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The key.
Then the whole job.
Make a key. Connect Grok Bot or another assistant. It can do the work you can do in PainterApps. Below that is every part of the app, in plain language.
What the key is
The key belongs to one login. Grok Bot, Cursor, Claude, or ChatGPT calls PainterApps with that key. If you can build the bid, the assistant can build the bid. If you cannot see the books, the assistant cannot see the books.
The connection is called MCP. That is the address you paste. You do not configure a second app. You paste the company address and the key.
URL
https://painterapps.com/mcp/c/your-company
Header
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEYGrok Bot uses that shape. The other assistants get their own copy block on Connect your AI, after you log in.
STEP 1
Log in.
Use the login you already have. Forgot password is on that page.
STEP 2
Open Connect your AI.
The owner can also open Settings, then AI connection. Everyone else opens Account, then Keys.
STEP 3
Make a key.
Name it. Choose full access or look only. Full access is still only what that person can do. It expires in 30, 90, or 365 days. The secret is shown once. Copy it.
STEP 4
Paste it into the assistant.
Grok Bot takes the address and the key as a header. Cursor, Claude Desktop, and Claude Code each have a copy block on that same page. ChatGPT and Claude on the web use a custom connector: paste the address, then sign in and approve a key.
STEP 5
Test it.
Test connection checks the key and tells you how many tools it can see.
STEP 6
Turn it off when you need to.
The owner sees every key in the company. Revoke one and it stops. Replace one and the old secret stops working. The owner can also see recent calls: which tool, which job, without passwords or photo files.
What to ask
These match work the app already does. The answer depends on whose key you connected.
“Build the bid for the Oak Street repaint. Living room and kitchen, walls and ceilings, two coats, primer included.”
Owner or project manager.
“Add a change order for the extra bedroom.”
Owner or project manager.
“Who still owes us this month?”
Owner or accounting.
“Who is scheduled in the next seven days?”
Anyone on the crew, for the jobs they can see.
“Set Oak Street for Monday through Friday and put the foreman and two painters on it.”
Owner, project manager, superintendent, or foreman.
“Hold that job for weather.”
Anyone except a painter.
“How many gallons do we still need to buy?”
Anyone who can open the job.
“Mark the hallway punch done.”
Anyone who can open the job.
“Look up the eggshell we use on walls.”
Owner or project manager.
“Open a callback on the closed job.”
Owner or project manager.
Who can do what
Look only means the key can read and cannot change records. Full access still stops at the role of that login. A customer key, even on full access, opens only that customer.
Owner
The whole company. Bids, jobs, the product list, people, subs, the books, company settings, and every key. Sees price and cost.
Project manager
Bids, jobs, customers, the schedule, messages, and subs. Sees the price. Does not see cost. Does not edit the product list.
Field superintendent
Jobs and the schedule. Can set dates, assign the crew, hold a job for weather, and record the lead-safe note on a pre-1978 house. No price. No bids.
Job foreman
Dates, the crew on the job, the note on site, punch, and photos. Can hold a job for weather. No price. Does not sign the lead-safe note.
Painter
Only the jobs they are on. No customer name. No price. They can work the punch list, photos, and the gallon list. They cannot change the schedule or the bid.
Accounting
Customers, the schedule, messages, invoices, payments, hours, and the books. Sees price and cost. Does not build bids.
Customer
Only their own estimates, jobs, invoices, payments, and messages. They can accept a bid, pick a color, and accept a change order. No one else's work, and no cost.
The rest of the app
Same rules in the assistant and on the screen. If the screen hides it, the key hides it.
Leads and bids
Lead
Write the lead before it is a bid: the customer, the address, and the work.
Rooms
Add rooms. Set the size and take openings out. Copy a room when the next one matches.
Surfaces
Walls, ceilings, trim, and the rest. Price by the square foot, the lineal foot, or each.
Coats and speed
Each rate has a surface, a method, a coat count, and how many units an hour.
Prep and primer
Mark the job repaint or new work, and whether primer is included.
