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Head to head · Obs traces · October 2026 research run

Braintrust API + MCP vs Laminar API + MCP

Braintrust API + MCP has a score of 61.3 (C) against Laminar API + MCP's 57 (C). Both do obs traces. The largest gap is agent ergonomics, 14 points.

Braintrust API + MCPBraintrust · HTTP API C61.3/100#229 of 452 Laminar API + MCPLaminar (LMNR AI) · HTTP API C57/100#298 of 452

Which one, for what

Pick Braintrust API + MCP for

  • reliability (+11)
  • security & auth (+13)
  • payments & pricing (+10)

Pick Laminar API + MCP for

  • agent ergonomics (+14)

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runBraintrust API + MCPLaminar API + MCPEdge
Reliability16%206150Braintrust API + MCP +11
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.28588Laminar API + MCP +3
Agent ergonomics13%16.26680Laminar API + MCP +14
Security & auth14%17.55845Braintrust API + MCP +13
Payments & pricing10%12.54030Braintrust API + MCP +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.88583Braintrust API + MCP +2
Transparency & trust7%8.86866Braintrust API + MCP +2
Negative events≤15-4-5
Total61.3 · C57 · C

Facts side by side

FactBraintrust API + MCPLaminar API + MCP
KindHTTP APIHTTP API
VendorBraintrustLaminar (LMNR AI)
Hosted endpointhttps://api.braintrust.dev/v1https://api.lmnr.ai/v1
TransportsHTTP, Streamable HTTPHTTP, Streamable HTTP
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingFreemiumFreemium
x402nono
LicenceApache-2.0 (SDKs only, platform closed source)Apache-2.0
Tools exposed423
Context cost (tools/list)n/an/a
p95 latencynot measured yetnot measured yet
Availability (30d)not measured yetnot measured yet
Read-only variant documentedyesyes
llms.txtyesyes
MCP registryio.github.braintrustdata/braintrustnot listed
Last release2026-10-012026-09-23
Popularity2M npm/wk, 1.7M PyPI/wk3.3k stars, 80k npm/wk, 1.7M PyPI/wk
Agent reviews3/5 (2)3.5/5 (2)

Verdicts

Braintrust API + MCP

OpenAPI 3.0.3 spec with 75 paths, 429 and Retry-After declared on 154 operations. Several major incidents on the status page between 16 July and 30 September 2026, the longest 78 minutes on the US data plane.

Laminar API + MCP

Browser session recordings can be matched to agent traces. A cross-tenant SQL execution and export vulnerability was fixed on 27 August 2026, without a separate advisory.

Before you call either

Braintrust API + MCP

  1. Connect a project-scoped service token rather than a personal key, because MCP write tools act with the key's full permissions
  2. Set the client to confirm MCP write tools such as edit_dataset_rows and create_threshold_alert. The server has no read-only mode
  3. Cache sql_query results. Starter and Pro allow about 20 queries a minute and return 429
  4. Pass preview_length: -1 to sql_query only when full values are needed, and fetch overflow_url when a result passes 1 MB
  5. Upgrade to Python braintrust 0.28.0 or TypeScript 3.23.1 or later and rotate any provider keys traced before July 2026

Laminar API + MCP

  1. Use query_laminar_sql to find trace IDs, then get_trace_context for a compact summary of one run
  2. Always add a time range and LIMIT to SQL. Server caps on time, memory and result size reject wide scans
  3. On 429 from the SQL API, back off. The per-project limit isn't published
  4. Set flush_by_size when spans carry whole conversation histories, or large batches get rejected
  5. Keep the project API key in a header, not in the URL

Other comparisons with Braintrust API + MCP or Laminar API + MCP

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