Install Paperclip on Proxmox (with Tailscale or Cloudflare Tunnel)

Paperclip is a self-hosted AI workforce platform — you set up a "company", define agents, and assign them tasks. It's still in active development on the ProxmoxVED (dev) repo, so don't trust it with real data yet.

Here's how I got it running on Proxmox and reachable remotely. I'll cover two ways to expose it: Tailscale (private, recommended) and Cloudflare Tunnel (public URL with optional auth).

Create the LXC Container

SSH into your Proxmox host and run the community-scripts ProxmoxVED installer:

bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/community-scripts/ProxmoxVED/main/ct/paperclip.sh)"

It spins up a Debian 13 LXC, installs Postgres and Node, and prints a bootstrap invite URL like:

http://<lan-ip>:3100/invite/pcp_bootstrap_<token>

Note the container ID (dummy id for this blog 000). If you're on the same LAN, open that URL and skip ahead to onboarding. If you're remote, keep reading.

Install Tailscale Inside the Container

I installed Tailscale inside the LXC instead of on the Proxmox host. Safer if anything breaks — no subnet routes, no host-level networking changes.

Enter the container and install:

pct enter 000
curl -fsSL https://tailscale.com/install.sh | sh
tailscale up

It will fail with:

is CONFIG_TUN enabled in your kernel? `modprobe tun` failed

Unprivileged LXCs don't have /dev/net/tun by default. Need to expose it from the host.

Expose TUN to the Container

Exit back to the Proxmox host and append two lines to the container's config:

cat >> /etc/pve/lxc/000.conf <<EOF
lxc.cgroup2.devices.allow: c 10:200 rwm
lxc.mount.entry: /dev/net/tun dev/net/tun none bind,create=file
EOF

Reboot the container:

pct reboot 000

Re-enter and confirm TUN is now visible:

pct enter 000
ls -la /dev/net/tun
tailscale up

You'll get an auth URL. Log in, and the container picks up a Tailscale IP like 100.x.x.x. Grab it with:

tailscale ip -4

First-Time Access (the Hostname Allowlist Trap)

Paperclip enforces a strict hostname allowlist. The installer bakes PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL=http://<lan-ip>:3100 into /opt/paperclip/.env, so the bootstrap invite URL only accepts requests from that LAN IP. Hit it via the Tailscale IP and you get:

Hostname '<tailscale-ip>' is not allowed for this Paperclip instance.

Swap the public URL to your Tailscale IP and restart:

sed -i 's|PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL=http://<lan-ip>:3100|PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL=http://<tailscale-ip>:3100|' /opt/paperclip/.env
systemctl restart paperclip

Now open the invite URL with the Tailscale IP from your laptop:

http://<tailscale-ip>:3100/invite/pcp_bootstrap_<token>

Complete admin onboarding in the browser.

Add the Hostnames You Actually Want

After onboarding, the CLI works — but it won't find the config unless you load the env first:

cd /opt/paperclip
set -a; source /opt/paperclip/.env; set +a
pnpm paperclipai allowed-hostname <tailscale-ip>
systemctl restart paperclip

Confirm the allowlist:

cat /opt/paperclip-data/instances/default/config.json

You should see your hostnames under server.allowedHostnames.

At this point Paperclip is fully working over Tailscale at http://<tailscale-ip>:3100. If you're happy hitting it via IP from your tailnet devices, you're done. If you want a clean URL, pick one of the next two options.

Option A: Pretty URL Over Tailscale (Private, Recommended)

Stays inside your tailnet. Zero public exposure. Best for personal use.

Pick any domain you control. In your DNS provider, add an A record for paperclip.your-domain.com pointing to your Tailscale IP (100.x.x.x). If your DNS provider is Cloudflare, set the record to DNS only (grey cloud) — never proxy a private IP through Cloudflare's edge.

Add the hostname to Paperclip's allowlist and update the public URL:

cd /opt/paperclip
set -a; source /opt/paperclip/.env; set +a
pnpm paperclipai allowed-hostname paperclip.your-domain.com
sed -i 's|PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL=http://<tailscale-ip>:3100|PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL=http://paperclip.your-domain.com:3100|' /opt/paperclip/.env
systemctl restart paperclip

Now http://paperclip.your-domain.com:3100 resolves to your Tailscale IP and only works when you're on the tailnet. To anyone off your tailnet, the URL points to a private IP that goes nowhere.

If you want HTTPS and no port number, run Tailscale Serve inside the container:

tailscale serve --bg --https=443 http://localhost:3100

Then point a CNAME at paperclip.<your-tailnet>.ts.net. Cleanest setup for tailnet-only access.

Option B: Pretty URL Over Cloudflare Tunnel (Public, Optionally Gated)

Public URL on the internet. Use this if you want to access Paperclip from a device that's not on your tailnet, or share with a non-tailnet collaborator.

Install cloudflared on the Paperclip container (or any device that can reach it):

curl -fsSL https://pkg.cloudflare.com/install.sh | sh
apt install cloudflared
cloudflared tunnel login

Create a tunnel and route a hostname through it. In the Cloudflare dashboard, go to Zero Trust → Networks → Tunnels → [your tunnel] → Public Hostnames and add:

• Subdomain: paperclip
• Domain: your-domain.com
• Type: HTTP
• URL: localhost:3100 (if cloudflared runs in the same container) or <lan-ip>:3100 / <tailscale-ip>:3100 from wherever cloudflared is running

Update Paperclip's allowlist and public URL to match:

cd /opt/paperclip
set -a; source /opt/paperclip/.env; set +a
pnpm paperclipai allowed-hostname paperclip.your-domain.com
sed -i 's|PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL=http://<tailscale-ip>:3100|PAPERCLIP_PUBLIC_URL=https://paperclip.your-domain.com|' /opt/paperclip/.env
systemctl restart paperclip

Open https://paperclip.your-domain.com. Clean URL, valid cert, no port number, Cloudflare's edge in front.

Heads up: this puts Paperclip's login page on the public internet. Anyone who knows the URL can hit it. I'd strongly recommend layering Cloudflare Access on top — free for up to 50 users:

In Zero Trust → Access → Applications → Add → Self-hosted, add paperclip.your-domain.com and create a policy like "Emails → equals → your-email@example.com". Now Cloudflare requires Google/email auth before Paperclip's login is even reachable.

Done

You have Paperclip running on Proxmox, accessible the way you want it. Personal use → Option A. Shared use → Option B with Cloudflare Access.

Paperclip's repo is at github.com/paperclipai/paperclip. It moves fast, so expect the install to drift a bit from this guide over the next few weeks.