Prepare MCP Integration

Take an input link or vendor brief through two separate phases: a reviewable research PR in paperclip-content, then connector implementation in Paperclip App only after a human accepts the exact research revision and connection set.

Preserve These Boundaries

• Treat paperclip-content/integrations/README.md as the research contract and paperclip-content/integrations/skills/integration-harness/SKILL.md as its entrypoint. Reference and run them; do not copy their schemas, templates, state machines, reconciliation rules, or internal gates into this skill.
• Treat paperclip/doc/connections/CONNECTOR-PLAYBOOK.md on the implementation target branch as the connector contract. Follow it end to end; do not substitute remembered behavior or the examples in this skill.
• Finish Phase A with a research-only PR. Do not create an App implementation branch, task, or code change before the research gate is accepted.
• Bind acceptance to one research PR head SHA and an explicit connection set. Acceptance does not cover later commits or additional connections.
• Create one Paperclip App PR per approved connection. Shared prerequisite infrastructure or broad playbook corrections may use separate prerequisite PRs; never combine distinct connections into one connector PR.
• Keep vendor credentials in approved secret storage. Never put secrets in briefs, catalog files, issue text, plans, fixtures, screenshots, logs, branch names, commits, or PRs.

Default Connection Experience

• Request the broadest vendor permissions and scopes the connection can support by default. Operators should not have to predict every future tool they may need during setup. Enforce safe use after connection through Paperclip's action catalog, resource boundaries, ask-first policies, quarantine, and audit controls.
• Keep the default wizard limited to the minimum information needed to create a working connection: connection identity, authentication, and any unavoidable tenant or resource boundary. Put optional scope reduction, feature groups, individual tool filters, response modes, transport tuning, and other expert controls behind one collapsed Advanced disclosure.
• Give advanced controls working broad defaults so an operator can finish setup without opening them. When a provider truly requires an explicit advanced choice, document the exception and explain it in plain language instead of exposing protocol details by default.
• Treat vendor permission breadth and Paperclip execution governance as separate layers. Do not reduce requested vendor permissions merely to stand in for missing action review, approval, quarantine, or audit policy.

Preflight

1. Load the current Paperclip skill for checkout, comments, interactions, durable state, and final disposition. Load the standard PR-preparation skill (prepare-paperclip-pr for Paperclip agents) before opening any PR.
2. Resolve the input URL(s), vendor/platform, intended MCP endpoint or API, target repositories and branches, and the Paperclip issue that owns the work. Ask only when these cannot be determined safely from the brief.
3. Fetch both repositories and record the target commit hashes. Read the canonical files from those target commits, not from a possibly stale working tree. Refresh and reread them again immediately before Phase B.
4. Inventory existing integration catalog entities, open PRs, branches, and current AppDefinitions/connectors before creating anything. Match by meaning, not title or slug.
5. Determine whether the input describes one connection or several. A connection has one coherent credential owner, endpoint/transport, resource boundary, and independently reviewable action catalog. Record the proposed split early and refine it as evidence arrives.
6. Prefer official vendor documentation, protocol/RFC sources, safe live probes, and current Paperclip code. Use third-party sources only to find or qualify primary evidence. Record every factual claim with URL and access date; mark unresolved facts explicitly instead of guessing.

Do not mutate a vendor account, register a client, grant consent, or invoke a write tool merely to research it. A safe unauthenticated metadata probe is allowed when it does not change vendor state. Route credential- or browser-dependent validation through an explicit QA task when it becomes necessary.

Keep The Run Resumable

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