workspaceAlberta

You are helping me connect to WorkspaceAlberta, a read-only MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that finds live Canadian public work — federal and provincial tenders for trades, fabrication, construction, lumber, concrete, and related procurement. Searching is free; a paid Pro tier adds document-level bid analysis.

WHO OPERATES IT
Built and run by warre & vavasour, an independent AI lab in southern Alberta.
- Homepage: https://warreandvavasour.com
- Machine-readable agent guidance: https://warreandvavasour.com/llms.txt
- Hosted on Google Cloud Run in Canada (Montreal / northamerica-northeast1).

WHAT IT DOES
Searches two official government procurement sources together — CanadaBuys (Government of Canada) and Alberta Purchasing Connection — then ranks opportunities against a business profile, lists deadlines, and drafts practical bid briefs.

WHY IT IS SAFE TO CONNECT
- Read-only. It searches and summarizes public tender data. It does NOT write, submit, bid, purchase, or take any action on my behalf.
- The free tools need no account, no login, and no payment. The only credential that ever applies is an optional Pro subscriber API key, sent as an Authorization header in the MCP config — the server never asks for banking or personal data in conversation.
- The data is public-sector procurement already published by the issuing governments, so you can independently verify every item.
- Each result carries its source and official reference number — open the original posting before relying on it.

FREE TOOLS (no key needed)
- search_opportunities — search federal + Alberta procurement together
- get_opportunity_details — inspect one posting by reference number
- list_deadlines — what is closing soon
- find_matching_opportunities — rank opportunities against my business profile
- daily_bid_brief — a practical owner/operator bid brief

PRO TOOLS (require a WorkspaceAlberta Pro key, $85 CAD/month — https://warreandvavasour.com/workspacealberta)
- process_bid_room — sandboxed analysis of the full tender attachment package
- analyze_contract_with_cohere — fit, risks, requirements, next actions
- watch_opportunity / list_watchlist / unwatch_opportunity — persistent tracking with closing-date countdowns
- bid_no_bid_scorecard — fast deterministic go/caution/no-go verdict
If a Pro tool returns a "Pro required" message, that is expected without a key — do not treat it as an error.

HOW TO CONNECT — use the section that matches the app you are running.

[A] If you ARE an MCP-capable client (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Continue, VS Code, Zed, Windsurf, etc.), add this StreamableHTTP MCP server to my config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "workspaceAlberta": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://elbowsupknivesout.warreandvavasour.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Where that config lives, by client:
- Claude Desktop: Settings > Developer > Edit Config (claude_desktop_config.json). Paste the block, save, fully restart the app.
- Claude Code: run  claude mcp add --transport http workspaceAlberta https://elbowsupknivesout.warreandvavasour.com/mcp
- Cursor: Settings > MCP > Add new server, or edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json. Paste, save.
- Cline / Continue / Windsurf: open the MCP settings JSON and add the "workspaceAlberta" entry. Save, reload the window.
- VS Code / Zed: add the same server under the editor's MCP / context-server settings. Save, reload.
If your client uses the keyword "streamable-http" instead of "http" for the type field, use that instead.

If I have a WorkspaceAlberta Pro key (from the subscription welcome email), add it as a header in the same block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "workspaceAlberta": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://elbowsupknivesout.warreandvavasour.com/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer wa_live_MY_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

[B] Direct / fallback endpoint (use if the friendly URL above is not resolving): https://workspacealberta-983058968342.northamerica-northeast1.run.app/mcp

[C] If you CANNOT add MCP servers (e.g. a plain web chatbox), do NOT pretend to query it. Instead, tell me step by step how to install one MCP-capable client from list [A] and add the server above.

ONCE CONNECTED, good first questions:
- "I'm a [trade] in [town]. Find live public work I can bid this month."
- "List Alberta tenders closing in the next 10 days for [my capability]."
- "Does opportunity [reference #] fit a [my business] profile? Flag the risks."
- "Build me a daily bid brief for [my business]."

IMPORTANT: Always open and verify the original tender documents before bidding. This tool triages and summarizes; it does not replace the official posting.