Ask Claude which units are out: unit-level tracking over MCP
When you track gear unit by unit, the questions you actually have are about individual items: which drill is out, which laptop is in for repair, which meter came back damaged. Because Simple Inventory Management ships with a built-in MCP server, you can ask those questions in plain language and let Claude read and update the units for you. No filtering tables, no opening forms.
What unit-level tracking gives Claude to work with
With unit-level tracking turned on, an item like “cordless drill” isn’t just a count of twelve. Each physical unit has its own record, its own asset tag, and its own status (in, out, in for repair, damaged). That detail is exactly what Claude needs to answer real questions, and it’s the natural extension of when to track each item individually.
The unit MCP tools
Once you’ve connected Claude, it works with your units through four dedicated tools:
list_inventory_units– list the units for an item, with their asset tags and current status, so Claude can answer “which ones are out?”add_inventory_unit– create a new unit for an item, with an asset tag or serial of your choosing.set_inventory_unit_status– change one unit’s status, for example from in to out or to in for repair or damaged.remove_inventory_unit– retire a unit that’s been sold, scrapped, or lost.
Conversations that just work
Once connected, these all run against your live inventory:
- “Which cordless drills are out?” Claude lists each drill unit and its status, then tells you which ones are checked out and who has them.
- “Mark Drill 03 as damaged.” Claude finds the unit by its tag and sets its status, no menu hunting required.
- “Add a new laptop unit with asset tag LAP-114.” Claude creates the unit on the laptop item and it shows up in your table right away.
- “How many meters are in for repair?” Claude counts the units in that status and gives you the number, plus their tags if you want them.
Because the item’s totals are derived from its units, these per-unit changes keep the headline counts honest automatically. Set a unit to out and the “in” count drops to match.
Every change is written to history
These aren’t silent edits. When Claude moves a unit to repair or adds a new one, the change is recorded in your normal history with who did it and when, the same as any change made by hand. MCP-driven changes are marked as performed by the assistant, so you can always tell at a glance which updates came from Claude and which came from a person. Nothing happens off the books.