For AI agents
Assistants that shop and give for people need one more check: will this gift lower someone’s SSI check? Giftwise answers over MCP, and can prepare a PayPal checkout that only the giver can approve.
An assistant that asks first
A Claude assistant that knows nothing about SSI, connected to Giftwise only through the MCP server below. After it starts the checkout, it reads the order back from PayPal, so June hears what PayPal will pay. It asks PayPal’s own MCP server first (its get_order tool, from PayPal’s @paypal/mcp package, which Giftwise runs) and reads PayPal’s Orders API when that server cannot run the call.
Recorded Nov 7, 2026 with Claude Opus 5.5: 5 tool calls. The PayPal link from the recording is removed; a live run makes a fresh one. Every check named below is Maya’s January 2027 check, whose full amount is $1,029.
June
I'm June, Maya's aunt. Her birthday is this week and I want to give her $300. Should I just send her the cash? She's on SSI, and her family made a Giftwise page for her: maya.
get_gift_pageReads Maya's gift pageWhat it sent and got back
Sent
{"slug":"maya"}Got back
Gift page for Maya (/g/maya). Open needs: Wheelchair repair: $420 still needed, paid to Riverside Mobility Repair; Laptop for college: $649 still needed, paid to Eastgate College Bookstore; Electric bill, this month: $138 still needed, paid to Maya's ABLE account; Therapy co-pay: $90 still needed, paid to Northside Physical Therapy. Any amount can also go to her ABLE account.
check_giftChecks what cash would doWhat it sent and got back
Sent
{"amount":300,"delivery":"cash","category":"other"}Got back
Cash counts as income. $300 minus $80 in exclusions leaves $220 counted in November, so their January check would be $809. Giving the item itself keeps $1,029. Sources: 20 CFR 416.1121: types of unearned income, including gifts; POMS SI 00830.520: Gifts; POMS SI 00810.410: Infrequent or Irregular Income Exclusion; POMS SI 00810.420: $20 General Income Exclusion; POMS SI 02005.001: Retrospective monthly accounting.
plan_giftPlans the giftWhat it sent and got back
Sent
{"slug":"maya","amount":300}Got back
$300 for Maya: $300 to Riverside Mobility Repair (Wheelchair repair). Her check stays $1,029. Given as cash, it would be $809.
Her assistant
Hi June, what a kind gift. Before you send it, here's what I found.
If you send $300 in cash: Social Security counts cash gifts as income. They let her keep the first $80, so $220 would count against her. That would lower her monthly check from $1,029 to $809, so she'd get $220 less. Because of how Social Security does its timing, the lower check would land two months after the gift. None of that money goes to Social Security; it just comes off her check.
What I suggest instead: Maya's family made her a gift page, and the biggest thing on it is a $420 wheelchair repair. Giftwise would pay all $300 straight to Riverside Mobility Repair. Since the money goes to the repair shop and not to Maya, her check stays at $1,029.
If you'd like to pick something else, these are also on her page:
- Laptop for college ($649)
- Physical therapy co-pay ($90)
- Money for her ABLE account (a special savings account that doesn't affect her benefits)
Do you want to go ahead with $300 for the wheelchair repair? Once you say yes, I'll set up a PayPal checkout and send you the link. Nothing gets charged until you approve it in PayPal yourself.
June
That makes sense. Yes, please set up the $300 that way.
start_gift_checkoutStarts a PayPal checkout for June to approveWhat it sent and got back
Sent
{"slug":"maya","amount":300}Got back
PayPal checkout ready for $300 to Maya, paid to 1 recipient. The person giving should open this link and approve in PayPal: (her PayPal approval link; a live run makes a fresh one). After they approve, the receipt will be at her receipt page.
paypal_get_orderReads the order from PayPal itself, not from GiftwiseWhat it sent and got back
Sent
{"id":"[order id]"}Got back
{"source":"PayPal's MCP server (@paypal/mcp 1.8.1), get_order","id":"(order id)","status":"PAYER_ACTION_REQUIRED","purchase_units":[{"reference_id":"need-1","for":"Wheelchair repair for Maya","amount":"300.00","paid_to_paypal_account":"sb-...@business.example.com"}]}
PayPal’s own record
Waiting for June to approve it in PayPal
- $300.00 for Wheelchair repair for Maya, paid to PayPal account sb-...@business.example.com
Read from PayPal's own MCP server.
Her assistant
Your checkout is ready, June. Open this link and approve the payment in PayPal:
(her PayPal approval link; a live run makes a fresh one)
PayPal's own record shows one payment of $300.00 for Maya's wheelchair repair, and it hasn't been paid yet: it's waiting for you to approve it.
If you sent the $300 as cash, her monthly check would drop from $1,029 to $809. Paid straight to the repair shop like this, it stays at $1,029.
After you approve, your receipt will be at her receipt page. This is a test version of PayPal, so no real money will move. Happy birthday to Maya.
Checking today's AI budget…
Connect your agent
Streamable HTTP at https://giftwise-405i.onrender.com/api/mcp. No key needed in the sandbox.
Claude on the web or Claude Desktop
Settings, then Connectors, then Add custom connector. Name it Giftwise and paste https://giftwise-405i.onrender.com/api/mcp.
Claude Code
claude mcp add --transport http giftwise https://giftwise-405i.onrender.com/api/mcp
Cursor
Cursor shows the server and its address before anything is added.
