Ask ChatGPT or Claude about South African tenders
TenderFinder runs an MCP server. Connect it once and your assistant can search every live government tender, open and read the actual bid documents, and shortlist the good ones, without you leaving the chat.
Works with
TenderFinder connectedAny electrical tenders in Gauteng closing in the next two weeks? Shortlist the ones we could actually deliver.
Let me check the live tenders.
{ query: "electrical", province: "Gauteng", closingWithinDays: 14 }
18 live tenders match, showing 10
Eighteen match. Three look worth your time, so I read their documents:
{ ocid: "ocds-9t57fa-148302" }
3 documents: Bid Specification.pdf, Pricing Schedule.pdf, SBD 6.1.pdf
Worth bidding on
1. Substation maintenance, City of Ekurhuleni
Closes in 9 days · CIDB 4EB or higher · compulsory briefing on the 11th
2. Street lighting refurbishment, Gauteng Public Works
Closes in 12 days · no briefing · 90/10 preference points
I left out the Eskom one: it needs CIDB 6EB, which is above your grade.
{ ocid: "ocds-9t57fa-148302" }
Saved to the shortlist
Both are on your TenderFinder shortlist now, so the closing reminders will reach you by email as well.
Five tools your assistant gets
These are the real tool names it will call. You never type them: you ask in plain language and the assistant picks the right one.
search_tenders
Search every live tender by keyword, province, category or closing date.
“Which cleaning tenders in KZN close this month?”
get_tender_details
The full record: scope, buyer, briefing session, contact and deadlines.
“What exactly is this one asking for?”
get_tender_documents
Direct links to the real bid documents, so the assistant reads the specification itself.
“Read the spec and list every mandatory requirement.”
save_tender
Adds a tender to your TenderFinder shortlist, with closing reminders.
“Shortlist the two we can deliver.”
get_award_analytics
Tender intelligence from a year of award results: biggest buyers, most-winning companies, typical contract sizes.
“Who keeps winning security tenders in Gauteng, and for how much?”
The reading is the work
Finding tenders was never the hard part. The hard part is reading forty pages of specification to work out whether you are even allowed to bid, and doing that for every tender that looks promising.
Your assistant can now do that reading against the real documents with its own model, and tell you the mandatory requirements, the CIDB grade, the briefing dates and the things that would disqualify you, in the time it takes to ask.
- No copying and pasting tender text into a chat window
- It reads the actual PDFs, not a summary of them
- Shortlists sync to your dashboard and your email reminders
- Works in any MCP client, not only the two big ones
Set up in about a minute
- 1Go to Pro, then open MCP in your dashboard.
- 2Copy your TenderFinder server URL.
- 3In Claude: Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector. In ChatGPT: Settings, Plugins, MCP, Add server, Streamable HTTP.
- 4Approve the connection on a TenderFinder page. You never give the assistant your password.
Your server URL looks like
https://tenderfinder.co.za/api/mcp
What it cannot do
Connecting an assistant is not the same as giving it your login. It gets its own credential, limited to the tender work, and you can cut it off from your dashboard at any time.
Never sees your password
You approve the connection on our site, not in the chat.
Never sees payment details
Billing lives behind your account, out of reach of the connector.
Cannot change your plan
It can read tenders and manage your shortlist. That is all.
Cannot spend anything
It reads tenders and manages your shortlist. No credits, no purchases, no billing.
Included with Pro, at R129 a month
Along with 5 AI tender analyses a day in the dashboard, the Tender intelligence dashboard and unlimited saved tenders. Start on the free plan and upgrade when you are ready.
Already on Pro? Connect your assistant now.