Contractor Butler — Developers

How Contractor Butler fits in

Contractor Butler is a built-in Butler that aggregates contractor and service provider listings from multiple external sources. It reads data from connected APIs—contractor directories, trade platforms, service marketplaces—and presents unified results to the user. The data flow is strictly one-directional: Life Butler pulls from your API, but never pushes user data back. No user search history, personal details, location data, or project specifications are shared with connected platforms.

What you can do

• Provide contractor listings: Expose an API endpoint that returns contractor profiles, service categories, service areas, ratings, and availability. Life Butler queries your API to populate search results for users.
• Categorize by trade: Tag listings with trade categories (plumbing, electrical, fencing, renovation, roofing, painting, general construction) so Contractor Butler can match user queries to relevant results.
• Include pricing signals: Optionally provide estimated pricing ranges, quote availability, or cost indicators. Life Butler displays these alongside the user’s budget context from Money Butler.
• Surface ratings and reviews: Provide aggregated ratings and review counts. Life Butler displays these but does not scrape or redistribute individual review text unless your API explicitly provides it.

Data flow: pull only, never push

This is the core principle of Contractor Butler integration. Life Butler acts as a read-only consumer of your API. When a user searches for contractors, Life Butler sends a query to your endpoint with only the minimum parameters needed to return relevant results—trade category and general area. It does not send:

• User identity or account information
• Precise user location (only general area sufficient for search)
• Search history or past queries
• Project details, budgets, or personal specifications
• Data from other Butlers (financial, health, social, etc.)

Your API returns listings. Life Butler enriches them locally with the user’s own context (budget, location preferences, project tracking) on-device. The user decides if and when to contact a contractor directly—outside of Life Butler’s data layer.

Integration flow

Register your platform as a Contractor Butler data source through the Life Butler developer portal. Provide your API endpoint, the trade categories you cover, and the geographic regions you serve. Life Butler validates your endpoint format and begins pulling listings when users search matching categories in your region. You receive no callbacks, webhooks, or user data in return—the integration is read-only from Life Butler’s side.

1. Register your platform in the developer portal with API endpoint and coverage details.
2. Life Butler validates your endpoint returns the expected schema (contractor profiles, categories, areas, ratings).
3. When a user searches for contractors in your covered region and trade category, Life Butler queries your API.
4. Results are displayed alongside other sources. The user sees a unified view.
5. No user data is sent to your platform. No callbacks or tracking pixels.

Example use cases

• Contractor directory: You run a regional contractor directory. Register your API so Life Butler users in your area can discover your listed contractors alongside other sources.
• Trade marketplace: Your platform connects homeowners with tradespeople. Expose your listings API so Contractor Butler can surface your providers to users searching for relevant trades.
• Home services platform: You aggregate home services (cleaning, landscaping, renovation). Connect your API so your service providers appear in Contractor Butler searches for matching categories.