Question 1

What is AethelLayer?

Accepted Answer

A probe inbox for CLI, SDK, and API failures. It keeps the stack, asks what the developer was trying to do, and drafts a GitHub or Linear issue. A person still hits send. It does not replace Datadog, Sentry, or PostHog. Those tools show that something died. This one keeps the moment they were about to leave.

Question 2

Who is it for?

Accepted Answer

Platform and DX teams shipping a CLI, SDK, or public API. The evaluator hits Docker OOM, a bad env, an OAuth timeout, or a gRPC deadline, closes the laptop, and tries the next vendor. The line we use is that 90% of developers never file a ticket. That is our product claim, not a cited study.

Question 3

What is it not?

Accepted Answer

Not an APM. Not a people CRM. Not a chatbot landing page. Not a tool that opens public GitHub issues by itself. Playbooks on Growth and above can reply inside a known thread. They still do not file the public issue.

Question 4

Do we have to rewrite the SDK?

Accepted Answer

No. Wrap the command they already run, hang middleware on the API, or register one file in Next.js. The probe watches failures. It does not become a new hot path. Node is npm i @aethellayer/sdk. Python is pip install aethellayer. The unscoped command npx aethel is a different package. Use the scoped name.

Question 5

Can I try it without an account?

Accepted Answer

Yes. npx --yes @aethellayer/sdk run -- false wraps a command that exits 1 and prints a drafted GitHub issue in the terminal. That local draft does not open an inbox thread and does not spend probe quota. A workspace row appears only after a process runs with an ingest key.

Question 6

Does npm install phone home?

Accepted Answer

No. Installing the package does not send anything. A start is sent only after new Aethel(...) or aethel run with AETHEL_API_KEY set. Those starts do not open inbox threads and do not spend the monthly probe quota. A failure probe does.

Question 7

Where does it run?

Accepted Answer

CLI: npx --yes @aethellayer/sdk run -- <command>. Node: Express middleware. Next.js: instrumentation.ts on the Node runtime. Python: FastAPI middleware or a CLI wrap. Cursor and Claude: the same package is an MCP server. Paste it into mcp.json or claude_desktop_config.json with command npx and args -y, @aethellayer/sdk.

Question 8

What does the developer see?

Accepted Answer

In a real terminal, one question: what were you trying to do? They can answer in a sentence or skip it. If they leave, you still have the stack, the command, the exit code, the OS, and the runtime. There is no question on a pipe. CI and MCP stay silent. A prompt on stdio deadlocks the editor.

Question 9

What gets kept?

Accepted Answer

Error code, stack, command, exit, OS, runtime, environment, and the note if they typed one. A draft URL when a GitHub repo can be resolved. Not a source dump. Not payment cards, government IDs, or health data. Not secrets you did not already print. Treat the ingest key like a database URL.

Question 10

Which failures does the CLI name?

Accepted Answer

Exit 137 or an OOM kill becomes ERR_DOCKER_OOM. Connection reset, refused, or timeout becomes ERR_API_DROPOUT. A missing key, token, or env becomes ERR_MISSING_CONFIG. Anything else is CLI_EXIT_N. Exit 0 is not a probe. The command succeeded.

Question 11

Do tickets go out on their own?

Accepted Answer

No. The CLI and the MCP tool draft_github_ticket return a GitHub issue URL and a body. You review it and hit send. The draft says so in the body. AethelLayer does not auto-file.

Question 12

Which repo does the draft use?

Accepted Answer

AETHEL_REPO or GITHUB_REPOSITORY, as owner/name. If those are unset, it reads the git remote origin and uses that GitHub owner and repo. If none of those exist, there is no link. It does not invent github.com/acme/<folder>.

Question 13

What about Linear and replay?

Accepted Answer

GitHub drafts are on every plan. Linear drafts, PostHog and Mixpanel links, Memory Graph, and Intelligence start on Growth. Replay links point at the project you already run. We are not a second analytics product.

Question 14

How do I add the MCP server?

Accepted Answer

Cursor reads mcp.json. Claude Desktop reads claude_desktop_config.json. Both use the same block: command npx, args -y and @aethellayer/sdk. Cursor can launch that package with no arguments, because a pipe is not a terminal. Claude can use the same block, or the mcp subcommand.

Question 15

What can the editor call?

Accepted Answer

get_recent_errors reads the local probe log, the same file aethel run writes. draft_github_ticket turns a capture, an error code, or a stack into a GitHub draft. Neither tool files the issue. Neither tool needs an ingest key. Opening Cursor or Claude does not create a Fleet row.

Question 16

Who can read a workspace?

Accepted Answer

Members of that organization. Postgres row-level security uses is_org_member. The public anon key cannot read organizations, error events, or SDK signals. Ingest uses a Bearer key, aethel_live_…. Unknown keys fail closed. Eval keys are time-boxed extras for a proof of concept. They expire or revoke without changing the production plan.

Question 17

Who can see Fleet?

Accepted Answer

Only the emails in AETHEL_SUPER_ADMINS on the server. If that variable is unset, the only email is jeet@aethellayer.com. Other signed-in users do not get the Fleet link. Opening the address sends them back to the normal dashboard. Signed-out visitors go to login. Fleet reads across workspaces with the service role. That key is not in the browser.

Question 18

Are you SOC 2 certified?

Accepted Answer

No. Preparing for SOC 2 Type II is not certification. The security page says what is implemented today: hashed identifiers, org-scoped keys, row-level security, and human-approved tickets. Write to security@aethellayer.com for a disclosure. Do not send a live exploit to a public inbox thread.

Question 19

What is on Starter?

Accepted Answer

Starter is $99 a month. One workspace, three seats, 1,000 probes a month, the inbox, and GitHub drafts you still approve. Memory Graph is not on Starter. It starts on Growth.

Question 20

What do Growth and Scale add?

Accepted Answer

Growth is $299 a month: five workspaces, 8,000 probes, Memory Graph, Intelligence, Linear drafts, and PostHog or Mixpanel links. Scale is $899 a month: ten workspaces and 40,000 probes. Enterprise is custom, with a higher probe ceiling. Yearly billing charges ten months.

Question 21

What counts against the probe quota?

Accepted Answer

A failure posted to POST /api/v1/probes counts. A start signal does not. The no-account try command does not. When the month is spent, ingest stops. Eval keys can add a time-boxed bonus for a sales proof of concept without upgrading the whole org.

Catch the failure before they leave.

They leave. No ticket.

Install. Catch. Ask. Draft.

Install

Catch

Ask

Draft

In the failure. Not a form.

Inbox

Draft

The failure, then the draft.

After the quiet ones show up

The questions we get on the first call

See the draft before they leave.