# AX Check: synkro.sh Checked 2026-10-15. Setup is clear and scripted, but nobody can find the actual price. Quickstart, install, and CLI steps all check out cleanly. But pricing is explained only in concept — no per-check rate or workload cost is published anywhere. ## Onboarding needs a login ## Coding sessions All three independent sessions installed the CLI and worked through the quickstart successfully. On pricing, each described the prepaid-balance billing model and sandbox credit, but none could find a published per-check rate, so none could price out an actual workload. ### DeepSeek V4.1 Flash [View public run](https://agents.withgauge.com/p/runs/704370d5-4952-4810-a54b-22de28106a11) · [Read transcript](https://www.ax-check.com/synkro.sh/sessions/deepseek.json) Explained the billing model (prepaid balance, per checked tool call, $20 sandbox credit, deterministic checks free) but gave no per-check rate or workload cost, and didn't flag that the rate is unpublished. (seq 49, seq 55, seq 81) Session findings unavailable. ### Kimi K3 [View public run](https://agents.withgauge.com/p/runs/1a1158a5-02e3-43a0-8dc6-a6bb3de030e9) · [Read transcript](https://www.ax-check.com/synkro.sh/sessions/kimi.json) Said the price is $0 because of the MIT license (confirmed from npm metadata), with no tiers. Named the assumption: the in-memory transport costs nothing, and the Redis transport means paying for your own Redis. (seq 26, seq 86) #### End-to-end onboarding - **End-to-end onboarding not demonstrated**: Synkro turned out to be an open-source npm library (event-driven workflow orchestrator), not a hosted SaaS product with credentials or an API to call. The agent found no sign-up flow, no API keys, and no hosted endpoint; the two candidate domains were a parked-for-sale page and an unrelated French scheduling app. It installed the npm package locally and ran an in-memory example script, which is a local-only operation with no authenticated call to any hosted service, so onboarding cannot be verified as self-service credential acquisition plus authenticated product use. Event 56: ```text Synkro turns out to be an **open-source library, not a hosted SaaS** — but it has an in-memory transport that needs no service stack, so a lightweight example is feasible. ``` Event 76: ```text [event] New user signed up: ada@example.com [workflow] Validating stock for order order-42... [workflow] Charging $49.99... [workflow] Sending confirmation for order order-42 Done — Synkro stopped gracefully. ``` Event 86: ```text There is no hosted service, no API keys, no dashboard to sign up for. ``` #### Hallucinated URLs None identified in this transcript. #### Blockers - **No hosted product exists to onboard against**: Synkro is an MIT-licensed open-source Node.js library, not a hosted SaaS. There is no API, account, or dashboard to sign up for, so the 'use the hosted product through its SDK or API' instruction from the seed prompt could not be fulfilled as a hosted-product test. This is a product-category mismatch rather than agent error or a missing credential — the agent correctly identified it after checking the live domains and npm/GitHub metadata. Event 86: ```text **Synkro** ([github.com/buemura/synkro](https://github.com/buemura/synkro)) is an **open-source, MIT-licensed Node.js library** — an event-driven workflow orchestrator — not a hosted SaaS. ``` Event 33: ```text Domain for sale Synkro.io Free transaction support Secure payments Spaceship reliability Listed with spaceship.com get this domain Buy n ``` #### Suggested Changes - **Clarify Synkro's product category on its landing pages**: Searchers looking for 'Synkro API/SDK/pricing' land on an unrelated parked domain (synkro.io) and an unrelated French scheduling app (getsynkro.com) before reaching the real project's Vercel-hosted docs site. Pointing the GitHub repo's homepage field and any marketing material clearly at the actual docs site (synkro-website.vercel.app) would prevent confusion for developers evaluating the library; verify by searching 'Synkro' and confirming the first relevant hit is the real project. Event 27: ```text 200 https://synkro.io/ 200 https://getsynkro.com/ ``` Event 46: ```text homepage: https://synkro-website.vercel.app/ ``` - **Fix the quickstart's chained-workflow reference**: The README's top-level Quick Start example sets onSuccess: 'StartShipment' on the ProcessOrder workflow, but no 'StartShipment' (or similarly named) workflow is defined in the same snippet, producing a runtime warning ('Chained workflow not found') when copied verbatim. Update the Quick Start code block in the root README.md to either define the referenced workflow or remove the onSuccess chaining line, then re-run the snippet to confirm no warning appears. Event 60: ```text name: "ProcessOrder", onSuccess: "StartShipment", ``` Event 76: ```text [WorkflowRegistry] Chained workflow not found { fromWorkflow: 'ProcessOrder', targetWorkflow: 'OrderFinished' } ``` ### Qwen 3.8 Max [View public run](https://agents.withgauge.com/p/runs/c7b639cb-1217-4fb6-8eb6-45e73eef2784) · [Read transcript](https://www.ax-check.com/synkro.sh/sessions/qwen.json) Described the billing model (prepaid balance, per-decision charges, $20 sandbox credit) but gave no cost for a workload and didn't note that no per-check rate is published. (seq 52, seq 62) #### End-to-end onboarding - **Onboarding needs a login**: Agent researched Synkro (synkro.sh), the control-layer product for AI agents, but never obtained real credentials or performed any authenticated operation. The documented onboarding flow requires joining a waitlist, human approval of the account, email verification, and manual approval of the agent connection before any CLI command can run against the hosted service. No credentials were created or used in this session. Event 62: ```text I can't build the example: every path to a working rule/decision requires an **approved account plus human sign-in and approval steps** — no API key, SDK-only mode, or anonymous sandbox exists. ``` Event 51: ```text an approved Synkro account in an organization is required; a waitlist entry is not enough ``` Event 51: ```text Pause for me to verify my email, review the terms, approve the connection and save a test card on the returned Synkro page. ``` #### Hallucinated URLs - **Guessed GitHub README URL returned 404 but was a reasonable guess**: The agent tried a raw GitHub README URL for the buemura/synkro repo, which returned 404. This is a plausible guessed path (common raw.githubusercontent pattern) rather than a clearly invented/fabricated one, and it was not something the agent kept insisting was real afterward, so it is omitted from hallucination findings as ambiguous per instructions. Event 16: ```text 404: Not Found ``` #### Blockers - **Signup gated behind waitlist and human approval**: Synkro.sh's own quickstart instructs the agent to add the user's email to a waitlist and then wait for Synkro's team to approve the account; only after that can the human claim the account, verify email, accept terms, approve the agent connection, and save a test card. This is a product-design gate (not an environment or agent error) that prevents any self-service API/SDK usage in a sandbox session. Event 51: ```text This adds my email to the waitlist. Once the Synkro team approves my request, I can claim my account so you can continue setup. ``` Event 51: ```text Pause for me to verify my email, review the terms, approve the connection and save a test card on the returned Synkro page. ``` - **Name collision between two unrelated 'Synkro' packages**: The agent spent several tool calls disambiguating between @synkro/core (an open-source, unauthenticated, local workflow orchestrator with no pricing) and synkro.sh (the hosted, paid control-layer product with a CLI). This is not a product defect in either project, but it added friction and required explicit navigation of npm search, GitHub, and docs to figure out which 'Synkro' the user meant. Event 12: ```text {"name":"@synkro/core",...,"description":"Lightweight workflow and state machine orchestrator powered by Redis. Define event-driven workflows via configuration or code." ``` Event 12: ```text {"name":"@synkro-sh/cli",...,"description":"Control Layer for AI Agents" ``` #### Suggested Changes - **Add a no-waitlist sandbox or API-key path for quick evaluation**: The quickstart at https://docs.synkro.sh/quickstart requires joining a waitlist and getting manual approval before any CLI command can reach the hosted service, even in the sandbox environment. Evaluators without a pre-approved account cannot exercise any authenticated operation. Check this by having an unapproved email attempt `synkro onboard start` and confirming it still only queues a waitlist entry rather than granting immediate sandbox access. Event 51: ```text an approved Synkro account in an organization is required; a waitlist entry is not enough ``` - **Clarify pricing page link in docs navigation**: Direct navigation to https://synkro.sh/pricing returns a 404; pricing information is instead buried inside the 'Billing and usage' guide page. Add a /pricing route or a visible nav link from the homepage to the billing guide so pricing is discoverable without guessing URLs. Verify by confirming https://synkro.sh/pricing resolves or redirects correctly. Event 32: ```text == https://synkro.sh/pricing 404 https://synkro.sh/pricing ``` ### Task given to each agent Help me build a simple example using Synkro. Tell me how pricing works, and briefly tell me whether this product will be easy for you to manage. Let me know if you get blocked. If this product has no developer workflow you can act on, say so plainly