# Paperclip Research — 2026-05-10

## What it is
Zero-human AI company framework. Operating system for autonomous multi-agent companies.
- **Main repo:** paperclipai/paperclip — 63,891 stars, Apache 2.0
- **Hermes adapter:** NousResearch/hermes-paperclip-adapter — 1,145 stars, Apache 2.0

## Architecture
- Company structure: CEO agent assigns tasks, worker agents execute
- Heartbeat system: 12-step state machine (receive → plan → execute → report → loop)
- Shared workspace: all agents read/write same folder
- KPIs + self-improvement: agents track performance and self-correct
- MCP integrations: connects to external tools, APIs, databases
- Zero-human mode: runs unattended 24/7

## Hermes integration
hermes-paperclip-adapter lets Hermes Agent run as a managed employee in a Paperclip company.
- Persistent memory across sessions ✓
- 30+ native tools ✓
- 80+ skills ✓
- MCP support ✓
- 8 inference providers ✓

## Comparison vs AionUi
| | Paperclip | AionUi |
|---|---|---|
| What | Company orchestration | Agent dashboard |
| Complexity | Higher (needs company design) | Lower (install and use) |
| Ceiling | Full AI company | Monitoring/control |
| Setup | 2-3 hrs | 20 min |
| Stars | 63.9k | 24.3k |

## LFCS fit
lfo/lfp orchestrator-pricer = custom-built version of what Paperclip does natively. Paperclip is the proven, 63k-star framework for this.

**What a LFCS Paperclip company could do:**
- CEO = main orchestrator (pricing, job assignment, strategy)
- Worker: Hermes = execution (research, file work, job tracking)
- Worker: Claude Code = technical (spreadsheets, data, coding)
- Shared = job vault
- Task/issue system = structured handoffs replacing daemon files

## Decision
Parked. Revisit after: digest fix, daemon restart, Airtable views complete.

**Setup estimate:** 2-3 hours (VPS server + Hermes adapter + company design + job flow definition)