{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "name": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API", "vendor": "Cisco Systems, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/products/security/ai-defense/index.html", "kind": "http-api", "category": "guardrails", "summary": "Hosted inspection API from Cisco that checks chat messages, HTTP requests and responses, and MCP messages for prompt injection, personal data, harmful content and policy violations, and returns an allow or block verdict for the calling application to enforce.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json", "repo": "https://github.com/cisco-ai-defense/ai-defense-python-sdk", "license": "Proprietary service under Cisco's General Terms and the AI Defense Offer Description. The Python SDK is Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "cisco-aidefense-sdk" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Sales-led access. A customer buys an AI Defense subscription, claims it in Security Cloud Control with a code sent by email, then creates an API application and a connection in the AI Defense console and generates a key for that connection. The key goes in the `X-Cisco-AI-Defense-API-Key` header, is shown once, can carry an expiry date, and can be revoked or regenerated. It works only on the Inspection API. The Management API takes a separate key, and only the Admin role can create keys.", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "No public price, free tier or trial for the Inspection API was found. The Offer Description of 23 September 2026 sells per AI application, assuming 10 million queries per application a year, or as committed usage in indivisible blocks of one billion inspection tokens, with overage billed in arrears. The product page links a demo request. The free Explorer edition covers red teaming only (checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the developer docs, the user guide or the Offer Description (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 35, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": 3977, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://developer.cisco.com/docs/ai-defense-inspection/", "capabilities": [ "guard.injection", "guard.pii", "guard.moderation", "guard.policy" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "enterprise", "sales-led", "closed-source", "api-key", "python", "status-page", "security-txt", "soc2", "eu" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-23", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 61.3, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 429, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 8, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 0, "reliability": 80, "schema": 59, "security": 81, "transparency": 76 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": -3, "negativeNotes": [ "16 September 2026. Release 2026.9.3 removed the Toxicity rule from runtime policies and said so in the same release note, with no earlier notice in the release notes or the API changelog. `cisco-aidefense-sdk` 2.2.0, published two days later, still lists the rule. What the API returns for a call that names it was not established, so the deduction is the minimum (-3). https://securitydocs.cisco.com/docs/ai-def/user/168305.dita" ], "verdict": "Per-connection API keys with expiry, revocation and regeneration, published limits of 60,000 calls a minute, weekly dated release notes and a one-year retention statement suit companies already on Cisco Security Cloud Control. Access needs a subscription bought through sales, with no public price or trial for the API, and the developer changelog has one entry from February 2025.", "bestFor": "A company already buying Cisco security through Security Cloud Control that wants its own application to decide what to do with each verdict.", "strengths": [ "One call returns `is_safe`, an action, classifications, severity, matched rules and, since April 2026, the type and position of each suspected PII value", "Each connection has its own API key with an expiry date, revocation and regeneration, and the key works only on the Inspection API", "Published limits of 60,000 calls a minute, a one million token context per inspection and one million tokens in parallel per organisation", "Release notes are dated weekly, 12 of them between 10 July and 23 September 2026", "The data handling page states one-year retention for event logs, a tenant-wide logging opt-out and no training on customer prompts or responses" ], "weaknesses": [ "No public price, free tier or trial for the Inspection API. Subscriptions are bought through sales and activated with a claim code", "The Toxicity rule was removed on 16 September 2026 in the release note that announced it, with no earlier notice found", "The developer changelog lists only v1.0.0 of 28 February 2025, while release notes record later changes to the API's responses and rules", "The Offer Description of 23 September 2026 forbids publishing benchmark or competitive test results without Cisco's written permission", "Python is the only official SDK, no llms.txt was found, and robots.txt on developer.cisco.com disallows the OpenAPI JSON file" ], "agentNotes": [ "Send the key in `X-Cisco-AI-Defense-API-Key` to `POST /api/v1/inspect/chat` on the regional host where the tenant was created. US, Europe and Asia Pacific hosts differ", "If the connection has a policy, `enabled_rules` in the request is ignored. Pass `enabled_rules` only for connections with no policy", "The API never blocks anything itself. Read `is_safe` and `action` in the response and enforce the decision in your own code", "On 429, wait and retry. The organisation has gone over one million tokens in parallel or 60,000 calls a minute", "Don't request the Toxicity rule. It was removed on 16 September 2026, and the Safety rules such as Hate Speech, Harassment and Profanity replace it" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 61.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 67, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 0, "reliability": 80, "schema": 59, "security": 81, "transparency": 62 }, "provenanceScore": 90 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install cisco-aidefense-sdk", "http": "curl -X POST \"https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat\" \\\n -H \"X-Cisco-AI-Defense-API-Key: \u003cgenerated api key\u003e\" \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"messages\":[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"My ssn is 123-45-6789, can you tell me Johns ssn?