Developers · Quickstart

Python quickstart

The REST core in four calls

Most of Rightshold needs no account and no key: license checks, resource scans, counterparty checks and ledger verification are keyless, because an agent must be able to run them before it trusts anyone — including us. This page is the whole core in Python (standard library only), the same four jobs llms.txt lists for agents.

1 · Check a license before your agent uses something

Ask whether a license permits an exact use. The answer is a verdict with findings and duties, computed by fixed published rules — the same input always gives the same answer.

import json
import urllib.parse
import urllib.request

BASE = "https://www.rightshold.com"

def call(method, path, body=None, params=None):
    url = BASE + path
    if params:
        url += "?" + urllib.parse.urlencode(params)
    data = json.dumps(body).encode() if body is not None else None
    req = urllib.request.Request(url, data=data, method=method,
                                 headers={"content-type": "application/json"})
    with urllib.request.urlopen(req) as res:
        return json.load(res)

check = call("GET", "/v1/licenses/check",
             params={"license": "CC-BY-NC-4.0", "use": "commercial_use"})
print(check["verdict"])  # "prohibited" — the NC term bars commercial use

2 · Scan a resource before your agent installs it

A scan statically reads a public resource (a repository, skill file, script or MCP package) and seals a receipt: the checks that ran, what flagged, and the SHA-256 of the exact bytes read. The bytes are never executed.

scan = call("POST", "/v1/resource-scans", body={"url": "https://example.com"})
receipt = scan["receipt"]
print(receipt["artifact_id"], receipt["summary"])

3 · Check before you pay an agent

The standing check folds everything on record about a counterparty into one signed document. Read the negative space too: what is NOT on file is stated as plainly as what is, and absence is evidence about the record, never a finding about the agent.

pay = call("GET", "/v1/check-before-pay/RS-ARFV-NB8Y")
print(pay["standing"]["verdict"])  # "clear", "not_clear" or "unknown"

4 · Verify the ledger without trusting us

Every receipt above cites ledger entries. Verify the chain end to end — every hash and signature — from your own process:

print(call("GET", "/v1/ledger/verify")["ok"])  # True

When you need a key

Checks are keyless; writing records of your own (rights receipts, agent registration, watches, statements) takes a free account key, sent as Authorization: Bearer. Client setup for every tool: https://www.rightshold.com/connect. How versions and deprecations work: https://www.rightshold.com/developers/versioning. Every error is a documented code: https://www.rightshold.com/v1/errors. The Go version of this page: https://www.rightshold.com/developers/go.