Ways to connect
There’s no single way to adopt TapPass. Pick the shape that fits how your agents already run, you can mix them, and every path produces the same governed, audited decisions.
The four surfaces
Section titled “The four surfaces”| Surface | Shape | You change | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gateway | TapPass in the request path, OpenAI-/Anthropic-compatible | One line, your base_url |
You want model traffic governed and provider keys handled, with zero code change |
| Verdict API | TapPass beside your app; you execute | One call at each decision point | You keep execution in your own runtime, incl. non-LLM actions |
| Hooks | The verdict API from a hook you already have | A few lines in a pre-execution hook | Your agent/IDE/gateway has a pre-tool or pre-call seam (Claude Code, Cursor, LiteLLM) |
| Governed MCP | A governed MCP endpoint | Point your MCP client at it | Your agent speaks MCP and you want every tool call brokered |
How to choose
Section titled “How to choose”- Want the least work and you’re calling an LLM? Swap your base URL for the gateway. Your agent never holds a provider key, streaming and audit come for free, and a block comes back as a readable message instead of an error.
- Governing things that aren’t model calls, tool calls, database writes, state transitions, or you don’t want a proxy in the path? Use the verdict API: ask, then act on
allow/block/needs_approval. - Already have a hook point (Claude Code
PreToolUse, a LiteLLM guardrail, your framework’s tool wrapper)? Drop the verdict call into that hook, ambient governance, no rewrite. - Your agent speaks MCP? Point it at the governed MCP endpoint and every
tools/callis governed without touching agent code.
What’s the same everywhere
Section titled “What’s the same everywhere”Whichever surface you use, you authenticate with a tp_ key, the decision is made server-side against the agent’s policy, obligations (like redaction) are applied, and the outcome is written to a tamper-evident audit trail. An allow carries a short-lived signed mandate your downstream can verify offline.
Next steps
Section titled “Next steps”- The gateway · The verdict API · Hooks · Governed MCP
- HTTP API reference, every endpoint behind these surfaces