# Aperture

Last validated Jul 2, 2026

[Start using Aperture](https://aperture.tailscale.com/)

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Aperture by Tailscale is a centralized AI gateway that secures, monitors, and routes LLM requests across your organization. Aperture uses [Tailscale's identity layer][kb-tailscale-identity] to automatically authenticate users, eliminating the need to distribute API keys. It routes requests to upstream LLM providers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google without requiring changes to existing tools or workflows.

## Understand Aperture

Explore the following topics to understand what Aperture does, how it authenticates users, routes requests, and captures telemetry.

[**What is Aperture?**](/docs/aperture/what-is-aperture) — Aperture by Tailscale is an AI gateway that secures, monitors, and routes LLM requests across your organization.

[**How Aperture works**](/docs/aperture/how-aperture-works) — Understand how Aperture uses Tailscale identity, model-based routing, and telemetry to secure and monitor LLM requests.

## Set up Aperture

Sign up, configure your LLM providers, connect external tools and APIs, and set up your first clients.

[**Get started with Aperture**](/docs/aperture/get-started) — Sign up for Aperture, configure a provider, and send your first request.

[**Connect devices outside your tailnet**](/docs/aperture/connect-outside-tailnet) — Use ts-unplug to connect devices that are not in your tailnet to your Aperture instance with bridge mode, also known as standalone mode.

[**Set up LLM providers**](/docs/aperture/set-up-providers) — Configure upstream LLM providers so Aperture can route requests and inject authentication on behalf of your users.

[**Set up LLM clients**](/docs/aperture/use-your-tools) — Configure LLM clients to route requests through Aperture.

[**Set up the chat UI**](/docs/aperture/how-to/set-up-chat-ui) — Enable Aperture's chat UI so your users can talk to LLMs directly through their browser.

[**MCP server proxying**](/docs/aperture/mcp-server) — Aggregate tools and resources from remote MCP servers through Aperture with identity-based access control.

[**Connectors**](/docs/aperture/connectors) — Find documentation for Aperture connectors, including setup guides, conceptual explanations, and configuration reference.

## Manage access and spending

Control which users and models are available, set spending limits, and configure Aperture's behavior.

[**Aperture configuration reference**](/docs/aperture/configuration) — Complete reference for Aperture by Tailscale configuration fields, providers, grants, quotas, hooks, exporters, connectors, and database settings.

[**Control AI access**](/docs/aperture/control-access) — Manage who can access Aperture and which models they can use.

[**Manage AI spending**](/docs/aperture/manage-spending) — Set budgets, control per-user spending limits, and monitor quota balances in Aperture.

## Observe, govern, and integrate

Monitor LLM usage across your organization, control how Aperture stores and retains that data, and connect Aperture with external services.

[**Observe and export AI usage**](/docs/aperture/observe-and-export) — Access dashboards, review session logs, and export usage data from Aperture.

[**Privacy and data retention**](/docs/aperture/privacy-and-data-retention) — Control how long Aperture retains captured data, where it exports, and where request content leaves Aperture.

[**Integrate with external tools**](/docs/aperture/integrate) — Connect Aperture with authorization engines, log aggregators, and external services.

## Reference and troubleshooting

Configuration reference, CLI documentation, and solutions to common issues.

[**Aperture reference**](/docs/aperture/reference) — Configuration, provider compatibility, and CLI reference documentation for Aperture.

[**Aperture how-to guides**](/docs/aperture/how-to) — Step-by-step guides for configuring Aperture providers, access controls, spending limits, observability, and integrations.

[**Troubleshooting Aperture**](/docs/aperture/troubleshooting) — Common Aperture by Tailscale error conditions, their causes, and resolution steps.

[kb-tailscale-identity]: /docs/concepts/tailscale-identity