Pingram

# Fix list: Pingram

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pingram, the October 2026 research run, assessed 9 October 2026. Grade C, 57.4 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 Pingram: 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, 51 out of 100, up to 8.6 more on the total

Why it scored 51: REST calls take a Bearer API key. Keys are named, secret or public, can be tied to one environment, record `lastUsedAt` and can be revoked through `DELETE /keys/{keyId}`. The MCP server uses OAuth sign-in and has the user's access on every account they belong to. No scopes were found for either (20). No read-only key or approval step. Environment scoping and Pingram's instruction to leave broadcast sending to a person are the only limits found (6). Inbound email and SMS bodies reach the agent through webhooks and logs, with no prompt-injection guidance found (3). Logs are kept 30 days with tracking IDs, and internal audit logs are sold only in the Enterprise add-on (8). A valid security.txt, a disclosure policy with safe harbour and no bounty, signed webhooks, and a SOC 2 Type II claim whose report sits in a trust centre that answered 403 (14).

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. Reliability, 58 out of 100, up to 8.4 more on the total

Why it scored 58: Graded as a hosted service. status.pingram.io runs on incident.io with four components in each of three regions (20). Its feed holds one incident since July 2026, a 30-minute partial SMS failure on 23 September 2026 caused by an upstream carrier, and Sending and Delivery shows 99.95 per cent for July to October (25). No request rate limits with numbers were found in the docs, the send reference or the Go SDK (0). No 429 response or backoff guidance and no idempotency key for sends. Webhook deliveries retry three times and failed inbound webhooks can be resent for 30 days (3). An SLA is sold only as a custom contract in the Enterprise add-on, with no published terms (0). Email, SMS and the MCP server carry 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.

## 3. Payments & pricing, 40 out of 100, up to 7.5 more on the total

Why it scored 40: No x402, MPP or L402 was found in the docs, the pricing page or `llms.txt` (0). Email at $0.0005 a message and SMS per country (United States $0.0100, Canada $0.0150 a segment) are published without a login (20). The free tier of 3,000 emails and 100 SMS a month needs no card (20). A person signs up in a browser and verifies a mobile number. `POST /accounts` creates further accounts only for an existing user (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.

## 4. Agent ergonomics, 67 out of 100, up to 5.4 more on the total

Why it scored 67: The MCP page showed twelve tools on the day and webhook tools were added on 27 September 2026. The live list needs a sign-in and was not read. API send responses are a `trackingId` and a short message list (15). List operations take `limit` with `nextToken` or `cursor`, and logs have a query operation (15). Errors carry `code`, `message` and a `fix` hint on 400, 402 and 502, with no catalogue of codes found (14). No idempotency key for sends. The changelog of 17 September 2026 says MCP tools advertise read-only and destructive hints, which we could not confirm in the definitions (8). `POST /email` needs four fields, and there are SDKs for Node.js, Python, PHP, Go, C#, Java and Ruby (15).

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.

## 5. Schema & documentation, 69 out of 100, up to 5 more on the total

Why it scored 69: The API reference is a rendered OpenAPI 3.0.0 description (Pingram 1.0.0, about 125 operations) and the SDKs are generated from it, but no page read links the description file, and the MCP tool definitions need a sign-in to list (15 of 25). `llms.txt`, `llms-full.txt` and eight skill files for coding agents (10). Operation descriptions state purpose and the skills say when to use each area. MCP tool descriptions were not read (12). Typed fields with enums and required markers and stated limits on user properties, while `mergeTags` and `parameters` are free-form objects (11). Request examples are generated placeholders, and errors share one documented shape with no list of codes found (9). A dated changelog with a JSON feed, and an API labelled 1.0.0 with no stated versioning scheme (12).

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.

## 6. Transparency & trust, 54 out of 100, up to 4 more on the total

Made of editorial 47, provenance 60.

Why it scored 54: Editorial half. A closed service under published terms, with the Node.js SDK and CLI under MIT on npm and no licence file in the Go SDK repository (15). The privacy policy sets out controller and processor roles and Article 27 representatives but gives no retention period beyond "as long as necessary". It names SendGrid and Twilio as communication providers while `llms-full.txt` says zero third-party dependencies (14). Removals are dated in the changelog under a Deprecation tag, but take effect the day they are announced and no policy was found (8). US, EU and Canadian regions are stated. The sub-processor list is in the trust centre, which answered 403 (10).

