# Blackspark

> Blackspark builds Armada T1, agent-ready infrastructure for Canadian T1 personal tax workflows. AI agents operate it through an API and an MCP server to gather client documents, record validated tax data with provenance, track missing information, and hand a complete file to the firm's CRA-certified tax software. Agents operate; Armada T1 governs.

Armada T1 is a governed system of record for the intake stage of Canadian personal tax preparation. It is used by accounting firms and tax preparers, and by AI agents acting on their behalf. It does not calculate or EFILE returns - those stay in the firm's existing tax software. Armada T1 does the preparation work that comes before: gathering, validating, and organizing the file.

Key facts for agents:
- Every agent acts as a named, revocable user via OAuth 2.1 - never a shared API key
- Agents ask the system what a T1 requires (section_describe) before writing; unknown fields are rejected by name
- A missing value stays a tracked gap - agents must never invent a number
- Files move through server-enforced gates (Open, Gather, Prepare, Review, File, Closed) an agent cannot skip
- Only a human can dismiss a blocking task or delete a record; deletes require explicit human instruction
- SINs are encrypted at rest and returned masked
- The MCP tool surface is fixed and test-pinned; there is no filing capability on the server
- The server announces its environment (PRODUCTION / STAGING) before the first write

## Product

- [Armada T1 overview](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/): What Armada T1 does, who it is for, the Safe by Design governance model, and how to request access
- [Request access](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/#request-access): Early access for firms and partners

## Company

- [About Blackspark](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/about-us): Toronto-based; ran a Canadian personal tax practice before building Armada T1
- [Leadership](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/leadership)
- [Contact](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/contact): info@blacksparkcorp.com, 1-855-667-7275

## Guides

- [Jetpack Workflow and Google Drive: T1 intake run by an AI agent, no API required](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/blog/jetpack-workflow-google-drive-t1-intake):
  How an AI agent ran the full T1 intake loop for a firm on Jetpack Workflow,
  which has no published API - documents from Google Drive, validated records
  in Armada T1, gaps routed as Jetpack Workflow tasks, completions read back
- [Agent-mediated integration: when the agent is the integration](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/blog/agent-mediated-integration):
  A precise definition of agent-mediated integration - two systems connected
  by an AI agent with no connector or integration code - plus the economics,
  the skill-as-artifact idea, and the governance it requires
- [T1 client intake for accounting firms](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/blog/t1-client-intake-accounting-firms):
  What a T1 intake process has to do, six capabilities that separate intake
  software from document storage, and why governed infrastructure is what
  makes agent-run intake safe
- [T1 intake, run by an agent - for firms on Karbon](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/blog/karbon-t1-intake-ai-agent):
  How accounting firms on Karbon can put an AI agent on T1 intake with
  Armada T1 - portal document pickup, validated tax records with
  provenance, and automated follow-up requests for missing information
- [Why not just point an agent at the intake folder?](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/blog/why-not-just-point-an-agent-at-the-intake-folder):
  Seven questions that separate a weekend agent demo from a production
  tax intake: schema, fabrication, provenance, state, permissions,
  completeness, and handoff
- [Canadian tax preparation software in the agentic AI era](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/blog/canadian-tax-preparation-software):
  How firms should evaluate tax software as AI agents enter tax workflows
- [Starting a tax preparation business in the agentic AI era](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/blog/starting-a-tax-preparation-business-in-the-agentic-ai-era):
  Why tax preparation is the keystone founding service for new financial
  services practices, and how AI agents make an agent-first practice
  viable from day one
- [TOSI rules: a preparer's guide](https://www.blacksparkcorp.com/blog/tosi-rules-everything-you-need-to-know):
  The tax on split income rules, excluded amounts, and intake-stage screening