Importing from Paperclip

The @tervos/adapter-paperclip package converts Paperclip organizations into governed Tervos organizations. It accepts two input formats:

• Paperclip v1 directory — the on-disk format used by paperclipai/companies and any company you have checked out locally
• Paperclip JSON export — the legacy export format from the Paperclip dashboard

Import a v1 Directory

Check out any company from paperclipai/companies:

git clone https://github.com/paperclipai/companies
cd companies

Then import a specific company directory:

tervos import --from paperclip ./gstack

Or import the full ClawTeam engineering org:

tervos import --from paperclip ./clawteam-engineering

The CLI auto-detects that the path is a directory and uses the v1 directory parser. Output is written to TERVOS.yaml in the current directory.

Use --output to write elsewhere:

tervos import --from paperclip ./gstack --output ./gstack/TERVOS.yaml

Import a JSON Export

If you exported your organization from the Paperclip dashboard as JSON:

tervos import --from paperclip ./my-company-export.json

The CLI detects a file path and uses the JSON import path.

What Gets Imported

Paperclip	TERVOS.yaml
Agent key in .paperclip.yaml	Agent ID (kebab-cased)
Agent key string	Agent role
COMPANY.md first paragraph	Org description
agents/<name>/*.md first paragraph	Agent description
requirement: required env var	requires-env:<VAR> capability

What You Get After Import

All imported agents receive:

• model: "claude-sonnet-4-20250514" — edit to use a different model
• autonomy_level: supervised at org level — agents won’t act without approval
• Cryptographic identities (Ed25519 DIDs) on first tervos start
• Full audit trail of every action

After Import

Validate the generated manifest:

tervos validate

Then review TERVOS.yaml. You’ll likely want to:

1. Set per-agent budget_monthly_usd limits
2. Define can_delegate_to relationships
3. Add a project and initial tasks
4. Set required env var values in your environment

Start in dev mode to see the full lifecycle:

tervos start --dev

Related

• TERVOS.yaml Manifest Reference
• CLI Commands
• Your First Organization

Counter-signing a running Paperclip instance

Importing converts a company’s structure. To make its activity verifiable, tap the running instance:

tervos tap --from paperclip --url http://localhost:3000 --watch 30
tervos audit --verify
tervos export-evidence -o paperclip-evidence.json

Every activity row (issues, cost events, approvals) is counter-signed into a Tervos hash chain that Paperclip itself cannot rewrite — see tervos tap.