paperclipai/paperclip · error

Process adapter missing command

Error message

Process adapter missing command

What it means

Config guard in the process adapter's execute: asString(config.command, "") returned an empty string, i.e. the adapter config declares no command to spawn. Fails before any child process, env, or workspace setup is attempted.

Source

Thrown at server/src/adapters/process/execute.ts:19

import type { AdapterExecutionContext, AdapterExecutionResult } from "../types.js";
import {
  asString,
  asNumber,
  asStringArray,
  parseObject,
  buildPaperclipEnv,
  isForbiddenConfigEnvKey,
  isPaperclipRuntimeEnvKey,
  buildInvocationEnvForLogs,
  ensurePathInEnv,
  resolveCommandForLogs,
  runChildProcess,
} from "../utils.js";

export async function execute(ctx: AdapterExecutionContext): Promise<AdapterExecutionResult> {
  const { runId, agent, config, onLog, onMeta, authToken } = ctx;
  const command = asString(config.command, "");
  if (!command) throw new Error("Process adapter missing command");

  const args = asStringArray(config.args);
  const cwd = asString(config.cwd, process.cwd());
  const envConfig = parseObject(config.env);
  const env: Record<string, string> = {
    ...buildPaperclipEnv(agent),
  };
  for (const [k, v] of Object.entries(envConfig)) {
    if (typeof v !== "string") continue;
    // Runtime PAPERCLIP_* always wins over config, and PAPERCLIP_API_KEY is
    // never accepted from config — the harness-minted run token is the only
    // source. Other PAPERCLIP_* keys Paperclip did not assign flow through.
    if (isForbiddenConfigEnvKey(k)) continue;
    if (isPaperclipRuntimeEnvKey(k) && k in env) continue;
    env[k] = v;
  }
  env.PAPERCLIP_RUN_ID = runId;
  if (authToken) env.PAPERCLIP_API_KEY = authToken;

View on GitHub (pinned to 120ae5428f)

Solutions

1. Set the command in the process adapter configuration before executing.

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at server/src/adapters/process/execute.ts:19 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/5f252dc675d4f35d. Report an issue: GitHub.