Beam (beam.win)

# Fix list: Beam (beam.win)

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/beam-win, the October 2026 research run, assessed 20 October 2026. Grade F, 17.8 out of 100.

This is everything the published grade says the listing lacks, the biggest possible gain to the total first. It comes from the reason given for each score, the checklist each category was scored against (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist), the provenance checks, the deductions, what we couldn't check and what the review panel asked for. A fix counts at the next check, once it's public.

For a coding agent working on Beam (beam.win): work through the items below in the product, its docs and its public pages. Each category gives the reason for its score, with the points each checklist item earned, and the checklist itself, so the gap is the items that earned less than their points. Change the product, not the wording, and keep a note of what you changed and where it's published.

## 1. Security & auth, 0 out of 100, up to 17.5 more on the total

Why it scored 0: Graded on the interface an outside agent can use. With none, the credential, least-privilege, injection and audit lines score nothing (0 of 30, 0 of 20, 0 of 15, 0 of 15). For the record, people sign in through Clerk, each new Mac must be approved, connections are encrypted and pinned to approved Macs, share links are view only by default, and hidden windows and password managers never reach the picker. The security programme line doesn't need an interface and is scored. beam.win/.well-known/security.txt returns 404, and no disclosure policy, bug bounty or certification was found (0 of 20).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-security):

- 0 to 30, the credential model. 30 for OAuth 2.1 with scopes, or scoped and revocable keys with rotation. 20 for plain revocable API keys. 10 for one all-powerful key. 10 off when a secret can travel in a URL query string as a documented option.
- 0 to 20, read-only or least-privilege modes, and confirmation or approval for destructive actions.
- 0 to 15, prompt-injection posture where the tool returns untrusted content (documented mitigations or guidance). A tool that returns no untrusted content gets 10.
- 0 to 15, audit logs or per-call visibility for the operator.
- 0 to 20, a security programme. security.txt or a disclosure policy, a bug bounty, SOC 2 or ISO 27001, advisories handled in public.

Models are read for retention, whether API data trains models (and whether that's off by default), zero-retention options and certifications. Frameworks for telemetry defaults, approval hooks, guardrails and sandboxing.

## 2. Agent ergonomics, 0 out of 100, up to 16.3 more on the total

Why it scored 0: Graded on the interface an outside agent can use. Beam has none, so context cost, output controls, errors, retries and defaults score nothing (0 on each line). For the record, the only command-line use documented is a `doctor` that checks permissions and network on a Mac and names the missing step.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-ergonomics):

- 0 to 25, context cost. For MCP, the number and size of the tool definitions (25 for ten or fewer compact tools, 15 for 11 to 30, 5 for more than 30, plus up to 10 back for toolsets, dynamic loading or read-only subsets). For APIs, whether responses can be sized (field selection, limits, summaries).
- 20, pagination, filtering and output-size controls.
- 20, actionable, documented error responses, codes and messages an agent can recover from.
- 20, idempotency or safe retries, and for MCP the `readOnlyHint` and `destructiveHint` annotations.
- 15, sensible defaults, few required parameters, and official SDKs in at least two languages.

Models are read for tool use, structured output, prompt caching, context length, batch and SDKs. Frameworks for how much code and how many defaults a tool-calling agent with MCP needs.

## 3. Reliability, 25 out of 100, up to 15 more on the total

Why it scored 25: Graded on no interface an outside agent can call, and read with the local-software lines since Beam is a Mac app. The app is a public DMG from the vendor with requirements stated, Apple silicon on macOS 14 or later (20 of 20). No public CI or test suite (0 of 25). No public issue tracker to count, support is by email. Judgement call (5 of 25). No changelog or release notes, and the version labels disagree, 1.0.3 on the download link and 0.3.1 in the 20 October post (0 of 15). Not declared stable, given the conflicting labels (0 of 15). The account server that meters Free minutes has no status page, which the hosted lines would also score low.

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-reliability):

Hosted APIs, MCP servers, models and platforms.

- 20, a public status page with component history (Statuspage, Instatus, BetterStack or the vendor's own).
- 0 to 30, the incident record for the last 90 days on that page. 30 for a clean record or trivial incidents only, 20 for minor incidents only, 10 for one major outage (an hour or more of a core API down, or errors across the board), 0 for several. 5 when there's no history we could read, and the note says so.
- 15, rate limits documented with numbers.
- 15, documented 429 or overload handling (Retry-After, backoff guidance), and idempotency keys or safe-retry guidance where writes are involved.
- 10, an SLA published for any paid tier.
- 10, the surface agents use is generally available, not beta or preview.

