How to use ChatGPT with Buildium (or Claude)

You can use ChatGPT with Buildium to ask about rent, repairs, leases and empty units in plain English. Claude works the same way. Set it up once with Elaichi, then just ask, as the property manager does in the 29-second film.

What can you ask ChatGPT about Buildium?

You can ask about rent owed, open repairs, leases ending and empty units. Each answer comes straight from your Buildium account.

Buildium sorts late rent into 30-day groups: 0 to 30, 31 to 60, 61 to 90 and over 90 days. So ask "Who owes more than 60 days?" rather than "Who is 45 days late?"

What you need to use ChatGPT with Buildium

You need three things: the right Buildium plan, the right AI plan, and Elaichi.

A custom connector is an outside service you add to ChatGPT or Claude yourself. OpenAI names no way to add one on ChatGPT Free or Plus. ChatGPT Pro can add one to look things up, which is all these questions need.

Elaichi Gold lists at $15 per user per month in USD, or $10 per user per month billed annually. Every new workspace starts with a 14-day free trial. When it ends, you move to the free Personal plan, and nothing is deleted.

Checked October 2026: Buildium's developer guide and pricing page, OpenAI's custom MCP guide and Anthropic's custom connector guide.

How do you connect Buildium to ChatGPT or Claude?

There are four steps. A Buildium admin does the first one, and you do the rest once.

Step 1: Create a read-only API key in Buildium

An API key is a password that Buildium gives to an app instead of a person.

1. Go to Settings > Application settings > Api settings and turn on the Open API.
2. Go to Settings > Developer Tools > Create API Key.
3. Tick only the data your questions need, and limit the key to read-only.
4. Copy the secret right away. Buildium shows it only once.

Step 2: Connect Buildium in Elaichi

1. In Elaichi, go to Connections > Add connection.
2. Pick Buildium and paste the key.
3. To let your team ask too, set Share with to their team.

Step 3: Add Elaichi to ChatGPT or Claude

Every app uses the same address: https://api.elaichi.ai/mcp

Sign in to Elaichi when asked, and approve. Claude's Free plan allows one custom connector, but Anthropic's guide shows the steps for Pro and Max only.

Step 4: Ask Buildium your first question

Open a new chat and ask: "Who hasn't paid rent this month?"

In Claude, turn Elaichi on first: select + at the lower left, then Connectors.

The Buildium connector page shows each step with screenshots.

Is it safe to connect Buildium to ChatGPT?

Yes, if you set up the key with care. You decide what the AI can see and change, and every request is logged.

• It sees only what the key allows. Tick only the data you need. Leave bank accounts off, because they include account and routing numbers.
• A read-only key changes nothing. Buildium refuses any request the key is not allowed to make.
• Changes need the right key. Elaichi's Buildium connector can also make changes, such as starting a lease renewal. A read-only key blocks them.
• You choose who can ask. A new connection is yours alone until you share it. An Elaichi admin can also block one tool, such as bank accounts, for a role.
• Every request is logged. Elaichi checks each request against the person's access and writes it to an audit log.

Do you need this if Buildium has its own AI?

Maybe not. It depends on where you want to ask.

• Buildium's own AI works inside Buildium. Its pricing page lists Lumina AI features, such as Write with Lumina and AI Bill Scan. Its blog says a Maintenance Workforce agent can summarize task threads and close finished work orders.
• Elaichi is for asking in ChatGPT or Claude, the AI you already use, with your other work apps in the same chat.
• Elaichi can't connect on Buildium Essential or Growth. Those plans have no Open API, so there is no key to connect.

If one monthly report already answers your question, keep using it.

Checked October 2026: Buildium's pricing page and blog.

What does the property manager ask in the film?

The film runs 29 seconds. A property manager asks her AI four questions. The building, the people and the amounts are made up.

• Property manager: It's the fifth. Forty units on Buildium. Who hasn't paid?
• Her AI: Three units. Forty-five thirty in total.
• Property manager: That used to take four reports. And my whole evening.
• Property manager: Now I just ask.
• Property manager: Any open repairs?
• Her AI: 3B's sink. Open nine days.
• Property manager: Oof. Calling them first.
• Property manager: Whose lease ends next month?
• Her AI: Three. 6A, 4C and 2D.
• Property manager: Any empty units?
• Her AI: Two. 2A and 8E.
• Property manager: Elaichi brings Buildium into Claude or ChatGPT. Set it up once, then just ask.
• Property manager: Ask your building.
• Property manager: Start your 14-day free trial. No credit card required.

Other apps connect the same way. See them all in the connector catalog.