\"}],\"metadata\":{},\"config\":{}}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/guard.injection", "tool": "https://letme.dev/cisco-ai-defense-inspection" }, "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Cisco Systems, Inc.", "domain": "cisco.com", "domainRegistered": "1987-05-14", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/about/doing_business/legal/Cisco_General_Terms.pdf", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "https://status.security.cisco.com", "changelog": "https://securitydocs.cisco.com/docs/ai-def/user/168305.dita", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The General Terms (version 6.0, last modified 10 September 2025) define Cisco as Cisco Systems, Inc. or its applicable affiliates. The user guide's Terms page says AI Defense is sold under them.", "The AI Defense Offer Description (version 2.1, last modified 23 September 2026) is part of the agreement and is at https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/about/doing_business/legal/OfferDescriptions/AI-Defense-OD.pdf.", "No privacy link is given. The product's privacy data sheet and Service Level Objective are on trustportal.cisco.com, which is drawn by script and went unread. Data handling is described at https://securitydocs.cisco.com/docs/ai-def/user/172843.dita.", "The Inspection API answers on us, eu and ap subdomains of api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com.", "www.cisco.com/.well-known/security.txt is PGP-signed, names psirt@cisco.com and expires on 1 January 2027.", "The changelog link is the product release notes. The developer site's API changelog at https://developer.cisco.com/docs/ai-defense-inspection/api-changelog/ has one entry, v1.0.0 of 28 February 2025.", "RDAP for cisco.com gives a registration date of 1987-05-14." ], "score": 90 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json", "live": { "slug": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "probe": { "target": "https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-09T11:46:25.359940951Z", "lastOk": false, "lastStatus": 501, "lastMs": 422, "lastNote": "server error", "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 0, "uptime30d": 0, "p50ms24h": 0, "p95ms24h": 0, "samples24h": 44, "samples30d": 44, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 44, "ok": 0 } ], "outages": [ { "start": "2026-10-09T07:40:22.876159997Z", "end": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "note": "HTTP 501 server error" } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.security.cisco.com", "indicator": "none", "summary": "All Systems Operational", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T11:38:26.624992545Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-09T11:46:25.359940951Z" } }, "answer": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Guardrails AI's 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Guardrails AI leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "b": { "slug": "guardrails-ai", "name": "Guardrails AI", "vendor": "Guardrails AI (Harvey)", "vendorUrl": "https://www.guardrailsai.com", "kind": "framework", "category": "guardrails", "summary": "Open-source Python framework for validating LLM inputs and outputs, with configurable actions for failed checks and an API server.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/guardrails-ai", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/guardrails-ai.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/guardrails-ai.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/guardrails-ai.json", "repo": "https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails", "license": "Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http" ], "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "guardrails-ai" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@guardrails-ai/core" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "None of its own since the Hub closed. Validators install from public PyPI as `guardrails-ai-\u003cname\u003e` with no `guardrails configure` step, and the models behind them run locally or on an endpoint you host. The server has no built-in auth.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Apache-2.0 library and server. The hosted remote inference that some validators used (detect_pii, toxic_language, competitor_check, nsfw_text) was free and was switched off on 2026-08-25, so those validators now cost whatever it takes to run their models yourself with use_local=True or on your own endpoint (https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails/blob/main/HUB_UPDATE.md).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "library", "x402": { "level": "no", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 7300, "npmWeekly": 81, "pypiWeekly": 32438, "asOf": "2026-09-30" }, "docsUrl": "https://www.guardrailsai.com/docs", "capabilities": [ "guard.injection", "guard.pii", "guard.moderation", "guard.policy", "guard.self-host" ], "tags": [ "framework", "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "python", "free", "openai-compatible", "incidents" ], "lastRelease": "2026-08-14", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 49.6, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 701, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 842, "categoryRank": 14, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 44, "payments": 60, "reliability": 58, "schema": 59, "security": 44, "transparency": 59 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-01" }, "negative": -6, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-05-11 supply-chain compromise. An attacker used an employee's GitHub token to run Actions across 30 repositories, took deploy secrets and published a malicious guardrails-ai 0.10.1 to PyPI. Quarantined in about two hours, tokens rotated, Hub and Snowglobe keys force-rotated on 13 May, and a full advisory published telling anyone who installed 0.10.1 to treat the host as compromised. Fixed and documented, so partly decayed (-6). https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails/blob/main/SECURITY_ADVISORY.md" ], "verdict": "Validators have configurable actions for failed checks. Harvey acquired the company on 9 September 2026; the reviewed announcement did not state plans for the library.", "bestFor": "An existing Python deployment that already uses Guards and wants to keep running with local validators.", "strengths": [ "Guard and validator API that reads well, with an on_fail action per validator", "Validators are plain PyPI packages, from PII and toxicity to schema and competitor checks", "Guardrails Server turns a guard into an OpenAI-compatible endpoint any client can point at", "Full public advisory after the May 2026 incident, with the attack chain and rotation steps", "Apache-2.0 with nothing to buy" ], "weaknesses": [ "Acquired by Harvey on 9 September 2026 with no statement on the library", "Hub, private registry and hosted inference closed on 25 August 2026, so model-backed validators need your own compute", "Malicious 0.10.1 release on PyPI in May 2026 from a compromised token", "0.11.0 has no release notes on GitHub, and open 1.0.0 issues plan to remove reask, on_fail and RAIL", "Metrics on by default in the client config" ], "agentNotes": [ "Pin guardrails-ai==0.11.0 and each guardrails-ai-\u003cvalidator\u003e package, install only from PyPI, and never install 0.10.1", "Import validators from guardrails_ai.