dent8 0.8.0

A memory firewall for coding agents — thin Python SDK over the dent8 CLI's JSON contract.

dent8 (Python)

A memory firewall for coding agents — the thin Python SDK.

Every call runs the dent8 binary with --output json and returns the parsed payload as a dict. The wire contract is the product: each payload carries schema_version; every error carries a stable status plus a machine-readable code (insufficient-authority, authority-ceiling, content-rejected, …), raised as Dent8Rejected / Dent8Invalid so you branch on error.code, never on prose.

Because the CLI resolves the store itself (repo-confined .dent8/ discovery, DENT8_LOG / DENT8_STORE_URL), routes writes through a local daemon when DENT8_DAEMON_SOCKET is set, and defaults --source/--authority from the active signed grant, the SDK inherits all of it with zero configuration.

Writes above the agent tier (medium / high / canonical authority) require a valid signed identity: run dent8 init (which provisions one by default) and let the SDK inherit its DENT8_TRUST / DENT8_GRANT / DENT8_IDENTITY_KEY env, then write as that source:* identity. Agent-tier writes (low) need no identity.

Install

pip install dent8
cargo install dent8-cli --locked   # the binary the SDK drives

Use

from dent8 import Dent8, Dent8Rejected

d8 = Dent8()  # finds `dent8` on PATH; Dent8(binary=..., env={"DENT8_LOG": ...}) to pin

# A high-authority write is signed as the active `source:*` identity (from `dent8 init`).
d8.assert_fact("repo:myproj", "database", "postgres",
               authority="high", source="source:alice")

try:
    d8.supersede("repo:myproj", "database", "mysql",
                 authority="low", source="web:scrape")
except Dent8Rejected as rejection:
    assert rejection.code == "insufficient-authority"   # branch on the code

fact = d8.explain("repo:myproj", "database")
assert fact["value"]["text"] == "postgres"              # the firewall held

report = d8.verify()          # findings are a result: status ok | integrity_issues
disputes = d8.conflicts()     # status contested when live disputes exist

The belief surface maps 1:1 onto the CLI: assert_fact (Python keyword), supersede, contradict, retract, reinforce, expire, derive(basis=(subject, predicate)), explain, replay, facts, verify, conflicts. Temporal keywords accept the CLI's whole grammar — unix millis, "now", "-7d", RFC 3339, or a bare UTC date.

LangChain tools

pip install "dent8[langchain]" adds dent8.langchain, native LangChain StructuredTools over the belief surface (no MCP subprocess):

from dent8.langchain import dent8_tools
from langgraph.prebuilt import create_react_agent

tools = dent8_tools(source="source:agent", authority="low")
agent = create_react_agent(model, tools)

The tools expose what to record (subject, predicate, value); source and authority are your configuration, not LLM arguments, so the agent cannot escalate its own authority. A refused write returns as a tool result the agent reads and adapts to, not an exception. See examples/langchain.

For other frameworks (LlamaIndex, Vercel AI SDK, any MCP client), use the MCP server (dent8 mcp serve, over stdio / daemon / HTTP). This SDK core stays zero-dependency and is for programmatic access from Python code.

Test

cargo build -p dent8-cli
DENT8_BIN=../../target/debug/dent8 python -m pytest