Pulumi ESC

# Fix list: Pulumi ESC

From Anchor Terminal's listing at https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/pulumi-esc, the October 2026 research run, assessed 8 October 2026. Grade BB, 71.1 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 Pulumi ESC: 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. Reliability, 60 out of 100, up to 8 more on the total

Why it scored 60: Graded as a hosted service, the Pulumi Cloud API that the CLI and SDKs call. Statuspage at status.pulumi.com with an ESC component and incidents back to October 2023 (20). Between 10 July and 8 October 2026 the API or ESC had a 42-minute major incident on inbound OIDC on 6 October and a minor one on team token operations on 23 July, and a six-hour Neo outage on 11 September did not list ESC (20 of 30). No API rate limit with numbers was found. The free edition's 10,000 API calls a month is a quota (0 of 15). The OpenAPI document declares 429 with Retry-After on listing environments only, and updates return 409 when the environment changed since it was read. No backoff guidance was found (6 of 15). The pricing page lists an uptime commitment from Essentials up with no figure, and the terms promise commercially reasonable efforts (4 of 10). ESC is generally available (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.

## 2. Payments & pricing, 55 out of 100, up to 5.6 more on the total

Why it scored 55: No x402, MPP or L402 (0). Per-unit prices are public. A managed secret is $0.50 a month on Essentials, $0.75 on Pro and $1.00 on Enterprise, and API calls are $0.10 per 10,000 (20). The free edition includes 25 secrets and 10,000 API calls a month, and the pricing page says no credit card is required (20). The Pulumi CLI creates an ephemeral Pulumi Cloud account, ESC included, when it runs under an agent with no credentials. It has write access for 72 hours and a person must claim it within 30 days (15 of 20).

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.

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

Why it scored 75: `pulumi env open` takes a property path, so one value can be read instead of the whole environment, in JSON, YAML, dotenv or shell form (20 of 25). List calls page with continuationToken and a count, and `pulumi api --paginate` follows the cursors. Filtering is limited to tags and organisation (15 of 20). The CLI maps failures to ten documented exit codes and `pulumi api` writes a one-line JSON error envelope with a stable code. Raw API errors are less structured (14 of 20). Updates are conditional on the environment's ETag and return 409 on a conflict, and check endpoints and `--dry-run` validate without writing. No idempotency keys (12 of 20). SDKs for TypeScript, Python, Go and .NET with a default client that needs only PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN, all still 0.x (14 of 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.

## 4. Security & auth, 79 out of 100, up to 3.7 more on the total

Why it scored 79: OIDC issuers exchange a workload's ID token for a Pulumi token that lasts 25 hours at most by default, under allow and deny policies on claims. Organisation and team tokens take a role and an expiry of up to two years, and an organisation can enforce a maximum. Tokens travel in the Authorization header only. Personal tokens, the only kind on the free edition, carry all of the user's permissions (27 of 30). Separate environment:read, open and write scopes, open and update approvals, deletion protection, and secret filtering in `pulumi env run`. Custom roles and approvals are Pro and Enterprise (18 of 20). Secrets aren't untrusted content (10 of 15). Audit logs record environment-open, environment-read-open and environment-decrypted with user, time and source IP, on Pro and Enterprise only (12 of 15). SOC 2 Type II stated, a security whitepaper updated July 2026 and security@pulumi.com with a PGP key. No security.txt (404) and no bug bounty found (12 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.

## 5. Transparency & trust, 65 out of 100, up to 3.1 more on the total

Made of editorial 48, provenance 82.

