Bartholomew — BTP v5.4.10

In-Process AI Agent Execution Gateway — sub-35µs AST gating, secret scrubbing, and tamper-evident audit receipts for autonomous agent runtimes.

What it does

Traditional guardrails operate on prompt text — they are blind to what happens when an autonomous agent invokes real-world tools. Bartholomew closes that gap by sitting inside the agent's memory space, inspecting raw tool arguments and AST syntax trees in under 35 microseconds before actions reach the OS, a database, or an external API.

Prompt rails (NeMo, Guardrails AI)   ~80–2500ms  ─┐
                                                    ├─ BLIND SPOT
Bartholomew in-process gate          <35µs       ──┤  ← fills here
                                                    │
OS / container boundary (Docker)     kernel-level ──┘

What it blocks:

• Destructive shell commands (rm -rf, mkfs, dd)
• Destructive SQL mutations (DROP TABLE, TRUNCATE)
• Credential exfiltration (sk-*, ghp_*, AKIA*) in thought logs or tool args
• Runaway token spend loops beyond configured USD caps
• Prompt-injection-driven tool hijacks across multi-agent swarms

Install

# Python
pip install btp-guard

# Node.js / MCP
npx btp-guard init

Requirements: Python ≥ 3.10 · No mandatory cloud dependency · Works fully offline

Quickstart

Python — decorator guard

from btp_guard import Guard, BTPViolationError

guard = Guard(spend_cap_usd=50.0, max_retries=5)

@guard.protect
def execute_query(sql: str):
    return db.execute(sql)

try:
    execute_query("DROP TABLE accounts;")
except BTPViolationError as e:
    print(e.to_diagnostics())
    # {"status": "BLOCKED", "rule_id": "BTP-SQL-001",
    #  "reason": "Destructive SQL mutation detected", "latency_us": 18.4}

Python — inline check

from btp_guard import Guard

guard = Guard()
result = guard.check("rm -rf /var/data")
# {"allowed": False, "reason": "[BTP-AST-001] Destructive filesystem pattern"}

TypeScript / Node.js

import { BTPGuard } from 'btp-guard';

const guard = new BTPGuard();
const receipt = guard.evaluateAction({
  agentId: 'worker-1',
  actionType: 'DATABASE_MUTATION',
  payload: { query: 'DROP TABLE users;' }
});
// receipt.verdict === "DENY"  (blocked in ~11µs, Merkle receipt attached)

MCP — Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf

# Starts the BTP stdio/SSE proxy — all tool calls pass through it
python -m src.mcp_server

Config examples for each IDE are in examples/ides/.

GitHub Actions

- name: BTP Security Gate
  uses: ivegotahunnitonit/bartholomew@v5.4.10
  with:
    fail-on-violation: "true"
    generate-compliance-pack: "true"

Editions & Cloud Console

Bartholomew is fully open-source and offline for local developer workflows. For engineering teams deploying multi-agent swarms in production, the Cloud Console provides centralized fleet monitoring, instant threat alerts, and automated compliance reports:

👉 Get Started & Upgrade:

• Pro Edition ($49/mo): Direct Stripe Checkout
• Enterprise Edition ($199/mo): Direct Stripe Checkout
• CLI Activation: Run npx btp-guard activate <key> or btp-guard pricing
• Pricing & Storefront: https://bartholomew.info/pricing

Architecture

cmd/bartholomew/          # Go CLI entry point
src/
  btp_guard/              # Core Python guard engine
  framework_adapters/     # LangChain, LangGraph, AutoGen, CrewAI wrappers
  bartholomew_eval/       # Bayesian risk engine & AST fuzzer
  mcp_server/             # MCP stdio/SSE gateway
  go_services/            # High-throughput Go verifier service
  rust_verifier/          # Sub-5µs Rust fast-path (experimental)
  daemon/                 # Background approval queue & tray manager
  ebpf/                   # eBPF kernel-level syscall hooks (Linux)
examples/                 # Integration recipes (already_built, being_built, future_swarms, ides)
packages/                 # SDKs: pypi_package, npm_package, sdk_go, sdk_rust, sdk_typescript, vscode-extension
deploy/                   # Docker, K8s, Terraform, CDK, GCP, Helm, Systemd
tests/                    # 2,837-test suite (pytest -o 'pythonpath=src .')
docs/                     # Specs: threat-model.md, btp-protocol-spec.md, quickstart.md

Framework adapters

Full recipes in examples/.

Defense layers

Bartholomew is Layer 2 in a standard defense-in-depth stack:

Audit & compliance

Generate a tamper-evident SOC 2 Type II evidence pack:

python scripts/audit_firm_ledger.py

Output: docs/audit/ — SHA-256 Merkle receipt JSON + auditor markdown summary.
Controls satisfied: AICPA CC6.1, CC6.6, CC7.1, CC7.2 · ISO 27001:2022 A.8.8, A.8.30.

Development

# Clone & install in editable mode
git clone https://github.com/ivegotahunnitonit/bartholomew.git
cd bartholomew
pip install -e ".[test]"

# Run the full test suite
pytest tests/ -o "pythonpath=src ." -q

# Lint
pip install ruff && ruff check src/ tests/

Documentation

• docs/quickstart.md — full setup guide
• docs/threat-model.md — threat model & security boundaries
• docs/btp-protocol-spec.md — BTP wire protocol specification
• docs/cookbook.md — all integration recipes
• SECURITY.md — vulnerability disclosure policy
• CONTRIBUTING.md — contributing guide

© 2026 Bartholomew AI & Contributors. MIT License.