BuyAPI

Vendor intelligence for AI coding agents choosing developer tools and stacks.

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What it can do

    What data it sees

    Do you need an account

    No: the server works without sign-in

    Vendor intelligence for AI coding agents choosing developer tools and stacks.

    How to connect

    How to connect BuyAPI to Claude

    The server address to paste into Claude settings:

    https://buyapi.ai/api/mcp

    1. Open Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app).
    2. Go to Settings → Connectors.
    3. Click Add custom connector.
    4. Paste the server address copied below into Remote MCP server URL and click Add.
    5. In a chat, click + → Connectors and switch the new connector on.

    Custom connectors are available on Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise plans (Free is limited to one). On Team and Enterprise an organization Owner adds the connector first under Organization settings → Connectors.

    Authorization

    After you click Add, a sign-in window for the service opens. Sign in with your own account and approve access. Claude never sees your password.

    How to connect BuyAPI to ChatGPT

    The server address to paste into ChatGPT settings:

    https://buyapi.ai/api/mcp

    1. Open ChatGPT in a browser (chatgpt.com). A Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise or Edu plan is required.
    2. Turn on developer mode once: Settings → Apps → Advanced settings → Developer mode.
    3. Open Settings → Connectors and click Create.
    4. Fill in the form: Name (anything), Description (one line about what the service does), MCP server URL (copy it below).
    5. Under Authentication choose OAuth if the service requires sign-in, otherwise None. Click Create.
    6. In a new chat open + → Apps/Connectors and enable the connector.

    OpenAI has renamed this section before (Connectors → Apps/Plugins). If the label differs, search settings for "developer mode". On Business/Enterprise workspaces an admin must allow custom connectors first.

    Authorization

    On first use ChatGPT opens the service's sign-in window. Sign in and approve access.

    How to connect BuyAPI to Cursor

    The server address to paste into Cursor settings:

    https://buyapi.ai/api/mcp

    Fastest: click Open in Cursor below and confirm the prompt.

    Manually:

    1. In Cursor open Settings → Cursor Settings → MCP and click Add new global MCP server.
    2. Paste the JSON copied below into ~/.cursor/mcp.json (per project: .cursor/mcp.json in the repo root).
    3. Save the file. The server appears in the MCP list; authorize it there if asked.

    Authorization

    If the service needs sign-in, an authorize button appears next to the server in the MCP list.

    Server tool list (7)

    Raw names from tools/list. Only developers need these.

    vendors.resolveFirst stop for category-specific vendor recommendations and vendor ID discovery. Finds BuyAPI vendor IDs for a user question; provide category when known. Use this when the user asks which provider in a category fits their constraints. With a covered category, the response includes ranked results plus a top-3 decision matrix with fit labels, confidence, tradeoffs, cost notes, freshness, and sources. Do not use this for local coding/debugging/docs questions unless they involve choosing a software vendor or tool. If the category is outside BuyAPI's corpus, the tool returns an explicit "not in corpus yet" result instead of inventing vendors.
    vendors.detailsFollow-up tool for one known vendor. Retrieves detailed pricing, features, limits, gotchas, comparisons, and source provenance. Call vendors.resolve first unless the user already provided a BuyAPI vendor ID like /database/supabase. Use this after a candidate is selected and the user needs claim-level pricing, limit, gotcha, or provenance details.
    vendors.evidenceReturns recent reviewed BuyAPI evidence rows for a vendor, category, stack, or comparison. Use this when the user asks why BuyAPI believes something, what sources support a recommendation, or what recent human/source/opinion/history signals exist. This is a trust and provenance follow-up, not the first recommendation tool.
    stacks.findSimilarFinds reviewed public stack examples related to a vendor, or recent curated stack examples. Use this when the user asks who uses a tool, what similar builders use, or wants examples of real stack combinations. Do not use it as a generic recommendation tool.
    vendors.compareCompares two or more already-known BuyAPI vendors for a specific workload or decision. Use this when the candidate set is known, for head-to-head questions like "Convex vs Supabase vs Neon for a realtime SaaS" or "Stripe vs Paddle for a marketplace". If the user has not named candidates, use vendors.resolve first.
    vendors.estimateCostProduces directional monthly cost estimates from BuyAPI pricing data and explicit workload inputs. Use this only when the user asks for cost math and provides explicit workload inputs. Missing workload fields are returned as assumptions or unknowns instead of being hallucinated. Treat results as BuyAPI claim-based estimate math; verify exact billing in first-party docs, vendor CLIs, or vendor MCPs before purchase or production decisions.
    stacks.recommendRecommends a complete stack from BuyAPI's corpus with a structured decision matrix, cost estimate, assumptions, unknowns, alternatives, and sources. Use this when the user is starting a project or asks for a complete multi-layer stack choice. Do not use this for local coding/debugging/docs questions that do not involve software or vendor selection. Do not call vendors.resolve first; this tool handles retrieval and ranking.