AI Connector
Ever wanted to just ask someone how your market is doing? The AI connector lets you do that. Connect an AI assistant like Claude or ChatGPT to your Tulpie account and ask it things like "which vendors sold the most on Saturday?" or "how did this year compare to last year?".
Don't worry, the AI can only read your figures, it can't change anything in Tulpie. Using the connector is completely optional.
AI assistants can make mistakes, so always check important numbers on your Tulpie dashboard, especially before you pay out your vendors.
Who can use it
Every market admin and vendor has access by default, you just need a verified email address. If you log in with Google, your email address is already verified. If you log in with your email address and password, click on the link in the verification email we sent you when you registered.
Nothing is shared with an AI app until you connect one yourself.
What the AI can see depends on your role at each market. You might be an admin at one market and a vendor at another, and that's fine.
| Role | What the AI can see |
|---|---|
| Market admin | Everything for your whole market. |
| Vendor | Only your own sales and products. |
Connecting
Claude
- Open the Tulpie connector, or search for "Tulpie" in the connector marketplace.
- Log in to Tulpie when asked, using Google or your email address and password.
- Check that it's the right app and click on "Allow".
ChatGPT
ChatGPT needs a custom connector:
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Click on "Plugins" in the left sidebar.
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In the top right, click on "Add", then "Add Custom MCP Server".
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Name it "Tulpie".
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Use this URL as the connection:
https://www.tulpie.app/mcp -
Tick the box to say you understand the disclaimer.
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Click on "Create as Plugin" and wait for it to finish.
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Click on "Connect Tulpie".
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Log in to Tulpie when asked, using Google or your email address and password.
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Check that it's the right app and click on "Allow".
Something else
If you use a different AI app, let us know through your market's support channels.
What you can ask
Just ask in your own words, here are some ideas to get you started:
- "Give me a cash-up sheet for each day of my market, split by payment method."
- "What were my best and worst selling products?"
- "What does each vendor get paid out, and what is the market's share?"
- "Is there anything I should fix before we consolidate?"
If your AI app supports prompts, there are also two ready-made ones you can use:
| Prompt | What you get |
|---|---|
| End-of-market report | A summary of your market's sales, ready for consolidating. Admins also get a list of anything that needs fixing. |
| Compare market days | How each day of your market compared, and what made the difference. |
Tools
You don't need to know any of these, your AI assistant will pick the right one when you ask a question. They are here in case you are curious.
All of them can only read your figures. Amounts are in rand, and days and hours are in South African time unless you ask for something else.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
list_markets | Shows your markets, their dates, your role, and your vendor IDs. |
transaction_stats | Adds up your sales. It can split them by day, hour, weekday, payment method, vendor, product, or device, and find your best and worst sellers. Only admins can split by device, and vendors only see their own items. |
vendor_settlement | Shows the turnover, the market's share, and the payout per vendor. Vendors only see their own. |
compare_markets | Puts 2 to 5 markets side by side, like this year against last year. At markets where you are a vendor, only your own sales are compared. |
list_vendors | Shows vendors with their contribution percentage and number of products. Vendors only see themselves. |
list_products | Shows a vendor's products and prices. Vendors only see their own. |
data_quality | Looks for things to fix before you consolidate, like unknown vendor IDs, items sold at R0, or sales outside of the market dates. Admins only. You make the actual fixes on the admin dashboard. |
Your data
Here is what your AI app gets to see, and what it doesn't:
| Shared with your AI app | Never shared |
|---|---|
| Sales totals over a period | Email addresses or user IDs |
| Vendor names and the market's percentage | Individual sales, or who operated the till |
| Products and prices | Billing records |
| Point of sales device names | Logs |
Anything the connector returns goes to the AI provider you chose, and their terms and privacy policy apply to it.
On our side, we keep a record of your email address and user ID, which AI apps you connected, which markets you asked about, and when you used the connector. You can read all about it in our privacy policy.
Keeping it safe
- You log in on our own page, so your AI app never sees your password.
- Logins can only be sent back to AI apps we have approved, or to apps running on your own computer.
- We check your role at the market on every request.
- Access expires after an hour and renews by itself. If you don't use the connector for 30 days, you will need to log in again.
- We only store scrambled versions of your access tokens.
For the technical folks, the connector is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that uses OAuth 2.1 with PKCE.
Disconnecting
Changed your mind? Remove the connector in your AI app, or contact us through your market's support channels.
If something goes wrong
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| "AI access is not enabled" for your email | Check that you logged in with the right account. If you did, contact us through your market's support channels and we'll sort it out. |
| "Please verify your email address" when connecting | Click on the link in the verification email we sent you when you registered, then try connecting again. Also check your spam folder. |
| "Redirect URI not allowed", or connecting fails right away | We haven't approved your AI app yet, so let us know which one you are using through your market's support channels. |
| The AI says no sales data was captured | There are no sales in Tulpie for that market and period. That's not the same as making R0! |
| The AI says you can't see something | You are probably a vendor at that market, not an admin. |
Need help?
- Part of a market: contact us through your market's support channels.
- Not part of a market yet, or can't reach your market: email us at hello@tulpie.app.
Please tell us which AI app you use and what you were asking when something went wrong. You can also read our privacy policy and terms of service.