72 pull requests merged across 6 repos last week. The theme, if there was one... letting you ask your own AI about your own data. Here's the week.
Arbeo and Handl: connect your AI with a URL
More and more people I talk to have Claude or ChatGPT open all day. So the question isn't "does your app have AI?" anymore. It's "can my AI see my stuff?"
This week both Arbeo and Handl got an answer to that.
Arbeo now has a connector for AI clients. In Claude (or any client that supports connectors), you paste one address, sign in to Arbeo, and click Allow. That's it. No config files, no tokens to copy around.
Then you can just ask. "Who are the strongest three applicants for the store manager role, and why?" "Compare these two candidates against the must-haves." It reads your jobs, pipeline, applicants and Arbeo's existing AI analysis of them, and cites where each claim comes from.
It's read-only, on purpose. It can't change a status, add a note, or contact anyone. It recommends... you decide. There's a step-by-step panel in Settings showing exactly what to paste, with a copy button, and a list of connected AI clients you can revoke any time.
Handl got the same treatment. Its AI connector already existed, but connecting it meant a bit of fiddling. Now it's the same paste-a-URL, sign in, Allow flow, on its own branded address.
Ask it which invoices are overdue this month, or what got paid last week, from wherever you already work.
Handl: the Work detail, down to the task
The Work detail is the breakdown behind an invoice... the actual time that adds up to each line. This week it got a lot more useful:
- Every category now groups by task, using the ticket reference or description, with dated entries and a subtotal for each
- Each time entry shows as its own dated row
- Category subtotals line up exactly with the invoice lines
- If an owner edits a line's rate, the Work detail reprices with it
- And if there's a small difference an owner is happy with, they can accept it and share it with the client. It's recorded and disclosed, and cleared automatically if the invoice changes
When a client asks "what's this for?", that's the page you send.
The client portal got some love too:
- Clients now live at their own address, clients.handl.works
- Invoice attachments open in a side panel with click-to-preview
- Clients stay signed in for 30 days
- Handl branding on the portal login pages when an agency hasn't set up its own
- Apple Pay and Google Pay can now show on the pay page
And a few more:
- Milestones is now a toggle on retainer and T&M projects, so you only see it where it's useful
- Import history from your timesheet tool when you map a project, not just new entries
- Repeat reminders get their own settings, so you choose how often Handl follows up on an unpaid invoice
- Partial refunds now show everywhere the invoice does
→ See how it works: AI agent · client portal · invoice automation → Free: invoice aging and chase tracker → Start a Handl trial
Arbeo: know when a candidate replies
Besides the AI connector, one small change that matters a lot day to day: when a candidate replies to an email, the job's recruiters get an email. No more checking in to see if anyone's written back.
→ Arbeo, the ATS without the complexity
Mortar: change a project's currency
A quieter week in the app, because most of Mortar's energy went into marketing (below).
- Change a project's currency from the web app. Handy when a project starts local and ends up sourcing from overseas.
- The web clipper got faster and picked up Mortar branding, plus a clear hint to add the item by hand when a supplier's page won't cooperate.
- A feedback button for our early-access studios, so they can flag anything straight from the screen they're on.
→ budget tracking · procurement → Free: interior design budget template → Try Mortar free
Client work
Real Estate Jobs Australia — a brand refresh. The new realestatejobs.com.au logo and favicon are live across the site and the admin.
Abilene Association of REALTORS® — members-only documents now send visitors straight to the login page, so members get to what they clicked on in one step.
If you need something like this built for your industry, this is what we do.
Marketing, behind the scenes
Mortar got its first proper lead follow-up.
- An automated nurture sequence. New leads from mortar.design now get a short series of follow-up emails, and a weekly digest lands in my inbox.
- A one-click poll in email three. Pick your biggest pain point with one click, no form. I'm curious what comes back.
- Every new studio sign-up pings me, and we record exactly what each lead was sent, visible from the admin.
On Handl, we tidied up the ad tracking so sign-ups count when an email is verified and purchases carry their real value. Better signal before we spend anything on ads.
One thing I learned
Give AI read access before you give it write access.
It's tempting to let an AI connector do everything... move candidates, send emails, the lot. For Arbeo we went read-only first, and I'm glad. Ranking people for a job is exactly the sort of decision that should stay with a human, and a lot of hiring rules are heading the same way.
Read-only is also just easier to trust. You can try it on your real pipeline without worrying about what it might do. Once people are using it every day, we'll learn which actions they actually want it to take... and build those, one at a time.
See you next week.
— Daz
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