For your AI

What an assistant needs to know about this place

Assist With Buying assists your AI with buying and purchases. It has no AI of its own: every sentence on a record here was written by you or by an assistant you connected, and this page is what that assistant reads to work well. It is public, so you can point yours at it before you have decided anything.

The address an assistant reads this from, as a remote MCP server:

https://assistwithbuying.com/mcp

Copying an address connects nothing. Pasting it into your assistant starts an OAuth sign-in in your own browser; your click on Allow is the approval, and Connect your AI is where you see and narrow what happened.

Read by your AI63 tools · 8 scopes · 39 writes

The toolset

Every tool this endpoint answers, with the permission it rides. A tool answers only while the person's grant still carries that permission — the grant is re-read on every single call, so a refusal means the permission changed, not that the tool is broken.

Reads · 24

buying_list_tripsmission.read

Page through the Trips, past and planned, with a cursor for the next page.

buying_get_tripmission.read

One Trip: its overview and a page of stops or journal entries, with each stop's source link, address precision, hours and who chose it.

buying_get_briefmission.read

The opening read: what is waiting, what is in flight, and what changed since last time.

buying_search_workspacemission.read

One bounded search across the workspace — a page of results and a cursor, never a whole table.

buying_get_mission_contextmission.read

One Mission in one call: its brief, criteria, options, observations, sources and decisions. Reach for this before assembling context by hand.

buying_list_itemsmission.read

Page through Items across every Mission, filtered and bounded.

buying_get_itemmission.read

One Item: its photographs, the prices seen, its condition, and what has been decided about it.

buying_list_suggestion_decisionsmission.read

What the person already decided about earlier suggestions, and the standing rule each refusal left. Read this before proposing.

buying_list_placesmission.read

The Places the person saved, with what they logged about each.

buying_get_placemission.read

One Place in full: where it is, its hours as recorded, and the notes on it.

buying_list_listsmission.read

The person's Lists, or one List or entry found by name.

buying_get_listmission.read

One List: a page of its entries with every field, its runs, a rule List's computed rows, and whether it is shared (read-only).

buying_list_capture_queuequeue.read

The Queue items the person handed over, with what each one asks.

buying_get_queue_activityqueue.read

One Queue item's history — who moved it, when, and to what.

buying_get_capture_imagemedia.read

Open one private photograph through the protected media path.

buying_get_capture_imagesmedia.read

Open several private photographs in one call.

buying_list_public_locationsplaces.read

Search the shared public directory of shops, markets and venues.

buying_get_preferencesmission.read

The AI Interaction Profile and every Buying Preference marked readable, with version numbers, in one call. Read it first, every session.

buying_list_typesmission.read

Types, a page at a time, with counts and the price range each carries.

buying_get_typemission.read

One Type: what to check, what they go for, a page of its Items and purchases, and the notes on it.

buying_list_purchasesmission.read

Purchases in a date range, optionally for one Type, List, Trip or Item. What the rule lists read.

buying_list_notesmission.read

The notes on one Item, Type, List, Place, Mission or Trip, in the person's words, with any reading kept apart.

buying_list_records_needing_titlesmission.read

Walk the records whose title or Recap still needs writing, one kind and one page at a time, each with a short digest to write from.

buying_manage_connectionno permission needed

Read this connection's own authority, or file one exact request for the person to approve. It changes no permission by itself.

Writes · 39

buying_save_tripmission.write

Create or correct a Trip — its title, Recap, dates, area, purpose, and the Lists or Missions it belongs to.

buying_save_trip_stopmission.write

Save one stop on a Trip: the sale or shop, its source link, its hours, and your recommendation kept apart from the person's own choice.

buying_add_trip_entrymission.write

Append research, a photo reading, a visit note or a correction to a Trip or one of its stops.

buying_save_missionmission.write

Create or correct a Mission — its title, Objective, Recap and status; one field at a time by missionId.

buying_save_optionmission.write

Save one option under a Mission, with what it costs and where it came from.

buying_save_comparisonmission.write

Save the options side by side, on the things that actually differ.

buying_log_sourcesmission.write

Record the sources a piece of research rests on, with what each one said.

buying_save_decisionmission.write

Write down what the person chose and why, pointing at the research it came from.

buying_save_complete_resultmission.write

A finished piece of work in one call: the answer, its options, its sources and its decision.

buying_set_item_statusmission.write

Move an Item along its lifecycle — watching, passed, bought.

buying_propose_suggestionmission.write

Raise a suggestion and leave it waiting. Nothing accepts one but the person.

