Operon guides

What Operon does

Operon makes the forms your customers fill in to ask for a quote, book a job or send you details. You describe the form in your own words, and Operon builds it: the questions, the price math, the photos, your logo.

You get a link to share. When a customer sends it, the request lands in your Submissions, already priced, and you get an email. Customers never need an account.

Make your first form

You describe it, Operon asks what it needs to know, then builds it.

1. In Operon, click New form in the sidebar.

2. Under Describe your form, write what you need, the way you'd tell a new hire. Say what you charge and how, if the form should price the job.

   Describe your formA quote form for roof replacements. Price is roof size × $4.25, plus $0.85 a square foot for each layer we tear off, plus $650 for the permit. Ask for photos.

   Build it

3. The Build Assistant asks a few questions about anything it isn't sure of. Click an answer, or type your own and press Send.

4. Your form appears, with its questions on the left and the assistant on the right. Click Preview and fill it in as a customer would. Check that the price is right.

5. When you're happy, click Publish. Your form is live.

Other ways to start

• From a template: on the New form page, under Start from a template, click Preview template, then Use this template.
• From blank: click Start from blank, give it a Form name, then Start blank and add your own questions.

Share your form

When you publish, a window shows Your form is live! with everything you need:

• Your link, with a Copy button. Put it on your website, in your Google profile, in texts and in email signatures.
• A QR code, for your van, yard signs, flyers and invoices. Customers scan it with their phone camera.
• Email me on every submission: leave it on to get an email each time a request arrives.

Later, open the form and use Copy link or Open live at the top. Your link looks like useoperon.app/f/your-business/roof-quote. The first part comes from your business name.

Want to see what a request looks like before a customer sends one? Click Send sample lead.

Change a form

Open the form from Forms. There are two ways to change it.

Ask the assistant

1. In the box that says Ask the assistant to build or change your form…, write the change, for example "Add gutter guards as an option at $9 a foot".

2. The assistant shows what it would change. Click Accept to keep it, or Reject.

Change it yourself

Click any question to edit its Label, Type, Help text or Options, or to make it Required. Use Add field for a new question and Add step to split a long form into pages. Click Undo if you change your mind.

Question types: short text, long text, email, phone, number, select, multi-select, checkbox, radio, date, address, file upload, image upload and hidden.

Prices and math

A form can work out a price as the customer answers. The easiest way is to tell the assistant your rates in plain words: "$4.25 a square foot, 20% more for steep roofs, $650 permit fee".

To see or change the math yourself, open the Calculator card in the form editor:

• Add calculation adds a line, like roof size × 4.25.
• Add rate table sets a price for each choice, like Low $4.25, Medium $4.75, Steep $5.50.
• Shown as picks how the result looks: money, number, yes / no, text or duration.

Customers see the estimate change as they answer. When they send the form, Operon works the price out again itself, so the number in your Submissions is the one your rules give, whatever happened in the customer's browser.

Questions that only show when needed

Only ask what matters. A repair customer never needs to see the tear-off question.

1. In the form editor, open the question or the step you want to hide sometimes, and find Show this when… (on a step, click Visibility).

2. Click Add condition and pick the earlier answer it depends on, for example What do you need is Full replacement.

3. With more than one condition, choose Match all or Match any. A step with a rule shows Conditional.

You can also just ask the assistant: "Only ask about tear-off layers for full replacements."

Photos and files

Add a File upload or Image upload question and customers can send photos of the job from their phone.

• Files customers can send: photos (JPEG, PNG, HEIC), PDFs and plain text. An image upload question takes photos only.
• Size: up to 25 MB a file and 100 MB a request, and up to 10 files a question.
• Checked first: every file is scanned for viruses before it reaches you. If one fails, the customer sees that it couldn't be accepted, and it never reaches your inbox.

How many files you can receive each month depends on your plan; see Plans and limits.

Your logo and colours

Starter and up

1. Go to Settings›Branding.

2. Under Logo, click Upload logo. PNG, JPEG or WebP, up to 1 MB.

3. Under Brand color, pick your colour and click Save color.

Your logo and colour appear on all your forms. On paid plans the "Powered by Operon" badge is removed automatically. On the Free plan you'll see Upgrade to customize branding.

Your requests

Every request lands in Submissions, with the customer's answers, photos and the price.

• New requests are waiting on you. When you've dealt with one, click Mark handled (or press e). Changed your mind? Mark as new.
• Use the All, New and Handled tabs, Filter by form and Search to find one.
• Export CSV downloads your requests as a spreadsheet for Excel, Google Sheets or your accounts.

An email for every request

Turn on Email me on every submission in the form's Form settings (or in the window you see when you publish). Each email has the customer, the estimate and their answers. See where they go in Settings›Submissions.

Your numbers

Your Dashboard shows, at a glance:

• New submissions: requests waiting to be handled.
• Last 7 days: requests received this week.
• Live forms: how many forms customers can fill in right now.
• Usage this month: requests and AI allowance used against your plan.

Want more, like requests day by day, or which form brings in the most? Connect your AI assistant and ask it in plain words.

Your team

Pro and Business

1. Go to Settings›People.

2. Type their email under Invite by email and click Send invite. They get an email to join.

Members can build forms and see submissions. Owners can also invite people, change branding and the business name, and manage billing and AI top-ups. Pro includes 3 people and Business includes 10.