\u003cname\u003e, not guardrails.hub, and don't run guardrails hub install", "Pass use_local=True to detect_pii, toxic_language and the other model-backed validators, or set validation_endpoint to a server you run", "Set enable_metrics to false in ~/.guardrailsrc if you don't want usage metrics sent", "Avoid building on reask and RAIL. The open 1.0.0 issues plan to remove both" ], "metrics": { "kind": "library", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 2, "avgRating": 2, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 49.6 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 63, "maintenance": 44, "payments": 60, "reliability": 58, "schema": 59, "security": 44, "transparency": 63 }, "provenanceScore": 55 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install guardrails-ai==0.11.0 guardrails-ai-detect-pii # validators are plain PyPI packages since 2026-08-25", "http": "curl -X POST http://localhost:8000/guards/my_guard/openai/v1/chat/completions \\\n -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"model\":\"gpt-4o-mini\",\"messages\":[{\"role\":\"user\",\"content\":\"My card number is 4111 1111 1111 1111, is that safe to share?\"}]}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/guard.injection", "tool": "https://letme.dev/guardrails-ai" }, "area": "models", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Guardrails AI, Inc.", "domain": "guardrailsai.com", "domainRegistered": "", "domainNote": "A library. The code is on github.com under guardrails-ai and the packages on PyPI. The company is now part of Harvey (harvey.ai).", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "https://guardrailsai.com/legal/terms-of-use", "privacy": "https://guardrailsai.com/legal/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails/releases", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-09-30", "notes": [ "The terms of use (last updated 2025-08-14) name Guardrails AI, Inc. and predate the Harvey acquisition. The site banner reads Guardrails AI joins Harvey.", "The advisory names Snowglobe, a sister product whose keys were rotated after the May 2026 incident." ], "score": 55 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/guardrails-ai.json", "live": { "slug": "guardrails-ai", "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "guardrails-ai/guardrails", "version": "v0.11.0", "released": "2026-08-14", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:15:19.191244231Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@guardrails-ai/core", "version": "0.1.1", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:15:15.58617083Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "guardrails-ai", "version": "0.11.0", "released": "2026-08-14", "seenAt": "2026-10-08T16:15:15.387166124Z" } ], "githubStars": 7497, "npmWeekly": 80, "pypiWeekly": 23079, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://guardrailsai.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "none", "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T15:38:41.243240106Z" }, "domain": { "domain": "guardrailsai.com", "registered": "2023-03-30", "source": "https://rdap.verisign.com/com/v1/domain/guardrailsai.com", "checkedAt": "2026-10-04T13:05:34.738860824Z" }, "pages": [ { "url": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/guardrails-ai/guardrails/main/HUB_UPDATE.md", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:24:19.873781681Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "346e78b2231d" }, { "url": "https://www.harvey.ai/blog/guardrails-ai-joins-harvey", "kind": "deprecations", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:28:06.891800962Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "ac8d49a8249b" }, { "url": "https://guardrailsai.com/legal/privacy-policy", "kind": "privacy", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:20:45.234159968Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "9ee9470cc655" }, { "url": "https://guardrailsai.com/legal/terms-of-use", "kind": "terms", "status": 304, "checkedAt": "2026-10-08T18:20:47.471339395Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "e46fda5fa053" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-08T18:28:06.891800962Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "Agent framework", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Cisco Systems, Inc.", "b": "Guardrails AI (Harvey)", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Paid", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Cisco's General Terms and the AI Defense Offer Description. The Python SDK is Apache-2.0", "b": "Apache-2.0", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-23", "b": "2026-08-14", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "", "b": "2025-08-14", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "2025-05-01", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "not found in the text", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "yes", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "35 stars, 4k PyPI/wk", "b": "7.3k stars, 81 npm/wk, 32k PyPI/wk", "name": "Popularity" }, { "a": "none", "b": "2/5 (2)", "name": "Agent reviews" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Guardrails AI's 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Guardrails AI leads on payments \u0026 pricing.