Preview a request before sending it

requests_preview: shows what requests_submit would do for a request, and contacts no dealership.

Who can use it

A connected assistant with the offers:read permission, on any account that can send a request. A send always needs a preview first. Sign in with OAuth. See Authentication.

Arguments

Argument	Type	Required	Meaning
`idempotencyKey`	string	Yes	A key you make up for this request. The preview token is sealed to it.
`zip`	string	Yes	The buyer's five-digit ZIP code, from her.
`configuration`	object	One of the two	The car she asked about: `make`, `model`, `modelYear`, and optionally `trim`, `exteriorColor`, `interiorColor`, `drivetrain`, `powertrain`.
`listingId`	string	One of the two	A `listingId` from `see_cars_near_buyer`, for the one dealership that lists that car. Sent with `zip` and without `configuration`, `radiusMiles`, `limit` or `acceptFewer`.
`radiusMiles`	number	No	How far from her ZIP code to look for dealerships, in miles.
`limit`	integer	No	How many dealerships she chose to ask, up to the service cap.
`acceptFewer`	boolean	No	False: if fewer dealerships match than the limit, nothing is sent and you are told. True: go ahead with fewer.

What it returns

The request as given, the next steps, and a previewToken. The token is valid for a short time, only for this exact request and this idempotencyKey. See Preview a request.

For a new car on an account that was granted new-car requests, the preview has the grid shape: upTo is 5 and radiusMiles is 50. The request goes to the dealership that lists this car, unless it was not asked (the send answer's tappedSkipped says so), and up to four more within radiusMiles of the ZIP code. In a request to several dealerships, the others are asked about their own matching car. Every dealership asked gets any note you add. upTo is a limit, not a count: the preview does not search. For a used car, a match with no condition, or any other account, upTo is 1 and there is no radiusMiles: the request goes to the one dealership that lists the car. In test mode upTo is 1 and testMode is true. A preview token fits only the shape it was made for: a token for one dealership cannot send the grid, and a grid token cannot send to one dealership (409 preview_mismatch).

Each of the up to four more dealerships lists a new matching car, with a known distance inside radiusMiles of the ZIP code. A dealership that does not meet both is not asked.

Errors

A call the tool cannot do answers with isError: true and a body of the form { "error": { "code": "...", "message": "..." } }. Branch on error.code; the codes are on the Errors page. A missing or no longer valid token gets a sign-in challenge instead: a JSON-RPC error with code -32001 and a WWW-Authenticate header. See Authentication.

Example

A tools/call request to https://www.ridekick.com/api/mcp:

json

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "id": 1,
  "method": "tools/call",
  "params": {
    "name": "requests_preview",
    "arguments": {
      "idempotencyKey": "civic-2024-94103-001",
      "zip": "94103",
      "configuration": {
        "make": "Honda",
        "model": "Civic",
        "modelYear": 2024
      },
      "radiusMiles": 50,
      "limit": 5,
      "acceptFewer": false
    }
  }
}

Send requests to dealerships, Preview a request (reference).

Last updated October 10, 2026