Products and colors
Pick them from your list. A blank product is not priced, and nothing is priced from a name.
Good, better, best
Also lump sums, allowances, and alternates on the bid.
Templates
Save a set of rooms and drop it on the next bid.
Send it
Send the estimate letter. Or open the customer link without sending mail.
They sign
They accept on the link, or you mark a verbal or signed yes. Nothing extra is emailed for a verbal yes.
Lost bid
Mark it lost and write why.
Change the sent bid
Pull it back to draft until someone has accepted or paid.
Change order
Extra work, or a credit, after the price is signed. They can accept it on the link, or you can accept it for them.
Lead paint
On a pre-1978 house, the owner, project manager, or superintendent records the lead-safe acknowledgment.
The customer's link
No staff login
They open the link you sent. That is their door.
Accept
Accepting the estimate makes it the contract.
Color
They can pick a color. That choice does not change the price you sent.
Money they can see
Their invoices and payments. Not your cost.
Messages
Mail about their jobs.
Their key
If the estimate is tied to a customer, they can make a key on that page. If it is not, the office makes one. The key opens only their records.
Deposit on the link
The link can show the deposit. Card payments are not taken there. The office records a check or cash.
Sub rating
When a sub is on the job, the customer can leave a score.
Jobs
Status
Booked, scheduled, in progress, walkthrough, closed. A painter does not move the status.
Weather
Hold the job, then release it.
Dates
Start and finish. The owner, project manager, superintendent, or foreman sets them.
Who is on it
Project manager, superintendent, foreman, and painters.
Site note
The note the crew reads on the job.
Notes and follow-ups
Job notes, and a sales follow-up with the next date. Owner, project manager, and accounting write those.
Punch list
Add an item, by room if you want, and mark it done.
Photos
Photos stay on the job. An assistant sees the details, not a dump of the file, unless you attach one under about 1.5 MB.
Gallons
What the estimate calls for, minus what is already on hand.
Callback
Open one on a closed job. Owner or project manager.
History
The timeline of what happened on the job.
Schedule, crew, and subs
This week
Who is on a job in the next seven days, among the jobs that person can see.
In-house crews
Name a crew, pick the people, and mark a lead.
People
The owner adds a person and sets the role, then can email a password link. Accounting can edit a person but cannot change the role. Pay shows only for the owner and accounting.
Subs
Name, trade, phone, email, and a default margin. Owner and project manager.
Sub on a job
A price, what you pay them, and the part of the work. Take them off if the plan changes.
Sub profit
Margin by sub. Hidden from anyone who cannot see price and cost.
Hours
Log hours on a job and post wages. Owner and accounting only.
Customers
The record
Name, phone, email, billing address, and notes.
Who can open it
Owner, project manager, and accounting.
History
The customer's timeline, and a note when you need one.
Products, colors, and rates
Products
Line, sheen, spread, solids, VOC, cost, and sell price. The owner keeps the list.
Colors
The colors you actually use. A color on a job cannot be removed.
Rates
Surface, method, coats, unit, and units per hour. Changing a rate does not rewrite a sent estimate.
Who can look
The owner and the project manager can read the list. Only the owner edits it.
Invoices and the books
Who sees it
Owner and accounting. A painter never sees the price.
Invoices
Deposit, progress, or the balance still owed, from the signed estimate.
Payments
A check or other payment, or a refund, on the job.
This month
What you collected, what is still owed, deposits, and the paint ledger.
Banks
Accounts, transfers between them, and a finished reconciliation.
The ledger
Accounts and balanced journal entries. Amounts are in dollars.
Mail and the company
Mail you can send
Estimate, invoice, deposit, schedule change, job assigned, change order, photos, and a review ask when the job is done.
No prices to the field
Mail to the crew does not include the price.
Company
Name, phone, logo, and brand color on the letter.
Money defaults
Labor rate, waste, margin or markup, deposit percent, and how openings are handled.
The letter and the contract
The owner sets the estimate design and the contract text.
Password reset
The owner can send a reset. Login and logout are not tools for the assistant.