> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.fritesai.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.fritesai.com/product/gateway-mode.md).

# Gateway mode

Gateway mode is the primary, everyday surface. frites runs as a transparent proxy that impersonates the model endpoint (`ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL` for Claude Code, the provider `base_url` for Codex) and intercepts **every** prompt with zero "use frites" friction. Run it once and every prompt goes through the council.

## A transparent proxy for everything

The gateway handles **both** everyday Q\&A / reasoning **and** code edits. It does not edit files directly: on a coding turn it has the council decide the next action, then emits the normal `Read` / `Edit` / `Bash` `tool_use` your host executes against the real files under the host's own permission model. This is verified end-to-end (a real `claude` client through the gateway has read, edited, and fixed a bug with the tests passing) and it runs with **no API key** (subscription `claude -p` children decide the action; the gateway constructs the `tool_use` envelope).

## Fan-out behavior

For each intercepted prompt, frites decides whether fanning out is worth the metered spend, then runs N child agents independently and synthesizes their work into one result. Two levers shape this:

* **Whether** a turn fans out is governed by `fanOutPolicy`. See [fan-out policy](/concepts/fan-out-policy.md).
* **Which** turns of a request may fan out is governed by `fanOutScope`. See [fan-out scope](/concepts/fan-out-scope.md). By default (`first-turn`), only the substantive request turn fans out a full council; the mechanical tool-loop continuations that follow run a single agent, and the host's background/utility traffic (haiku-tier title, summary, and topic-detection calls) always runs a single agent regardless.

Because of this scoping, **not every turn shows the whole council**. Seeing `single agent — tool-loop continuation` on follow-up turns is expected, not a bug.

## Answer turns vs tool turns

How the result lands depends on the turn:

* **Tool-bearing turns** (the usual Claude Code agentic loop) run the whole council on the host's *thinking* / *reasoning* channel, close with a one-line council recap (`◆ council recap — N agents + synth · 18.3s · $0.072`), then emit the synthesized tool call or answer when it resolves. Tool actions are **selected, not merged**: the synthesizer picks exactly one proposed tool call verbatim rather than blending inputs.
* **Pure answer turns** (no tools: Q\&A, the Codex/Responses surface) instead **stream the final answer live**, token by token, as the synthesizer produces it.

Either way, the progress channel is visually separate from the answer and never pollutes it or the next turn.

## Live progress stream

frites is deliberately verbose so you can see the council working. While a turn runs it streams live progress on the host's thinking (Claude) / reasoning (Codex) channel: which agents it is consulting, a live per-agent counter (tokens streamed and elapsed time) that climbs as each child works, when each finishes (with duration, tokens, and cost), synthesis, and a "still working — Ns elapsed" heartbeat so a long multi-model turn never looks stuck.

This channel is **live and per-turn**: it shows what is happening right now, and most editors collapse it once the turn ends, so it is the "is it working?" view, not a durable record. By default the panel shows per-agent telemetry only (state plus counters); set `progressDetail` to `interleaved` to also stream each child's actual output live, agent-prefixed (`[1] …`, `[2] …`). For the full, after-the-fact detail of any turn, read the gateway log.

## Limitations

* The progress channel is live-only; the host collapses it after the turn, so the durable per-turn record lives in the gateway log, not the editor.
* With `fanOutScope: first-turn`, tool-loop continuation turns deliberately run a single agent; only the substantive request turn gets the full council.
* Codex tool-call emission on `/v1/responses` (`function_call`) is not yet built; the Anthropic `/v1/messages` `tool_use` path is done.
* Gateway mode adjudicates an answer or action; it does not run your tests. For test-verified results, use [MCP worktree mode](/product/mcp-worktree-mode.md).

For the HTTP surface, endpoints, and streaming details, see the [gateway API reference](/reference/gateway-api.md).