# Vendor facets — Front. Shared-inbox customer-operations platform with a knowledge base / help
# center that can be public or login-controlled and, on Professional and up, run on the provider's
# own domain. Headline: one 2-point pointer check (support_channel, ~45% catalog pass rate, not
# saturated); getting-started and auth only where the provider writes those articles. No community
# product and no llms.txt observed.
vendor: front
name: Front
website: https://front.com
areas:
- support
registry_keys: []
rubric_schema_version: 0.22.0
generated: '2026-09-25'
features_refreshed: '2026-09-25'
basis: capability
summary: >-
  Front earns a provider one check: a declared, public help center is a support channel, 2 points in developer
  ergonomics. Its knowledge-base articles can hold a getting-started guide and an authentication page
  only when the provider writes and declares them. A login-controlled help center is still a support channel
  but cannot serve as public documentation. No llms.txt on Front's own help center, no community forum,
  and no registry fingerprint, so the profile is capability-only.
features:
- id: help-center
  name: Help center and knowledge base
  description: >-
    Hosted knowledge base with a customer portal, chat widget and contact form; public or private site
    visibility; multiple help centers on Professional and up.
  source: https://help.front.com/en/articles/3093440
  tier: all
- id: help-center-custom-domain
  name: Help center custom domain
  description: >-
    Up to two custom (non-apex) domains per help center by CNAME, one primary and one redirect; latest
    Professional plan and above.
  source: https://help.front.com/en/articles/252608
  tier: paid
maps:
- feature: help-center
  check: support_channel
  layer: composite
  credit: 1.0
  provider_must: Declare the help center in apis.yml common[] as HelpCenter or Support.
  catalog_pass_rate: 0.45
  facet: developer_ergonomics
  points: 2
  baseline_pass_rate: 0.69
- feature: help-center
  check: getting_started_present
  layer: composite
  conditional: true
  condition: >-
    Only if the provider writes a getting-started guide for its API as a public help-center article and
    declares it as GettingStarted.
  provider_must: Write the guide, keep it public, and declare its URL as GettingStarted.
  catalog_pass_rate: 0.206
  facet: developer_ergonomics
  points: 5
  baseline_pass_rate: 0.636
- feature: help-center
  check: authentication_documented
  layer: composite
  conditional: true
  condition: >-
    Only if the provider documents its API authentication in a public help-center article and declares
    it as Authentication.
  provider_must: Write the page, keep it public, and declare its URL as Authentication.
  catalog_pass_rate: 0.368
  facet: developer_ergonomics
  points: 5
  baseline_pass_rate: 0.94
  saturated: true
  saturated_note: >-
    94% of providers with a contract, docs and a reference already earn this; the vendor cannot move it
    for most of its buyers.
earns_nothing:
- feature: help-center-custom-domain
  why: No check reads the host of a support pointer.
out_of_reach:
  checks:
  - llms_txt_published
  - status_page_present
  - change_log_present
  - contract_present
  - api_reference_present
  - sdk_count_1
  note: >-
    No llms.txt seen (help.front.com/llms.txt returned 404 on 2026-09-25); no status, changelog, contract
    or SDK tooling for the provider's API.
surface:
  developer_ergonomics:
    reachable: 12.0
    total: 42
  agent_readiness:
    reachable: 0
    total: 139
hard_rule: >-
  A model, not a score. Adopting this vendor changes a provider's Kin Score only when the provider publishes
  the resulting artifacts on its own surface; nothing here writes a score, and no sponsorship or partnership
  can.
method: searched
source:
- https://help.front.com/en/articles/252608
- https://help.front.com/en/articles/3093440
measured:
  cohort:
    method: vendors-catalog.json detections (CNAME / header / URL shape / markup), never a name match
    detected: 0
    in_baseline: 0
  control:
    basis: providers earning contract_present + documentation_present + api_reference_present, minus the
      cohort
    n: 5216
  metric: >-
    cohort_pct / control_pct = mean share of the check's points earned (derived and platform credit weighted),
    x100
  measured_on: '2026-09-25'
  status: 'not measurable: 0 detected customers clear the baseline (need 20)'
simulation:
  simulated_on: '2026-09-25'
  rubric: 0.23.0
  population: providers publishing a contract (contract_present earned), replayable exactly
  providers: 8977
  providers_unreplayable: 987
  providers_moved: 3995
  conditional_rows: excluded (they depend on what the API already does)
  composite_lift:
    median: 0.0
    p75: 0.9
    p90: 1.0
    max: 1.0
    mean_among_movers: 0.9
  agent_readiness_lift:
    median: 0.0
    p75: 0.0
    p90: 0.0
    max: 0.0
    mean_among_movers: 0.0
  facet_lift_median_among_movers:
    developer_ergonomics: 4.8
  composite_band_moves:
    thin -> developing: 217
    emerging -> thin: 66
    developing -> strong: 34
    strong -> exemplar: 8
    minimal -> emerging: 1
  agent_readiness_band_moves: {}
  method: >-
    each provider's own kin/checks file, the vendor's maps at their stated credit, the scorer's composite
    formula; from -> to, nothing written