Third-Party Services
Last updated: October 5, 2026
The short version
- appraise-assist is a tool library. When you use it, several outside companies get involved — your AI assistant provider, Google (for sign-in, and for Drive if you connect a workfile folder), Stripe (for payments), our hosting company, and data sources our scripted steps reach on your behalf (county assessor websites, a cost-data service we license, mapping services). We list every one of them below and say exactly what each one does.
- We don't run your AI assistant. Your AI provider (Anthropic or OpenAI) handles the actual conversation, under your own account and their terms — not ours. Our server runs deterministic scripted steps and keeps nothing once a call ends.
- If a county website is down, an MLS feed changes its format, or a la mode's TOTAL software has a bug, that's their responsibility, not ours. We can't promise any third party's service will be available, accurate, or unchanged.
- Each third party's own terms and privacy policy govern your use of their service. Read them. We are not a party to your agreement with Google, Stripe, your MLS, your AI provider, or anyone else on this page.
appraise-assist (the "Service") is operated by Ruby Appraisals ("we," "us," "our"). This page lists every third party involved in using the Service, in plain language, and explains what each one does and does not do. It should be read together with our Privacy Policy, our Data & Personal Information Handling page, and our Terms of Service.
1. How appraise-assist is built, so this page makes sense
appraise-assist is a plugin for an AI assistant — today, Claude by Anthropic, and ChatGPT by OpenAI where we support it. It is not a standalone application and it does not run its own copy of an AI model. It is a library of scripted steps, rules, playbooks, checklists and small programs ("the wheel") that your own AI assistant calls, one step at a time, while you work a file.
That design choice is why this page exists and why it looks the way it does:
- The AI conversation happens in your account, not ours. When you use appraise-assist inside Claude or ChatGPT, you are talking to Anthropic's or OpenAI's service under your own account with them, on their infrastructure, under their terms. We provide the tools and instructions your assistant calls; we do not operate the model, and we do not sit in the middle of that conversation.
- Our server runs each scripted step, and keeps nothing afterward. To run a given step, our server (mcp.appraise-assist.com) receives only the files that step needs, in one of three ways: a file your assistant attaches and passes to our tool for that call; your own Google Drive workfile folder, if you connect one and grant us access (we read and write only inside the folder you chose); or a small local helper you install, which sends that step's files from a folder on your computer and saves results back there. We process those files only for the duration of the call and keep nothing afterward — not your workfiles, reports, MLS data, photos, outputs, or your private library/wiki (see Data & Personal Information Handling). The request itself — the tool or step called, and any short parameters your assistant sent with it, such as a workfile name — does reach our server, so please don't put personal information in file or folder names.
- Some scripted steps reach outside data sources on your behalf. Public-record lookups, mapping/geocoding, and a construction-cost data service we license are called by our server as part of running a step, using public access, our own license, or the export file you supplied — not a live MLS login of yours.
With that in mind, here is every third party involved, and what each one does.
2. Your AI assistant provider (Anthropic, and OpenAI where supported)
What they do: Anthropic (maker of Claude) and, where we support it, OpenAI (maker of ChatGPT) run the actual AI assistant you talk to. Your messages, the files you share with it, and everything the assistant reads or writes while following appraise-assist's instructions are processed by that provider, under the account you hold with them.
Whose account, whose terms: This is your account with Anthropic or OpenAI, not an account we create or control. Their own terms of service and privacy policy apply to that processing — not ours. We encourage you to read them:
- Anthropic: see Anthropic's terms of service and Anthropic's privacy policy.
- OpenAI: see OpenAI's terms of use and OpenAI's privacy policy.
What we don't control: We do not control how Anthropic or OpenAI store, retain, train on, or secure the conversations you have with their assistants, how long they keep data, or what happens if their service is slow, unavailable, or produces an incorrect result. Any data-retention, training-opt-out, or enterprise-privacy setting is configured in your account with them, not with us.
No affiliation: Ruby Appraisals and appraise-assist are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Anthropic or OpenAI. "Claude" and "Anthropic" are trademarks of Anthropic, PBC. "ChatGPT" and "OpenAI" are trademarks of OpenAI. We build a plugin that runs inside their products and may be listed in their connector or app directories; we have no other relationship with them.
3. Google (sign-in; Drive, if you connect it; our business email)
Sign-in: We use Google sign-in to let you create and access your appraise-assist account. We request only your email address from Google; we do not receive access to your Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar, or any other Google data from sign-in alone. We receive the email address Google verifies for you, and Google's own tokens are discarded once that email is verified. We then issue appraise-assist's own sign-in token to your AI assistant and store only a hashed (one-way, non-reversible) copy of it. We do not receive your Google password.
Drive, if you connect it: If you choose to connect a Google Drive workfile folder, we use the Google-issued access you grant only to read and write files in the folder you chose, on your behalf, during your calls — not your whole Drive.
Google API Services User Data Policy: Our use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. This covers both the sign-in email address above and the Drive access described above: we do not use Google user data for advertising, do not sell it, do not let humans read it except with your consent, for security, or as required by law, and do not use it to train AI models.
Our business email: We run our own business email (including admin@appraise-assist.com) on Google Workspace. Email you send us is handled by Google's infrastructure as our email provider.
Whose terms: Your use of your own Google account is governed by Google's terms of service and privacy policy, not ours. We are a relying party for sign-in and Drive access, and a customer of Google Workspace; we do not control Google's practices. See Google's Terms of Service and Google's Privacy Policy.
No affiliation: We are not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. "Google" is a trademark of Google LLC.
4. Stripe (payments and the customer portal)
What they do: Subscriptions to appraise-assist are offered through Stripe, Inc., processed on Stripe-hosted pages. When you subscribe, you enter your card details directly into a page Stripe controls — not a page we built. We never see, receive, or store your full card number, expiration date, or security code.