Local packages, SDKs, frameworks and stdio MCP servers.

- 20, installs from an official package with supported runtimes stated.
- 25, a public CI and test suite, passing on the default branch.
- 0 to 25, open crash or regression issues relative to activity (25 for few and handled, 0 for many, old and unanswered).
- 15, semver discipline and breaking changes called out in a changelog.
- 15, version 1.0 or later, or declared stable.

Protocols are read from their reference implementations, the public facilitators or servers, spec stability and test vectors.

## 4. Schema & documentation, 10 out of 100, up to 14.6 more on the total

Why it scored 10: Graded on the interface an outside agent can use, which is none. No API, MCP server, URL scheme or scripting dictionary was found, and the command line is documented only by its `doctor` command, so the contract, description, typed-input and example lines score nothing (0 of 25, 0 of 20, 0 of 15, 0 of 15). beam.win/llms.txt describes the product, requirements, privacy, pricing and support in Markdown (10). No versioned changelog (0 of 15).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-schema):

APIs and MCP servers.

- 25, a machine-readable contract (a public OpenAPI file or similar; for MCP, typed JSON Schema inputs on every tool).
- 10, llms.txt or Markdown docs served for agents.
- 0 to 20, descriptions that say what a tool is for, when to use it and when not to, read from the tool definitions in the source or the API reference.
- 0 to 15, typed inputs with enums, constraints and required fields, and no free-form JSON blobs.
- 0 to 15, examples and documented error responses.
- 15, versioning and a public changelog.

Models are read from the API reference, the OpenAPI file, llms.txt, the structured-output and tool-use docs and the model cards. Frameworks from docs a model can follow, typed interfaces, examples and the API reference.

## 5. Payments & pricing, 30 out of 100, up to 8.8 more on the total

Why it scored 30: No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices are public without a login, $12 a month, $84 a year, $199 once and $12 a seat a month for teams, plan-only (10). Free tier with 20 minutes a day of use and no card (20). Access needs a person to download the app and sign in, and the 14-day trial needs a card (0).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-payments):

The published rubric, also on the [x402 page](https://www.anchorterminal.com/x402/).

- 40, a machine payment protocol (x402, MPP or L402) on the tool's own endpoints. 10 to 30 when it covers only some endpoints or only goes through a third party, and the note says which.
- 20, per-call or per-unit pricing published without a login. 10 for public plan-only pricing, 0 for "contact sales" or prices behind a login.
- 20, a free tier or trial that doesn't need a card.
- 20, autonomous onboarding, meaning an agent can get access without a person signing up in a browser (keyless use, x402, a programmatic key API).

Payment platforms and agent wallets rarely charge for their own API over a machine protocol, so the first line has steps for them, and the highest one that applies counts. 40 when x402, MPP or L402 runs on all their own endpoints, 30 when it runs on part of their own API, 25 when their merchants can accept one, 20 for running a facilitator, 15 for paying as a buyer, and 0 when the only protocol is their own. Merchant acceptance sits above a facilitator because the platform's own customers can charge agents through it, while a facilitator settles for sellers who wire up the protocol themselves. The counter-argument (a facilitator does more for the protocol as a whole) has a point. Each note says which step applied.

Open-source software you run yourself is scored on its hosted or paid option if it has one. A free, self-hosted package with nothing to buy gets 20, 20 and 20 for the last three lines, and 0 to 40 for the first only if it ships a payment protocol.

## 6. Maintenance & community, 35 out of 100, up to 5.7 more on the total

Why it scored 35: Read for a closed product. Plans, accounts and new pricing launched on 14 October 2026 per the terms, and a 20 October post names Beam 0.3.1, so the last dated product change is within 30 days (30). No changelog or release notes, so no three dated entries in 90 days can be counted (0 of 20). Support is an email address, hello@beam.win, with no public changelog or community channel, not tested (5 of 15). No SDK and no MCP registry entry (0). No package or CI to judge (0).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-maintenance):

- 0 to 30, time since the last release, or the last published model or API change for a closed service. 30 within 30 days, 20 within 90, 10 within 180, 0 older.
- 20, at least three releases or dated changelog entries in the last 90 days.
- 0 to 25, responsiveness. Issues and pull requests answered on GitHub (the open issues and how recent the replies are). For closed services, a public changelog and a support or community channel that answers, 0 to 15.
- 15, presence in the official MCP registry under a verified namespace (MCP servers), or current official SDKs (APIs and models).
- 10, package health, current dependencies and CI.

