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ConfigurationSource: GitHub Issue #863
Agents Struggle: PAPERCLIP_API_KEY Not Exposed
The control-plane query failed because this run does not currently expose PAPERCLIP_API_KEY.What this error means
When agents wake up (heartbeat mode), they need to authenticate with the Paperclip control plane using PAPERCLIP_API_KEY. In certain configurations — especially OAuth with Codex or Claude Opus — the key isn't properly exposed to the agent's runtime. This causes authentication failures every time the agent tries to fetch tasks or report progress.
Why this happens
The API key needs to be explicitly passed to the agent's environment. When using OAuth flows, this often gets missed because the OAuth token and the API key are separate authentication mechanisms.
Common causes
- •Using OAuth authentication without exposing API key
- •Docker container not receiving environment variables
- •Agent launched without proper env inheritance
- •Codex or Claude Opus OAuth configuration issue
You'll see these symptoms
- →control-plane query failed errors
- →Agents can't fetch tasks or assignments
- →Authentication failures on every heartbeat
- →Works with some models but not others
The real solution
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