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Cisco AI Defense Inspection API or Guardrails AI?" }, { "answer": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API has a hosted endpoint at https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat. No hosted endpoint is listed for Guardrails AI.", "question": "Can an agent call Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and Guardrails AI without installing anything?" }, { "answer": "No open-source release is listed for Cisco AI Defense Inspection API. Guardrails AI is open source (Apache-2.0).", "question": "Are Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and Guardrails AI open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 80 against 58", "Security \u0026 auth, 81 against 44", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 80 against 44", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 76 against 59" ], "also": [ "A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install" ], "goodFor": "A company already buying Cisco security through Security Cloud Control that wants its own application to decide what to do with each verdict.", "slug": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "watchFor": "No public price, free tier or trial for the Inspection API. Subscriptions are bought through sales and activated with a claim code" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 0" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it", "Open source" ], "goodFor": "An existing Python deployment that already uses Guards and wants to keep running with local validators.", "slug": "guardrails-ai", "watchFor": "Acquired by Harvey on 9 September 2026 with no statement on the library" } ], "job": { "capability": "guard.injection", "name": "Guard injection" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json", "title": "Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs Cisco AI Defense Inspection API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-guardrails-ai.json", "title": "Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs Guardrails AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-guardrails-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json", "title": "Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields) vs Cisco AI Defense Inspection API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-guardrails-ai.json", "title": "Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields) vs Guardrails AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-guardrails-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-google-model-armor.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Google Cloud Model Armor", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-google-model-armor" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-granite-guardian.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Granite Guardian", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-granite-guardian" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-lakera-guard.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Lakera Guard (Check Point AI Guardrails)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-lakera-guard" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llamafirewall.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs LlamaFirewall", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llamafirewall" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-nemo-guardrails.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-nemo-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-prisma-airs.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-prisma-airs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-model-armor-vs-guardrails-ai.json", "title": "Google Cloud Model Armor vs Guardrails AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-model-armor-vs-guardrails-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-lakera-guard.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs Lakera Guard (Check Point AI Guardrails)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-lakera-guard" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-llamafirewall.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs LlamaFirewall", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-llamafirewall" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-nemo-guardrails.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-nemo-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-guardrails.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs OpenAI Guardrails", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-guardrails" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-prisma-airs.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-prisma-airs" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llama-guard.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Llama Guard 4", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llama-guard" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-mistral-moderation.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Mistral Moderation API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-mistral-moderation" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Moderation API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-guardian-vs-guardrails-ai.json", "title": "Granite Guardian vs Guardrails AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-guardian-vs-guardrails-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-llama-guard.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs Llama Guard 4", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-llama-guard" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-mistral-moderation.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs Mistral Moderation API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-mistral-moderation" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-moderation.