VS Code
code --add-mcp '{"name":"giftwise","type":"http","url":"https://giftwise-405i.onrender.com/api/mcp"}'Other MCP clients
{
"mcpServers": {
"giftwise": {
"type": "http",
"url": "https://giftwise-405i.onrender.com/api/mcp"
}
}
}Found without being told
An agent pointed at this site can find the server on its own: the domain’s AI Catalog at /.well-known/ai-catalog.json lists its MCP Server Card at https://giftwise-405i.onrender.com/api/mcp/server-card, the discovery format MCP adopted in SEP-2127, and /llms.txt describes Giftwise in plain text.
Tools
9 tools, each with its job. Each one opens to the full description an agent reads, and whether it changes anything.
check_giftHow one gift changes the SSI check, and the benefit-safe way to give it.Before giving money or paying a bill for someone who receives SSI (Supplemental Security Income), check how the gift changes their monthly check and the benefit-safe way to give it. Cash usually counts as income; paying a shop directly for something other than housing usually does not. Uses the federal SSI amount for the month the check is paid ($994 in 2026, $1,029 from January 2027 for one person), names that month and year in every answer, and cites the regulation or SSA manual section. When the person lives in someone else's household and pays less than their share of its costs, the answer says that the household already lowers the check, gift or not. Help that is a loan can be checked with the loan facts; Giftwise itself moves gifts only and does not arrange loans (POMS SI 00835.482).
Changes anything: No
get_gift_pageReads a gift page: who it is for, what is still needed, and who gets paid.Read a Giftwise gift page: who it is for, what they still need, how much, and who gets paid for each need (a shop, a clinic or their ABLE account), with their SSI check from their own situation as the organizer gave it (or a sample situation, which the answer names). Use it before suggesting a gift.
Changes anything: No
ask_rulebookAnswers a question about SSI and gifts from the rule text, with every quote checked.Answer a question about SSI and gifts from the rule text itself: Elasticsearch finds the passages across the regulations, SSA's operating manual and its worked examples, the answer uses only those passages, and every quote is checked word for word. Use it when a person asks why a gift counts or not.
Changes anything: No
find_giftFinds real products for a need and checks each one against the SSI rules.Search real products across retailers (Channel3) for something a person on SSI needs, and check each one against the SSI rules for that person: whether buying it straight from the retailer keeps their check whole. Gift cards are flagged, because SSA counts a card that can buy food or shelter like cash. Nothing is bought.
Changes anything: No
plan_giftSplits any amount across a page's needs and the ABLE account, compared with cash.Show how Giftwise would split a gift of any amount across a gift page's open needs and the person's ABLE account so that none of it lowers their SSI check, compared with giving the same amount as cash. Nothing is paid.
Changes anything: No
review_billTwo reviewers decide whether a bill counts as housing under SSI rules.Decide whether a bill paid by someone else is a housing cost under SSI rules, which matters because housing paid by others can lower the check. Two reviewers answer independently, one from the federal regulations and the Federal Register, one from SSA's operating manual; each must quote its rulebook word for word, a program checks the quotes, and the rules engine picks the route. Takes about 10 to 20 seconds.
Changes anything: No
get_ssa_reportWrites one month's report to Social Security from the gifts themselves.Writes one month's report to Social Security for a Giftwise gift page, from the gifts themselves: which gifts to tell SSA about, what counts, the check it decides, and the record that shows every other gift was paid straight to a shop or clinic through PayPal, or to the ABLE account through the ABLE plan's own gift page. Each gift is dated the day PayPal captured it, in Pacific time, the same day its receipt shows. People on SSI tell Social Security about changes in income, including help from friends and family, within 10 days after the month ends. Read-only; it never contacts Social Security.
Changes anything: No
start_gift_checkoutPrepares a PayPal checkout that pays each recipient directly, for the giver to approve.Changes somethingCreate a PayPal checkout that pays the shops and clinics a gift is for directly, split by the rules so the SSI check stays whole; the share for the person's ABLE account goes through the ABLE plan's own gift page, and in this sandbox build a PayPal test account stands in for the plan. Returns a PayPal link for the person giving to open and approve. Nothing is charged until that person approves in PayPal; never approve on their behalf. This build uses the PayPal sandbox, so no real money moves.
Changes anything: Creates a sandbox order; nothing is charged until the giver approves
start_monthly_giftSets up the same gift every month; the giver approves each month in PayPal.Changes somethingSet up the same gift every month for someone with a Giftwise page. Each month the rules route it again for that month's needs (recurring bills come back, paid-off needs drop away) and say what changed. Returns the giver's own page, where they approve each month in PayPal. Nothing is charged by this call or by Giftwise on its own; never approve on the giver's behalf. Sandbox only.
Changes anything: Saves a monthly plan; nothing is charged until the giver approves each month
What an agent can and cannot do
- It can check any gift, read a gift page, plan a gift and ask the two reviewers.
- It can prepare a PayPal checkout. Only the person giving can approve it, in PayPal, and Giftwise captures the payment only after that.
- It can set up a monthly gift. The giver still approves each month in PayPal, on their own page; nothing is ever charged on its own.
- It never chooses where money goes: the rules engine does, for every dollar.
- Every checkout an agent starts is written to the same ledger as everything else, marked as made by an agent. See the failure cases.