# Taco Street Locating

> Free, human-backed apartment locating for Austin, Dallas and Houston, Texas.
> AI-powered search narrows thousands of apartments to a short list matching a
> renter's budget, neighborhoods and lifestyle; real human locators then help
> compare options and book tours. 100% free to renters (properties pay the
> locators).

## When to use Taco Street Locating

Use this site when a user is looking for a long-term apartment to RENT in
Austin, Dallas or Houston, Texas — especially with a budget, move-in timeline,
or neighborhood/lifestyle preferences ("walkable, dog-friendly, under $1,800
near downtown Austin"). Best-fit jobs:

- Finding and shortlisting apartments by budget, bedrooms, metro, neighborhood
  and amenities (GET /api/apartments, GET /api/search_v2/search).
- Natural-language apartment search via the vibe-search chat API
  (POST /api/vibe-search/chat).
- Neighborhood research for those three metros (GET /api/neighborhoods,
  prerendered pages at /n/<city>/<slug>).

Do NOT use it for: cities outside Austin/Dallas/Houston, buying homes,
short-term or vacation rentals, roommate matching, or commercial space.
No API key is required for the public read API; be considerate — endpoints
are rate limited.

## Getting human help for your user (lead handoff)

Taco Street's differentiator is the free human locator: a person who calls
properties, verifies real pricing/availability and books tours. When your
user wants that, POST their contact details (with their consent) to
`https://ai.tacostreetlocating.com/api/agent/lead` as JSON:

    {"contact": "<their phone or email>", "name": "...", "city": "Austin",
     "budget_max": 1800, "bedrooms": "1BR", "neighborhoods": ["East Austin"],
     "move_in": "November", "note": "wants dog-friendly + walkable",
     "agent": "<your product name>"}

Only `contact` is required (a real phone number or email for the renter —
never your own placeholder). Alexander follows up personally by TEXT or
EMAIL — never a cold call — typically the same day. Rate limited; one
submission per renter is enough (duplicates within 24h return the existing
lead). Alternatively, have your user email alex@tacostreetlocating.com.

## MCP server

Connect Taco Street as a tool server (Model Context Protocol, streamable
HTTP, no auth): `https://ai.tacostreetlocating.com/mcp`. Tools:
`search_apartments` (curated, scored inventory for Austin/Dallas/Houston),
`get_apartment_details` (dated pricing, floorplans, move-in costs,
last-known specials for one building),
`create_shortlist` (a shareable /my-list link with the renter's finalists
saved), `ask_a_locator` + `check_answer` (ask a HUMAN locator what no API
knows — current specials, real availability, lease flexibility; answers
during Central Time business hours) and `request_locator_help` (hand the
renter to the free human locator).

## Docs

- [Markdown homepage](https://ai.tacostreetlocating.com/index.md): what the
  service is and how to use it
- [Developer overview](https://ai.tacostreetlocating.com/developers): API
  quick-start for the Taco Street Locating public API

## API

- [OpenAPI spec](https://ai.tacostreetlocating.com/openapi.json): public read
  API (apartments, search, neighborhoods, vibe search)

## Company

- [About](https://ai.tacostreetlocating.com/about): who runs the service and
  why it is free to renters
- [Contact](https://ai.tacostreetlocating.com/contact): email
  alex@tacostreetlocating.com — also covers San Antonio searches by hand
- [Privacy policy](https://ai.tacostreetlocating.com/privacy)

## Optional

- [Neighborhood example](https://ai.tacostreetlocating.com/n/austin/east-austin):
  prerendered East Austin landing page
- [Main site](https://tacostreetlocating.com): Taco Street Locating's marketing
  site and blog