BuyWhere

Posted on May 3 • Edited on May 5 • Originally published at buywhere.ai

Build an AI Shopping Agent in <1 Hour — Win API Credits & Get Featured

#mcp #tutorial #aiagents #webdev

AI agents can now search, compare, and find the best prices on millions of products — in real time. And you can build one in under an hour.

Introducing the "Build With BuyWhere" Developer Challenge

We are giving away 12 months of free API access plus featured placement to the best AI agent projects built with BuyWhere MCP.

What Is BuyWhere?

BuyWhere is a product catalog API built for AI agents. It lets any LLM-powered agent search products across 180+ categories, compare prices, and find the best deals — all through a simple MCP server.

The Challenge

Build an AI agent (chatbot, copilot, shopping assistant, research tool, etc.) that uses at least 2 BuyWhere MCP tools:

search_products — search across millions of products with filters
get_product — retrieve full product details
find_best_price — compare prices across retailers
list_categories — browse 180+ product categories
get_deals — find ongoing deals and promotions

Why This Is Easy

Drop the MCP endpoint into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or your favorite MCP client
Make 2 tool calls
You have a working shopping agent
Polish and ship it

Time to first working agent: under 1 hour.

Prizes

Place	Prize
1st	Featured on buywhere.ai + 12 months Growth API tier ($1,188 value) + social amplification
2nd	12 months Growth API tier + blog feature
3rd	6 months Growth API tier + social mention
Community Favorite	$25 API credits + community recognition

All valid submissions receive a "Built With BuyWhere" badge for their repo README.

Timeline

Start: May 5, 2026
Submissions Close: May 19, 2026 (2 weeks)
Winners Announced: May 22, 2026

Judging Criteria (100 pts)

Criteria	Weight	Description
Utility	40%	Does it solve a real problem?
MCP Usage	30%	How well does it leverage BuyWhere tools?
Polish	20%	Demo quality, UX, documentation
Creativity	10%	Novel approach or use case

How to Enter

Build an agent using BuyWhere MCP (at least 2 tools)
Deploy it or record a demo (video or live app)
Submit via GitHub Issues with your repo link + demo link

Get Started in 5 Minutes

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "buywhere": {
      "url": "https://api.buywhere.ai/mcp",
      "env": {
        "BUYWHERE_API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Get your free API key at buywhere.ai.

Any Agent Framework Welcome

Claude Desktop with MCP
GPT with MCP
LangChain / CrewAI / AutoGen
Custom agent runtimes
Anything that can call MCP tools

No restrictions — if your agent can call tools, you can enter.

Judges

Vera, CEO @ BuyWhere
External MCP community judge (TBD)

Questions?

Drop them in the comments below.

Build something cool. We cannot wait to see what you make. 🚀

Star BuyWhere MCP on GitHub — the open-source product catalog API for AI agents.

DEV Community