Chase pending Buildertrend selections across all jobs

1. Select a job, open the Project Management dropdown and choose Selections.
2. Scan the list for options in Pending status, the ones sent to the Client Portal and not yet approved or declined.
3. Note the client, the allowance and what each option costs, then switch to the next job and repeat.
4. Write each client a message or call them, and for a choice agreed in person, approve it from the builder side.
5. With ten jobs open, this is ten Selections pages every week, and a choice that slips past its order date pushes the schedule.

Which selections are still waiting on clients across all open jobs? Group them by client and draft a short reminder for each.

1. 01

   Pull every open decision

   The agent calls list_selections once with no job, so all open jobs come back together, and keeps only options in Pending status: sent to the client and still unanswered.

2. 02

   Group by client, not by job

   A client with two jobs gets one entry. For each, the agent lists what is waiting, the options offered and the allowance, so the reminder can say "backsplash tile, two options, $1,800 allowance".

3. 03

   Draft the reminders

   The agent writes one short reminder per client in plain words, naming the items and pointing them to their Buildertrend portal. It does not send them: you copy them into your messages or email.

4. 04

   Record verbal approvals on request

   If you say "the Hargroves picked the white subway tile on site", the agent approves that option with approve_selection_choice and a comment saying it was a verbal OK, after you confirm. It never picks an option on its own.

Checked 3 open jobs. Pending selections for 2 clients:
Hargrove family (Hargrove Kitchen Remodel): backsplash tile, 2 options, allowance $1,800. Cabinet pulls, 3 options, allowance $400.
Priya and Tom Shah (Maple Street Addition): exterior paint color, 4 options, no allowance.
Lakeview Bath Remodel: nothing pending.
Two reminders drafted below, nothing sent.

• A Buildertrend option saved by the builder stays in Draft, visible only internally, until someone clicks Send; only then does it turn Pending in the Client Portal.
• Buildertrend clients approve or decline options in the Client Portal, and the builder can approve or decline on their side as well.
• Buildertrend updates the allowance and the Job Costing Budget as soon as an option is approved, and an approved option above the allowance shows as an overage in the revised budget cost.
• Company Settings in Buildertrend can alert users a chosen number of days before a selection deadline, and Require Signature on Selections sets whether client or all approvals need a signature.
• Buildertrend accounts created before 17 Dec 2025 use the legacy Selections experience, so screens and statuses differ from newer accounts.

approve_selection_choice asks for your OK by default. To run it weekly without you, switch confirmation off for that tool in your dashboard.

Sources: Selections and Allowances Overview (Buildertrend help) · Project Management Settings (Buildertrend help)

curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/buildertrend/list_selections \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"status":"pending"}'

{
  "selections": [
    {
      "selection_id": "55120",
      "job_id": "4815390",
      "title": "Kitchen backsplash tile",
      "allowance": 1800,
      "status": "pending",
      "options": [
        {
          "choice_id": "o_1",
          "title": "White subway 3x6"
        },
        {
          "choice_id": "o_2",
          "title": "Green zellige"
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is buildertrend_list_selections. Example data.

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