions.json <<'JSON'
{
  "enforceTransitions": true,
  "transitions": [
    { "fromStageKey": "intake", "toStageKey": "covered", "label": "all features terminal" },
    { "fromStageKey": "intake", "toStageKey": "cancelled", "label": "cancel release coverage" }
  ]
}
JSON

paperclipai pipelines set-transitions \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$RELEASE_PIPELINE" \
  --file /tmp/release-transitions.json

Add guidance and a drafting routine. The guidance document carries the rubric.

cat > /tmp/content-guidance.md <<'MD'
# Content Production guidance

Final Review has three exits:

- approve to Publishing when the pinned revisions are ready to ship
- request changes back to Drafting when the same work issue should continue
- drop to Dropped when the content should not ship

Convention: asset cases store `briefedFromVersion` in `fields` so assembly review can compare a pinned brief against the current upstream case `version`.
MD

paperclipai pipelines guidance put \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$CONTENT_PIPELINE" \
  --file /tmp/content-guidance.md

cat > /tmp/drafting-routine.json <<JSON
{
  "title": "Draft content production case",
  "description": "Template convention: draft the content case from the Pipeline Case Context, keep typed work references in case fields, and suggest Drafting -> Assets when ready.",
  "priority": "medium",
  "status": "active",
  "concurrencyPolicy": "always_enqueue",
  "catchUpPolicy": "skip_missed"
  ${DRAFTING_AGENT_ID:+, "assigneeAgentId": "$DRAFTING_AGENT_ID"}
}
JSON

export DRAFTING_ROUTINE_ID="$(
  paperclipai routine create \
    -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
    --payload-json "$(jq -c . /tmp/drafting-routine.json)" \
    --json | jq -r '.id'
)"

paperclipai pipelines set-automation \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$CONTENT_PIPELINE" \
  --stage drafting \
  --routine "$DRAFTING_ROUTINE_ID" \
  --note "Template-versioned with the routine prompt."

Convention: v1 "templates" version with the routine prompt plus the batch file below, not with the pipeline. The pipeline guidance document carries the durable rubric. This is the accepted divergence from the long-term template-on-pipeline shape.

Step 2: Trigger, Intake, And Gate

A real system would start with a release-cut routine. Today, the routine fires on a timer or API trigger and creates an intake issue. On that issue, the agent writes a proposal document and asks the board for a checkbox confirmation.

The accepted checkbox selection is represented here by the batch files. That batch file plus the routine prompt is the v1 template convention.

Create the release root:

export RELEASE_CASE_ID="$(
  paperclipai pipelines ingest \
    -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
    "$RELEASE_PIPELINE" \
    --case-key "release-$RUN_KEY" \
    --stage intake \
    --title "Release $RUN_KEY: Pipeline primitives" \
    --summary "Rollup root for release content coverage." \
    --fields-json '{"release":"v0.pipeline-tutorial","templateVersionConvention":"routine-prompt"}' \
    --json | jq -r '.case.id'
)"

Create two feature cases parented to the release. One is approved, one is dropped.

jq -n --arg parent "$RELEASE_CASE_ID" '{
  items: [
    {
      caseKey: "feature-pipelines-ui",
      title: "Feature: Pipelines UI",
      summary: "Worth a content package.",
      parentCaseId: $parent,
      stageKey: "suggestion_review",
      fields: { releaseTag: "v0.pipeline-tutorial", source: "release-notes" }
    },
    {
      caseKey: "feature-routine-webhooks",
      title: "Feature: Routine webhooks",
      summary: "Rejected by the gate for this release.",
      parentCaseId: $parent,
      stageKey: "suggestion_review",
      fields: { releaseTag: "v0.pipeline-tutorial", source: "release-notes" }
    }
  ]
}' > /tmp/feature-cases.json

paperclipai pipelines ingest-batch \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$FEATURE_PIPELINE" \
  --file /tmp/feature-cases.json \
  --json | tee /tmp/feature-cases-result.json

