From Zero to CEO: Building Your First Automated Dev Shop in 10 Minutes

Paperclip is designed to be approachable. You can go from zero to running your first "AI company" in under 10 minutes. Here's how.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, you'll need:

• Node.js 18+: Install from nodejs.org
• API Keys: OpenAI, Anthropic, or other provider keys (Paperclip supports multiple providers)
• Terminal access: To run commands

Step 1: Installation

npx paperclipai onboard

This command will:

1. Check your environment
2. Prompt for your API keys
3. Create a new Paperclip project
4. Open the dashboard

The onboarder will guide you through the setup process with clear prompts.

Step 2: Defining Your Identity

Every Paperclip organization starts with an identity. Create a file named identity.md in your project root:

# Company Identity
 
- **Name**: My AI Company
- **Mission**: Build amazing products with AI
- **Values**: Speed, quality, reliability
- **Constraints**: Budget $50/day, no external deployments

This file defines the "what" and "why" of your AI company.

Step 3: Defining Your Agents

Create agents.md to define your workforce:

# Agent Roles
 
## CEO Agent
- **Role**: High-level strategy and decision making
- **Tools**: read, write, search
- **Budget**: $10/day
- **Heartbeat**: Every hour
 
## Engineer Agent
- **Role**: Implementation and coding
- **Tools**: exec, read, write, git
- **Budget**: $20/day
- **Heartbeat**: Every hour
 
## Auditor Agent
- **Role**: Quality control and cost monitoring
- **Tools**: read, exec
- **Budget**: $5/day
- **Heartbeat**: Every 6 hours

Each agent has:

• A clear role and purpose
• Allowed tools (prevents unauthorized actions)
• A budget cap (prevents runaway costs)
• A heartbeat schedule (when they run autonomously)

Step 4: Setting Up the First Heartbeat

Paperclip's "heartbeat" is a scheduled execution cycle. Create a heartbeat definition:

name: "daily-build"
schedule: "0 9 * * *"  # Daily at 9 AM
agents:
  - CEO
  - Engineer
  - Auditor
goal: "Review pending issues and prioritize next development tasks"

This heartbeat will run every day at 9 AM, coordinating your agents to work together.

Step 5: Launching the Dashboard

Once configured, start the Paperclip dashboard:

paperclipai dashboard

This will open a local web interface where you can:

• Monitor agent activities
• View logs and events
• Adjust budgets and schedules
• Set new objectives

Step 6: The First Goal

Now, give your CEO agent its first objective:

Current Objective:
- Review the backlog of 5 pending issues
- Prioritize based on business value and technical complexity
- Create a development plan for the next sprint

When the heartbeat runs, your CEO will:

1. Read the backlog
2. Analyze and prioritize
3. Create a development plan
4. Hand off tasks to the Engineer agent

What's Next?

You now have a running "AI company" that operates autonomously:

• Heartbeats run on schedule
• Agents work within their defined roles
• Governance ensures safety and cost control
• Dashboard gives you visibility into everything

Next Steps

1. Add more agents: Create specialized roles for different tasks
2. Customize heartbeats: Create recurring workflows
3. Integrate with external tools: Connect to GitHub, CI/CD, etc.
4. Scale up: Start with a single agent, grow to a full organization

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: The "Build and Review" Cycle

name: "build-review"
schedule: "0 */6 * * *"  # Every 6 hours
agents:
  - Engineer
  - Auditor
goal: "Build requested features and review code quality"

Pattern 2: The "Research and Report" Cycle

name: "research"
schedule: "0 10,16 * * *"  # 10 AM and 4 PM
agents:
  - Researcher
goal: "Research industry trends and prepare weekly report"

Pattern 3: The "Monitor and Alert" Cycle

name: "monitor"
schedule: "*/30 * * * *"  # Every 30 minutes
agents:
  - Monitor
goal: "Monitor system health and alert on issues"

Troubleshooting

Dashboard won't start

Make sure port 3000 is available:

lsof -i :3000

Agent not running

Check the dashboard logs for errors. Common issues:

• API keys not configured
• Budget exceeded
• Tools not allowed for agent role

High costs

• Reduce agent budgets
• Tighten tool permissions
• Increase heartbeat frequency (reduce scope per run)

Conclusion

With just a few files and a dashboard, you've built an autonomous AI organization. The key is to start simple, iterate, and gradually increase complexity.

Paperclip handles the heavy lifting—governance, scheduling, observability—so you can focus on defining great objectives and watching your AI company grow.

Next: The ROI of Autonomy