Connect AI Assistants to Velo Index

In assistants that support MCP Apps, including ChatGPT and Claude, the same three tools also show a Velo Index panel in the conversation. Other clients receive the same facts as text. The panel's images and links travel separately from the answer the assistant reads, so a response is the same size with or without it.

The panel uses one more read-only tool, refresh_bike_explorer, to filter and page through results when you use its controls. Assistants with panel support do not offer it to the model; other clients list it as a fourth tool.

• A search shows a carousel of up to eight matching bikes, each with its listed price and two figures that follow the search, with the US e-bike class first in the USA and Canada. "Explore and compare" opens it full screen to filter by budget, frame type, US class, weight, battery, torque, removable battery, motor, sensor and drivetrain, sort, and page through every match in that market.
• A lookup or comparison shows catalogue images of the named bikes with key figures. Pick two to see their published specifications side by side, with differences marked but no winner.
• Each bike links to its listing on Velo Index. Recorded discount codes appear in the details view with the date they were last checked and a commission disclosure.
• The panel follows the assistant's light or dark appearance and works on phones. It reads the public catalogue only and never asks for an account.

All product names, logos, and images are trademarks of their respective owners. Velo Index uses these materials solely for comparison and informational purposes.

To try it, connect the server URL above and ask, for example, "Find e-bikes under €2,500 and under 20 kg in the EU" or "Compare the Turbo Vado SL 2 4.0 and the Turbo Vado 4.0 Step-Through in the UK". The panel sends no usage data of its own; see the privacy page.

Merchant catalogs describe their own products, in their own formats, for one brand at a time. The Velo Index connector answers a different question: which bikes, across competing brands, meet a set of specification requirements in a given market.

• The same fields for every brand. Motor sensor type, torque in Nm, battery capacity in Wh, manufacturer-claimed range, and published weight are recorded in one consistent structure, so a filter such as “torque sensor, at least 500Wh, under $2,000” means the same thing for every bike.
• Unknowns stay unknown. When a manufacturer does not publish a figure, the field is empty rather than estimated. An agent can tell a missing specification from a bike that fails a requirement.
• Regional records kept separate. The same model can differ in price, specification and availability between markets. Each record belongs to one market, in that market's currency.
• Brands regardless of storefront. Coverage includes direct-to-consumer brands and dealer-network brands, whatever platform they sell through.
• Source links and dates. Each record links to its Velo Index page, which links to the manufacturer or retailer source.
• Velo Index discount codes where they exist. Where Velo Index holds a discount code for a brand, the code, its stated value and the date it was last checked are included, with a commercial disclosure. Codes currently exist for some brands in the EU, UK and US only.

Model variants and brands per market, as indexed at the last data review.

The null rule. battery_wh, torque_nm, motor_sensor, claimed_range_miles, claimed_range_km, weight_kg, price_display and price_qualifier are present on every record. When the manufacturer does not publish the figure, the value is null. Velo Index never estimates, infers or fills a missing figure, so null means “not published”, not zero and not a failed requirement.

Filters and null. A record with a null value for a field never matches a minimum or maximum filter on that field: price_max, weight_max_kg, min_range_miles, min_battery_wh and min_torque_nm each exclude records where the figure is not published. Omit the filter to include them.

Specifications are manufacturer-published claims. Range is claimed, not tested. Weight is as published; the with or without battery basis is not normalised. Each bike's url opens its full Velo Index record, which lists further published specifications this tool does not return, such as tyres, wheel size, suspension, frame material, display, motor brand, frame sizes and charge time, where the manufacturer publishes them.

slug, brand, model

Identity of the record. slug is the identifier get_bike and compare_bikes accept.

url

The record’s Velo Index page, which links to the manufacturer or retailer source.

brand_url

The Velo Index brand page, or the brands index when the brand has no page.

price_value

Number parsed from the listed price. Omitted when no price is listed.

price_currency

ISO currency code, set from the region, never read from the price text. Present whenever price_value is.