feature_case_id() {
  jq -r --arg key "$1" '.[] | select(.case.caseKey == $key) | .case.id' /tmp/feature-cases-result.json
}

export FEATURE_MAIN="$(feature_case_id feature-pipelines-ui)"
export FEATURE_DROP="$(feature_case_id feature-routine-webhooks)"

jq -n --arg main "$FEATURE_MAIN" --arg drop "$FEATURE_DROP" '{
  items: [
    { caseId: $main, decision: "approve", expectedVersion: 1 },
    { caseId: $drop, decision: "reject", reason: "Fold webhooks into the broader launch post.", expectedVersion: 1 }
  ]
}' > /tmp/feature-review.json

paperclipai pipelines review-bulk \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  --file /tmp/feature-review.json

Create content cases under the approved feature. launch-tweet declares blockedByCaseKeys: ["blog-post"]; the CLI resolves that key to the blog case in the same batch.

jq -n --arg parent "$FEATURE_MAIN" '{
  items: [
    {
      caseKey: "blog-post",
      title: "Launch blog post",
      summary: "Draft the release narrative.",
      parentCaseId: $parent,
      stageKey: "drafting",
      fields: {
        contentType: "blog",
        typedWorkRefs: { draftPath: "workspaces/release/blog.md" },
        briefedFromVersion: null
      }
    },
    {
      caseKey: "changelog-entry",
      title: "Product changelog",
      summary: "Compact changelog entry.",
      parentCaseId: $parent,
      stageKey: "drafting",
      fields: {
        contentType: "changelog",
        typedWorkRefs: { draftPath: "workspaces/release/changelog.md" },
        briefedFromVersion: null
      }
    },
    {
      caseKey: "launch-tweet",
      title: "Launch tweet",
      summary: "Tweet after the blog is approved.",
      parentCaseId: $parent,
      stageKey: "drafting",
      blockedByCaseKeys: ["blog-post"],
      fields: {
        contentType: "social",
        typedWorkRefs: { draftPath: "workspaces/release/tweet.md" },
        briefedFromVersion: 1
      }
    }
  ]
}' > /tmp/content-cases.json

paperclipai pipelines ingest-batch \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$CONTENT_PIPELINE" \
  --file /tmp/content-cases.json \
  --json | tee /tmp/content-cases-result.json

Convention: typedWorkRefs and briefedFromVersion are ordinary case fields, not new primitives. They document how this case type points at work and how downstream asset briefs pin an upstream version.

Step 3: Readiness Suggestion

The drafting agent should not silently move the case. It suggests Drafting -> Assets with a rationale, and the human accepts it.

content_case_id() {
  jq -r --arg key "$1" '.[] | select(.case.caseKey == $key) | .case.id' /tmp/content-cases-result.json
}

export BLOG_CASE="$(content_case_id blog-post)"
export CHANGELOG_CASE="$(content_case_id changelog-entry)"
export TWEET_CASE="$(content_case_id launch-tweet)"

export SUGGESTION_ID="$(
  paperclipai pipelines case suggest \
    -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
    "$BLOG_CASE" \
    --to assets \
    --rationale "Draft is stable enough to brief asset work." \
    --confidence 0.9 \
    --json | jq -r '.suggestion.id'
)"

paperclipai pipelines case resolve-suggestion \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$BLOG_CASE" \
  --suggestion "$SUGGESTION_ID" \
  --accept \
  --expected-version 1

Step 4: Parallel Editing And Drift

The draft can still change while dependent work exists. A material update to the upstream case posts a drift comment on dependent linked work issues.

