InstaBids plugin for Claude
Connect Claude to InstaBids to start a home-repair request, answer its questions, check your jobs and read the anonymised contractor bids on them.
Homeowners anywhere in the US can post a job; once you send it, InstaBids finds contractors to bid on it.
Install
- Claude Code:
/plugin install instabids --marketplace Instabidsai/instabids-claude-plugin
- Gemini CLI:
gemini extensions install https://github.com/Instabidsai/instabids-claude-plugin
- Cline: see Cline below.
Cline
Add the hosted server to Cline (MCP Servers > Remote Servers, or cline_mcp_settings.json). Nothing to install and no API key:
{
"mcpServers": {
"instabids": {
"type": "streamableHttp",
"url": "https://instabids.ai/api/agent/mcp"
}
}
}
Then press Authenticate and sign in with your InstaBids homeowner account (OAuth 2.1). Step-by-step notes for an AI assistant are in llms-install.md.
What is in this plugin
- The InstaBids connector (remote MCP server):
https://instabids.ai/api/agent/mcp
- Skill
home-project-request: turns a job description into a written request, step by step.
- Skill
compare-contractor-bids: reads and compares the bids on your job, item by item.
Tools
| Tool | What it does | Changes anything? |
|---|
list_my_jobs | Your own requests | No |
get_job_status | Status and bid count of one of your jobs | No |
list_bids | The anonymised bids on one of your jobs | No |
start_job | Starts a new request from your description | Yes |
answer_intake | Adds your answer to an unsent request | Yes |
prepare_publish | Checks a request is ready to send | Yes |
request_approval | Gives you a sign-in code to review sending your request (only listed when InstaBids has this step switched on) | Yes |
check_approval | Checks whether you approved or declined (only listed when InstaBids has this step switched on) | No |
All tools need you to sign in with your InstaBids homeowner account.
Only you can send a request to contractors, by signing in to InstaBids. Claude cannot send it, choose a bid or contact a contractor.
Sign-in
Tools that read or change your jobs ask you to sign in with your InstaBids homeowner account. At sign-in you choose whether Claude may only read your jobs and bids, or also prepare jobs. You can disconnect at any time from Connected assistants in your InstaBids account.
Privacy
- Claude receives only what the tools return: your own jobs, their questions and answers, and the bids on them. Bids carry a label such as Contractor A and no contractor names or contact details.
- InstaBids keeps a log of each tool call (which tool, when, and the outcome) for security and abuse prevention.
- What you send through the connector is handled under the InstaBids privacy policy, including how long it is kept and how to ask for your data.
- What Claude does with the conversation is covered by Anthropic's own terms and privacy policy.
Support
Licence
The MIT licence covers the code and text in this repository only. It does not grant any right to use the InstaBids name or logo.
Published by InstaBids Labs, Inc.
