Claude Code vs Letta

Claude Code 80

Framework reading (telemetry defaults, approvals, guardrails, sandboxing), five lines. The data-usage page, re-read on 4 November, says usage metrics are on by default on the Claude API without code, prompts or file paths, error reports are on by default for Pro, Max and Ultra sign-ins since v2.1.198, /feedback reports are on, session quality surveys run on every provider, and every provider sends WebFetch hostnames to api.anthropic.com for a blocklist check, each with an opt-out. Metrics, error reports and /feedback are off by default on Bedrock, Google Cloud, Foundry and Claude Platform on AWS unless a host sets CLAUDE_CODE_PROVIDER_MANAGED_BY_HOST (18). Six modes, allow, ask and deny rules, protected paths, and managed settings that can disable bypass and auto mode. 2.1.314 added permissions.blockWritesOutsideWorkingDirectories. The sandbox is opt-in and absent on native Windows, and auto mode, a classifier rather than a person, is the built-in starting mode for terminal and VS Code sessions on 2.1.283 or later, per the permission-modes page re-read on 4 November; sandboxing per 17 October (16). The auto-mode classifier blocks named exfiltration patterns, the sandbox proxy denies hosts outside an allowlist that starts empty, and WebFetch checks a blocklist, but since 1 October 2026 a mod can approve a call a deny rule refuses unless managed settings or a Team or Enterprise sign-in hold it (11). Opt-in OpenTelemetry with tool content behind OTEL_LOG_TOOL_CONTENT, local transcripts for 30 days, and cloud sessions logged through a proxy; 2.1.317 adds plan, seat type and provider attributes (15). HackerOne bug bounty and SECURITY.md (unchanged since 15 May 2026 in the clone), advisories published with GHSA ids, the newest in GitHub's reviewed database GHSA-pq7j-f95f-qfcv (High, 15 October; OSV holds 29 for the package on 4 November, none newer), and anthropic.com's security.txt valid to 31 December 2026, re-read on 4 November (20). 18 + 16 + 11 + 15 + 20 = 80. SOC 2 isn't scored on the framework reading. Advisories and the changelog-only sandbox and permission fixes count under negative events. Judgement call, written by an agent on Claude, on the same checklist the other harnesses got.

Letta 35

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 injection posture, 15 for audit and 20 for the security programme. Letta Cloud is the default backend, so agent state and conversations go to Letta's servers, and telemetry is on by default (10 of 30). The default permission mode is unrestricted; standard, acceptEdits and strict are opt-in, and cloud sandboxes exist for remote work (4 of 20). No prompt-injection guidance found for fetched pages or channel messages (5 of 15). Conversation search and git history of memory give an operator a record of what the agent saw and changed (10 of 15). SECURITY.md routes reports to support@letta.com and scopes out the retired server; no security.txt, bounty or certification found (6 of 20). Total 35.

Claude Code 20

Harness reading of the published rubric. No payment protocol (0). Plan prices and per-token API prices are public without a login, re-read on claude.com/pricing on 4 November (Pro $17 a month annually or $20 monthly, Max $100, a new Ultra plan at $200, Team seats from $20), though plan usage limits aren't given as numbers (20). No free route. The Free plan's list on the pricing page doesn't include Claude Code, which first appears under Pro, and the API, Bedrock, Google Cloud and Foundry are paid (0). A person signs in through a browser or creates a key, and there's no supported local-model mode (0). 0 + 20 + 0 + 0 = 20. Judgement call, against Anthropic's own product. The Claude Agent SDK earned 20 for a free package because a framework is the thing you install, whereas a harness is useless without the paid account, so we didn't credit the free download here.

Letta 60

No x402, MPP or L402 (0 of 40). Per-unit API prices are public, $0.10 per active agent a month and $0.00015 a second of tool execution, plus plan prices (20). A $0 plan with bring-your-own keys; no card is mentioned (20). The CLI runs locally without signing in (20). Total 60.

Claude Code 81

Closed source with clear terms, LICENSE.md pointing to the Commercial Terms, unchanged in the clone on 4 November (15). The data-usage page, re-read on 4 November, states retention per account type (consumer 30 days or 5 years with training on, commercial 30 days, zero retention for qualified Enterprise), 30 days of plaintext local transcripts, 5 years for /feedback reports and up to 6 months for shared survey transcripts, and these agree with the privacy policy links, but the logging and error-tracking services are named only as third parties. The page still doesn't say that since 2.1.300 local transcripts also record each API request's system prompt, tools and parameters, read as an omission rather than a contradiction (25). No written deprecation policy. The README still marks npm installs deprecated without a date. 2.1.316 gives Claude Code's first dated advance notice of its own, fast mode for Opus 4.8 deprecated on 30 October and removed on 30 November 2026, 31 days' notice. Judgement call. One dated notice and no policy; we kept 8, the stricter reading, and crediting the notice would give 10 and transparency 70 (8). Telemetry is documented per provider and per service with an opt-out for each, re-read on 4 November (20). 15 + 25 + 8 + 20 = 68.

Letta 55

Apache-2.0 (30). The privacy policy has no date, no legal entity and no retention periods, and says hosted message data may train future models (8 of 30). The README and docs mark AgentFile, the Electron app and the V1 server as deprecated or retired, without dated notice periods (12 of 20). Telemetry is described in the privacy policy only as basic and opt-out when supported; the LETTA_CODE_TELEM=0 switch appears only in the source (5 of 20). Total 55.

