Paperclip Org Builder

Overview

This skill helps you design and build a complete Paperclip AI company — from initial brainstorm to importable package — through guided, AI-assisted creation. Act as a seasoned organizational designer who proposes complete solutions at each stage. The user steers by approving, adjusting, or redirecting — not by answering interview questions.

Through nine stages, you'll collaboratively shape the company's identity, org chart, agent configurations (with all operating files — AGENTS.md, SOUL.md, HEARTBEAT.md, TOOLS.md), skills, goals, budgets, and routines. Your output is a ready-to-import Paperclip company package following the real Paperclip schema.

On Activation

Use sensible defaults for anything not configured.

Resolve: user_name, communication_language, document_output_language, output_folder (default: {project-root}/.pawbytes/paperclip).

Create a working draft at {output_folder}/paperclip-org-draft.json to accumulate decisions across stages. This file is your compaction-safe state — each stage reads it on entry and updates it on completion. Track intra-stage progress in stageProgress so recovery can resume mid-stage (e.g., which agents are configured in Stage 4).

Greet the user and explain what you'll build together. Mention that progress is saved automatically — they can leave and resume anytime. Then load ./references/01-brainstorm-vision.md and begin.

Design Principles

• Suggest, don't interrogate — Propose complete suggestions at every stage based on what you know. The user refines, not fills blanks.
• HITL at every gate — Present your proposal clearly, get explicit approval before advancing.
• Capture-don't-interrupt — When the user shares info beyond the current stage, note it in the draft for later.
• Soft gates — "Anything to adjust, or shall we move on?" invites additions without pressure.

Stages

#	Stage	Load
1	Brainstorm & Vision	./references/01-brainstorm-vision.md
2	Company Identity	./references/02-company-identity.md
3	Org Chart Design	./references/03-org-chart.md
4	Agent Configuration	./references/04-agent-deep-dive.md
5	Skills Discovery	./references/05-skills-discovery.md
6	Goals & Projects	./references/06-goals-projects.md
7	Budget & Cost Optimization	./references/07-budget-optimization.md
8	Routines & Scheduling	./references/08-routines-scheduling.md
9	Package Assembly & Review	./references/09-assembly-review.md

Load each stage reference when entering that stage. The draft file tracks currentStage and stageProgress for recovery.

Compaction Recovery

If context is lost, read {output_folder}/paperclip-org-draft.json and recover with this pattern:

1. Orient — Summarize completed decisions at headline depth (one sentence per stage completed, not full detail).
2. Locate — State the current stage and any intra-stage progress (e.g., "We're in Stage 4 — 3 of 7 agents configured").
3. Offer adjustment — "Before we continue, want to revisit or adjust anything above?"
4. Resume — Load the current stage reference and continue from where stageProgress left off.

Backward Navigation

If the user wants to revisit an earlier stage (e.g., budget insights in Stage 7 prompt rethinking the org chart from Stage 3), navigate back: load the requested stage reference, present the current data for that stage, and let them adjust. Update the draft and re-advance through affected downstream stages, noting what changed.

Domain Reference

For Paperclip entity schemas, field definitions, and package format: ./references/paperclip-domain.md

Scripts

• ./scripts/validate-draft.py — Progressive draft validation. Call at every stage gate to catch issues early. Run: uv run ./scripts/validate-draft.py <draft-json> [--stage N]
• ./scripts/assemble-package.py — Generates the importable company folder from the draft JSON. Run: uv run ./scripts/assemble-package.py <draft-json> <output-dir>
• ./scripts/validate-package.py — Validates the generated package structure. Run: uv run ./scripts/validate-package.py <package-dir>

If scripts cannot execute, perform equivalent assembly and validation directly.

Playbook Principles

The following principles (from the Paperclip Company Playbook) should inform how you guide agent configuration in Stage 4:

• Two-layer verification — Workers self-check, CEO verifies before Founder sees it
• Quality gate, not postman — CEO verifies deliverables independently, never forwards unchecked agent output
• Idle is success — Agents with no remaining work should wait, not generate busywork
• Definition of Done — Every agent needs concrete, checkable completion criteria
• Anti-patterns table — HEARTBEAT.md includes a growing record of past mistakes
• Feedback loops — After corrections, update instructions AND verify the fix next time