bid_estimator
Contractor Bid Estimator — Build a client job bid from cost components: labor hours x rate + materials + equipment + subs, then overhead, contingency and margin into an itemized bid price.
This record as markdown: /tools/com-wingmanprotocol-agent-gateway/bid-estimator.md
What bid_estimator does on Gateway
AI agents use bid_estimator to create or update resources in Gateway, usually the action step of a workflow, after the agent has gathered context. Every call changes real data in your Gateway environment.
| Parameter | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
labor_rate | number | — | Labor rate per hour |
margin_pct | number | — | Profit margin as a percent of the final bid price (default 15) |
labor_hours | number | — | Labor hours |
overhead_pct | number | — | Overhead percent of direct cost (default 10) |
material_cost | number | — | Total material cost |
equipment_cost | number | — | Equipment cost |
contingency_pct | number | — | Contingency percent of direct+overhead (default 0) |
subcontractor_cost | number | — | Subcontractor cost |
Parameters from the server's own tool schema.
Why bid_estimator is rated Medium
This tool constructs and outputs a structured bid/estimate document from input cost components. It creates an artifact (an itemized bid price) rather than simply reading existing data. While it performs calculations, the end result is a generated deliverable (bid document) rather than pure computation, placing it in Write.
From the tool's definition Build a client job bid from cost components: labor hours x rate + materials + equipment + subs, then overhead, contingency and margin into an itemized bid price
Attacks that exploit this kind of access
The rule that runs bid_estimator safely
PolicyLayer is an MCP gateway: it sits between your AI agents and Gateway, and checks every tool call against a rule you set before the call runs. Nothing changes on the server itself. For bid_estimator, this is the rule to start with:
bid_estimator stays usable, but capped: an agent stuck in a loop can't make hundreds of changes a minute. Everything else on the server is denied unless you say otherwise.
The button opens the PolicyLayer dashboard: create your workspace, connect Gateway, apply this rule, and every bid_estimator call is checked against it from then on.
Questions about bid_estimator
Contractor Bid Estimator — Build a client job bid from cost components: labor hours x rate + materials + equipment + subs, then overhead, contingency and margin into an itemized bid price. It is categorised as a Write tool in the Gateway MCP Server, which means it can create or modify data. Consider rate limits to prevent runaway writes.
bid_estimator accepts 8 parameters: labor_rate, margin_pct, labor_hours, overhead_pct, material_cost, equipment_cost, contingency_pct, subcontractor_cost. The full parameter table on this page comes from the server's own tool schema.
Register the Gateway MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for bid_estimator: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches Gateway. Nothing to install.
bid_estimator is a Write tool with medium risk. Write tools should be rate-limited to prevent accidental bulk modifications.
Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the bid_estimator rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.
Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for bid_estimator. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.
bid_estimator is provided by the Gateway MCP server (https://wingmanprotocol.com/mcp). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.
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