Create client intake
define_intakeCreate a new client intake request — a branded portal where the client submits logos, copy, files, credentials, and other assets. BriefGate sends the invite email and chases the client automatically until all items are collected.
Call this once at the start of a project, after you know what assets you need. Returns { intake_id, portal_url, status, follow_up }. Save intake_id — you need it for all follow-up calls.
If the response carries invitation_sent: false, the client was NOT emailed: an invitation limit was hit (30 per hour on every plan; 10 per UTC day on the Free plan) and the intake was kept as a draft. Say so instead of reporting the client as contacted — note explains how to send it later.
The server cannot notify this conversation when the client finishes (MCP is request/response), so the returned follow_up block describes how completion will be learned:
follow_up.recommended = "webhook" — the account has an active webhook endpoint; completion events are delivered there.
follow_up.recommended = "schedule" — no endpoint is registered. follow_up.schedule gives the cadence for checking with get_intake_status (every_hours) and the date to stop (until). An account that runs a public HTTPS service can register an endpoint with manage_webhook instead.
Example: { "project_name": "Website for John Finance", "client": { "email": "john@example.com", "name": "John", "language": "cs" }, "due_date": "2026-08-15", "branding": { "accent_color": "#1B2A4A", "sender_name": "Radim" }, "items": [ { "key": "logo", "type": "image", "label": "Company logo", "constraints": { "formats": ["svg","png"], "min_width": 512 } }, { "key": "hero_copy", "type": "longtext", "label": "Homepage headline (2–3 sentences)", "constraints": { "max_chars": 400 } }, { "key": "wp_admin", "type": "secret", "label": "WordPress admin credentials" }, { "key": "photos", "type": "file_list", "label": "Photos (5–10 images)", "constraints": { "formats": ["jpg","png","heic"], "min_count": 5, "max_count": 15 } } ] }
Item types: text, longtext, file, file_list, image, color_list, select (one of options[]), multiselect (several of options[]; min_count/max_count in constraints), boolean, url, secret (encrypted; the value is shown only on the first retrieval), structured (requires schema with JSON Schema).
DECISIONS — questions for the account holder, not the client. An item with assignee="owner" and type select/multiselect is a question only the account holder can answer ("does the discounted plan cost 19 or 29?"). It can carry an optional "proposed" answer, e.g. proposed = { value: "19", rationale: "matches the competitor we benchmarked" }, which is stored separately from the account holder's answer and clearly labelled as a proposal.
get_intake_results returns the current answer with meta..decided_by: "owner" when the account holder answered in the dashboard, "agent_proposal" while only the proposal exists. A proposal cannot be confirmed through this API; only the account holder answers it. Item keys must be snake_case (e.g. "logo", "hero_copy", "ga4_id") — they become property names in get_intake_results.
Input Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| send | No | Whether to send the invite email immediately. Default: true. Set to false to create a draft and call /v1/intakes/:id/send later. | |
| items | Yes | List of assets to collect. Each item has key, type, label, and optional constraints. | |
| client | Yes | Client contact details. | |
| branding | No | Override account-level branding for this intake. logo_url, accent_color and sender_name are custom branding (Solo plan and up): on the Free plan they are accepted and stored but not used, and the email and portal show a built-in sender name with the account owner's address instead. | |
| due_date | No | Deadline in YYYY-MM-DD format. Shown in the portal and used to escalate chase cadence. | |
| template | No | Template slug to pre-populate items (e.g. "restaurant-website", "consulting-firm"). | |
| folder_id | No | Put this intake in an existing folder from list_folders instead of leaving it unfiled. Folders group intakes by client or project — reuse one for a returning client rather than creating a duplicate with create_folder. | |
| retention | No | How long BriefGate keeps this intake after it is finished. Default: purged 90 days after the client completes. Use mode "on_delivery" when the intake holds anything sensitive (credentials, personal photos): the contents are then removed shortly after YOU collect them with get_intake_results, because at that point you already have the files and there is no reason for a copy to sit on our server. An intake you never collect still expires on the day count, so this can only ever delete data earlier, never later. Example: { "mode": "on_delivery" } — or { "mode": "days", "days": 7 } to just shorten the window. | |
| email_copy | No | Your own subject and intro lines, overriding the built-in translation for this intake. Placeholders: {sender}, {project}, {client}, {count}, {minutes}, {due}. An unknown placeholder is rejected rather than rendered literally to the client. No links, web addresses or email addresses in any line — those are rejected; the portal button is the only link in the email. Part of custom branding (Solo plan and up): on the Free plan the lines are stored but the built-in wording is sent. Layout, button and footer stay as they are. | |
| client_brief | No | Free-text brief shown to the client at the top of the portal, above the requested items — information from you to them: an offer, instructions, or context for why you are asking for these items. Up to 5000 characters. Documents attached to the brief go through the REST endpoint POST /v1/intakes/:id/brief/files (dashboard or REST — not available through this MCP tool set). | |
| project_name | Yes | Human-readable project name shown in the invite email and portal heading. | |
| chase_at_time | No | Local time of day to send reminders at, "HH:MM" in the client's timezone (e.g. "07:00"). Anchors the cadence to a clock time instead of counting from the invite, and needs an interval measured in whole days. Naming a time deliberately overrides quiet hours, so "07:00" stays 07:00. | |
| max_reminders | No | Reminders to send before the intake is marked stalled and handed back to you (default 3). An integer from 1 to 1000, or the string "unlimited" to keep reminding until the client finishes. Raise it for a rapid cadence, which would otherwise exhaust three attempts in minutes. A bounce or spam complaint always cancels the remaining reminders, whatever this is set to. | |
| chase_interval | No | How often to remind, only with chase_schedule="custom". Pair with chase_interval_unit. Defaults to every 3 days when omitted. The interval must work out to at least 5 minutes and at most 90 days. | |
| chase_schedule | No | Automated reminder cadence. default=T+2d,T+5d,T+9d,weekly. gentle=T+3d,T+8d,biweekly. aggressive=T+1d,T+3d,T+5d,every-other-day. custom=every chase_interval chase_interval_unit. off=no auto reminders. | |
| auto_approve_hours | No | Hours after submission before an item is auto-approved without agent review. Default: 72. Set to 0 to require explicit approval. | |
| chase_interval_unit | No | Unit for chase_interval. Defaults to "days". | |
| respect_quiet_hours | No | Hold reminders to the client's 08:00-19:00 local window (default true). A cadence of minutes or hours pauses overnight and resumes in the morning; set false to send around the clock. |
Output Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| note | No | Comes with invitation_sent: false — which limit was hit and how to send the draft later. | |
| status | No | ||
| notices | No | Cadence caveats, present only when chase_schedule="custom" makes them relevant. | |
| follow_up | No | How to learn this intake is done — present unless a webhook already covers it. Mirrors FollowUpAdvice in client.ts. | |
| intake_id | No | ||
| portal_url | No | ||
| invitation_sent | No | Present, and false, only when an invitation limit was hit: the intake exists as a draft and the client was NOT emailed. |