Why it scored 65: The CLI, the ESC evaluator and the SDKs are Apache-2.0, and Pulumi Cloud is closed under clear terms (20 of 30). The privacy statement covers customers of the services and gives no retention periods and no date. No public data processing addendum was found (12 of 30). The standalone CLI's retirement came with a final release, a notice printed on every command and a migration guide. No general deprecation policy was found (10 of 20). The whitepaper says the managed service runs in more than one region and the status page names AWS us-west-2. No subprocessor list was found (6 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: pulumi.com, registered 2017-02-13 (9 years) (11 of 15)
- Terms of service: read, states 5 of the 7 things a reader expects, and has 1 clause that costs points (6.3 of 10)
- Privacy policy: read, states 7 of the 8 things a reader expects (9.3 of 10)
- security.txt: not found (0 of 10)

## 6. Schema & documentation, 82 out of 100, up to 2.9 more on the total

Why it scored 82: OpenAPI 3.0.3 at api.pulumi.com/api/openapi/pulumi-spec.json, 479 paths, of which 94 paths and 127 operations are ESC (25). llms.txt at www.pulumi.com, every docs page served as Markdown by a .md suffix or an Accept header, and a JSON docs index (10). Each ESC operation has a paragraph saying what it does and which call follows, such as OpenEnvironment then ReadOpenEnvironment (16 of 20). Path and query parameters are typed, but the environment itself is a YAML body and durations are free strings (10 of 15). SDK pages carry worked examples. Error responses in the document are a status and a one-line description with no shared error schema (8 of 15). The API version travels in the Accept header (application/vnd.pulumi+8), and there is a dated changelog with RSS plus CLI and SDK changelogs (13 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.

## 7. Maintenance & community, 82 out of 100, up to 1.6 more on the total

Why it scored 82: Pulumi CLI v3.268.0, which carries `pulumi env`, was released on 7 October 2026, a day before this check (30). Four CLI releases between 25 September and 7 October alone (20). Public changelog with RSS, community Slack and GitHub issues, with paid support on every edition. We couldn't read the issue tracker, so this is scored on the closed-service line (12 of 25). Official SDKs for four languages at 0.14.0, released 15 June 2026 (12 of 15). The SDK repository runs lint and tests in CI and had a commit on 11 September 2026. The standalone esc repository was retired after v0.26.0 on 9 July 2026 (8 of 10).

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.

## 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 named an `esc` CLI. The standalone esc CLI was retired at v0.26.0 on 9 July 2026 and ESC now ships only as `pulumi env` in the Pulumi CLI.
- No API rate limit with numbers was found in the docs we read or in the OpenAPI document.
- The pricing page lists an uptime commitment from Essentials up. We found no document giving the figure.
- No data processing addendum, subprocessor list or dated terms were found on www.pulumi.com.
- unchecked: GitHub star counts and the issue trackers of pulumi/pulumi and pulumi/esc-sdk, because the GitHub API refused us for its rate limit.
- unchecked: whether the Pulumi CLI sends telemetry and how to turn it off.
- unchecked: the self-hosted edition, which is Enterprise only and sold through sales. The grade is for the managed service.

## Weaknesses

- Audit logs, custom roles, team tokens, approvals and customer-managed keys need Pro ($400 a month) or Enterprise
- No API rate limit with numbers was found in the reviewed documentation
- No public data processing addendum or subprocessor list was found, and the terms and privacy statement carry no date
- The official Pulumi MCP server lists no ESC tools, and the standalone esc CLI was retired at v0.26.0 on 9 July 2026
- A 42-minute major incident on 6 October 2026 affected inbound OIDC on the API and ESC, with no detail published
- The free edition has personal tokens only, which carry all of the user's permissions

## 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 `pulumi env`, not `esc`. The standalone CLI stopped at v0.26.0 and gets no security fixes
- Read one value with `pulumi env open <org>/<project>/<env> <property path>` so the whole environment doesn't enter context
- Run tools with `pulumi env run <env> -- <cmd>`, which filters secret values from the command's output unless -i is set
- Set PULUMI_ACCESS_TOKEN for the SDKs. From 0.14.0 they no longer read the CLI login on disk
- Send `Authorization: token <token>` and `Accept: application/vnd.pulumi+8` on REST calls, and expect 409 when an environment changed since it was read
- Relay the claim link an agent account prints. The account goes read-only after 72 hours and locks after 30 days unclaimed

## 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.