Models are read for deprecation notice periods and model churn rather than release counts.

## 7. Transparency & trust, 50 out of 100, up to 4.4 more on the total

Made of editorial 52, provenance 47.

Why it scored 50: The editorial half. Closed source with clear, dated terms that grant a personal licence and list prohibited uses (15 of 30). The privacy policy of 14 October 2026 lists what the account server holds, each subprocessor, retention of 30 days for permissions and email records and 90 days for viewing sessions, and a self-service deletion route, and it agrees with llms.txt. Older blog posts still say there is no account and guest links expire after an hour, which the current policy and terms contradict (22 of 30). No deprecation policy or dated notices, though the terms promise email before significant changes and price changes only from the next renewal (0 of 20). The app is stated to have no analytics, crash reporting or telemetry, the daily update check and per-minute usage check-ins are disclosed, and the website's Google Analytics is disclosed. No opt-out for the update check is stated and data locations are not named (15 of 20).

The checklist (https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/#checklist-transparency):

- 0 to 30, source availability and licence clarity. 30 for open source under an OSI licence, 15 for closed with clear terms, 0 for unclear terms.
- 0 to 30, data handling and retention statements that agree with each other (privacy policy, DPA, retention periods, subprocessors).
- 0 to 20, a deprecation policy or notices with dates.
- 0 to 20, telemetry disclosed with an opt-out (local software), or subprocessors and data locations disclosed (hosted).

The other half of Transparency and trust is the provenance score, computed from checked facts (below). The category score is the mean of the two.

Provenance checks not met in full (half of this category, computed from checked facts):

- Domain age: beam.win, registered 2026-09-02 (under a year) (0 of 15)
- Status page: not found (0 of 10)
- Changelog: not found (0 of 10)
- security.txt: not found (0 of 10)

## What we couldn't check

What we couldn't read counted as absent. Publishing it on a page a plain HTTP fetch can read (not only in a browser) lets the next check count it.

- Whether the bundled command line does more than `doctor`, such as listing or opening windows. Only `doctor` is documented, and the app was not downloaded or run, so it is not graded as an interface.
- Which version is current. The download link names 1.0.3 and the 20 October 2026 post names Beam 0.3.1. No release notes were found.
- Where Noats, Inc. is established. The terms set the governing law by that place without naming it, and RDAP shows only a California, US registrant.
- The earliest blog post is dated 1 September 2026, one day before RDAP's registration date for beam.win. firstReleased uses the post's date as the earliest first-hand date, which is earlier than the Product Hunt launch of 19 October 2026 named in the scan. The Product Hunt page was not read.
- Older posts of 5 and 11 September 2026 still describe no account, one-hour guest links and a $49 one-off price. Considered as a misleading claim and not deducted, since the posts are dated, describe the product before plans launched on 14 October 2026, and the home page, pricing, terms and privacy policy are current.

## Weaknesses

- No API, MCP server, URL scheme or scripting interface was found. The documented command line covers only a `doctor` diagnostic
- Needs Apple silicon Macs on macOS 14 or later at both ends. Other devices get one view-only window through a share link
- No changelog, release notes, status page or security.txt. Version labels disagree (1.0.3 on the download link, 0.3.1 in a 20 October post)
- Older blog posts still describe a $49 one-off price, no account and one-hour guest links, which the current site and terms no longer match
- The terms name Noats, Inc. without stating where it is established, and set the governing law by that unstated place

## What costs an agent a turn today

The notes we give agents before they call it. Each one is a workaround an agent shouldn't need.

- Don't plan to drive Beam from an agent. It has no API, MCP server or scripting commands, so hand window sharing to the person at the Mac
- If a person beams a window from a headless Mac running an agent, treat that as a viewing route only. Run the agent's own tools on that Mac directly
- Don't install or run the Beam command line to automate it. The only documented command is a `doctor` that checks permissions and network
- Expect two Apple silicon Macs on macOS 14 or later, Screen Recording and Accessibility permission on the sharing Mac, and a signed-in account

## What the review panel asked for

- scripting interface
- document the command line
- a dated changelog with one version scheme
- a status page for the account server
- Retire old pricing posts
- visible indicator on the host during control
- a vulnerability disclosure policy

## When it's done

Send what changed and where it's published as a dispute (https://www.anchorterminal.com/builders/#disputes, or `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/contact` with `"kind": "dispute"`). Disputes are answered in public, and the listing is checked again by the same checklist. Paying for an audit or a listing claim changes nothing here.