Create and develop a Paperclip plugin

Use this skill when the task is to create, scaffold, or iterate on a Paperclip plugin against a local Paperclip instance.

1. Default: build the plugin OUTSIDE Paperclip core

Plugins are their own packages. Unless the task explicitly asks for a bundled in-repo example, do not add plugin source under packages/plugins/ in this repo.

• Scaffold the plugin into a directory outside the Paperclip checkout (e.g. ~/dev/paperclip-plugins/<name>).
• Install it into the running Paperclip instance by local absolute path.
• Edit code in the external package; let Paperclip pick up rebuilt output.

Only edit Paperclip core itself when the user asks to surface a plugin as a bundled example (server/src/routes/plugins.ts, in-repo example lists, docs).

2. Ground rules

Reference docs when you need detail:

1. doc/plugins/PLUGIN_AUTHORING_GUIDE.md
2. packages/plugins/sdk/README.md
3. doc/plugins/PLUGIN_SPEC.md — future-looking context only

Current runtime assumptions:

• plugin workers are trusted code
• plugin UI is trusted same-origin host code
• worker APIs are capability-gated
• plugin UI is not sandboxed by manifest capabilities
• no host-provided shared plugin UI component kit yet
• ctx.assets is not supported in the current runtime

3. CLI-first scaffold workflow

Use paperclipai plugin init. Do not invoke the scaffold package node entrypoint by hand unless the CLI command is unavailable in the environment.

paperclipai plugin init @acme/my-plugin --output ~/dev/paperclip-plugins

Useful flags (all optional):

• --output <dir> — parent directory; the command creates <dir>/<unscoped-name>/. Defaults to the current directory.