and stop. Stay light: use the hosted product through its SDK or API. Do not start local service stacks or wait for long-running commands; if the quickstart requires either, say so plainly and stop. No product credentials were supplied and no purchases were authorized. ## Score: B · 80/100 (provisional) Grades come from completed site checks. Coding sessions and skipped checks do not affect the score. ### Clarity - **Failed** — Homepage answers Markdown requests ```text Homepage returned text/html for a text/markdown request; no Markdown representation served. ``` - **Pass** — llms.txt provides an actionable documentation index ```text llms.txt links docs, quickstart, install command, and supported agents with clear organization. ``` - **Pass** — llms.txt provides navigation guidance ```text llms.txt gives starting guidance: request access, then quickstart, install CLI, connect agent. ``` - **Skipped** — llms.txt mentions offered API, MCP, and skills ```text llms.txt describes CLI and agent integrations but no API, MCP, or skills surfaces. ``` - **Pass** — A compact guide representation exists ```text Standalone Markdown quickstart at docs.synkro.sh/quickstart.md returns 200 text/markdown. ``` - **Pass** — A focused guide is directly retrievable ```text Quickstart.md is directly retrievable and gives concrete setup steps and commands. ``` - **Pass** — Equivalent instructions fit a token budget ```text Markdown quickstart measures 1519 tokens, well under the 8000-token budget. ``` - **Skipped** — Product-docs links survive format changes ```text Homepage Markdown unsupported, so link preservation across formats cannot be measured. ``` - **Pass** — The compact guide is independently actionable ```text Quickstart gives concrete steps: install CLI, sign in, create Rule, verify action. ``` - **Pass** — Install and next-step links resolve ```text Fetched quickstart and install links resolve; docs and homepage links return 200. ``` ### Onboarding - **Pass** — Docs lead to a relevant quickstart ```text llms.txt and docs link to /quickstart with concrete agent setup, install, first Rule, verify steps. ``` - **Pass** — Installation commands are extractable ```text Install page gives extractable commands: brew install synkro-sh/tap/synkro and Linux download block. ``` - **Pass** — Code examples are available without interaction ```text Quickstart and install pages show inline shell and JSON examples without interaction. ``` - **Pass** — Prerequisites and auth boundaries are explicit ```text Prerequisites (macOS/Linux, Git repo, agents) and access/waitlist auth boundary are explicit. ``` ### Pricing - **Failed** — Agents identify pricing and its assumptions ```text 3 of 3 sessions were judged on pricing; 2 fell short. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: Explained the billing model (prepaid balance, per checked tool call, $20 sandbox credit, deterministic checks free) but gave no per-check rate or workload cost, and didn't flag that the rate is unpublished. (seq 49, seq 55, seq 81) Kimi K3: Said the price is $0 because of the MIT license (confirmed from npm metadata), with no tiers. Named the assumption: the in-memory transport costs nothing, and the Redis transport means paying for your own Redis. (seq 26, seq 86) Qwen 3.8 Max: Described the billing model (prepaid balance, per-decision charges, $20 sandbox credit) but gave no cost for a workload and didn't note that no per-check rate is published. (seq 52, seq 62) This behavioural item does not affect the fast grade. ``` - **Skipped** — Pricing is readable without interaction ```text No pricing page fetched; homepage only says you pay for checked actions via prepaid balance. ``` - **Skipped** — Prices are stated, not gated ```text No pricing page fetched; no stated prices or tiers observed in evidence. ``` - **Skipped** — Pricing units and limits are explicit ```text Homepage mentions prepaid balance and usage billing but no explicit units or limits. ``` ### Activation - **Skipped** — An API reference or OpenAPI spec is reachable ```text No API reference or OpenAPI spec appears in the fetched Synkro docs; only CLI and guides. ``` - **Skipped** — An MCP server is documented and well-formed ```text No MCP server is documented; docs mention agent harnesses and plugins, not an MCP server. ``` - **Pass** — A CLI install path is documented ```text Install docs give concrete CLI paths: brew install synkro-sh/tap/synkro and a Linux direct download. ``` - **Skipped** — SDK packages resolve on their registries ```text No SDK package registry lookup result is supplied; only a Homebrew tap install is documented. ``` - **Skipped** — Agent skills are published ```text Docs reference a manage-synkro-rules skill when available, but no published skills page was fetched. ``` [Full report data](https://www.ax-check.com/synkro.sh/report.json)