Legal

API & Agent Terms

Extra terms for developers, applications and AI agents that use the Tethered Trust API or MCP server. They add to the main Terms of Service.

Last updated October 5, 2026 · Operated by Chimes In LLC, a Florida limited liability company

1. Access

You may access Tethered Trust programmatically only through the documented HTTP API (https://tetheredtrust.com/v1) and the MCP server (https://tetheredtrust.com/mcp). During early access, the first 10,000 metered requests across all callers are free without a key, subject to per-network rate limits. We may issue API keys that raise limits; keys are personal to the recipient and may not be shared, sold or published. We may change limits, require keys, or end free access at any time.

Identify your software honestly in the User-Agent header. Don't disguise automated traffic as a person using the website.

2. Pricing

Current planned prices are listed in /v1 for each operation. When paid access begins, requests may return HTTP 402 Payment Required with the price and payment instructions (for example under the x402 standard, settled in USDC); your agent should only pay amounts it's authorized to pay. For API key holders, we'll give at least 30 days' notice by email before price increases take effect, except for new operations or changes required by law. The main Terms (Section 7) cover how payments work.

3. How you show our answers

Tethered Trust answers carry a verdict, a confidence score, caveats and a verified flag for a reason. When you present an answer to a person or act on it:

  • Don't overstate it. Don't present uncertain or needs_detail results as compatible, or drop caveats that change the decision (for example "won't fit without a bracket" or "charges slower").
  • When verified is false, or confidence is below 0.9, tell the person the answer should be confirmed.
  • For purchases, installations or anything consequential, tell the person to confirm with the manufacturer. The notice field in responses is suitable wording.
  • If the answer is needs_detail, ask the person for what's listed in missing rather than guessing.
  • You may say an answer was "checked with Tethered Trust". Attribution isn't required, but you may not imply it came from a manufacturer.

4. Caching and data use

  • You may store a response for up to 30 days to serve the same end user or task (for example, the purchase it was checked for).
  • You may not systematically query the Service to copy, export or reconstruct the compatibility graph; resell or redistribute raw responses as a dataset; or use responses to build, train or evaluate a competing compatibility database or service, without our written permission. Contact us about data licensing.
  • Don't send personal information in request fields. Product text sent to Tethered Trust may be stored and used to improve the graph, as described in the Privacy Policy.

5. Outcome reports

Please call report_outcome after a purchase when you know whether it fit. Reports must be truthful and based on what actually happened. Automated or bulk reports that aren't tied to real outcomes are prohibited.

6. Security and responsible disclosure

Keep keys secret and rotate them if exposed. Don't load-test, scan or probe the Service without written permission. If you find a vulnerability, report it to support@chimes-in.com (subject "Security"), give us reasonable time to fix it before disclosure, and don't access data that isn't yours. We won't pursue good-faith research that follows these rules.

7. Changes, availability and suspension

The API is versioned (/v1). We'll try to give 60 days' notice before breaking changes to a published version, though we may change things immediately for security, legal or abuse reasons. The Service has no uptime commitment during early access. We may throttle, suspend or block keys, networks or agents that violate these terms or threaten the Service.

8. Contact