Your AI assistant

Connect the AI assistant you already use to Operon, then ask it about your business in plain words.

• See your numbers: "How many requests came in each day this week? Is anything waiting on me?"
• Read your forms and, if you allow it, the answers customers sent.
• Draft forms: "Make a gutter cleaning quote form like my roof one." It's saved as a draft in Operon, never published on its own.
• Publish, only if you turn that permission on, and only when you confirm.

It starts read-only. You choose what else it may do when you connect, and you can disconnect it any time. Pick your app:

Every app uses the same Operon address:

https://www.useoperon.app/mcp

Connect Claude

Claude On claude.ai or the Claude desktop app. Every plan, including Free (Free allows one custom connector).

1. In Claude, open Customize›Connectors.

2. Click + Add, then Add custom connector. (Some accounts show Add › Custom › Web instead.)

3. Name it Operon, paste the address below as the server URL, and click Continue.

   https://www.useoperon.app/mcp

4. Claude finds Operon's sign-in by itself. If it asks how to set up the OAuth client, choose Register automatically. Skip Request headers; Operon doesn't use a key. Click Add.

5. Click Connect. Operon's Connect an agent window opens: sign in, pick your workspace and choose what Claude may do.

6. In a chat, click + at the bottom left, hover Connectors, and make sure Operon is switched on. Then ask: "What's my Operon workspace, and how many requests came in this week?"

On your phone: add the connector on the web or desktop first. It then shows up in the Claude phone app too.

Connect ChatGPT

ChatGPT On chatgpt.com in a web browser. It needs developer mode, which isn't in the phone apps.

1. Turn on developer mode. In ChatGPT, open Settings and switch on Developer mode. It's under Security and login, or under Apps › Advanced settings on some accounts.

2. Open Settings›Plugins (older apps say Apps) and click + or Create to add your own.

3. Fill it in: name Operon, a short description like My Operon quote forms, the address below as the MCP server URL, and OAuth for authentication. Then create it.

   https://www.useoperon.app/mcp

4. Operon's Connect an agent window opens: sign in, pick your workspace and choose what ChatGPT may do.

5. In a new chat, click + (look under More if it's not there), pick Operon, and ask: "How many requests came in this week?" ChatGPT asks you before any action that changes something.

OpenAI is renaming these menus as they go. If a label doesn't match, search ChatGPT's help for "developer mode".

Connect Claude Code

Claude Code In your terminal. One command, one sign-in.

1. In your terminal, add Operon:

   claude mcp add --transport http operon https://www.useoperon.app/mcp

   It answers Added HTTP MCP server operon … to local config, and claude mcp list shows operon as Needs authentication.

2. Start Claude Code with claude, type /mcp, pick operon and choose Authenticate.

3. Your browser opens Operon's Connect an agent window: sign in, pick your workspace and choose what it may do. Claude Code then says it's connected.

4. Ask something like "How many quote requests came in this week, and is anything waiting on me?" Check it answers about the right workspace before you let it change anything.

Connect Codex

Codex In the Codex command-line tool or the Codex app.

1. Add Operon:

   codex mcp add operon --url https://www.useoperon.app/mcp

   Codex answers Detected OAuth support. Starting OAuth flow… and opens Operon's Connect an agent window in your browser.

2. Sign in, pick your workspace and choose what Codex may do. The terminal then says Successfully logged in. Codex waits about two minutes; if it gave up, run codex mcp login operon to try again.

3. Check it with codex mcp list: operon shows OAuth under Auth.

Permissions and disconnecting

The Connect an agent window

Every app opens the same window from Operon. You never paste a password or key into the app itself.

1. Sign in with your Operon email and password and click Sign in for this connection, or use Send email code instead. This sign-in is separate from your dashboard.

2. Pick the Workspace it may use.

3. Choose its permissions, then click Allow selected permissions. Changed your mind? Deny connection.

Each connection is to one workspace. Start with the read permissions and add more only when you need them.

Disconnect an assistant

1. In Operon, open Settings›Connections.

2. Find the assistant under Your connections, click Revoke connection, then Confirm revoke. It loses access straight away. You stay signed in to Operon.

Plans and limits

Every plan includes forms that price the job, your own link, and a monthly AI allowance. Customers filling in your forms never use your AI allowance.

When you reach a limit

• Free: at 25 requests a month, your form stops taking new requests until the next month. Customers see a message asking them to contact you directly.
• Paid monthly plans: you can turn on extra requests ($0.01, $0.005 or $0.003 each) and extra file uploads ($0.02, $0.01 or $0.008 each) in Settings. They are off until you turn them on.
• File uploads: when the monthly number is reached, customers can still send their answers; they just can't attach new files until it resets.

Your AI allowance

Building and changing forms with Operon's AI uses your plan's monthly AI allowance. You can see how much is left in Settings. If you run out:

• buy a one-time top-up (from $5), or
• turn on pay as you go, up to a monthly limit you set.

Your connected AI assistant uses the same allowance. Editing a form by hand never uses it.

Cancelling, and your files

1. Open Settings›Billing and choose to change your plan or payment method.

2. The billing portal (run by Polar, who handle checkout and sales tax) lets you cancel. Your plan keeps working until the end of the period you paid for.

Get help

Email support@useoperon.app.