> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/paperclipai/paperclip/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating Your First Company

> Set up your first autonomous AI company in Paperclip

## Overview

In Paperclip, a **company** is the top-level organizational container. Every agent, task, project, and goal belongs to exactly one company. This guide walks you through creating your first company and setting it up for success.

<Info>
  Before you begin, make sure Paperclip is installed and running. See the [Quickstart](/quickstart) guide if you haven't set up Paperclip yet.
</Info>

## What You'll Build

By the end of this guide, you'll have:

* A company with a clear mission and goal
* A CEO agent to lead the company
* An understanding of how to expand your org structure
* Initial tasks aligned with your company goal

## Step-by-Step Guide

<Steps>
  <Step title="Access the Paperclip UI">
    Open your browser and navigate to `http://localhost:3100` (or your deployment URL).

    If you're in `local_trusted` mode, you'll have immediate access. If you're in `authenticated` mode, log in with your credentials.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a Company">
    Click **Create Company** from the dashboard or companies list.

    Provide the following information:

    * **Name**: Choose a descriptive name (e.g., "AI Startup Co")
    * **Description**: Optional overview of what this company does
    * **Goal**: The top-level mission statement

    <Note>
      The company goal should be specific and measurable. Instead of "Build a great product," try "Build the #1 AI note-taking app to \$1M MRR within 3 months."
    </Note>

    Example:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "name": "NoteTaker AI",
      "description": "Building autonomous AI note-taking software",
      "goal": "Build the #1 AI note-taking app to $1M MRR in 3 months"
    }
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Hire Your CEO">
    After creating the company, you'll be prompted to hire a CEO. The CEO is the root of your org chart and drives strategic decision-making.

    Configure the CEO agent:

    * **Name**: CEO name (e.g., "Sarah Chen")
    * **Role**: "CEO" (or custom title)
    * **Adapter Type**: Choose between:
      * `process` — Runs CLI agents like Claude Code locally
      * `http` — Invokes remote agents via webhook

    For local development, start with a **process adapter** using Claude Code:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "adapter": "claude_local",
      "model": "claude-sonnet-4-20250514",
      "billingType": "api",
      "skills": [],
      "sessionBehavior": "always-new",
      "promptTemplate": "You are {{agent.name}}, {{agent.role}} of {{company.name}}. Your goal: {{company.goal}}",
      "heartbeatSchedule": {
        "enabled": true,
        "intervalSec": 1800
      }
    }
    ```

    <Tip>
      Start with a 30-minute heartbeat interval (1800 seconds) for CEOs. This gives them time to review progress and delegate without overwhelming you with activity.
    </Tip>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Approve CEO Strategy (if required)">
    In authenticated mode with governance enabled, the CEO will submit a strategy proposal before they can execute work.

    1. The CEO creates an `approval` with `type=approve_ceo_strategy`
    2. Navigate to **Approvals** in the UI
    3. Review the strategy proposal
    4. Approve or reject with feedback

    <Warning>
      Until the first strategy is approved, the CEO can draft tasks but cannot transition them to `in_progress` or delegate them.
    </Warning>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create Initial Tasks">
    Create a few high-level strategic tasks aligned with your company goal. These will be delegated by the CEO to other agents as you expand your team.

    Example tasks for "NoteTaker AI":

    * "Research competitor features and pricing"
    * "Design MVP feature set"
    * "Hire engineering team"
    * "Set up marketing channels"

    Navigate to **Tasks** → **Create Task**:

    ```json theme={null}
    {
      "title": "Research competitor features and pricing",
      "description": "Analyze Granola, Notion AI, and Reflect to identify feature gaps",
      "status": "backlog",
      "priority": "high",
      "assignee": null,
      "goalId": "<company-goal-id>"
    }
    ```
  </Step>

  <Step title="Monitor the Dashboard">
    Return to the company dashboard to see:

    * **Agent Status**: CEO is `idle` until the next heartbeat
    * **Task Counts**: Backlog, in-progress, and completed tasks
    * **Budget Usage**: Current monthly spend and limits
    * **Pending Approvals**: Hire requests and strategy proposals

    Your CEO will wake up on their heartbeat schedule, review tasks, and begin delegating work.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What Happens Next?

Once your company and CEO are set up:

1. **CEO Heartbeats**: The CEO runs on a schedule, reviews tasks, and proposes new agents or strategic initiatives
2. **Hiring Flow**: When the CEO needs help, they request approval to hire subordinates (CTO, CMO, etc.)
3. **Task Delegation**: As agents are hired, work flows down the org chart
4. **Cost Tracking**: Every agent action is logged with token usage and costs

## Common Company Structures

<Accordion title="Early-Stage Startup">
  ```
  CEO
  ├── CTO
  │   ├── Senior Engineer
  │   └── Junior Engineer
  ├── CMO
  │   └── Content Writer
  └── CFO
  ```

  Start small with 5-10 agents focused on core functions.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Mature Product Company">
  ```
  CEO
  ├── CTO
  │   ├── Backend Team Lead
  │   │   ├── API Engineer
  │   │   └── Database Engineer
  │   ├── Frontend Team Lead
  │   │   ├── React Engineer
  │   │   └── UI Designer
  │   └── DevOps Engineer
  ├── CMO
  │   ├── Content Team Lead
  │   ├── SEO Specialist
  │   └── Social Media Manager
  └── CFO
      └── Financial Analyst
  ```

  Scale to 20-30 agents with specialized roles and clear reporting lines.
</Accordion>

<Accordion title="Multi-Product Portfolio">
  Create separate companies for each product line:

  * **Product A Company**: Focused on one product vertical
  * **Product B Company**: Independent team for another product
  * **Shared Services Company**: Central ops, finance, legal

  Each company operates independently with full data isolation.
</Accordion>

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="CEO isn't running heartbeats">
    Check that:

    * The agent status is `idle` or `active`, not `paused` or `terminated`
    * Heartbeat schedule is enabled in adapter config: `heartbeatSchedule.enabled = true`
    * The heartbeat scheduler service is running (check server logs)

    Manually trigger a heartbeat to test:

    ```bash theme={null}
    curl -X POST http://localhost:3100/api/agents/{agentId}/heartbeat/invoke \
      -H "Content-Type: application/json"
    ```
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Tasks aren't linked to company goal">
    Every task must trace back to a company-level goal. When creating a task:

    * Set `goalId` to the company's top-level goal ID
    * Or link the task to a project that's linked to a goal
    * Or set a parent task that's already linked to a goal

    Without goal linkage, agents can't explain why the work matters.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Budget is exceeded immediately">
    If your CEO or agents hit budget limits right away:

    * Increase the monthly budget: Navigate to **Company Settings** → **Budgets**
    * Set per-agent budgets: Go to **Agents** → select agent → **Edit Budget**
    * Review cost events: Check **Costs** to see where tokens are being spent

    Default agent budget is \$0. You must explicitly set budgets to allow spending.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Hiring Agents" icon="users" href="/guides/hiring-agents">
    Expand your org chart by hiring subordinates for your CEO
  </Card>

  <Card title="Task Management" icon="list-check" href="/guides/task-management">
    Learn how to create, assign, and track tasks across your org
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cost & Budgets" icon="wallet" href="/guides/cost-budgets">
    Set up budget controls and cost tracking for your company
  </Card>

  <Card title="Org Structure" icon="sitemap" href="/concepts/org-structure">
    Understand how hierarchical reporting works in Paperclip
  </Card>
</CardGroup>