Hire Your First Agent
An agent isn't just "an AI". It's a configuration — a specific role, with a specific AI system powering it, operating under a specific budget, with defined rules for when and how it wakes up and work…
Hire Your First Agent
An agent isn't just "an AI". It's a configuration — a specific role, with a specific AI system powering it, operating under a specific budget, with defined rules for when and how it wakes up and works.
When you hire an agent, you're telling Paperclip: which AI system should run this agent, what role does it play in the company, and what constraints does it operate within. The AI itself (Claude, Codex, etc.) lives outside Paperclip. Paperclip is the management layer above it.
The CEO is always the first agent you create. It has a special role: reading the company goal, proposing a strategy, creating tasks, and delegating work to its reports. Nothing in your company moves until the CEO is running.
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Before you start
You'll need: A company already created (see Create Your First Company (/docs/quickstart/your-first-company)) An API key from Anthropic (for the claudelocal adapter) or OpenAI (for codexlocal) — see the Installation guide (/docs/quickstart/installation) for how to get one For claudelocal: [Claude Code](https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code) installed on your Mac
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Open the Agents page and click "New Agent"
In the sidebar, click Agents. If this is your first agent, you'll see an empty list with a prompt to create one. Click New Agent.