Choose a path · Honest comparison
Four roads through the agent forest.
The right tool depends on the work. Compare operating models first; compare provider names only after you know which model fits your job.
The crossroads
Begin with the operating model.
This comparison describes categories, not private evaluations of named companies. Capabilities change; the live contract remains the source for this API.
Maximum construction freedom
Best when your team wants to build orchestration, state, tools, retries, approvals, evaluation, and evidence itself.
Developer work inside a coding environment
Best when the primary job is changing a repository with a human developer present to review the work.
Prebuilt workflows inside an existing system
Best when identity, records, approvals, and business data already live in one vendor’s application family.
Bounded agent work over an API
Best when a service must expose real state, preserve an evidence receipt, control context, and run without an IDE session.
Plain-language decision table
Which road matches the work?
| Need | Strong first choice | What you still manage |
|---|---|---|
| Custom inference inside your own product | Raw model API | State, tools, retries, safety, evaluation, billing, and receipts |
| Repository changes with an engineer reviewing | IDE or coding agent | Repository policy, review, CI, release, and production operations |
| Automation inside an established CRM or office suite | Enterprise suite | Vendor boundaries, configuration, governance, and portability |
| API-first work with observable progress and a completion receipt | John Galt API | Objective quality, customer approvals, and interpretation of the result |
Fit, not folklore
Choose this API when its boundaries help you.
Trust improves when a product says where it fits—and where it does not.
You need real run state
Your application should distinguish accepted, executing, waiting for approval, verifying, completed, failed, and needs attention.
You need evidence attached
A durable result should expose its receipt, verification class, source coverage, and unresolved uncertainty.
You need customer-controlled context
Context must be inspectable, correctable, quarantinable, forgettable, and separate from journey analytics.
You need server-side automation
The job should continue through an API without requiring a particular desktop application to remain open.
The honest gate
Choose another road when the need is different.
You only need conversational text
A direct model API is usually simpler when run state, tools, evidence, and durable context add no value.
Your work happens entirely in one IDE
A coding agent already embedded in that environment may offer a more direct interaction model.
You require an unlisted capability
If the operation is not in the live contract, treat it as unavailable rather than inferring it from roadmap language.
You want effects without approvals
This service keeps authentication, authority, and effect approval distinct. That boundary is intentional.
Verify the claim yourself
The contract is the map.
Use the searchable API guide for discovery, then use the OpenAPI document and live endpoint response for implementation. Marketing copy does not expand the contract.
GET /openapi.json
Check:
• operation exists
• request schema matches
• response state is explicit
• required approval is visible
• uncertainty remains bounded