Claude Code 91

Framework reading, adapted to a harness driven by a pipeline. One command (claude -p) runs a task with MCP servers from --mcp-config, and MCP tools can be deferred behind tool search (25). --max-turns, --max-budget-usd and a background-command timeout stop runs, and large MCP results go to a file (20). json and stream-json output, -p errors name the cause, and since 2.1.318 -p JSON results carry credential_expires_at and a timed-out claude.ai login names claude auth login and claude setup-token (16). --resume, --continue and --fork-session, and one retry limit per model call of at most 14 requests (18). Python and TypeScript Agent SDKs. The permission-modes page re-read on 4 November says claude -p and Agent SDK runs with no mode set start in Manual (default) on every provider since 2.1.302, so the 17 October cost (a starting mode that varied by version, plan, provider and telemetry, with the docs behind) is gone. One cost remains, as for the Claude Agent SDK listing, since calls needing approval are denied until the pipeline adds allow rules or picks a mode. Judgement call. Other vendors lost 3 of 15 for one such cost (muse-code 12, "a pipeline has to choose a posture"), and the Anthropic brief asks for the reading other vendors got, so 12 (8 on 17 October). Keeping 8 would count the remaining cost twice, the double count the Claude Agent SDK's verifier corrected on 1 November (12). 25 + 20 + 16 + 18 + 12 = 91.

Letta 67

Harness reading. Toolsets switch with /model, skills load per agent, and subagents run in the background (18 of 25). Context is managed through memory blocks, reflection and dreaming (12 of 20). letta -p --output-format json for scripted runs and an App Server for programmatic control (12 of 20). Conversations resume by agent and conversation id, and memory is git-tracked so changes can be reverted (15 of 20). Runs with no account on the local backend, with one SDK language, TypeScript (10 of 15). Total 67.

Claude Code 80

Framework reading. No published JSON Schema for settings that we checked (per the 1 October check, not re-read), but the settings reference types every key, and the stream-json output has typed message classes in the Python and TypeScript Agent SDKs (18). llms.txt at code.claude.com/docs/llms.txt with a Markdown version of each page; code.claude.com's robots.txt carries Content-Signal ai-train=yes, search=yes, ai-input=yes (10). The permission-mode table says what each mode is best for and, re-read on 4 November, now gives default as the starting mode for claude -p and the Agent SDK, matching 2.1.302. The rules still carry many version-specific exceptions (mods, protected paths, carve-outs by settings source) that a model has to read closely. Judgement call. The page catching up removes the reason given on 17 October but not the one given before it, so the line stays at 15 rather than rising; the lighter reading gives 17 and schema 82 (15). Permission modes, sandbox settings and rule syntax are enumerated, though rules are strings parsed at runtime (12). Examples on every page and a troubleshooting section for install and auth errors (13). A changelog for every release. CHANGELOG.md in the repository has no dates, feed.xml dates the latest 20 (2.1.318 at 00:00 UTC on 4 November), and the code.claude.com changelog page dated every release on 17 October. Breaking changes still aren't marked (12). 18 + 10 + 15 + 12 + 13 + 12 = 80.

Letta 70

Harness reading. docs.letta.com serves llms.txt and a Markdown version of every page, with an applies_to block saying which backend and interface each page covers (10). TypeScript types for the Agent SDK and a documented App Server WebSocket protocol, but no JSON Schema or OpenAPI for the harness (15 of 25). Pages say when to use local or cloud backends, subagents and channels (14 of 20). Permission modes and options are typed in the SDK (12 of 15). Example applications and a remote client reference (11 of 15). Releases most days but no changelog file (8 of 15). Total 70.

Claude Code 50

Local-package reading. Official installers for macOS 13+, Windows 10 1809+, Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 10+ and Alpine 3.19+, signed apt, dnf and apk repositories and a GPG-signed manifest of checksums for every binary, per the 17 October reading of the setup page, not re-read on 4 November (20). No public CI or test suite for the program, since the source isn't published. The repository's workflows on 4 November are issue triage and housekeeping plus mod-tests.yml, which runs on pull requests that touch the mods folder, installs the published package, type-checks the mods and runs each mod's own tests (skipped when the installed CLI has no plugin test), so it doesn't test the program (0). Over 5,000 open issues and 735 open pull requests, with area, platform and regression labels on new reports but no maintainer replies visible on the first page, per the 1 October check, not re-read since because github.com answers our proxy with 403 (10). Every change still ships as a 2.1.x patch with no breaking-change heading. 2.1.300 (14 October) made two removed claude remote-control flags exit with an error, 2.1.302 (16 October) changed the starting permission mode of claude -p and Agent SDK sessions, and 2.1.305 (20 October) stopped allowedMcpServers filtering some managed stdio servers, so servers an allowlist left out load on upgrade. A stable channel skips releases with major regressions (5). 2.1.318, so 1.0 or later (15). 20 + 0 + 10 + 5 + 15 = 50. Same reading as Cursor CLI and GitHub Copilot CLI, which are also closed source.

Letta 58

Local-software lines, read for the harness. @letta-ai/letta-code on npm with Node.js 22.19 or newer, and PyPI wheels for glibc Linux, macOS 14 and Windows x64 with Python 3.9 or newer stated (20). ci.yml, nightly update smoke tests and Telegram live smoke tests exist, but GitHub's API answered with a rate limit, so run results were unread (15 of 25, unchecked). 332 open issues and pull requests, mostly pull requests; recent bug reports such as recall reading the wrong conversation have no reply yet (15 of 25). 398 tags at 0.34.x with release notes on GitHub, no changelog file, and breaking removals such as AgentFile announced in the README (8 of 15). Pre-1.0 (0). Total 58.