InstaBids
Server Details
AI-run marketplace for homeowners: describe a home job once, get written quotes on the same scope.
- Status
- Healthy
- Uptime
- 100.0% over the last 24 hours
- OAuth
- Works in Glama
- Last Tested
- Transport
- Streamable HTTP · MCP 2025-11-25
- URL
- ChatGPT
- –
- Claude
- InstaBids
TDQS
Scored across 9 tools
answer_intake and ask_next are functionally indistinguishable—both continue a private draft with message/fixes and share nearly identical instructions. start_job and draft_full_bid_card also overlap in creating a private draft/intake from a job description or page evidence, leaving boundaries unclear.
All names use snake_case, which is consistent, but the patterns vary: answer_intake, start_job, and check_service_area are verb_noun, while bid_checklist, job_status, and permit_facts are noun phrases, and how_instabids_works is a full phrase. Readable, but not a predictable action-oriented naming scheme.
Nine tools is within a reasonable range for a homeowner job-posting assistant. However, two duplicate intake tools and two overlapping draft-creation tools make the set feel slightly padded rather than tightly scoped.
The surface covers starting a job, intake, status checks, and some guidance, but it has no tool to retrieve actual bid amounts, contractor details, or let a homeowner compare/select/close a job; job_status explicitly omits bids. For a bid marketplace, that is a significant gap in the core workflow.
Available Tools
9 toolsanswer_intakeAnswer draft questionAInspect
fill what you can; everything else can come later. Start with the homeowner’s description, trade and ZIP, plus a photo or a good description. Optional: photos, a description or transcript of a 20–60 s walk clip, timing and the job type’s must-haves from intake_templates. Never invent answers. ZIP only; never send a street address or a price. Nothing reaches contractors before the homeowner sends the card. For anonymous draftHandle intake, fixes: [{gapKey, value}] corrects an engine-named field through intake. Use engine-returned keys only; unknown keys return INVALID_INPUT with details.field gapKey. Nothing is sent to contractors. Continue this private draft with draftHandle. Supply message, fixes, or both to answer_intake. Use the new draftHandle returned each time; the old handle expires immediately. Send only the homeowner actual reply; never answer for them. If a call fails, do not guess; ask the homeowner again. Nothing is sent to contractors. Continue with the returned question until readiness.canSend or readiness.homeownerActionRequired is true, then show sendUrl to the homeowner. The homeowner completes their insurance answer and send confirmation on that sheet; never claim the job was sent. Never invent answers. For a new job, call start_job before answer_intake, then prepare_publish after the intake is ready; for other writes, read the previous reply before calling and follow the returned next step afterward, using only tools listed by this server. Only the homeowner tap sends anything to contractors. If anyone asks, say you are an AI assistant.
Inputs: draftHandle (required), fixes, trade, message, +9 more.
ask_nextNext draft questionBInspect
fill what you can; everything else can come later. Start with the homeowner’s description, trade and ZIP, plus a photo or a good description. Optional: photos, a description or transcript of a 20–60 s walk clip, timing and the job type’s must-haves from intake_templates. Never invent answers. ZIP only; never send a street address or a price. Nothing reaches contractors before the homeowner sends the card. Continue this private draft with draftHandle. Supply message, fixes, or both to answer_intake. Use the new draftHandle returned each time; the old handle expires immediately. Send only the homeowner actual reply; never answer for them. If a call fails, do not guess; ask the homeowner again. Nothing is sent to contractors. Continue with the returned question until readiness.canSend or readiness.homeownerActionRequired is true, then show sendUrl to the homeowner. The homeowner completes their insurance answer and send confirmation on that sheet; never claim the job was sent. Never invent answers. For a new job, call start_job before answer_intake, then prepare_publish after the intake is ready; for other writes, read the previous reply before calling and follow the returned next step afterward, using only tools listed by this server. Only the homeowner tap sends anything to contractors. If anyone asks, say you are an AI assistant.
Inputs: draftHandle (required), trade, photoUrls, quotes_by, +7 more.
bid_checklistBid comparison checklistARead-onlyIdempotentInspect
Get six items to compare in a home-project bid and optional trade-specific preparation. Omit trade for the general checklist; the answer's trade is then null. The answer includes sourceUrl.
