Use authenticated publish first
Agents should run agent-paste whoami before choosing --ephemeral. If whoami succeeds, publish normally without --ephemeral. If it fails and the user can interact, run agent-paste login first. Use --ephemeral only when no login or AGENT_PASTE_API_KEY is available, or when the user explicitly asks for accountless publish.
Ephemeral is not the Free Plan. It is an unclaimed restricted tier: low write caps, 24 hour Auto Deletion, noindex, and script-disabled content serving until the Artifact is claimed. Use it for non-interactive text, markdown, images, and static HTML/CSS.
Flow
- An agent runs
agent-paste publish <path> --ephemeral. - The CLI provisions an Ephemeral Workspace and short-lived API Key, then publishes through the normal Upload Session flow.
- The publish result works immediately and includes a one-time claim link shaped
https://app.agent-paste.sh/claim#ap_ct_.... - A signed-in human opens the claim link to move the Artifact into their Personal Workspace.
Ephemeral limits
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Daily new Artifacts | 20 |
| Auto Deletion | 24 hours |
| Indexing | noindex |
| Scripts | Present but inert until claimed |
Reads are not tied to the publisher allowance. They are gated only by the platform Artifact read rate limit. Unclaimed ephemeral content is also served with scripts disabled: text, markdown, images, and static HTML/CSS render, but JavaScript does not execute until the Artifact is claimed and new content URLs are minted from a claimed Workspace. For interactive HTML, browser apps, or visualizations that need JavaScript, use authenticated publish instead.
Claim Token rules
- The token is returned once to the caller that provisioned the Ephemeral Workspace.
- The claim link carries the token in the URL hash, never the query string.
- The token is not embedded in Access Link Signed URLs or public share URLs.
- Expired, missing, or already redeemed tokens fail closed.
After claim
Claiming reparents the Artifact into the signed-in member's Personal Workspace. The Artifact moves to the Free Plan limits unless the destination Workspace is already Pro.