Estym8 vs Bodi — what each product is good for
Product context: Estym8 is built from scratch as an AI-first construction preconstruction platform—not a legacy takeoff stack with AI bolted on. AI runs across the product: bid-package ingestion and classification, multi-model takeoff and vision, plan intelligence, cross-file synthesis, Estee, estimate-to-submittal draft review, and optimization recommendations. Canonical framing: AI-first positioning.
Purpose: A short, durable split so we do not duplicate scope or fight over the system of record. Pair with the write boundary (/docs/bodi-boundary) and integration options (/docs/bodi). Suite map: /docs/plan-intelligence-skus.
Last updated: 2026-08-03 (public at /docs/estym8-vs-bodi; Bodi remains ICT/BOD until product expands “project brain”).
Estym8 (this repo) — strengths
| Area | Why Estym8 |
|---|---|
| Multi-trade takeoff & estimates (MEP-forward) | PDF / folder ingest, AI-assisted quantities, rawOutput, device counts, materials/BOM, labor and pricing workflows, symbol takeoff path, plan harvest (“As printed on the sheets”), estimate-to-submittal packages (catalog, register, compliance matrix, merged PDF export). |
| Pre-bid dollar math | Buffers, org price book, proposal rollups, exports tuned for bidding and estimator review. |
| Stripe & access | Subscriptions, invoice archive, account/billing surfaces. |
| GC-style plan sets & calibration | Folder pipeline, cross-file intelligence, ground-truth / plan-set regression (e.g. symbol accuracy work). |
| Lighting-vendor slice (§P9) | Preference + pipeline scope for fixture-heavy packages without pretending the whole job is full MEP—see UNIFIED_BACKLOG.md §P9. |
Rule: If the question is “how much and what did we count on the drawings for this bid, plus bid/submittal documentation tied to those lines?” → Estym8.
Bodi (separate product) — strengths
| Area | Why Bodi |
|---|---|
| ICT / low-voltage BOD | Structured sources, claims, and BOD documents—graph-shaped preconstruction truth for LV/ICT workflows. |
| Claim lineage | Reasoning and evidence chains that are native to Bodi’s model, not a bolt-on to Estym8 rawOutput. |
| Bodi-native project brain | Anything that should stay in Bodi’s persistence and UX as the canonical place for that domain. |
Rule: If the question is “how do ICT/LV claims and BOD artifacts hang together?” → Bodi.
2026-07 suite note: Investor materials may describe Bodi as the portfolio “project brain.” Until product explicitly expands scope, implementation home for ICT/BOD stays Bodi; Estym8 stays quantities/bid math; ClearTo* owns permit/design QA. Do not silently merge Bodi into Estym8. See paul-notes-construction-ai-suite-2026-07-24.md.
Boundary (do not blur)
- Estym8 does not silently become the system of record for Bodi claims or BOD structure, and Bodi does not overwrite Estym8 takeoff counts or
rawOutput. See §1–3 of the write-boundary doc. - Exports: Estym8 → Bodi today is read-only export (e.g.
format=bodiMarkdown). Treat exports as new sources in Bodi, not as merges into existing Estym8 rows.
Future features — where they likely land
| Idea | Likely owner | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Estimate-to-submittal package (catalog, line items, register, compliance matrix, merged PDF, draft spec AI) | Estym8 — shipped (GA-track; evolving); tied to estimate line items and bid documentation. Spec: estimate-to-submittal-generator.md. | |
| Deeper LV/ICT claim graph + BOD versioning | Bodi | Estym8 may feed exports; Bodi owns claim graph writes. |
| Shared project link / IDs | Both | Navigational link only until a promoted backlog epic defines sync. |
When in doubt: MEP math & bid artifacts in Estym8; ICT BOD & claims in Bodi — and re-read the write boundary before adding any cross-write API.