price_display

The listed price exactly as published, including any prefix.

price_qualifier

from, srp or msrp when the listed price carries that prefix; otherwise null.

battery_wh

Battery capacity in watt-hours.

torque_nm

Motor torque in newton-metres.

motor_sensor

Pedal assist sensor type: torque, cadence, torque_and_cadence or speed_cadence_torque.

drivetrain_sensor

The sensor description as recorded, before normalisation.

claimed_range_miles, claimed_range_km

The manufacturer’s claimed range. A claim, not a tested figure.

weight_kg

Weight as published by the manufacturer. Whether it includes the battery is not normalised. weight_lbs carries the same figure in pounds when published.

motor_type

Motor position: hub, mid-drive, or null when the position is not established in the source specification.

form_factor, removable_battery, top_speed_mph, brakes, gears, drivetrain, us_class, weight_limit_kg, release_year

Further specification fields, omitted when not recorded.

frame_material, suspension, wheel_size, tyres

get_bike and compare_bikes only: further specifications as published, omitted when not recorded. wheel_size is in inches unless the value says otherwise, for example 700c.

dtc

Whether the brand sells direct to consumers, where recorded.

discount

Present only when Velo Index holds a discount code for the model: code, value_text (the stated value, verbatim), description (verbatim) and checked_on (the date the code was last checked, YYYY-MM-DD). Any part that cannot be read from the source text is null.

discount_code, discount_description, disclosure

The discount code and description exactly as recorded, and the commercial disclosure that accompanies any code.

Response-level fields

source

Attribution line for Velo Index.

total_matches, showing, sort

search_bikes only: how many records matched, how many are returned, and the order applied (price ascending by default; models without the sort figure last).

offset, next_offset

search_bikes only: where this page starts among all matches, and the offset for the next page, or null on the last page.

related_collection_name, related_collection_url

search_bikes only: a Velo Index collection page, when the filters fall inside exactly one collection.

found, error, region, message

get_bike only: whether the record was found, and a not_found error when it was not.

did_you_mean

get_bike and compare_bikes, only when an identifier is not found: up to five models in that market whose name contains every word given (for compare_bikes, grouped by input position). Nothing is substituted.

not_found, fields_compared

compare_bikes only: input positions of identifiers not found, and the fields published for every compared record.

spec_basis, fields_note

What the figures represent and a link to the methodology. fields_note also states that each bike's url opens its full Velo Index record, which lists further published specifications, such as tyres, suspension and frame material, that the tools do not return.

Commercial relationships may affect how Velo Index earns revenue. They never affect whether a bike is included, the specification values shown, the order of results, or the output of a comparison. No brand pays for inclusion or placement.

Responses may include discount codes, and Velo Index may earn a commission when codes or brand links are used. The full disclosure is on the methodology page.

• 60 requests per minute per IP address. Every request counts, including the connection handshake. Over the limit, the server returns HTTP 429 with a Retry-After header. Claude and ChatGPT reach the server from a few shared addresses on behalf of all their users, so addresses in their published ranges get 1,200 requests per minute, and ChatGPT tool calls are also limited to 60 per minute per user.
• search_bikes returns at most 10 results per call; compare_bikes takes 2 to 4 identifiers.
• Responses are compact JSON; a full 10-result search is under 16 KB.
• Request bodies over 16 KB and JSON-RPC batch requests are rejected.
• No authentication or account is required. Availability is not guaranteed, there is no uptime commitment, and the tools may change.
• Bulk extraction is not permitted. The dataset remains the property of Velo Index. See the terms of use.

If you quote or surface Velo Index figures, cite Velo Index by name and link to the source page where the surface permits. The methodology page describes how specifications are compiled and what they represent.

Questions, problems or data corrections: inquiries@theveloindex.com.

Security vulnerabilities: email the same address with "Security" in the subject line, and include the affected URL and steps to reproduce. Please do not test against other people's data or degrade the service while investigating. The address is also published in security.txt.

Current server version: 1.2.0.