What causes "DATABASE_URL is required" in paperclipai/paperclip?

Set the DATABASE_URL environment variable to a reachable Postgres connection string before running the seed script.

DATABASE_URL is required

Error message

DATABASE_URL is required

What it means

Error "DATABASE_URL is required" thrown in paperclipai/paperclip.

Source

Thrown at packages/db/src/seed.ts:5

import { createDb } from "./client.js";
import { companies, agents, goals, projects, issues } from "./schema/index.js";

const url = process.env.DATABASE_URL;
if (!url) throw new Error("DATABASE_URL is required");

const db = createDb(url);

console.log("Seeding database...");

const [company] = await db
  .insert(companies)
  .values({
    name: "Paperclip Demo Co",
    description: "A demo autonomous company",
    status: "active",
    budgetMonthlyCents: 50000,
  })
  .returning();

const [ceo] = await db
  .insert(agents)
  .values({

View on GitHub (pinned to 120ae5428f)

Solutions

Set the DATABASE_URL environment variable to a reachable Postgres connection string before running the seed script.
For local dev, leave DATABASE_URL unset only when running the full dev server (PGlite); seeds need a real URL.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at packages/db/src/seed.ts:5 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of paperclipai/paperclip@120ae5428f (2026-08-18). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b5c51cac2fca5a49. Report an issue: GitHub.