buying_create_placemission.write

Add a Place to this workspace. Private; it does not reach the directory.

buying_add_place_observationmission.write

Keep a workspace-private note about a Place.

buying_record_visitmission.write

Open or close a visit to a Place.

buying_save_place_descriptionmission.write

Write the long description of a Place.

buying_create_appraisalmission.write

Open an Appraisal on an Item, naming the photographs it is about.

buying_answer_appraisalmission.write

Answer an open Appraisal. The verdict is always shown as yours, named and dated.

buying_log_appraisalmission.write

Open and answer an Appraisal in one call.

buying_update_appraisalmission.write

Fill in the facts around an Appraisal without changing its answer.

buying_record_outcomemission.write

Record what the person actually did — bought, walked, negotiated.

buying_save_list_itemmission.write

Put a thing on a List, creating the List by name if it does not exist.

buying_record_list_pricemission.write

Record what a List entry cost, with where and when.

buying_attach_photomedia.write

Attach one photograph to a Queue item or an Appraisal. Filed as attached by you, named and dated — never as one the person took.

buying_update_capture_queue_itemqueue.write

Claim, hold, finish, fail or ask a question about a Queue item you were handed.

buying_find_or_create_public_locationplaces.contribute

Add a place to the shared public directory.

buying_add_location_contributionplaces.contribute

Attach a short privacy-scrubbed note to a directory entry.

buying_withdraw_location_contributionplaces.contribute

Withdraw a directory note you contributed.

buying_save_itemmission.write

Save one Item, or add what is now known about it: Type, asking price, condition, Place, Mission, evidence.

buying_save_items_batchmission.write

Save up to 200 Items in one call. A sweep of listings is one request, not one per listing.

buying_save_purchases_batchmission.write

Record a whole receipt at once: every line, quantity and price paid, one Place, one date, optional Trip and List.

buying_update_listmission.write

Add, tick, skip, annotate or reorder up to 100 entries on a List in one call, and start or close a run.

buying_save_typemission.write

Create or update a Type: overview, what to check, the price range and its basis.

buying_save_notemission.write

Leave a note in the person's words on a record, with your own reading kept apart and attributed.

buying_save_preferencemission.write

Save a preference the person explicitly asked you to save, as a new attributed version. Inferences go through propose.

buying_propose_preferencemission.write

Offer an inferred preference with its evidence. It waits for the person to adopt or dismiss it.

buying_save_item_decisionmission.write

Record a decision on an Item — pass, shortlist, choose or defer — with its reason and the List or Mission it belongs to.

buying_save_titles_and_recapsmission.write

Write titles and Recaps for up to 100 records — Missions, Queue asks, Items, Types, Places, Lists, Trips, Library — in one call. Never replaces the person's own words without a stated reason.

buying_save_listmission.write

Create or edit a List: behaviour, shelves, description, due date, cadence, rule, Places — or copy one shared by link. Sharing stays the person's.

buying_set_library_membershipmission.write

Put Library research on the shelf or take it off, up to 100 at once. The research and its links to Items, Types, Missions, Places and Trips are never removed.

The first-call sequence

What to do at the start of every session, in this order.

Read the brief.buying_get_brief is one call and tells you what is waiting on the person, what is in flight, and what changed since you were last here. It is the cheapest orientation there is.
Read what the person wants remembered.Their AI Interaction Profile is how they want to be worked with; their Buying Preferences are standing facts about how they buy. Both reach you through the Mission context read for a Mission they are lent to, and only the ones marked AI may read. Neither is a permission: guidance never widens what you may touch.
Check the Queue.buying_list_capture_queue. Anything waiting is work the person already asked for. Pick it up before starting anything new, and give it a short title that says what the answer will be about.
Read what exists before researching.Missions, Items, Lists, Places, prices, decisions. Most questions have half an answer on the record already, and buying_search_workspace finds it in one bounded call.
Work in the open.Save research with its premise and its sources, and link it to the Mission, Item, List or Place it belongs to in the same call.
Propose; never assume.Options are proposals. Only the person's own pick becomes a decision — there is no tool that accepts a suggestion, and that omission is deliberate.

Fewer calls, same result

Every call this site answers costs the person who owns the records. These five are the difference between a session that reads once and one that reads forty times.

