Amp vs AXLR

Amp 31

Local-package reading, as for the other closed-source harnesses. An install script that verifies a SHA-256 checksum, and an @ampcode/cli npm package of prebuilt binaries, for macOS, Linux and Windows through WSL (20). The source repository is private, so there is no public CI or test suite (0). There is no public issue tracker, and bug reports go to the vendor from inside the product. The CLI needs Amp's servers for every thread, and the status page lists 25 incidents between 4 August and 6 October 2026, six marked critical, most resolved within two hours (8). Versions are build stamps such as 0.0.1791460855-g1f688c with no per-version notes, and the introduction says "No backward compatibility", though removals are announced with dates in the Chronicle (3). The version line is 0.0 and we found no statement that the CLI is stable (0).

AXLR 70

Read as a local package, as claude-code, goose, opencode and openhands were. Release archives for Linux, macOS and Windows on amd64 and arm64 with a .sha256 beside each, a GHCR image, an OCI Helm chart and source builds with Go 1.26, all stated in the docs; no Homebrew, npm or apt route (20). CI on main runs vet, race tests and a coverage gate above 80 per cent for both modules, with the sandbox tests required under bubblewrap, and the last ten runs on main to 1 November 2026 all passed; the release workflow tests on six native runners (25). 10 open issues, all opened by the founder on 19 and 21 October 2026 as trackers for service work (work modes, plugins, the sandbox setting, cost limits), none from an outside user and none a crash report, 0 open pull requests and about 100 merged; with 0 stars there is nobody else to report, so the handling of outside reports is untested (20). Tags are semver 0.x and the docs date each behaviour change inline ("until 14 October 2026…"), but the 21 releases have empty notes, there is no CHANGELOG.md, and the product contract records one retirement (the seven 1.0 skill definitions on 5 October 2026) without a notice period (5). Pre-1.0, which the README calls an evolving project (0). 20+25+20+5+0 = 70.

Amp 35

Harness reading of the published rubric. No payment protocol (0). The pricing page is public. Hobby is free, Megawatt is $20 a month with 45,000 orb minutes, orbs are priced per hour by size from $0.08, and paid credits are charged at provider API prices with no markup outside Enterprise. The Gigawatt price sits behind a tab we couldn't read (20). Hobby is free when you bring your own model key or subscription and run locally or on your own runner. The pricing page does not say whether sign-up asks for a card, and inference served by Amp is never free (15). A person signs in through a browser to create the access token (0).

AXLR 60

No payment protocol (0). Free and Apache-2.0 with nothing to buy, so 20, 20 and 20 on the last three lines by the self-hosted rule, since the docs say what you pay your model provider, the free route needs no card, and it runs local models with no signup at all, the JSON worker without any model. 0+20+20+20 = 60.

Amp 77

Closed source under the Amp licence terms from Amp Frontier Corporation, with the npm packages marked Amp Commercial License. The terms page shows no date (15). The security reference lists 19 providers and what each sees, says deleted threads are removed within 30 days, diagnostic data after 7 days and audit logs kept at least 30 days, and the privacy policy (modified 10 September 2026) agrees, with account data kept while the account is active (24). No deprecation policy. The terms allow any feature to be discontinued without notice, while removals so far were announced with dates, such as the old npm package names on 14 May 2026 for removal on 15 June (8). Amp is local software tied to a hosted service. Providers and US hosting are disclosed in detail, but the usage data the client sends is not itemised and has no documented opt-out (12).

AXLR 55

Apache-2.0 with a NOTICE (30). No privacy policy or terms on underpassai.com or axlr.underpassai.com; the docs' 'Where data goes' and 'Diagnostics and privacy' sections say that model requests go to OpenRouter, the local server or the native API, that Jev sends text to TypeSafe only when on, that sessions live under $XDG_STATE_HOME/axlr, that payload capture is off by default and redacted when on, and that traces are deleted after 30 days; nothing covers the engine downloads' or the catalog registry's handling of a client's requests (15). No deprecation policy; pre-1.0 changes are dated inline in the docs and the product contract records the 5 October 2026 retirement of the first skill catalogue after the fact (6). No telemetry to disclose, and the docs say in two places what leaves the machine and how to stop payload capture, though no single page says there is no telemetry (17). 30+15+6+17 = 68.

Amp 69

Harness reading of the framework line. amp.tools.disable removes built-in or MCP tools by name or glob, and MCP servers can be allowed or rejected by pattern or attached per run with --mcp-config (17). The stream schema has an error_max_turns result, but we found no documented flag for a turn or spend limit. Workspace entitlements set per-user quotas (9). --stream-json output follows Claude Code's format where it can, --stream-json-input takes several user messages on stdin, and the final message carries is_error, turns, duration and token usage (15). Threads continue by ID with amp threads continue, hand off to a new thread, and can move between the CLI, a runner and an orb (16). TypeScript and Python SDKs wrap the CLI, and a run needs an Amp account and an access token (12).