What we do see: Stripe tells us your subscription status (for example active, past due, or canceled) and whether a payment succeeded, failed, or was refunded, so we can manage your access to the Service.
Managing your subscription: Once you subscribe, you can cancel or manage your subscription at any time yourself, with no need to contact us: a "Cancel or manage your subscription" link appears on appraise-assist.com for subscribers and opens Stripe's own customer portal. See our Cancellation & Refund Policy page for how cancellation and refunds work.
Whose terms: Stripe's own terms of service and privacy policy govern the payment processing itself. We are a merchant using Stripe's platform, not an operator of it.
No affiliation beyond being a customer: We are a Stripe customer, not a Stripe partner or affiliate; nothing on this page should be read as Stripe endorsing appraise-assist.
5. Hosting: Akamai Cloud (Linode)
What they do: appraise-assist.com (our marketing site) and mcp.appraise-assist.com (the server that runs our scripted tool-library steps) run on servers provided by Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode), located in the United States. Akamai/Linode provides the infrastructure; we do not hand your files to it as a separate recipient (see Data & Personal Information Handling).
What touches our servers: The files a given step needs, for the duration of that call only, plus ordinary web-server traffic — your IP address, request times, which tool or step was requested (with any short parameters, such as a workfile name), and error logs. See our Privacy Policy for details on these logs.
Whose terms: Akamai/Linode's own data-processing and security practices apply to the infrastructure layer; we are their customer, and we chose them as our host, but we do not control their internal operations.
6. Data sources our scripted steps may reach on your behalf
Some tools in the appraise-assist library are scripted steps that, when called, go out and fetch information from a third-party source as part of running that step. These include:
| Source | What it's used for | Whose access |
|---|---|---|
| Your MLS (e.g., REcolorado, PPMLS/elevateMLS, or another board you belong to) | Reading the listing and sale data in a CSV export you provide for that step | The export you supply for that call; no live MLS login is used |
| County assessor and public-record websites | Checking a subject or comparable property's identifiers (ownership, sales history, characteristics) against your file | Public, published access these sites offer to anyone; no personal credential is involved |
| A construction-cost data service | Pricing the cost approach using property characteristics only (size, quality, year built) — no personal names are sent | A license appraise-assist holds with that data service; its own terms apply to that use |
| Mapping/geocoding services | Distances, map images, and location checks used in the grid and narratives | The mapping provider's own public or licensed access, used by our server for that step |
Why this matters: You are responsible for having the right to use each source the way you use it — for example, complying with your MLS's rules of use for the export you provide, or a county site's terms for automated or repeated requests. We write and run the scripts; for the MLS row, the membership or export is yours, and we are not a party to your agreement with your MLS or any public-records site.
No guarantee these sources keep working: A county can redesign its website, an MLS can change its export format, or a cost-data service can change its pricing or shut down. When that happens, a script may stop working until we update it. We'll do our best to keep up, but we can't promise uninterrupted access to any outside source we don't operate.
7. Appraisal form software you export into (e.g., a la mode TOTAL)
What this is: Some appraisers using appraise-assist still deliver their final report through third-party appraisal-form software, such as a la mode's WinTOTAL. Where we support it, appraise-assist can produce an export file formatted for that software to import, so you can bring the data into the form product you already use and are licensed for.
Your license, not ours: You need your own license or subscription to any such software. We do not provide, resell, or sublicense a la mode's or any other vendor's product. Producing a compatible export file is not a statement that the vendor supports, certifies, or endorses appraise-assist.
No affiliation: We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by a la mode or any other appraisal-form software vendor. "TOTAL" and "a la mode" are trademarks of their respective owner. Their software's own terms govern your use of it, and any bug, format change, or outage in their product is theirs to fix, not ours.
8. We are not responsible for third parties
Every service named on this page — Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Stripe, Akamai/Linode, your MLS, county assessor and public-record sites, cost-data and mapping services, and appraisal-form software vendors — is operated independently of us. For every one of them:
- We do not control their availability, uptime, accuracy, security, or the correctness of the data or results they return.
- We are not responsible for their acts, omissions, errors, outages, policy changes, price changes, or discontinuation of service.
- Their own terms of service and privacy policy govern your use of their service — not our Terms of Service or Privacy Policy. If there's a conflict between what one of them promises and what we say about them here, their own current terms control.
- We make no warranty, express or implied, about any third-party service, and to the fullest extent the law allows, we disclaim liability for any loss arising from your use of, or inability to use, a third-party service listed here. See the limitation of liability in our Terms of Service, which applies to this as well.
If a third-party service changes in a way that affects appraise-assist — a new MLS data format, a changed assessor website, a new AI-provider policy — we will update our tools when we can, but we cannot guarantee a fix on any particular timeline.
9. Trademarks
All third-party names, logos, and trademarks mentioned on this page — including Anthropic and Claude; OpenAI and ChatGPT; Google; Stripe; Akamai and Linode; a la mode and TOTAL; any MLS; county assessor or public-record providers; CoreLogic/Cotality or other property-data aggregators you separately subscribe to; Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the VA, and FHA — belong to their respective owners. Mentioning them identifies the service or standard involved; it is not a claim of affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement in either direction unless we say so explicitly.
10. Changes to this page
We may add, remove, or update a third-party service as appraise-assist changes — for example, if we add support for another AI provider, another cost-data service, or another payment method. We'll update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page when we do. Material changes that affect how your data moves will also be reflected in our Privacy Policy and Data & Personal Information Handling page.
11. Questions
If you're not sure whether a particular tool reaches a third-party source, or want to know more about how any of the services on this page fit into appraise-assist, email us at admin@appraise-assist.com.