Read once, at the start.buying_get_brief and buying_list_capture_queue together are two calls. Do not re-read them mid-session unless the person says something changed.
Ask for a page, not a table.Every list tool returns a bounded page and a cursor. Fetch the next page only if the first did not answer the question.
Link in the same call.Every save tool accepts the Mission, Item, List or Place it belongs to. Saving and then linking is two calls for one thought.
Prefer the summary tool.buying_get_mission_context is one call that replaces five reads. Reach for it before assembling a Mission's context by hand.
Finish an Appraisal in one call.buying_log_appraisal opens and answers together, and buying_save_complete_result saves an answer with its options, sources and decision at once.

Tips for your AI

How to use this site well, kept current by the people who run it. If something here contradicts an older habit, this page wins.

Preferences exist. Ask before you save one.This person may have written standing preferences and an AI Interaction Profile. They reach you only when the person marked them readable, and there is no tool that lets you write one — if they tell you something durable, tell them it belongs on their Buying Preferences page and let them put it there.

You may not be the only assistant here.Several assistants can be connected to one account. Everything you write is attributed to you by name and dated, and the person can see every connection's recent requests. Read what another assistant already saved before repeating its work.

Start with buying_get_mission_context, not a dozen small reads.One call returns a Mission's brief, criteria, options, observations, sources and decisions. Use it before any research, and reach for the narrower reads when you need one thing.

Search before you research.buying_search_workspace covers Missions, Items, Lists, Places and earlier research. A question about a model's usual price or a seller's terms has usually been answered once. Read that first, then research only the gap.

Titles are yours to give.A Queue item often arrives without one. When you pick it up, give it a short title that says what the answer will be about, not a restatement of the question. The person sees it in every view.

Some things are better done on the site. Say so.Adding many photographs or reordering a List by hand is faster in the browser than through this connection. Tell the person plainly and point them at the page.

Record decisions as decisions.When the person chooses, save it with buying_save_decision and the research it came from. Ranking is a proposal, not a pick, and recording what someone did is not deciding for them.

Observed-on dates carry no verdict.A price from March is not stale and a price from yesterday is not true. Report what was checked and when, and keep asking prices, comparables and prices paid apart.

A refusal is information, not a wall.Buying re-reads the person's grant on every call. If you are refused, say which permission was missing and point them at Connect your AI — never retry the same call, and never ask them to paste a key. There is no key.

This page changes.The people who run this site update it as assistants change. Read it at the start of a session, not once.

What each permission covers

The exact sentences a person reads before they approve a connection, and the ones the server enforces. They are the same sentences.

mission.readRead your Missions and the records around themRead only

Read your Buying brief, search your workspace, and open one Mission's options, criteria, comparison, dated observations, sources, and decisions — plus your items across every Mission, the places you have saved with your visits and your description of each, your lists and what you paid last time, your Types, your purchase record, your notes, and what you have already decided about earlier suggestions. It also reads your AI Interaction Profile and the preferences you marked readable — those only, and a count of the rest. Seller contact values are never included.

mission.writeSave Mission researchCan change things

Create and correct Missions, options, comparisons, sources, and dated decisions — including one-call complete results. Also raise a suggestion for you to decide, save or correct Items one at a time or two hundred in one call, move an item along its lifecycle, record what you decided about one, keep Types and Notes, record a whole receipt of purchases, work your lists and start or close a run, keep a private note about a place, open a visit and write your description of a place, record what things cost, open and answer an Appraisal in one call, and record what you actually did about it. It can save a preference YOU asked for and propose one it inferred; only you adopt a proposal. Writes are replay-safe and keep their source and AI provenance.

queue.readSee work you handed overRead only

List the Queue items you sent to an AI and read their activity history. Nothing else in your workspace is visible through this alone.

queue.writeWork your Queue itemsCan change things

Claim, hold, complete, fail, release, or ask you a question about a Queue item you handed over. A Queue item never widens any other permission.

media.readOpen your captured photosRead only

Retrieve the private images attached to your Queue captures, through the protected media path rather than a public web fetch.

media.writeAttach a photo to work you handed overCan change things

Attach one photograph at a time to a Queue item or an Appraisal — the picture of the thing it is asking you about. It is stored privately in your workspace and filed as attached by that AI, named and dated, never as one you took. Location data is stripped on the way in; the AI cannot make a photo public or take it back afterwards, and you can remove it or turn this off whenever you like.

places.readLook up shared venuesRead onlyShared, not private

Search the shared public directory of shops, markets, and venues. This is community data, not your private workspace.

places.contributeAdd shared venue contextCan change thingsShared, not private

Add a venue to the shared public directory and attach short privacy-scrubbed notes, or withdraw a note you contributed. Contributions carry no link back to your Missions.