AXLR 83

Harness reading of the framework line, scored on what a program driving it has to supply. Six local tools plus the host's bookkeeping tools; work modes and an execution policy hide the tools a run may not use, axlr_catalog searches the catalog instead of loading it, forged tools keep the request prefix for the prompt cache, and a context cap of 75,000 prompt tokens opens a successor session (20). local_read, local_search and local_list page with offset, next_offset and max_bytes; StreamEvents takes after, max_events (1 to 256) and wait_ms; a budget per execution in seconds, requests, tool calls and dollars; 32 tool calls a turn and max_session_usd (20). The --exec run ends in one result line with a status, the pending call, every call's outcome and the usage, and exits 0, 3 or 1; service errors carry codes an agent can act on; a budget stop says which limit (budget: requests 20 reached) and leaves the session resumable (16). Idempotency-Key on every turn, approval and direct call with cross-transport replay, expected_revision on decisions, expected_sha256 on worker writes, and an interrupted effectful call left uncertain for an operator rather than retried (19). One command runs a task, but the first launch needs an OpenRouter key or a local server, the service needs a CA, a principals file and remote KMP and MADE before a first session, and the only SDK is the Go library (8). 20+20+16+19+8 = 83.

Amp 72

Framework reading. A JSON Schema for the settings file at ampcode.com/cli-settings.schema.json (22 properties), TypeScript types for every stream message, and a generated reference for the plugin API, but no OpenAPI for the server (18). ampcode.com/llms.txt indexes a raw Markdown rendition of each of 55 docs pages (10). The docs say when to use execute mode, orbs, runners, the oracle and the Librarian, and what each mode is for (15). Settings carry types and defaults, and the stream schema enumerates stop reasons, result subtypes and MCP server states (12). Examples on nearly every page and two result error subtypes (error_during_execution, error_max_turns), with no exit codes or error catalogue (9). Dated Chronicle posts with an RSS feed and a lastModified date on each docs page, but no changelog by CLI version (8).

AXLR 80

An OpenAPI 3.1 file for the service (15 paths, 23 schemas, mutualTLS security scheme, additionalProperties: false on request bodies), a checked proto for the gRPC service, and the 19 MCP tools built from the same shared schemas (25). No llms.txt on either site (404), and the docs site renders HTML; the Markdown sources are in the repository (5). The product contract tables what each of the four interfaces can and cannot do, the work-mode table states each mode's purpose and tool policy, the transport parity ledger names every verb's arguments and behaviour, and axlr_tools tells the model to look for a tool before forging one (15). Typed inputs throughout, Idempotency-Key 16 to 128 safe ASCII characters, expected_revision a positive integer, policy levels, sandbox profiles and egress values enumerated, budgets as four integers, and the service rejects unknown fields, invalid types and bodies over 4 MiB (14). Examples in every guide, an error shape of code, message and request_id, named codes (409 idempotency_conflict, 400 invalid_cursor, 422 invalid_policy, invalid_budget, sandbox_unavailable, not_ready, invalid_id), a gRPC status mapping, and the worker's five statuses and three exit codes; no single error reference page (14). /v1 routes and an OpenAPI version of 0.1.0 against a 0.15.0 release, and no changelog beyond the dated notes inside the docs (7). 25+5+15+14+14+7 = 80.

Amp 57

Harness reading of the framework checklist, as for the other harnesses. 30 for what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. Every thread, with messages, code used as context and tool results, is stored on Amp's servers, and there is no local-only or self-hosted mode. Training on user data is off unless a user opts in, provider retention is limited under Minimal Data Retention, and secrets are redacted before they leave the client on a best-effort basis. The terms allow collection of usage data and we found no opt-out for the CLI (14). The tools page says Amp does not ask for approval before running tools, and points to a custom plugin for control. MCP servers defined in a project's settings need approval, amp.mcpPermissions allows or rejects servers and amp.tools.disable removes tools. The CLI has no sandbox. Orbs are separate cloud machines (6). The security reference has a prompt-injection section that describes layered measures, and the tools page warns about untrusted repositories and MCP servers (9). Threads keep prompts, tool calls and results as a record, a data API covers workspace analytics and threads, and authentication audit logs are for Enterprise workspaces (12). A security.txt that expires on 20 November 2026, a bug bounty with safe harbour, SOC 2 Type II and annual penetration tests per the vendor. No public advisories found (16).

AXLR 62

Harness reading of the framework checklist, as for the other four harnesses. 30 for what leaves the machine by default, 20 for approvals and sandboxing, 15 for prompt-injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. No product telemetry in the console source (the outbound hosts are openrouter.ai, api.anthropic.com, api.openai.com, a configured local server, api.github.com and github.com for engine downloads, and registry.underpassai.com for the signed catalog index) or in the docs; payload capture is off by default since 9 October 2026, traces omit prompts and credentials, model keys are never given to commands or plugins, and Jev sends requests and answers to TypeSafe only when on, which the setup assistant does when TYPESAFE_API_KEY is set, with a notice on stderr (27). Approval cards, a destructive list that always asks, four work modes, a policy level per execution, a bubblewrap or container sandbox with an enforced egress allow list, and a service that approves nothing but reads. Against that, the setup assistant writes autonomous: true, exec_sandbox is off by default, forged tools run with the person's rights, and the README says the console and worker are not sandboxes (13). Forged tools are refused when a file changes since the forge, a policy forbids calls outside the model, and the docs say MCP tools keep their own side effects, but no prompt-injection guidance was found and MCP results reach the model unmarked (6). The service keeps an event journal, audit records, a receipt with the SHA-256 of every call's arguments and outcome, and correlation ids on every event; the console keeps session records, a redacted app log and /session (14). No SECURITY.md, no security.txt on either host, no advisories, no bug bounty; release checksums and a minisign-signed catalog are integrity, not a programme (2). 27+13+6+14+2 = 62.