ThumbGateThumbGate Verification evidence
ThumbGate vs Bumblebee

Bumblebee tells you what's installed. ThumbGate stops what's installed from doing bad things.

Bumblebee (open-sourced by Perplexity on 2026-05-23) is a read-only scanner that inventories MCP configs, editor extensions, browser extensions, and package lockfiles on developer endpoints. ThumbGate is the runtime PreToolUse firewall that blocks the agents Bumblebee discovered from executing bad tool calls. Different layers of the same supply-chain story. Use both.

Both open source Both local-first Both target the MCP/AI-agent surface Zero overlap

Side-by-side feature comparison

Capability Bumblebee ThumbGate
What it does Static read-only inventory of on-disk metadata Runtime PreToolUse enforcement on AI agent tool calls
When it runs On demand: weekly baseline, project scan, or deep incident-response sweep Every tool call an agent attempts, in real time, before execution
What it covers MCP host configs, editor extensions (VS Code family), browser extensions (Chromium + Firefox), npm/pnpm/Yarn/Bun, PyPI, Go modules, RubyGems, Composer lockfiles Tool calls inside Claude Code, Cursor, OpenAI Codex CLI, Google Gemini CLI, Sourcegraph Amp, Cline, OpenCode, Claude Desktop (via MCP)
What it blocks Nothing — pure observation. Read-only by design (no execution, no package-manager calls) The actual tool call. Bash, file write, MCP tool, HTTP fetch — gate fires before the side effect
Output format NDJSON to stdout, scan_summary terminator, pipeable into jq / SIEM / agentic workflows Block/allow decision + audit log entry per gate firing. DPO preference pairs for fine-tuning
Distribution Single Go binary (zero non-stdlib deps). go install github.com/perplexityai/bumblebee/cmd/bumblebee@latest npm package: npx thumbgate init
Platforms macOS, Linux macOS, Linux, Windows (Node.js >=18.18)
License Apache 2.0 MIT (npm package); Pro/Team are hosted services
Built by Perplexity AI (used internally to protect Perplexity dev machines behind their search product, Comet browser, and Computer AI agent) Independent (MIT-licensed open source + hosted Pro/Team services)

Pick Bumblebee for

  • Supply-chain incident response: an advisory drops, you need to know which dev machines have the bad version installed RIGHT NOW.
  • MCP config inventory: which AI assistants on which machines are wired to which MCP servers, and which of those servers carry credentials in their env blocks.
  • Weekly baseline snapshots of dev-machine state, centralized so future incident response is a search instead of a phone call.
  • You want a single read-only Go binary that does not execute install scripts or trigger package managers.

Bumblebee is the first open-source scanner to treat MCP configuration files as a first-class security surface. That's a genuinely new contribution to the supply-chain category and the right tool for the inventory job. Recommend installing it regardless of whether you use ThumbGate.

Pick ThumbGate for

  • Stopping agent mistakes before they execute: bad bash, destructive DB query, unauthorized file write, privilege-violating LLM call.
  • Cross-agent enforcement: the same prevention rule fires inside Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini, Amp, Cline, OpenCode, and Claude Desktop with one config.
  • Operator-feedback learning: thumbs-down on a bad output becomes a real Pre-Action Check that blocks the repeat next time, with precision/recall gating before any rule auto-promotes.
  • Hosted lesson sync, dashboard, DPO export, adapter matrix maintenance, 24×7 ops on the rule engine (Pro/Team tiers).

The integration story: discovery feeds enforcement

Bumblebee scan output looks like:

{"kind":"mcp_server","host":"claude-code","name":"github","command":"npx","args":["-y","@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],"env_keys":["GITHUB_TOKEN"]}
{"kind":"mcp_server","host":"cursor","name":"linear","command":"npx","args":["@linear/mcp-server"],"env_keys":["LINEAR_API_KEY"]}
{"kind":"npm_package","manifest":"package.json","name":"some-vulnerable-pkg","version":"1.2.3"}
{"kind":"scan_summary","components":847,"duration_ms":1240}

ThumbGate's agent-manager treats each mcp_server record as an attack-surface entry that gates can be written against. Each npm_package entry on the advisory list can become a check that blocks any agent tool call referencing it.

A first-pass integration is on the near-term roadmap: thumbgate import-bumblebee scan.ndjson will load Bumblebee inventory into ThumbGate's agent inventory + auto-seed gates from CVE-flagged components. Open an issue at github.com/IgorGanapolsky/ThumbGate if you want it sooner than later.

FAQ

Is Bumblebee a ThumbGate competitor?

No. Bumblebee answers 'what is installed on this dev machine right now' (static inventory). ThumbGate answers 'what is this agent about to do, and should we allow it' (runtime enforcement). Same supply-chain category, different halves of the answer. Use both.

Can I use them together?

Yes, and they compose cleanly with zero overlap. Bumblebee is a one-shot Go binary that scans and exits. ThumbGate is a persistent PreToolUse hook in every agent runtime you use. They don't see each other; they don't need to. The integration value is in feeding Bumblebee's MCP inventory into ThumbGate's agent dashboard so you can write gates against actual installed servers.

Does ThumbGate already ingest Bumblebee output?

Not yet. Bumblebee released 2026-05-23; the import command is on the near-term roadmap. NDJSON is a clean fit so the integration will land as a small CLI subcommand rather than a heavy adapter.

Why should I use ThumbGate if Perplexity made Bumblebee?

Bumblebee is read-only by design — it cannot block anything. Perplexity ships it to inventory developer machines, not to enforce policy on agent tool calls. ThumbGate fills the enforcement layer Bumblebee deliberately leaves to other tools. The two ship without conflict and your security posture is better with both than either alone.

Where do I start?

Both can install in under 60 seconds. Bumblebee: go install github.com/perplexityai/bumblebee/cmd/bumblebee@latest then bumblebee self-test. ThumbGate: npx thumbgate init. Run Bumblebee weekly for inventory; let ThumbGate run continuously inside your agent.