FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Caret.
General
What is Caret?
Caret is a reliability platform for AI coding agents. It locks your prompt as structured intent, evaluates every tool call the agent makes, and intervenes when the agent drifts from what you asked.
What agents does Caret support?
Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Aider, Continue, and any CLI-based AI coding agent. Caret installs via each agent's hook system — no SDK or code changes needed.
Does Caret slow down my agent?
No. Rule-based and heuristic checks run in under 50ms — imperceptible relative to model response times of 2-30 seconds. LLM evaluation (Tier 3) is async and optional.
Installation
How long does setup take?
Three commands, under two minutes: npx caret init, caret supervisor install, caret daemon start.
Will Caret break my workflow if it crashes?
Never. Caret is fail-open by design. If the supervisor process crashes, times out, or returns an error, the agent continues normally.
Can I use Caret with CI-hosted agents?
Yes. Caret hooks work in any environment where the agent runs — local terminals, CI pipelines, remote containers, and cloud-hosted agent instances.
Detection
How does Caret know when my agent is going off-track?
Caret captures your prompt as a structured intent record and compares every tool call against it. It runs three tiers of detection: rule-based patterns, heuristics, and optional LLM evaluation.
What's the difference between Caret and Endor Labs?
Endor Labs enforces policies — "never run rm -rf." Caret enforces intent — "you asked to fix auth, but the agent is rewriting the database schema." Policies catch dangerous actions. Intent catches wrong actions. They're complementary.
Can I write custom drift detectors?
Custom rules and detectors are on the roadmap for the Team tier. During beta, all six built-in detector types are active.
Privacy & security
Is my source code sent to Caret?
No. Caret captures git diffs, tool call metadata, and run outcomes. Your full source code never leaves your machine. Drift detection runs locally.
Can I self-host Caret?
Enterprise teams can run the full Caret stack on their own infrastructure. Contact us for details.
Pricing
Is Caret free?
Caret is free during beta — watchdog mode, all detectors, unlimited sessions. Team and Enterprise tiers will be introduced when organizations need shared drift patterns, guardrails, and active intervention.
What will paid plans include?
Team features: shared drift patterns, team-wide guardrails, admin dashboard, SSO, and priority support. Enterprise: self-hosting, custom detectors, SLA guarantees.