# Draft and send Buildertrend change orders with an AI agent

> A client asks for extra work on site: your agent drafts the Buildertrend change order with cost-coded line items and sends it after your OK.

Source: https://cotlet.dev/integrations/buildertrend-api-mcp-server/draft-and-send-change-orders

The homeowner asks the electrician for eight more outlets during a walkthrough, and the change order has to be written, priced and signed before anyone drills a hole.

Cotlet does it in your own Buildertrend account with list\_jobs, list\_change\_orders, create\_change\_order and release\_change\_order, called by your AI agent, an n8n workflow or a script.

[Request access](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=buildertrend) [All Buildertrend tools](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/buildertrend-api-mcp-server)

Hosted · nothing to install or maintain

Official options

## Can Buildertrend do this on its own?

Buildertrend has no customer API for change orders (checked 12 Oct 2026). The app lets clients submit Change Order Requests from the portal and approve from email or the portal, but the builder still writes and prices each change order in the form.

By hand

## How you do it in Buildertrend today

1. Select the job, open the Project Management dropdown, choose Change Orders and click +Change Order.
2. On the Details tab, enter the Title, Approval Deadline and Scope of Work, then choose Flat Fee or Line Items and add items from the Cost Catalog or Cost Codes.
3. Pick Subs/Vendors to notify on approval, decide on Invoice upon client approval, and check the Client preview tab.
4. Click Send to put it in front of the client; on mobile, tap the paper airplane icon and confirm the release.
5. A request heard on site at 10 am often waits until the evening for this, and work started before the client signs is the change order most likely to be disputed.

With an agent

## How to draft and send Buildertrend change orders with an AI agent

Prompt

```
The Maple Street client wants 8 more outlets in the kitchen. Draft a change order at $80 each with cost code 16-100, approval deadline next Tuesday, and send it once I OK it.
```

1. 01  
### Pin down the job and the scope  
The agent resolves "Maple Street" with list\_jobs, then restates the scope in one line: what is added, where, and the quantity. Anything vague, like "a few more outlets", gets a question back instead of a guessed number.
2. 02  
### Check it is not already there  
With list\_change\_orders it reads the job's existing change orders. If a pending one already covers kitchen outlets, the agent shows it and asks whether to replace, add to it or stop.
3. 03  
### Price it as line items  
The agent builds line items with the cost code you name or one already used on that job, quantity, unit cost and markup, and shows the total before saving. It prefers line items over a flat fee so the cost lands on the right code in the budget.
4. 04  
### Save unreleased, then send on your word  
create\_change\_order saves a draft the client cannot see. The agent reads the total and deadline back to you, and only after a clear yes calls release\_change\_order with a short note to the client.
5. 05  
### Report where it stands  
The agent returns the change order number, the total, the deadline and the approval status. A later run can read the same job and tell you whether the client approved or declined.

### What you get back

Example data

```
Maple Street Addition, CO-014 "Added kitchen outlets": 8 x $80, cost code 16-100, total $640.
Approval deadline: Tue 20 Oct. Sent to the client after your OK, status Pending.
No other open change orders on this job mention kitchen electrical.
```

### Other ways to ask

- Draft a change order for upgrading the Hargrove vanity to quartz, $1,150 with 15% markup, but do not send it. I will review it tomorrow.
- Every Friday, list change orders on all open jobs still pending client approval, with their deadlines.
- Turn these three site requests from today into separate change orders on the Maple Street job, drafts only.

Before you automate it

## What Buildertrend allows, and what to know first

- Buildertrend applies tax on change orders only on line items, never on a Flat Fee, and end-to-end tax shows only on jobs created on or after 14 Jan 2026.
- With Invoice upon client approval checked, Buildertrend creates and sends an invoice for the change order amount as soon as the client approves.
- Buildertrend clients can approve a change order straight from the email or, if invited to the job, from the Client Portal; the builder can also approve internally with an e-signature after a verbal OK.
- To edit a Buildertrend change order after it is sent, the builder has to Unrelease it first and release it again.
- Company Settings decide whether Buildertrend shows line items to the client and whether internally declined change orders stay visible to them.

create\_change\_order and release\_change\_order ask for your OK by default. To run it on a schedule without you, switch confirmation off for those tools in your dashboard.

Sources: [Change Order Overview (Buildertrend help)](https://buildertrend.com/help-article/change-order-overview/) · [Change Orders on Mobile (Buildertrend help)](https://buildertrend.com/help-article/change-orders-on-mobile/) · [Project Management Settings (Buildertrend help)](https://buildertrend.com/help-article/project-management-settings/)

REST

## Call create\_change\_order from a script

curl

```
curl https://cotlet.dev/api/v1/buildertrend/create_change_order \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $COTLET_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"job_id":"4815162","title":"Added kitchen outlets","description":"Eight added outlets along the kitchen island and back wall.","line_items":[{"description":"Add 8 outlets, kitchen","cost_code":"16-100","quantity":8,"unit_cost":80,"markup_percent":0}],"deadline":"2026-10-20"}'
```

Example response

```
{
"change_order_id": "771204",
"job_id": "4815162",
"title": "Added kitchen outlets",
"total": 640,
"released": false,
"deadline": "2026-10-20"
}
```

MCP: add https://cotlet.dev/mcp/v1 with the same key; the tool is buildertrend\_create\_change\_order. Example data.

[Schedule it in n8n, Make, Zapier or cron](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/buildertrend-api-mcp-server#automations)

Tools

## Buildertrend tools this automation uses

__Cotlet Buildertrend tools used to draft and send Buildertrend change orders with an AI agent__
| Tool | Parameters |
| ---------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- |
| list\_jobs | status, search, limit |
| list\_change\_orders | job\_id, approval\_status |
| create\_change\_order | job\_id, title, description, line\_items, deadline |
| release\_change\_order | change\_order\_id, message |

[All 12 Buildertrend tools with descriptions](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/buildertrend-api-mcp-server#tools)

## More Buildertrend automations

- [Write Buildertrend daily logs from site notes with AI](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/buildertrend-api-mcp-server/write-daily-logs-from-site-notes)
- [Reschedule a Buildertrend schedule item and notify the sub](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/buildertrend-api-mcp-server/reschedule-and-notify-subs)
- [Chase pending Buildertrend selections across all jobs](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/buildertrend-api-mcp-server/chase-pending-selections)
- [Buildertrend API and MCP server: every tool](https://cotlet.dev/integrations/buildertrend-api-mcp-server)
- [All use cases](https://cotlet.dev/use-cases)

## Give your agent access to Buildertrend.

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[Request access](https://cotlet.dev/app/signup?app=buildertrend)