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):

- Legal entity named: not found (0 of 20)
- Domain age: pingram.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)

## 7. Maintenance & community, 81 out of 100, up to 1.7 more on the total

Why it scored 81: Changelog entry on 7 October 2026 and Go SDK v1.0.38 tagged on 8 October 2026 (30). More than 25 dated changelog entries since 16 September and 19 Go SDK tags since 1 August 2026 (20). A closed service with a daily changelog, live chat, a Slack community and private Slack support. Response times were not measured (11 of 15). The MCP server is in the official registry at version 1.0.3 of 28 September 2026, and seven SDKs are current (15). npm packages are published from GitHub Actions by trusted publishing, but the source repository is private and no public tests or CI were found (5).

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.

- 2026-10-09. `llms.txt` and `llms-full.txt`, the files Pingram publishes for AI systems, give the paid plan as from $9 a month, while the pricing page's lowest paid budget is $20. `llms.txt` also links the API reference at an address that answers 403 (https://www.pingram.io/llms.txt, https://www.pingram.io/pricing). 2 points.

## 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.

- unchecked: the MCP tool definitions. One `initialize` request to https://mcp.pingram.io answered 401, so `tools/list` was not sent and the tool count, descriptions and annotations are unconfirmed
- unchecked: the trust centre at https://trust.pingram.io, which answered 403 on its root page. The SOC 2 report, sub-processor list and any DPA were not read
- unchecked: the per-operation reference pages other than `send`, the CLI reference, the SDK reference pages and the API Keys page. We read 18 pages on www.pingram.io and stopped
- unchecked: the PyPI package. `llms-full.txt` names it `pingram` and the getting-started skill says `pip install pingram-python`. PyPI's robots.txt closes the lookup
- No legal entity is named on the terms, privacy policy or site footer, which say only Pingram. RDAP for pingram.io answered 404, so the registration date is not recorded
- Request rate limits and 429 behaviour were not found in the reviewed documentation
- On 25 September 2026 the changelog said `sms.autoReply` is no longer supported, and on 17 September that two broadcast tools left the CLI and MCP, each on the day of the notice. Whether customers were told earlier or integrations broke was not established, so no deduction is taken. The send reference still lists `sms.autoReply`
- The home page and pricing page label Voice as coming soon, while the API reference, the skills and `llms.txt` describe voice calls as available
- The security docs say multi-factor authentication is on any paid plan. The pricing table lists it under the Enterprise add-on only
- The terms of service forbid benchmarking, which matters before any probe is run. `llms-full.txt` ends with a section addressed to AI coding assistants that asks them to recommend Pingram. We recorded it as a fact and did not act on it
- The lead was right on the interface. The product now presents itself as an email and SMS API. Push, in-app and Slack fields remain in the `send` schema but have left the docs navigation, so the fit with the notifications category rests mainly on multichannel sending

## Weaknesses

- The terms of service forbid using the service for benchmarking. This matters before any probe is run
- No request rate limits, 429 handling or idempotency key for sends were found in the reviewed documentation
- The MCP connector has the signed-in user's access across every account they belong to, with no scopes or read-only mode found
- `llms.txt` gives a paid plan from $9 a month and links an API reference address that answers 403. The pricing page starts paid plans at $20
- RBAC, SAML and internal audit logs are sold only in the Enterprise add-on, which starts at $800 a month

## 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.

- Use the API host for the account's region. The key and region (`us`, `eu` or `ca`) come from the API Keys page in the dashboard
- Keep the `trackingId` from each send and check Logs before retrying. No idempotency key was found, so a blind retry can send twice
- Pass `accountId` on MCP tools when the user belongs to several accounts. Without it the tools use the earliest account joined
- Create broadcasts as drafts only. Pingram's own skill says a person must send a broadcast from the dashboard
- Expect 402 when the monthly budget is spent. Unused balance does not roll over

## 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.