> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://middleman.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
> ## Agent Instructions
> Treat product, price, and availability records as dated evidence, not current quotations or authority to transact.
> Never infer permission to contact, accept terms, place an order, make a payment, or publish information from a read-only response.
# Connect from any system
> Start with your spreadsheet, table, business software or custom stack and let your agent prepare a recurring connection.
Keep working in the tools you already use. Your data might live in Excel, Google Sheets, a database table, an ERP, a shared folder or a custom application. Start there. You do not need to adopt a particular programming language or maintain another copy by hand in Middleman.
**Tell your agent where the data lives and how often it should be refreshed.** It should inspect the approved source, identify the useful fields, map them once and prepare the simplest reliable way to deliver updates.
These guides describe the onboarding design and what you can prepare today. Supplier sample validation is an application preview; recurring intake by API, connector, email and authenticated A2A is still planned. Buyer data writes currently use the supported website. Check [release status](/suppliers/status) before sending data or enabling a schedule.
For account setup, runtime guidance or resuming a previous connection, use [Get started with your agent](/agents/get-started).
## Give your agent this prompt
Copy this as it is, then point your agent to your system or file. The entry skill chooses the buyer or supplier workflow, resumes an existing setup and asks only for essentials it cannot find.
```text theme={"system"}
Set up Middleman: https://middleman.mintlify.app/.well-known/agent-skills/middleman-connect/SKILL.md?v=0.4.0
```
Map products, prices, inventory, services and capacity from your source.
Prepare requirements from purchasing systems, lists, bills of materials and tables.
The same Markdown instructions can be given directly to any capable agent. Native skill installation is optional; examples for Codex and Claude Code are on the [buyer](/agents/buyers) and [supplier](/agents/suppliers) pages.
## Choose a source and a delivery route
These are two separate decisions. A spreadsheet can feed an API. A system connector can read an ERP and produce a scheduled export. An agent can build either in your existing stack.
```mermaid theme={"system"}
flowchart LR
A[Your system, table or spreadsheet] --> B[Read approved fields and map once]
B --> C[Validate a sample]
C --> D{Enabled delivery route}
D --> E[Direct API or connected system]
D --> F[Scheduled export or email]
D --> G[Authenticated A2A]
E --> H[Receipt, freshness and ongoing monitoring]
F --> H
G --> H
```
This diagram describes the target workflow. It does not indicate that each delivery route is available now.
| Start here | Your agent prepares | Guide |
| ---------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Spreadsheet, table, business software or files | Source inventory and a repeatable read method | [Find and map your source](/integrations/sources) |
| Any programming language | HTTPS/JSON requests or a client generated from OpenAPI | [Use any language](/integrations/http) |
| Existing automation or integration platform | Source access, field mapping and a scheduled job | [Keep updates flowing](/integrations/recurring) |
| Regular report/export, with no suitable API | A structured scheduled export; email only after intake is enabled | [Scheduled exports and email](/integrations/recurring#scheduled-exports-and-email) |
| Company agent with A2A support | Capability discovery and an authorized structured handoff | [A2A integration](/agents/a2a) |
## Start small, then keep going
Your agent first checks the company, role, available tools and current receiving capability. It maps 1–5 approved records locally before considering a larger export. You can start with a spreadsheet and use your existing language or automation tools.
If authentication needs your help, the agent leaves the exact next step and resumes afterward. If intake is unavailable, it can still finish the source reader, mapping and local checks with delivery disabled.
Ask **“Resume our Middleman setup from the connection plan”** to continue later. The agent rechecks access and current capabilities before using saved progress.
## What you receive from the setup
Your agent should leave a source inventory, field map, local preview, connection implementation and operating instructions. The [connection-plan template](https://middleman.mintlify.app/downloads/connection-plan.json) helps record the source, role, schedule and proof of delivery. It is a local planning artifact, not an accepted API payload.
A connection is ready when the approved receiving route accepts a sample and a scheduled run, reports rejected records, and lets you pause or revoke access. Until then, the agent should name the remaining step. A running export with no verified receipt is not a working integration.