openterms-examples

Minimal examples showing how to use OpenTerms with the core Python SDK, LangChain, and CrewAI.

Every example runs without hitting any live API.

What is OpenTerms?

OpenTerms is a machine-readable permissions protocol for the agentic web. Services publish an openterms.json file that describes what automated agents are and are not allowed to do. Agents read that file before acting.

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "service": "example-service",
  "permissions": {
    "read_content": { "status": "allowed" },
    "scrape_data": { "status": "denied" },
    "api_access": { "status": "not_specified" }
  }
}

Agents check a key, get back a decision, and proceed only if the decision is allow.

Structure

openterms-examples/
├── examples/
├── fixtures/
└── tests/

Fail-Closed Model

Default behavior: block unless explicitly allowed.

OpenTerms status	Strict mode default	Permissive mode opt-in
allowed	Proceed	Proceed
denied	Block	Block
not_specified	Block	Proceed
conditional	Block	Proceed
key absent	Block	Proceed

Permissive mode must always be an explicit opt-in. It is never the default.

Canonical Permission Keys

Key	What it covers
read_content	Reading or parsing public content
scrape_data	Structured data extraction or crawling
api_access	Calling the service API programmatically
create_account	Registering accounts or identities
make_purchases	Executing transactions
post_content	Submitting or publishing content
allow_training	Using content for ML model training

Registry Records Disclaimer

Registry records are informational records. Treat them as one input to agent decision logic.

Installation

pip install "openterms-py>=0.3.1"

Optional integrations:

pip install langchain-openterms
pip install crewai-openterms

Running the Examples

python examples/core_sdk_minimal.py
python examples/core_sdk_fail_closed.py
python examples/mock_openterms_json.py
python -m pytest tests/ -v

Links

• OpenTerms homepage: https://openterms.com
• OpenTerms developer docs: https://openterms.com/sdk
• OpenTerms specification: https://openterms.com/docs
• openterms-py on PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/openterms-py/
• langchain-openterms on GitHub: https://github.com/jstibal/langchain-openterms
• crewai-openterms on GitHub: https://github.com/jstibal/crewai-openterms