Questions to ask before you sign.

1. Custody and administration

• Draw every document, prompt, embedding, log, backup and support path.
• Name every organization and administrator that can access each path.
• Show how air-gap or no-egress claims are tested, not merely configured.
• State whether client data is used for model training or service improvement.

2. Models, licences and portability

• Name exact model checkpoints, hashes, licences and usage policies.
• Explain how the model can be replaced without rebuilding the archive.
• Separate vendor benchmark results from workload measurements.
• Record what becomes unsupported if a licence or engine changes.

3. Workload and acceptance

• Freeze representative questions, context, concurrency and quality gates.
• Test citations, omissions, refusals, prompt injection and cross-role leakage.
• Record exact hardware, engine, quantisation, power and run count.
• Define who accepts negative findings and who may waive a threshold.

4. Identity, security and incidents

• Map user, administrator, service and agent identities.
• Show least privilege, audit export, secret ownership and support access.
• Define detection, containment, evidence preservation and notification.
• Name the human gate for high-impact or regulated use.

5. Recovery, operation and exit

• Demonstrate restore and index rebuild; record measured RTO/RPO.
• Name warranty, spare-part, patch and after-hours responsibilities.
• Provide model-change, configuration and rollback receipts.
• Deliver client-held exports, offline media, ownership map and supplier exit.

6. Commercial truth

• Separate hardware, implementation, licences, support, facility and VAT.
• Date supplier quotes, availability and planning assumptions.
• Reject universal savings or performance claims without visible inputs.
• Define the stop/no-build outcome before the first irreversible purchase.

Version: 2026-07-29. This is a technical procurement aid, not legal, regulatory, financial or medical advice.