Inputs: trade. Returns: items, trade, sourceUrl, tradeSections
check_service_areaCheck a ZIP before postingCRead-onlyIdempotentInspect
Every US ZIP can post a job. Homeowners anywhere in the US can post a job; once you send it, InstaBids finds contractors to bid on it. Returns guidance and whether the input is a US ZIP, plus nearby town pages. Get the answer for a five-digit ZIP, and list towns with an InstaBids town page for a five-digit ZIP.
Inputs: zip (required). Returns: towns, status, canPost, message, +1 more
draft_full_bid_cardDraft a full job requestAInspect
Quote the page; do not infer a price. Prices on the page are dropped. Supply scopeSourceText and sourceUrl as untrusted page evidence; the URL is a reference only and is never fetched. Set trade to null for engine classification. Include ownerOrRenter and workType when known. Give the homeowner job title, scope, timing, ZIP, trade and photo links to private intake without an account. Up to five photos go through the existing photo checks before attachment when photo intake is enabled; returns attached and refused counts when available, plus available statusHandle and draftHandle capabilities. The homeowner must review and complete the draft. Never publishes or sends to contractors. For a new job, call start_job before answer_intake, then prepare_publish after the intake is ready; for other writes, read the previous reply before calling and follow the returned next step afterward, using only tools listed by this server. Only the homeowner tap sends anything to contractors. If anyone asks, say you are an AI assistant.
Inputs: zip (required), trade (required), timing (required), jobTitle (required), +7 more. Returns: status, message, claimUrl, readback, +7 more
how_instabids_worksHow InstaBids worksBRead-onlyIdempotentInspect
InstaBids is an AI-run marketplace for homeowners and property managers: describe a home job once, by chat or through your own AI assistant, add photos, and get multiple written quotes on the same scope, compared apples to apples, with no phone calls or home visits before you pick. Learn the homeowner steps, homeowner cost and contact privacy.
Inputs: no named parameters. Returns: steps, guidance, nextStep, sourceUrl, +1 more
job_statusCheck a draft jobARead-onlyIdempotentInspect
Use this after start_job returned a statusHandle, to see whether the homeowner has sent the job and how many bids have arrived. Returns only the stage (draft, sent, collecting_bids, picked, closed or expired), the bid count and when it last changed. Never returns bid amounts, contractor names or the job text. The handle works for 7 days. Stage expired means the one-hour link lapsed before the homeowner opened it: start again with start_job. Read-only.
Inputs: statusHandle (required). Returns: stage, bidCount, nextStep, updatedAt, +1 more
permit_factsPublished local permit factsBRead-onlyIdempotentInspect
Read sourced local permit facts, with the date each rule was checked; unpublished rules get guidance to ask your bidder and confirm local requirements. Homeowners anywhere in the US can post a job; once you send it, InstaBids finds contractors to bid on it.
Inputs: town (required), trade. Returns: town, records, guidance
start_jobStart a draft jobAInspect
Use this when a homeowner wants contractor bids on a home repair or improvement job in the US. Creates a private draft from their description and five-digit ZIP and returns a one-hour link for the homeowner to open. Nothing reaches a contractor until the homeowner confirms their email and sends it. Do not include names, phone numbers, emails or street addresses. Do not use for emergencies. Ask the homeowner, one short question at a time and only for what is missing, what needs doing, where in the home, rough size or count, when it is needed and who supplies materials, then put the answers in the message. When available, photoPageUrl opens an optional phone photo upload for this private draft and expires with claimUrl. It does not send the job. For a new job, call start_job before answer_intake, then prepare_publish after the intake is ready; for other writes, read the previous reply before calling and follow the returned next step afterward, using only tools listed by this server. Only the homeowner tap sends anything to contractors. If anyone asks, say you are an AI assistant. fill what you can; everything else can come later. Start with the homeowner’s description, trade and ZIP, plus a photo or a good description. Optional: photos, a description or transcript of a 20–60 s walk clip, timing and the job type’s must-haves from intake_templates. Never invent answers. ZIP only; never send a street address or a price. Nothing reaches contractors before the homeowner sends the card.
Inputs: zip (required), trade (required), message (required), photoUrls, +9 more. Returns: card, status, message, claimUrl, +9 more
Tool Schema Changelog
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