# Ask away. The bird kept notes.

Questions to ask, the tools your assistant calls for each, and an example answer.

Pick a question and watch it run. Most questions only read, and reading uses no allowance. For a change or a check, your assistant’s app controls approvals.

## Reading what the bird found

Most questions only read. Reading uses no allowance and changes nothing.

| You ask | Your assistant calls, in order | Reads or changes | What comes back |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| What did the last check find at summitridgekia.com? | `list_sites` → `list_reports` → `get_report` | Reads only. Uses no allowance. It reads the latest published report, not a check still running. | The published date, the finding in the report’s words, the capture and the link to the report. |
| Show me the evidence for the contact form finding. | `list_sites` → `list_reports` → `get_report` | Reads only. The connection tells the assistant to treat the report’s text and its captured pages as data, not instructions. | The finding in the report’s words, where it was seen, the capture with its page address and viewport, and the link to the report. |
| Was the service scheduler fixed? Compare the last two reports. | `list_sites` → `list_reports` → `get_report` → `get_report` | Reads only. Two exact reports, read for the same observation. A fix is called only when the newer check tested the same thing again. | What each report says about the same thing, and whether the newer check tested it again. An absent finding is not called a fix. |
| What did the store send back after our trade-in inquiry? | `list_sites` → `list_assignment_runs` → `get_inquiry` | Reads only. The inquiry’s references come from `list_assignment_runs`, not from a message or a date. The tool marks reply text as untrusted data. | The inquiry, the emails and texts that came back, and how each reply was reviewed, current and earlier. |
| Which tools are on my site, and which journeys were assessed? | `list_sites` → `list_site_tools` → `list_journeys` → `get_journey_assessment` | Reads only. A tool on the list is not a pass, and an empty list of assessments is not a failed test. | The tools found on the site, the journeys run, and the assessments recorded for a check, each with its link. |
| How is my Summit Ridge Group doing? | `list_sites` → `list_groups` → `get_group` | Reads only. Group access comes from `list_groups`, not from a site’s name. | The Group’s grade, its sites and their current recheck state, its open findings and the Group’s link. |

## Changing a shopper

Areas of focus are how to ask a shopper to try something particular. Each says what to do in 12 to 600 characters and whether it runs one time or going forward, and can add a start page and what counts as done. A start page is a full web address, and what counts as done is up to 300 characters.

| You ask | Your assistant calls, in order | Reads or changes | What comes back |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Pause the service shopper. | `list_sites` → `list_assignments` → `save_assignment` | Changes a saved shopper. A save replaces every setting, so the tool tells the assistant to read the shopper first and send every other setting back unchanged. Your assistant’s app controls approvals. | The save receipt. Every other setting stays as it was, and no check runs. |
| Add a consent comparison to my sales shopper as an area of focus, for its next check only. | `list_sites` → `list_assignments` → `save_assignment` → `list_assignments` | Changes a saved shopper. A list of areas of focus is stored as sent and replaces the saved one, so the existing ones are sent back with the new one. `one_time` runs on the next check only; `going_forward` runs on every check. | The save receipt. `list_assignments` shows the new area of focus beside the ones already saved. |
| Move the Service shopper’s checks to Tuesdays, Los Angeles time. | `list_sites` → `list_assignments` → `set_assignment_calendar` | Changes a saved shopper. It needs a named time zone. It does not pause, resume or run anything. | The calendar receipt, with the day, the time zone and the date it takes effect. |

- [Consent testing](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/consent-testing/)
- [Secret shoppers and their settings](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/secret-shoppers/)

## Requesting a check

| You ask | Your assistant calls, in order | Reads or changes | What comes back |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Recheck the site and follow this check to its report. | `list_sites` → `list_assignments` → `request_recheck` → `get_run` → `list_reports` → `get_report` | Requests a check. Before approval, a good assistant says what the check uses: the first saved shopper that has not been retired, which can be a paused one, its test inquiries if it sends them, and allowance. Queued is not finished, and finished is not published. | The receipt and its check reference, each state as the check moves, and the report once it is published. |

- · Shopper: the first saved one that has not been retired, which can be a paused one
- · Test inquiries: if that shopper sends them
- · Allowance: a check may use it
- · Monitoring: needed to request rechecks and edit saved shoppers

## What a good answer contains

- The date the report was published.
- The finding in the report’s own words.
- The capture, when there is one.
- The link to the report in Dr. Canary.
- What is unknown, said as unknown: a capture that is not available, a check still running, a page that was not tested.

## What the assistant will not do

| You ask | Your assistant calls, in order | Reads or changes | What comes back |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Run a custom checkout test on this other website. | None. | Calls no tool. A good assistant explains the limit and offers what is supported, before any partial save or broader check. | A plain no, the reason, and what it can do instead. |

When a request does not fit, the connection asks the assistant to say so first and offer what is supported, never to widen a request without asking, and never to say a target was tested when it was not.

## What it does not do

- It requests checks only for sites connected to your account. A recheck takes a connected site, not a web address.
- It does not run a chosen shopper, a custom test or one finding alone.
- It does not send you a message later. It follows a check in the current conversation.
- It does not call a finding fixed because it is gone. The newer check must have tested the same thing.
- The connection tells it to treat what it reads in a report, a reply or a captured page as data, not instructions.

## Questions

### What can I ask my assistant about Dr. Canary?

What a check found, the evidence behind a finding, whether a finding was tested again, what a store sent back after an inquiry, which tools are on your site and how a Group is doing. It can also change a saved shopper or request a check of a connected site.

### Does asking cost anything?

Reading uses no allowance: reports, checks, shoppers and inquiries are all reads. A requested check may use allowance, and may send test inquiries if its shopper sends them.

### Will it change things without asking me?

Your assistant’s app controls approvals, and your account’s permissions apply. Before a change or a check, a good assistant says what will change and what the check will use. Saving a shopper never starts a check.

### Can it test any website?

No. A check runs on a site connected to your Dr. Canary account, which `list_sites` returns, and takes no web address. An area of focus on a saved shopper can name a start page for that check.

### Can it tell me when the report is ready?

It follows a check you requested in the current conversation: queued, running, finished, then the report once it is published. No tool sends a message later, so if you step away, ask again and it reads where the check stands.

### Which assistants work?

ChatGPT, Claude, Codex and Claude Code. Each has its own setup page.

### Does it need monitoring?

Reading works on the sites your account can open. Editing saved shoppers and requesting rechecks need monitoring. A one-off checkup does not grant them.

## Related

- [Connect](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp.md)
- [Tools](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/tools/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/tools.md)
- [Permissions](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/permissions/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/permissions.md)
- [ChatGPT](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/chatgpt/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/chatgpt.md)
- [Claude](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/claude/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/claude.md)
- [Codex](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/codex/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/codex.md)
- [Claude Code](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/claude-code/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/claude-code.md)
- [Capabilities](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities/) · [markdown](https://www.drcanary.com/capabilities.md)

https://www.drcanary.com/mcp/examples/ · updated 2026-11-11