incident.io API

# Fix list: incident.io API

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/incident-io, the October 2026 research run, assessed 9 October 2026. Grade B, 68.9 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 incident.io API: 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. Payments & pricing, 10 out of 100, up to 11.3 more on the total

Why it scored 10: No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Plan prices per seat are public, Team at $19 and Pro at $25 a user a month, with no per-call price (10). The Basic plan is free, but the pricing page marks API, webhooks and MCP as not included, and the docs route trials through sales (0). A person signs up, pays and creates a key in the dashboard (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.

## 2. Security & auth, 64 out of 100, up to 6.3 more on the total

Why it scored 64: Organisation keys carry chosen permissions, 13 of 36 scopable to teams, can be rotated and are shown once. User keys take the owner's role and die with the account. 30 for that, less the checklist's 10 because alert event and heartbeat endpoints accept the alert source token in a `token` query parameter. The API key itself travels only in the header (20). A `viewer` permission gives read-only keys and the MCP status page tool only drafts, but no confirmation step guards destructive API calls (15). Alert payloads and incident text are untrusted content. The docs cover redaction of sensitive data, and no injection guidance for API consumers was found (4). Audit logs are Enterprise only, kept one year, exported or streamed, and API actions are attributed to the key (10). security.txt valid to July 2027, a disclosure policy with a five-working-day reply, SOC 2 Type I and II claimed, yearly penetration tests, no paid bounty (15).

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.

## 3. Agent ergonomics, 75 out of 100, up to 4.1 more on the total

Why it scored 75: Scored for the REST API. `page_size` sets response size, but no field selection was found and incident objects are large. The description file is 5.4 MB, with per-resource files as the smaller route (12). Cursor pagination on 41 list operations and operator filters such as `status_category[one_of]` (18). Errors carry a code, a message, the field at fault and a `request_id` (18). `idempotency_key` is required on seven create calls, and updates by PUT have no key (14). Seven official SDKs and a CLI with JSON output, with `idempotency_key` and `visibility` required to create an incident (13).

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.

## 4. Transparency & trust, 76 out of 100, up to 2.1 more on the total

Made of editorial 72, provenance 79.

Why it scored 76: Closed service under published Terms and Conditions effective 1 August 2026, with the SDKs, CLI and skills plugin under MIT (17). Privacy policy, DPA, sub-processor list and an AI data handling page are public. The terms limit training on customer content to the customer's own benefit. The security FAQ's statement that no data leaves Europe disagrees with a sub-processor list naming 17 processors in the United States, and retention is stated in general terms (20). Deprecated endpoints carry a removal date in their descriptions and the docs give integrators three months, but the changelog shows removals with no earlier entry (17). 20 sub-processors with locations and purposes, hosting regions named, 15 days' notice of changes in the DPA (18).

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: incident.io, no registry record we could read (0 of 15)
- Terms of service: read, states 6 of the 7 things a reader expects, and has 2 clauses that cost points (5.1 of 10)
- Privacy policy: read, states 6 of the 8 things a reader expects (8.5 of 10)

## 5. Reliability, 90 out of 100, up to 2 more on the total

Why it scored 90: Scored as a hosted API. status.incident.io lists 43 components, API and MCP among them, with uptime from July to October 2026 (20). The API component shows 100 per cent. The feed lists six incidents since 16 July 2026, one of which broke listing alerts in the public API on 18 August until a rollback, with no duration given, and none marked as an outage of the API (20). Limits are published with numbers, 1,200 requests a minute per key and lower figures for eight endpoints (15). 429 carries `Retry-After`, the body recommends exponential backoff, and seven create calls require an `idempotency_key` (15). The SLA commits to 99.9 per cent a month on Pro and Enterprise (10). The API carries no beta label (10).

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.

## 6. Schema & documentation, 88 out of 100, up to 2 more on the total

Why it scored 88: OpenAPI 3.0.3 description, public at api.incident.io/v1/openapiV3.json per the docs and read from docs.incident.io/openapi/latest.json, 284 operations and 777 schemas (25). llms.txt and a Markdown twin of every docs page (10). Every operation has a description, but the median is 65 characters and few say when not to use a call. List incidents is the exception, with worked filter examples (12). 262 enums, required fields marked and two free-form objects in the whole file (13). 4,014 example values and thirteen error statuses on every operation, though the shared error example pairs an unrelated code and message (13). Versions sit in the path per resource and the changelog is generated from the description file (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.

## 7. Maintenance & community, 83 out of 100, up to 1.5 more on the total

Why it scored 83: The API changelog's newest entry is 8 October 2026 (30). 60 dated entries between 2 July and 8 October 2026 (20). A public changelog, support by email and a Slack community, with reply times not checked (10). Seven official SDKs generated from the description file, TypeScript 2.15.0 and Python 2.14.0 both tagged 8 October 2026 (15). The SDK and CLI repositories have test workflows, and the two SDKs read were first tagged in September 2026 and reached a second major version within two weeks (8).

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.

## Deductions

Each comes off the total. A fixed and documented problem counts for less at the next check.

- 2026-04-09, 2026-06-26 and 2026-09-30: the API changelog records the request property `time_to_ack_seconds` removed from `POST /v2/escalation_paths`, the request property `version` removed from `POST /v2/alert_routes`, and the response property `layer_id` removed from `GET /v2/schedules`, each with no earlier deprecation entry in a changelog that starts on 5 January 2026. The docs say existing endpoints get no breaking changes. Whether customers were told another way was not established, so the deduction is 2 (https://docs.incident.io/api-reference/changelog).

## 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.

- The lead said incident.io has no MCP server. The docs describe a hosted one at https://mcp.incident.io/mcp with 91 tools. This listing grades the REST API and records the MCP server as a second surface.
- unchecked: the MCP tool schemas and annotations, which are only available through tools/list with an account
- unchecked: trust.incident.io, which is drawn by script, so the SOC 2 claim rests on the security page and the security FAQ
- unchecked: the domain registration date, because rdap.org answered 404 for incident.io
- unchecked: PyPI download figures, because PyPI's robots.txt disallows `/pypi/`
- unchecked: whether a Team trial exists without a card. The terms define a 14-day trial and the docs mention trials only for Pro and Enterprise through sales
- The Team price shows as $19 with a second figure of $15 beside an annual discount switch. We read $15 as the yearly-billed price
- Whether the three removals in the changelog were announced to customers by another route was not established
- The Go, Rust, Ruby, PHP and .NET SDK repositories were not read

## Weaknesses

- The pricing page marks API, webhooks and MCP as not included in the free Basic plan. Team starts at $19 per user a month
- Audit logs are Enterprise only and reach the customer by CSV export or log stream, with no API to read them
- Alert event and heartbeat endpoints accept the alert source token in a `token` query parameter
- The changelog records three removals from live endpoints in 2026 with no earlier deprecation entry
- The security FAQ says no data leaves Europe, while the sub-processor list of 27 July 2026 names 17 processors in the United States

## 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.

- Send `Authorization: Bearer <key>` to https://api.incident.io and call `GET /v1/identity` first to read the key's roles
- Send a fresh `idempotency_key` with every create call for incidents, incident updates, timeline items, escalations and status page incidents. A repeated key returns the first result
- Page with `page_size` and `after` until no cursor comes back. Do not stop at a short or empty page
- Keep `GET /v2/incidents` under 60 requests a minute and wait the seconds in `Retry-After` on 429
- Incident creation is limited to 10 an hour per key when a Slack or Teams channel is created, 300 an hour otherwise

## 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.