export TWEET_WORK_ISSUE="$(
  paperclipai issue create \
    -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
    --title "Work issue for launch tweet $RUN_KEY" \
    --description "Receives drift comments from the upstream blog case." \
    --status todo \
    --priority low \
    --json | jq -r '.id'
)"

curl -sS -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PAPERCLIP_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  --data "$(jq -cn --arg issueId "$TWEET_WORK_ISSUE" '{ issueId: $issueId, role: "work" }')" \
  "$PAPERCLIP_API_URL/api/cases/$TWEET_CASE/issue-links" >/dev/null

paperclipai pipelines case edit \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$BLOG_CASE" \
  --expected-version 2 \
  --summary "Draft changed while dependent tweet work was already briefed." \
  --fields-json '{"contentType":"blog","typedWorkRefs":{"draftPath":"workspaces/release/blog.md"},"briefedFromVersion":null,"materialChange":"new-positioning"}'

If a worker tries to patch with the stale version, the API returns 409 with code=version_conflict, the current version, and the current stage. Recovery is to re-read the case and retry against the current version.

paperclipai pipelines case edit \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$BLOG_CASE" \
  --expected-version 2 \
  --title "Stale edit"

# Recovery:
paperclipai pipelines case get -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$BLOG_CASE" --json

Step 5: Assets

The Assets automation creates asset cases under the feature. In v1 the tutorial uses an explicit batch file; in the product, this is the stage-template convention.

export BLOG_VERSION="$(paperclipai pipelines case get -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$BLOG_CASE" --json | jq -r '.case.version')"

jq -n --arg parent "$FEATURE_MAIN" --argjson briefVersion "$BLOG_VERSION" '{
  items: [
    {
      caseKey: "blog-hero-image",
      title: "Hero image",
      parentCaseId: $parent,
      stageKey: "assets",
      fields: { assetType: "image", briefedFromVersion: $briefVersion }
    },
    {
      caseKey: "blog-social-card",
      title: "Social card",
      parentCaseId: $parent,
      stageKey: "assets",
      fields: { assetType: "image", briefedFromVersion: $briefVersion }
    }
  ]
}' > /tmp/asset-cases.json

paperclipai pipelines ingest-batch \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$CONTENT_PIPELINE" \
  --file /tmp/asset-cases.json \
  --json | tee /tmp/asset-cases-result.json

asset_case_id() {
  jq -r --arg key "$1" '.[] | select(.case.caseKey == $key) | .case.id' /tmp/asset-cases-result.json
}

export HERO_CASE="$(asset_case_id blog-hero-image)"
export CARD_CASE="$(asset_case_id blog-social-card)"

paperclipai pipelines case transition -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$HERO_CASE" --to published --expected-version 1 --reason "Hero image done."
paperclipai pipelines case transition -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$CARD_CASE" --to dropped --expected-version 1 --reason "Social card not needed."

When both asset cases are terminal, move the blog case to assembly.

export BLOG_ASSETS_VERSION="$(paperclipai pipelines case get -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$BLOG_CASE" --json | jq -r '.case.version')"

paperclipai pipelines case transition \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$BLOG_CASE" \
  --to assembly \
  --expected-version "$BLOG_ASSETS_VERSION" \
  --reason "Assets complete; assemble the package."

Step 6: Assembly And Auto-Advance To Final Review

Assembly is also a working stage. This is the autoAdvanceOnChildrenTerminal gate: create a package child case, complete it, and the blog case auto-advances into final_review.

jq -n --arg parent "$BLOG_CASE" '{
  items: [
    {
      caseKey: "blog-assembly-package",
      title: "Assembled blog package",
      parentCaseId: $parent,
      stageKey: "assembly",
      fields: { packageType: "blog", assembledFrom: ["blog-hero-image", "blog-social-card"] }
    }
  ]
}' > /tmp/assembly-cases.json

paperclipai pipelines ingest-batch \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$CONTENT_PIPELINE" \
  --file /tmp/assembly-cases.json \
  --json | tee /tmp/assembly-cases-result.json

export ASSEMBLY_CASE="$(jq -r '.[0].case.id' /tmp/assembly-cases-result.json)"
paperclipai pipelines case transition -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$ASSEMBLY_CASE" --to published --expected-version 1 --reason "Assembly complete."

