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TinyRFP

How it works

A seven-stage pipeline, from a brief to a shortlist.

The research agent runs autonomously from a finalized brief. Scoring arithmetic happens in code, not in the model — so the numbers are reproducible and every one of them cites its evidence.

  1. 01Discover

    Generate diverse search strategies, build a longlist of 15–40 candidates, and probe each domain for a TinyRFP endpoint, llms.txt, or MCP card.

  2. 02Screen

    Apply disqualifiers using the cheapest evidence first — geography, license, category fit — logging every elimination with its reason and source.

  3. 03Investigate

    Gather evidence per rubric criterion from the vendor's site, third-party reviews, news and regulatory records, financial signals, and community discussion.

  4. 04Engage

    Interview provider endpoints for what the web couldn't answer — respecting your disclosure tier, never sending your identity by default.

  5. 05Verify

    Cross-check high-weight claims against authoritative registries: licenses, FDA clearances, ISO registrations, status pages. Contradictions are surfaced prominently.

  6. 06Score

    Score each candidate per criterion on an anchored 0–5 scale, citing specific evidence. Vendor claims alone can't max out a criterion that requires third-party proof.

  7. 07Report

    Produce the shortlist report — recommendations, a comparison matrix, candidate dossiers, methodology, and full appendices — in Markdown, HTML, and PDF.

Discovery

No central gatekeeper

Discovery works in layers, and the order matters. First, an open web search — which requires nothing from any provider. Then, per-domain probing of /.well-known/tinyrfp.json and llms.txt on the candidate domains that search turned up. An optional community index can come later for direct lookup.

This ordering is why fairness is structural, not a policy promise: a provider with no endpoint is found and evaluated exactly the same way. An endpoint adds fidelity and interactivity — it is never a toll booth.

Evidence

Every claim carries its provenance

The atomic unit of the whole system is the evidence record: a claim, its source, when it was retrieved, a verification outcome, and a provenance class.

  • Independently verifiedConfirmed against an authoritative registry or primary source.
  • Third-partyPublished by someone other than the provider — reviews, news, analysts.
  • Vendor-publishedOn the provider's own public website or materials.
  • Vendor-claimedStated interactively via an endpoint or contact — unaudited, per-session.

The capping rule

A criterion that requires third-party evidence can't exceed a low score on vendor claims alone; one that requires independent verification scores zero for that component if verification fails. Gaming your own endpoint improves how legible you are — never your score ceiling.

Scope

Where the agent stops

TinyRFP automates the top of the funnel — from identifying a need through a defensible shortlist. It is deliberately not a closer.

There is no negotiation, no contracting, no e-signature, and no payment. The agent recommends and ranks; a human makes the decision. For finalists, the report turns the questions the research couldn't answer into a ready-to-use demo and call list — so the human conversation starts already informed.

The tools are coming soon.

TinyRFP ships as portable skills and a reference MCP server you run inside the AI assistants you already use — no new app to install.

Coming soonSee how it works