Why not just use print() or logging?

Logging shows fragments. Tether connects the prompt, action, file diff, command output, failed test, and recovery point in one local execution graph.

Can I use this with production code?

Yes. It's a local proxy, so your real code doesn't change. Use it locally for debugging, or keep it running. Tether only stores traces locally and never sends anything anywhere.

How much money does caching actually save?

It depends on your agent. If you're iterating on prompt logic and re-running the same retrieval steps, caching saves you 50-90% of API spend while you debug. Each cached hit costs $0.0000.

Does Tether add latency to my agent?

Negligible. Tether runs locally on your machine. The only overhead is the proxy hop, which is less than 1ms. Real LLM calls are the bottleneck, not Tether.

Can I share traces with my team?

Not yet. Each developer runs their own Tether instance locally. Export as JSON is coming in a later release.

How does Tether intercept LLM calls without SDK changes?

Tether runs a local HTTP proxy on your machine. You point your AI client's base_url at http://localhost:8080/v1 — that's the only change required. Tether forwards requests to the real provider and records everything locally.

Does Tether send my prompts or API keys to the cloud?

No. Tether is fully air-gapped. Your prompts and responses stay on your machine. macOS secrets use Keychain-aware storage, Linux uses the same local proxy model, and traces stay local.

Which LLM providers does Tether support?

Tether supports OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama, LM Studio, and any provider that accepts an OpenAI-compatible base_url. It also works with LangChain, LangGraph, LlamaIndex, and similar frameworks.

Yes. Tether is free during the alpha period. The core proxy is open source.

Home/Docs/macOS app architecture

Architecture

macOS app architecture

The app uses small SwiftUI views over shared Core, Networking, and UI Swift package modules.

Install Setup steps

Release: Alpha channel
Runtime: macOS + Linux + local proxy
Docs: 19 guides

Swift package modules

Module	Responsibility
Core	Trace models, session reducer state, and dependency contracts.
Networking	Trace API client, proxy settings, Keychain storage, launcher, and local log observers.
UI	Shared visual components, palette tokens, dividers, badges, and glass surfaces.

App feature slices

MainLayout owns polling, snapshot merging, trace actions, and export helpers.
Graph renders nodes, anchors, connections, gestures, zoom, and drag state.
Inspector renders prompt, response, metadata, error, and replay controls.
Sidebar renders search, call rows, status, and settings entry points.
Settings owns proxy URLs, provider keys, cache clearing, and proxy restart actions.