Step 7: Blocker Guard

The tweet is blocked by the blog case through blockedByCaseKeys. This transition fails with 409 code=blocked until the blog reaches a done terminal stage.

paperclipai pipelines case transition \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$TWEET_CASE" \
  --to assets \
  --expected-version 1 \
  --reason "Try before upstream blog is published."

Step 8: Final Review Approve

Approve the blog in Final Review, then publish it.

export BLOG_REVIEW_VERSION="$(paperclipai pipelines case get -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$BLOG_CASE" --json | jq -r '.case.version')"

paperclipai pipelines case review \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$BLOG_CASE" \
  --approve \
  --expected-version "$BLOG_REVIEW_VERSION"

paperclipai pipelines case transition \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$BLOG_CASE" \
  --to published \
  --expected-version "$((BLOG_REVIEW_VERSION + 1))" \
  --reason "Approved package published."

Step 9: Final Review Request Changes

The changelog demonstrates the edit loop: Final Review requests changes, the same case re-enters drafting, the same work references continue, and the case comes back to Final Review for approval.

paperclipai pipelines case transition -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$CHANGELOG_CASE" --to final_review --expected-version 1 --reason "Draft ready for final review."

paperclipai pipelines case review \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$CHANGELOG_CASE" \
  --request-changes \
  --reason "Tighten the framing before publishing." \
  --expected-version 2

paperclipai pipelines case edit \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$CHANGELOG_CASE" \
  --expected-version 3 \
  --summary "Revised changelog entry after requested changes." \
  --fields-json '{"contentType":"changelog","typedWorkRefs":{"draftPath":"workspaces/release/changelog.md"},"changeRequestAddressed":true}'

paperclipai pipelines case transition -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$CHANGELOG_CASE" --to final_review --expected-version 4 --reason "Revised draft ready."
paperclipai pipelines case review -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$CHANGELOG_CASE" --approve --expected-version 5
paperclipai pipelines case transition -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$CHANGELOG_CASE" --to published --expected-version 6 --reason "Published after request-changes loop."

Step 10: Final Review Drop

Now that the blog blocker is done, the tweet can reach Final Review. The reviewer drops it, which is terminal and still counts toward rollup completion.

paperclipai pipelines case transition -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" "$TWEET_CASE" --to final_review --expected-version 1 --reason "Blog blocker is now done."

paperclipai pipelines case review \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$TWEET_CASE" \
  --reject \
  --reason "Drop this tweet; blog already covers the announcement." \
  --expected-version 2

Step 11: Rollup

At this point:

content cases are published or dropped
the approved feature case auto-advanced to covered
the dropped feature case is terminal
the release case auto-advanced to covered

Inspect the release rollup:

paperclipai pipelines case rollup \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$RELEASE_CASE_ID" \
  --json

Expected shape:

json

{
  "total": 8,
  "done": 5,
  "cancelled": 3,
  "open": 0,
  "complete": true
}

Step 12: Reflection Feed

Reflection can pull provenance from case events:

paperclipai pipelines case events \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$CHANGELOG_CASE" \
  --json

Look for review_decided events where payload.decision is request_changes, approve, or reject. Rejection and change-request reasons are the feed for improving skills, routine prompts, and pipeline guidance.

For rollup provenance:

paperclipai pipelines case events \
  -C "$PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID" \
  "$RELEASE_CASE_ID" \
  --json

Look for children_terminal followed by the auto transitioned event.

Scripted Smoke

Run the same flow end to end:

PAPERCLIP_API_URL=http://localhost:3100 \
PAPERCLIP_COMPANY_ID=<company-id> \
PAPERCLIP_API_KEY=<token> \
pnpm smoke:pipelines-tutorial

The smoke asserts:

the three pipelines are created with the expected stages
feature review approves one feature and rejects one
batch ingest wires blockedByCaseKeys
readiness uses suggest-transition plus acceptance
upstream drift posts a system comment to a linked work issue
stale edits fail with 409 code=version_conflict
the Assembly child-terminal gate auto-advances the parent into Final Review
Final Review approve, request-changes, and drop outcomes all work
the release rollup is complete with the expected done/cancelled split