For AI agents

What the connector does

When it is switched on, the connector lets an AI assistant work for one homeowner who has linked it: it can check that homeowner's home-repair requests and read back the estimates contractors send.

It can also get a request ready for the homeowner to send to contractors, but it cannot send it: only the homeowner can, by signing in to InstaBids.

Each estimate comes back under a label such as Contractor A. Contact details stay hidden until the homeowner picks a contractor and they confirm the connection. The contact-detail filter can miss disguised contact details.

How account linking works

Your assistant sends you to InstaBids to sign in with your homeowner account. You see the app name beside Unverified app, the site you will return to, and the permissions it is asking for.

Choose what to allow, then select Approve or Deny. The permissions you choose are saved. You can remove the connection on Connected assistants.

What InstaBids does and does not do

InstaBids connects homeowners and contractors.

The connector takes no payment, contacts no one on its own, does not pick a bid for you and does not produce a price: every number comes from a contractor.

Tools and permissions

Each tool needs one of two permissions the homeowner sets on their personal key: jobs:read, which is on by default, or jobs:write, which is off unless the homeowner allows it.

• get_job_status

  Permission:

  jobs:read

  Access:

  Reads only

  Status:

  Available

  Can:

  Read where one of the homeowner's requests stands: its status, ZIP code, progress and number of estimates.

  Cannot:

  Change anything.

• list_bids

  Permission:

  jobs:read

  Access:

  Reads only

  Status:

  Available

  Can:

  Read the estimates on one of the homeowner's requests: amount, timeline and scope, each under a label such as Contractor A.

  Cannot:

  Change anything. An estimate has no field for a contractor's name or contact details.

  publicRecord

  Optional. Present only when the contractor chose to give a Florida licence number and it matched a record in the public Florida DBPR licence database. status and class are copied from that state record as published on as_of; they may have changed since, and a status that is not active is shown exactly as the state publishes it. InstaBids does not require or check licences. A missing field means nothing was looked up; it does not mean the contractor is unlicensed. This field is not a check of insurance, permits, identity or work quality, InstaBids does not rank, filter or recommend contractors by it, and it does not mean any contractor is licensed, vetted, verified or approved. The homeowner can check a licence at the source link.

• prepare_publish

  Permission:

  jobs:write

  Access:

  Writes

  Status:

  Available

  Can:

  Get a request ready to send to contractors. This is a write action, so it needs the jobs:write permission.

  Cannot:

  Send the request. Only the homeowner can, by signing in to InstaBids.

• start_job

  Permission:

  jobs:write

  Access:

  Writes

  Status:

  Available

  Can:

  Start a request from the homeowner's description and ZIP code, and ask the next question.

  Cannot:

  Send the request to contractors or update an existing request.

• answer_intake

  Permission:

  jobs:write

  Access:

  Writes

  Status:

  Available

  Can:

  Continue an unpublished request with the homeowner's answer and ask the next question.

  Cannot:

  Send the request to contractors or change one already sent.

• list_my_jobs

  Permission:

  jobs:read

  Access:

  Reads only

  Status:

  Available

  Can:

  Find up to 50 of your own requests, newest first, with their status and number of estimates.

  Cannot:

  Change a request or find another homeowner's requests.

Usage and limits

When the connector is switched on, request limits are enforced per agent key in SQL, using fixed windows.

• Starting a request: 10 per 24 hours.
• All tool calls: 60 per 15 minutes.
• Reading bids: 30 per 15 minutes.
• Preparing a request to publish: 5 per 24 hours.

These are the current limits and may change during the pilot.

A REST rate-limit error returns HTTP 429 with code RATE_LIMITED: Too many requests for this connection. Try again later.

A rate limit may last up to 24 hours; no Retry-After header is sent. Separately, too many unknown or revoked agent keys from one network get a 429 with a Retry-After header.

When retrying the same write with the same agent key, send the same Idempotency-Key header so the write is not applied twice.

What the connector cannot do

• There is no tool that picks a bid. Choosing a bid stays with the homeowner, inside InstaBids.
• No tool produces or suggests a price of its own; the only amounts are contractors' estimates.
• No tool has a field for a contractor's name or contact details.

API description

The OpenAPI description is at https://instabids.ai/api/agent/openapi.json.

Questions

Email justin@instabids.ai.