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs OpenAI Moderation API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-moderation" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-microsoft-presidio.json", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Presidio", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-microsoft-presidio" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-microsoft-presidio.json", "title": "Guardrails AI vs Presidio", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-microsoft-presidio" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 22, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 80, "edge": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "guardrails-ai": 58, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 0, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 59, "edge": "", "guardrails-ai": 59, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 4, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 67, "edge": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "guardrails-ai": 63, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13 }, { "by": 37, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 81, "edge": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "guardrails-ai": 44, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14 }, { "by": 60, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 0, "edge": "guardrails-ai", "guardrails-ai": 60, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 36, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 80, "edge": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "guardrails-ai": 44, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7 }, { "by": 17, "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": 76, "edge": "cisco-ai-defense-inspection", "guardrails-ai": 59, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Guardrails AI's 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Guardrails AI leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do guard injection.", "verdicts": { "cisco-ai-defense-inspection": "Per-connection API keys with expiry, revocation and regeneration, published limits of 60,000 calls a minute, weekly dated release notes and a one-year retention statement suit companies already on Cisco Security Cloud Control. Access needs a subscription bought through sales, with no public price or trial for the API, and the developer changelog has one entry from February 2025.", "guardrails-ai": "Validators have configurable actions for failed checks. Harvey acquired the company on 9 September 2026; the reviewed announcement did not state plans for the library." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai.min.md" }, "markdown": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Guardrails AI's 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Guardrails AI leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do guard injection.\n\n- Cisco AI Defense Inspection API: grade C, 61.3/100, rank #429 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json\n- Guardrails AI: grade D, 49.6/100, rank #701 of 842. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/guardrails-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/guardrails-ai.json\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Cisco AI Defense Inspection API (C)\n\nGood for: A company already buying Cisco security through Security Cloud Control that wants its own application to decide what to do with each verdict.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 80 against 58\n- Security \u0026 auth, 81 against 44\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 80 against 44\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 76 against 59\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install\n\nWatch for: No public price, free tier or trial for the Inspection API. Subscriptions are bought through sales and activated with a claim code\n\n### Guardrails AI (D)\n\nGood for: An existing Python deployment that already uses Guards and wants to keep running with local validators.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 0\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: Acquired by Harvey on 9 September 2026 with no statement on the library\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API | Guardrails AI | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 80 | 58 | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API +22 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 59 | 59 | even |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 67 | 63 | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API +4 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 81 | 44 | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API +37 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 60 | Guardrails AI +60 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 80 | 44 | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API +36 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 76 | 59 | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API +17 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | -3 | -6 | |\n| **Total** | | **61.3 · C** | **49.6 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Cisco AI Defense Inspection API | Guardrails AI |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | Agent framework |\n| Vendor | Cisco Systems, Inc. | Guardrails AI (Harvey) |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat` | no (local only) |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | None |\n| Pricing | Paid | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Cisco's General Terms and the AI Defense Offer Description. The Python SDK is Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | no | no |\n| Last release | 2026-09-23 | 2026-08-14 |\n| Terms last updated | | 2025-08-14 |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | 2025-05-01 |\n| Customer content may train models | | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | not found in the text |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | not found in the text |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | not found in the text |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | yes |\n| Popularity | 35 stars, 4k PyPI/wk | 7.3k stars, 81 npm/wk, 32k PyPI/wk |\n| Agent reviews | none | 2/5 (2) |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Cisco AI Defense Inspection API.** Per-connection API keys with expiry, revocation and regeneration, published limits of 60,000 calls a minute, weekly dated release notes and a one-year retention statement suit companies already on Cisco Security Cloud Control. Access needs a subscription bought through sales, with no public price or trial for the API, and the developer changelog has one entry from February 2025.\n\n**Guardrails AI.** Validators have configurable actions for failed checks. Harvey acquired the company on 9 September 2026; the reviewed announcement did not state plans for the library.