# diagnose-why-work-stopped

> Claude/Codex skill by [@paperclipai](https://omgskills.com/library/paperclipai/index.md) · 108k stars · Updated 2026-10-29

Compatibility entry point for failed, stalled, looping, or over-recovered Paperclip work. Use fix-failed-paperclip-run for the full diagnosis, regression, repair, real verification, and green-PR workflow; honor an explicitly requested diagnosis-only scope.

Tags: acpx, agent-orchestration, agent-skills, agentic-ai, ai-agents, ai-engineering, ai-governance, ai-tools, autonomous-agents, claude, claude-code, claude-skills, codex, hermes, llm, mcp, multi-agent, openclaw, project-management, workflow-automation

## Install

```sh
git clone https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip /tmp/paperclip && ln -s /tmp/paperclip/.agents/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped ~/.claude/skills/diagnose-why-work-stopped
```

## From README

Diagnose Why Work Stopped Use Fix Failed Paperclip Run. It owns the current workflow: find the first causal failure, reproduce it red, repair the shared contract, test second-order effects, verify the real workflow, and deliver a PR with passing checks. A normal request to fix stopped work continues through that workflow without a separate plan-approval gate. If the user or calling workflow explicitly asks for diagnosis only or requires approval before implementation, perform the investigation and safety analysis within that scope. For example, a Terminal-Bench diagnosis child does not override the loop's board approval boundary. Keep the next action and its owner explicit. For issue-tree diagnosis, read the current doc/execution-semantics.md, inspect the relevant subtree and recent repairs, and classify non-progressing nodes: Genuine wait: a named human or external dependency must act. Agent-actionable but unrouted: authorized useful work lacks a live path.

## Links

- HTML page: https://omgskills.com/library/paperclipai/paperclip/diagnose-why-work-stopped/
- GitHub: https://github.com/paperclipai/paperclip
- Author: [@paperclipai](https://omgskills.com/library/paperclipai/index.md)

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