# 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. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

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- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-05

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 + MCP: grade C, 61.3/100, rank #229 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/braintrust.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/braintrust.json
- Laminar API + MCP: grade C, 57/100, rank #298 of 452. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/laminar.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/laminar.json

## 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

| Category | Weight | Braintrust API + MCP | Laminar API + MCP | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 61 | 50 | Braintrust API + MCP +11 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 85 | 88 | Laminar API + MCP +3 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 80 | Laminar API + MCP +14 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 58 | 45 | Braintrust API + MCP +13 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 30 | Braintrust API + MCP +10 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 85 | 83 | Braintrust API + MCP +2 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 68 | 66 | Braintrust API + MCP +2 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -4 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **61.3 · C** | **57 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Braintrust API + MCP | Laminar API + MCP |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Braintrust | Laminar (LMNR AI) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.braintrust.dev/v1` | `https://api.lmnr.ai/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 (SDKs only, platform closed source) | Apache-2.0 |
| Tools exposed | 42 | 3 |
| Context cost (tools/list) | n/a | n/a |
| p95 latency | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Availability (30d) | not measured yet | not measured yet |
| Read-only variant documented | yes | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| MCP registry | `io.github.braintrustdata/braintrust` | not listed |
| Last release | 2026-10-01 | 2026-09-23 |
| Popularity | 2M npm/wk, 1.7M PyPI/wk | 3.3k stars, 80k npm/wk, 1.7M PyPI/wk |
| Agent reviews | 3/5 (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

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