What this site promises

Assist With Buying never runs your AI. An ask waits in the Queue until an AI you connected picks it up.
Leaving an ask grants your AI nothing it could not already do.
Photos attached to an ask are not read until your AI picks the ask up.
Archiving deletes nothing. An archived record can be brought back.

The rules every connection runs under

Derived from the server, not written beside it. If one of these sentences is wrong, the code that enforces it changed.

Signing in through OAuth and allowing the client is the approval. From that moment the connection holds mission.read, mission.write, queue.read, queue.write, media.read, media.write, places.read, places.contribute for 30 days. Buying issues and receipts that authority separately from OAuth identity.
That baseline is the "ordinary-research" policy, version 3, decided 2026-09-01. Every grant records which policy issued it. A connection issued under an older version and never narrowed by the person is widened to the current default on its next call, and the ledger entry names both versions.
Nothing is withheld pending a request: every permission in this vocabulary is granted by signing in. /settings/ai is where the person narrows a connection or revokes it if they want less, never where they go to unlock ordinary use.
Attaching a photograph writes stored bytes rather than sentences, and "media.write" is nevertheless granted by signing in: this is a product for photographing things at sales, and the assistant that writes an Appraisal is the one holding the picture of what it appraised. The care that decision needs is in the tool rather than in the tier. A photograph an assistant attaches is filed as attached by that assistant, named and dated, never as one the person took; one at a time, under a hard size ceiling, with the bytes re-read and checked server-side; it lands as a private file, its location data is stripped on the way in while its capture time is kept, and nothing an assistant may call can make it public or take it back. The person removes it in the product, and narrows the permission in one click at /settings/ai.
An assistant proposes and answers; the person decides. A suggestion is raised with buying_propose_suggestion and waits: there is no tool that accepts one, and an Appraisal never becomes a Mission by machine — growing one is the person's own action. Both omissions are deliberate.
A verdict on an Appraisal is optional and always shown as the answering assistant's, named and dated. Buying does not certify what a thing is worth, and no answer is ever presented as Buying's own.
Fewer calls, same result. Read once at the start — buying_get_brief and buying_get_preferences — rather than re-reading between saves. Batch every sweep: buying_save_items_batch for listings, buying_save_purchases_batch for a receipt, buying_update_list for several entries and their run. Ask for a page and follow its cursor instead of raising a limit until a whole table comes back. Link a record in the same call that saves it. Prefer the one tool that summarises a block over assembling it from five.
A preference is saved only when the person explicitly asked for it, and buying_save_preference records their own words as the reason. Anything an assistant merely inferred goes to buying_propose_preference and waits; nothing reads a pending proposal as a standing fact, and there is no tool that adopts one. A preference is readable back to an assistant only after the person opens that row themselves, so creating one does not make it visible to the assistant that wrote it.
A Note keeps the person's own wording. An assistant's reading of a note is stored in a separate, attributed field beside it, and no tool lets an assistant rewrite what the person said.
A suggestion the person declined carries a standing rule with their reason and the one condition under which it may be raised again. The rule is enforced on the write, and the refusal names it. Read buying_list_suggestion_decisions before proposing rather than learning the rule by being refused.
The token proves who is calling; the stored grant decides what they may do. The grant is re-read on every single call, and the token's own scopes are never read for authorization.
Asking for access never changes live authority. buying_manage_connection files one exact request and returns a link for the person; only their click can approve it.
No assistant operation narrows, widens, revokes, or renews a permission. The one authority change that is not the person's own click is Buying raising a never-narrowed connection to the current default baseline, which only ever adds what every connection now holds and is recorded in the ledger. Narrowing and revoking remain the person's alone, at /settings/ai, and a connection they narrowed is never widened back.
Each connection lasts 30 days from the sign-in that made it, and the person renews it themselves.
No approval this product can issue ever allows any of the following. Reveal a seller's contact details, or contact, message, or negotiate with anyone. Make an offer, spend money, or complete a purchase. Permanently delete, archive, or export your workspace. Publish your private research, or share it outside Buying. Reach another person's workspace, or any other Assist product.
A connected client may still apply its own per-tool prompt or block policy; Buying does not override client-side approval controls.

What no approval can ever allow

Reveal a seller's contact details, or contact, message, or negotiate with anyone.
Make an offer, spend money, or complete a purchase.
Permanently delete, archive, or export your workspace.
Publish your private research, or share it outside Buying.
Reach another person's workspace, or any other Assist product.

A plain-text copy of this page is at /for-your-ai.txt, and the long-form agent contract is at /llms-full.txt.