How long does it take to set up receipts for an AI agent?
About five minutes to your first checked receipt. Add the Zambo connection to your AI client (one URL, no API key), run one small job through it, then open the receipt and check it on the verify page. There is no project, no configuration file, and no integration sprint.
Setup time is a buying question in disguise: people are really asking what this will cost them in attention. So here is the whole path with the clock on. Minute one: add https://zambo.dev/mcp as a connection in your client (the /add/ page walks each supported client through its exact screens). Minutes two to four: give the agent a small real task and let it work through the connection; every step is being saved as a receipt while it runs. Minute five: open the job's record, pick a receipt, and check it at https://zambo.dev/verify/ .
The snags are known and small. Connecting the wrong surface (a legacy endpoint instead of /mcp) is the common one; the current connection is always the one on the /add/ page. Working in a plain chat afterwards records nothing, because receipts attach to work run through the connection; the fix is to start the session through the connected client. And the first receipt raises the productive question of what its fields mean, which the verify page answers by showing its recomputation.
Afterwards, setup disappears. Receipts are not a workflow you perform; they are what the connection does while you work. The human habit worth five more minutes is the delivery habit: end client jobs by sending the handover link, so the record you are already making becomes the proof your client checks.
Worksheet: the timed first-receipt path
Step | Budget | Done when. Add the connection | 1 minute | Your client lists Zambo among its connections. Run a small job | 3 minutes | The job finishes and its steps appear in the record. Check one receipt | 1 minute | The verify page recomputes the receipt and shows a match. Build a handover | 2 minutes | You hold a link a client could open. Total to a checked, shareable proof: about 7 minutes, once.
Worked example
The free demo compresses the same path into about a minute: it runs a job, mints the receipt, and hands you the ID to check. Treat the demo as the rehearsal and your first real job, same steps, same record, as the performance. Both produce receipts in the AER-1 format (IETF Internet-draft-zambo-aer1-21).
Frequently asked questions
Do I need an API key or a developer account?
No. The connection is one hosted MCP URL, added through your client's normal connector flow. There is no key to generate, no webhook to register, and no code to write for the standard setup.
We use several AI clients. Is setup per client or per team?
Per client, at a minute each, because each assistant holds its own connection settings. The record they write into is shared, so three one-minute setups buy one unified trail.
What if my first receipt does not appear?
Almost always the job ran in a plain chat instead of through the connected client, or the connection points at a legacy endpoint. Re-add https://zambo.dev/mcp from the /add/ page and run the job again; the steps will appear as they execute.
By Brennan Zambo, founder of Zambo.
Last verified: 2026-10-17.
Try a handover
A handover gives your client one proof link with verifiable receipts to review, then Accept or Flag.
try it: say 'use zambo to hand this over to <client>' in your ai