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How to choose your integration path

Use this guide to pick the right Talon entry point for your situation: MCP proxy (third-party vendors), LLM API gateway (your apps calling LLM APIs), or native Talon (new agents from scratch).

Decision table​

Your situationTalon pathAuthWhere to go next
Third-party SaaS (Zendesk AI, Intercom, HubSpot)MCP proxy at POST /mcp/proxy. Response PII scanning, tools/list filtering (agents only see allowed tools)Tenant key (Authorization: Bearer <tenant-key>)Vendor integration guide
Your app calls LLM APIs (Slack bot, desktop app, OpenClaw, CoPaw, script)LLM API gateway at POST /v1/proxy/{provider}/v1/.... Response-path PII scanning, kill switch, tool-aware redactionGateway caller API key (Authorization: Bearer <caller-key>)OpenClaw, CoPaw, Slack bot, Desktop apps
New agent from scratchNative Talon (talon run, POST /v1/agents/run, POST /v1/chat/completions)Tenant key (Authorization: Bearer <tenant-key>)Your first governed agent, QUICKSTART

In short​

  • MCP proxy — Intercepts tool-level MCP traffic from vendors. You point the vendor at Talon; Talon logs, redacts PII (request and response path), enforces policy before forwarding, and filters tools/list so agents only see allowed tools. Enable with talon serve --proxy-config <path>.
  • LLM API gateway — Intercepts request-level LLM API traffic from your own apps. Your app changes only the base URL and sends a caller API key; Talon enforces per-caller model and cost policy, scans responses for PII (redact/block/warn), supports tool-aware redaction per argument, provides a kill switch (programmatic via ActiveRunTracker.Kill()), and records evidence. Enable with talon serve --gateway --gateway-config <path>.
  • Native Talon — You run agents via talon run or the REST API. Full policy-as-code, triggers, memory, and audit. No proxy; Talon is the agent runtime.

You can use both MCP proxy and LLM gateway on the same server (e.g. MCP proxy for Zendesk, gateway for internal Slack bot).

You're done​

You now know which Talon path fits your situation (MCP proxy, LLM gateway, or native). Pick the doc from the table above and follow it.

Next steps:

I want to…Doc
Route my existing app through TalonAdd Talon to your existing app
Route OpenClaw or CoPaw through TalonOpenClaw, CoPaw
Wrap a third-party AI vendor (Zendesk, Intercom)Vendor integration guide
Build a new agent from scratchYour first agent with Talon