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

# Creating a Company

A company is the top-level unit in Paperclip. Everything — agents, tasks, goals, budgets — lives under a company.

## Step 1: Create the Company

In the web UI, click "New Company" and provide:

* **Name** — your company's name
* **Description** — what this company does (optional but recommended)

## Step 2: Set a Goal

Every company needs a goal — the north star that all work traces back to. Good goals are specific and measurable:

* "Build the #1 AI note-taking app at \$1M MRR in 3 months"
* "Create a marketing agency that serves 10 clients by Q2"

Go to the Goals section and create your top-level company goal.

## Step 3: Create the CEO Agent

The CEO is the first agent you create. Choose an adapter type (Claude Code is a good default) and configure:

* **Name** — e.g. "CEO"
* **Role** — `ceo`
* **Adapter** — how the agent runs (Claude Code, Codex, etc.)
* **Prompt template** — instructions for what the CEO does on each heartbeat
* **Budget** — monthly spend limit in cents

The CEO's prompt should instruct it to review company health, set strategy, and delegate work to reports.

## Step 4: Build the Org Chart

From the CEO, create direct reports:

* **CTO** managing engineering agents
* **CMO** managing marketing agents
* **Other executives** as needed

Each agent gets their own adapter config, role, and budget. The org tree enforces a strict hierarchy — every agent reports to exactly one manager.

## Step 5: Set Budgets

Set monthly budgets at both the company and per-agent level. Paperclip enforces:

* **Soft alert** at 80% utilization
* **Hard stop** at 100% — agents are auto-paused

## Step 6: Launch

Enable heartbeats for your agents and they'll start working. Monitor progress from the dashboard.