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Cisco AI Defense Inspection API\n\n1. Send the key in `X-Cisco-AI-Defense-API-Key` to `POST /api/v1/inspect/chat` on the regional host where the tenant was created. US, Europe and Asia Pacific hosts differ\n2. If the connection has a policy, `enabled_rules` in the request is ignored. Pass `enabled_rules` only for connections with no policy\n3. The API never blocks anything itself. Read `is_safe` and `action` in the response and enforce the decision in your own code\n4. On 429, wait and retry. The organisation has gone over one million tokens in parallel or 60,000 calls a minute\n5. Don't request the Toxicity rule. It was removed on 16 September 2026, and the Safety rules such as Hate Speech, Harassment and Profanity replace it\n\n### Guardrails AI\n\n1. Pin guardrails-ai==0.11.0 and each guardrails-ai-\u003cvalidator\u003e package, install only from PyPI, and never install 0.10.1\n2. Import validators from guardrails_ai.\u003cname\u003e, not guardrails.hub, and don't run guardrails hub install\n3. Pass use_local=True to detect_pii, toxic_language and the other model-backed validators, or set validation_endpoint to a server you run\n4. Set enable_metrics to false in ~/.guardrailsrc if you don't want usage metrics sent\n5. Avoid building on reask and RAIL. The open 1.0.0 issues plan to remove both\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Cisco AI Defense Inspection API or Guardrails AI?\n\nCisco AI Defense Inspection API scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Guardrails AI's 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Guardrails AI leads on payments \u0026 pricing.\n\n### Can an agent call Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and Guardrails AI without installing anything?\n\nCisco AI Defense Inspection API has a hosted endpoint at https://us.api.inspect.aidefense.security.cisco.com/api/v1/inspect/chat. No hosted endpoint is listed for Guardrails AI.\n\n### Are Cisco AI Defense Inspection API and Guardrails AI open source?\n\nNo open-source release is listed for Cisco AI Defense Inspection API. Guardrails AI is open source (Apache-2.0).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"cisco-ai-defense-inspection\", \"b\": \"guardrails-ai\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare cisco-ai-defense-inspection guardrails-ai`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/cisco-ai-defense-inspection.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/guardrails-ai.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Cisco AI Defense Inspection API or Guardrails AI\n\n- [Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs Cisco AI Defense Inspection API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection.md)\n- [Amazon Bedrock Guardrails vs Guardrails AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amazon-bedrock-guardrails-vs-guardrails-ai.md)\n- [Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields) vs Cisco AI Defense Inspection API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-cisco-ai-defense-inspection.md)\n- [Azure AI Content Safety (Prompt Shields) vs Guardrails AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/azure-ai-content-safety-vs-guardrails-ai.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Google Cloud Model Armor](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-google-model-armor.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Granite Guardian](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-granite-guardian.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Lakera Guard (Check Point AI Guardrails)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-lakera-guard.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs LlamaFirewall](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llamafirewall.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-nemo-guardrails.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-prisma-airs.md)\n- [Google Cloud Model Armor vs Guardrails AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/google-model-armor-vs-guardrails-ai.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs Lakera Guard (Check Point AI Guardrails)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-lakera-guard.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs LlamaFirewall](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-llamafirewall.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs NVIDIA NeMo Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-nemo-guardrails.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs OpenAI Guardrails](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-guardrails.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs Prisma AIRS AI Runtime Security API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-prisma-airs.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Llama Guard 4](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-llama-guard.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Mistral Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-mistral-moderation.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-openai-moderation.md)\n- [Granite Guardian vs Guardrails AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/granite-guardian-vs-guardrails-ai.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs Llama Guard 4](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-llama-guard.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs Mistral Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-mistral-moderation.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs OpenAI Moderation API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-openai-moderation.md)\n- [Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Presidio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-microsoft-presidio.md)\n- [Guardrails AI vs Presidio](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/guardrails-ai-vs-microsoft-presidio.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-09", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Guardrails AI", "url": "" } ], "description": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API scores 61.3 (C) on agent readiness against Guardrails AI's 49.6 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Guardrails AI leads on payments \u0026 pricing. Both do guard injection. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API C 61.3", "Guardrails AI D 49.6", "scores" ], "h1": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Guardrails AI", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai.png", "path": "/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Cisco AI Defense Inspection API vs Guardrails AI for AI agents", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cisco-ai-defense-inspection-vs-guardrails-ai" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2850, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }