Question 1

What is the Tessera Optimize Layer?

Accepted Answer

The Tessera Optimize Layer is a thin proxy that lives in your LLM request path. Your application points its OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google client at Tessera; Tessera forwards each request to the provider but first applies four moves: auto-route to a cheaper model when quality holds on your golden-set eval, auto-cache identical requests at the edge, auto-compress prompts via a deterministic whitespace + structural pass (LLMLingua-2 template substitution on roadmap), auto-batch where batch APIs apply. Every saved dollar is measured directly from proxy logs, not inferred from a billing CSV.

Question 2

How does Tessera measure savings?

Accepted Answer

Savings are measured from Tessera proxy logs at request granularity. For each request that gets routed, cached, compressed, or batched, Tessera records the counterfactual provider cost (what the request would have cost without the optimization) and the actual incurred cost. Aggregate Ongoing Savings equal the sum of (counterfactual minus actual) across all in-scope workloads in the period. Provider price moves and unrelated workload shrinkage are excluded; only optimizations attributable to Tessera count toward your reported savings.

Question 3

How is Tessera different from an observability platform?

Accepted Answer

Observability platforms trace requests and show dashboards. Tessera is an optimize layer — we sit in the request path and actively route, cache, compress, and batch on every call. Pricing is a flat monthly subscription by token volume, not a per-seat SaaS — and savings are measured directly from our own proxy logs. Your existing observability tool can stay — it still receives downstream telemetry. Substrate-include posture: Tessera is the layer above whatever vendors you already use, not their alternative.

Question 4

What does Tessera cost?

Accepted Answer

Flat monthly pricing by gross tokens submitted, same feature set on every tier — only the token cap differs. Free Sandbox: 60 million tokens per month, $0, full mechanic stack active. Paid tiers: Starter $199/month (up to 1B tokens), Growth $999/month (up to 5B), Scale $3,999/month (up to 20B), Enterprise custom (20B+). No per-token markup and no cut of your savings — savings are measured and you keep 100%. No floor, no retainer, no contract review for activation. Quality preservation guaranteed at 0.95 by canary; three-day breach triggers auto-disable plus a service credit.

Question 5

Does Tessera modify our production code?

Accepted Answer

No. Tessera is added to your request path via two HTTP headers and one config-line change — you point your OpenAI/Anthropic/Google client at the Tessera proxy base URL and add an API key. Tessera never modifies your application source, never deploys into your codebase, and never makes provider-side changes on your account. All optimization logic runs inside the Tessera proxy infrastructure. You can disable Tessera at any time by reverting the two headers, or by using the in-dashboard pause control (see next question).

Question 6

Can I pause Tessera at any time?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Every operator dashboard ships with an always-available kill-switch — account-wide and per-workload. When engaged, the Tessera proxy bypasses all four optimizations (route, cache, compress, batch) and forwards your requests to the upstream provider as pure passthrough. Pause is reversible at any time without notice. The pause right is contractually preserved in §8 of the Tessera Terms of Service — Tessera does not work uncontrolled in your stack.

Question 7

Who is Tessera for?

Accepted Answer

Two primary shapes carry most paid-tier signups: (1) Series A-B AI-native SaaS CTO, $20k-$200k per month on LLM APIs, gross margin under pressure, can change a base-URL in 30 minutes and signs up in 72 hours; (2) Series B-D scale-up adding AI features, $50k-$500k per month, AI Platform Lead owns the budget, light security review in 2-4 weeks. Plus a developer-facing Free Sandbox tier (60M tokens/mo, $0) for solo developers + side projects. Workloads tagged regulated (HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOC 2 in-scope) never auto-route — the compliance gate blocks routing at the code level. Above 20B gross tokens/mo, Enterprise Clients may negotiate a custom MSA addendum (invoice billing, custom SLO).

Question 8

How does Tessera handle data privacy?

Accepted Answer

Confidential Information furnished to Tessera is stored primarily inside the European Economic Area (EEA) under Estonian operating jurisdiction. We do not require, request, or process Client end-user personal data, model prompts, or model completions in their full content form — only token-count and structural metadata. US-based AI provider sub-processors (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) are engaged solely for Tessera-internal analysis under strict anonymisation conditions per the Data Processing Agreement.

Question 9

Does Tessera accept referral fees from AI providers?

Accepted Answer

No. Tessera receives no affiliate revenue, referral fees, kickbacks, sponsorships, advisory-board honoraria, or any other compensation from any AI provider, gateway vendor, or observability platform we recommend in the course of operating the proxy. Client fees are our only income. This is contractually binding under §10 of the Tessera Terms of Service (Vendor Neutrality) and breach permits Clients to terminate without penalty and withdraw their balance.

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