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/Linux app architecture

Architecture

Linux app architecture

The Linux desktop app is a Tauri shell over the shared local proxy, with a React graph UI and Rust desktop commands.

Install Setup steps

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

Source layout

Path	Responsibility
apps/linux/src/app	React app state, proxy polling, node selection, replay, and workspace attribution.
apps/linux/src/features	Graph canvas, inspector, replay footer, settings, and sidebar surfaces.
apps/linux/src/infrastructure	Tauri bridge clients for proxy requests, proxy process control, and workspace snapshots.
apps/linux/src-tauri/src	Rust commands that start the sidecar proxy, bridge HTTP requests, and read workspace diffs.
core/proxy	Shared Rust proxy binary used by macOS and Linux.

Runtime flow

text

apps/linux Tauri window
  -> starts or finds tether-proxy
  -> calls proxy_request through Tauri
  -> reads /api/traces/current/summary
  -> renders draggable graph nodes, connections, inspector, and replay controls

The Linux app does not duplicate backend logic. It owns desktop process control and UI behavior, while trace capture, replay, cache, provider routing, and SQLite storage stay in core/proxy.

Build commands

bash

npm --prefix apps/linux ci
npm --prefix apps/linux run build
cargo check --manifest-path apps/linux/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
./scripts/package-linux.sh

The package script builds core/proxy in release mode.
The Linux bundle receives tether-proxy as a Tauri sidecar.
Generated files stay out of git through the root .gitignore.

Current limits

Linux uses a Tauri desktop shell over the shared local proxy.
Nodes appear only when traffic or local commands are captured through the proxy or tether capture.
Browser previews cannot start the local proxy because Tauri commands are desktop-only.