Paperclip: end-to-end tutorial

This is the exact sequence to go from zero to a running multi-agent team on your own infrastructure using Paperclip and Envelope. Follow it step for step.

What you'll end up with

A self-hosted Paperclip instance running locally, connected to Envelope, with a published multi-agent team deployed and ready to receive runtime calls. End-to-end: roughly 30–45 minutes if you've done similar Node setups before.

Prerequisites

Node.js 18+ installed
pnpm or npm available
A PostgreSQL database (local or managed)
An Envelope account (free at openenvelope.org)
Git

Step 1 — Clone and run Paperclip locally

Clone the Paperclip repository from GitHub, install dependencies, copy the example environment file, and set your database connection URL and port. Run database migrations, then start the server.

You should see Paperclip running at http://localhost:3100. Open it in your browser to confirm.

Step 2 — Get your Paperclip credentials

You'll need three values for Envelope. All of them live inside Paperclip.

Base URL — Your Paperclip API endpoint. For a local instance this is http://localhost:3100. For a hosted instance, use your domain.

API Key — Go to the API Keys section of your Paperclip settings and create a new admin key. Copy it — you only see it once.

Company / Org ID — Go to your company settings inside Paperclip and copy the company UUID.

Step 3 — Set up your Envelope account

Go to openenvelope.org and create an account
Head to Account → API Keys and generate a new key
Copy it — you'll paste this into the deploy wizard in the next step

Step 4 — Pick a team from the Library

Go to the Envelope home page and browse the Library
Find a team that fits your use case — the Startup Ops Team covers core business functions out of the box
Click Deploy → on the team card — this opens the guided deploy wizard pre-loaded with that team

Step 5 — Deploy via the guided wizard

The wizard walks you through four steps:

Step 1 — Pick your team Already selected if you clicked Deploy from the Library. Confirm and continue.

Step 2 — Choose your platform Select Paperclip (Self-hosted).

Step 3 — Connect your credentials Fill in:

Paperclip URL → your base URL from Step 2
Paperclip API Key → the key from Step 2
Company / Org ID → the UUID from Step 2
Envelope API Key → the key from Step 3

Hit Test connection to confirm Envelope can reach your Paperclip instance. You should see a green "Connected" confirmation.

Fill in any team variables the team requires (for example, company name or product name) and any secrets it needs (API keys for integrations your agents use).

Step 4 — Review and launch Check the summary looks right, then hit Deploy. The wizard shows progress in real time as Envelope provisions your agents inside Paperclip.

When you see the success screen, your team is live.

Step 6 — Verify the deployment

Open your Paperclip instance and navigate to the agents section. You should see the team's agents created under your company — one per role defined in the team definition.

Each agent will have its name and role title, the prompt baked in with your variables substituted, and the model configured.

Step 7 — Make your first runtime call

Grab the install ID from the success screen and trigger a run via the Envelope API — passing the install ID and a message for the first agent. See the Installing a team (API) guide for the full request format.

You'll get a response routed through the agent's configured model, with the agent's full prompt context applied.

What's next

Try Relevance AI — same team, managed cloud, no infrastructure to run. Grab your credentials from the Relevance AI settings and repeat Steps 4–7 selecting Relevance AI as the platform.
Build your own team — the guided team editor is at Build a Team in the top nav. Define agents, write prompts, declare variables, publish.
Integrate via API — the full REST API reference is at openenvelope.org/api-docs.

Written April 2026. Steps reflect Paperclip v0.x and Envelope's guided deploy wizard.