CSS RoofConnect — AI Estimator

New Estimate

Pipeline

Estimates

#	Address	Status	Created

Current Prototype Status

This is the CSS RoofConnect AI roof-replacement estimator prototype (client: Connect Service Solutions; dev partner: Orases). It turns a building address into an internal estimate PDF: order an EagleView measurement report, run a deterministic takeoff against the price book, have Claude write the narrative and flag concerns, and render the PDF. By design, the AI never sets or changes a number — all quantities and prices come from src/estimation/takeoff.ts + pricebook/pricebook.json.

Where things stand

Full pipeline works end-to-end on mock EagleView data — three demo addresses (see the form above), no per-report cost.
Deterministic takeoff engine + price book; 22 unit & golden-snapshot tests green.
PDF rendering (WeasyPrint) verified on this server.
Deployed as css-estimator.service (port 3100) behind this gated subdomain; PUBLIC_URL configured.
Anthropic API key configured — full e2e (incl. real Claude judgment call) passed on this server 2026-07-08. Each estimate costs ~$0.10 in Claude usage.
Phase 2 — live EagleView API not started. Needs sandbox credentials from developer.eagleview.com (partner contact: Integrations@EagleView.com). The complete checklist is in docs/EAGLEVIEW-INTEGRATION.md; only src/eagleview/live.ts and normalize.ts may touch the wire format. The webhook path (/webhooks/eagleview) is already exempted from this site’s access gate.

Measurement-data costs — EagleView vs. alternatives

Benchmark: one Walmart Supercenter-scale roof (~180,000 sq ft, low-slope). Full sourced comparison in docs/DATA-SOURCES.md — don’t re-research it. “quote” = vendor doesn’t publish pricing.

Provider	Cost / building	Turnaround	API	Verdict
EagleView Premium Commercial	$89.50 flat (+ ~$0.10 Claude)	~3–6 hr	Yes — OAuth2 + webhooks	Current default — only per-report option with a published rate card and real ordering API
EagleView Bid Perfect Commercial	$49 flat	~3–6 hr	Yes (same)	Ballpark only — no linear footages, can’t feed a full takeoff
Nearmap (subscription)	~$2,000–2,600/yr, unlimited	On demand	Yes — strongest APIs	The volume play at ~25+ sites/yr; also returns parapet heights
GAF QuickMeasure Commercial	quote	<24 hr	No — via AccuLynx/JobNimbus	Manual fallback; poor automation target
Roofr	$13–19	<2–3 hr	No	Out — unproven at big-box scale
Hover	$29	Hours + on-site	Enterprise only	Out — ground photos can’t capture a large flat roof
Drone (e.g. DroneDeploy)	$500–1,500+	~Days end-to-end	Yes	Accuracy escalation for survey-grade needs, not the pipeline
Google Solar API (satellite)	Near-free	Instant	Yes	Sanity-check / free pre-screen only; not takeoff-grade

Next developer — start here

Code lives at /var/www/css/estimator on this server (ubuntu@hep.orases.dev). Read docs/ARCHITECTURE.md before changing anything; CLAUDE.md has the hard rules and commands.
Use Node 22 from ~/opt/node-v22.17.0-linux-x64/bin — system Node 18 belongs to the voice bot (css-bot.service), don’t touch it.
Keep npm test green (golden snapshots pin the money math) and never remove the live-order cost gate (409 + confirmCost) — live reports cost $49–90 each.
Provider payloads stay quarantined: everything outside src/eagleview/ consumes normalized RoofMeasurements only. docs/DATA-SOURCES.md explains how to add a new measurement provider behind the same seam.