Proof Before Pay
A voice assistant add-on that checks the contractor’s license and pays only for home repair work that has proof.
The live demo is a simulator built for a computer screen.
Read the code on GitHubInvoice check · Bright Current Electric
demo dataPay now
$1,050.00
- 12 standard outlets$360photo 10:15 AM
- 2 GFCI outlets$190photo 10:42 AM
- 6 light switches$150photo 10:58 AM
- 3 bedroom smoke detectors$210photo 11:12 AM
- Master bath fan circuit$140photo 11:33 AM
Waits
$370.00
- Hallway smoke detector$70no photo
- Electrical inspection$300not in the agreed scope
Pay proven items now, the rest after you confirm.
From the demo. All businesses, people and places in the demo are fictional. No real money moves.
Four checks, and every check names its source
-
1
License
Looks up each pro’s license number in Florida’s public license registry and leaves out anyone whose number isn’t on record.
Source: registry, current-as-of date -
2
Scope
Before booking, it reads back what you are buying item by item, and what will prove each item.
Source: the agreed scope -
3
Visit
With the pro’s consent, the add-on reads only event times from the door camera, never video, around the booked visit, to log arrival and departure.
Source: door camera times -
4
Payment
Fixed rules (not an AI model) match every line against the scope, the visit times and the photos. Only proven items go to checkout.
Source: the photo
The working prototype
Screens from the running prototype, in the Echo Show simulator I built. Fictional data.
Open a screen to see it full size.
The public numbers
- 2,830complaints about unlicensed construction contracting, Florida DBPR, fiscal year 2024-25
- $4.35 millionpaid by Florida in 2025 to homeowners harmed by licensed contractors
- 81,925FTC reports in home improvement, repair and solar, 2024
- $1,405median reported loss, home improvement scams, BBB Scam Tracker 2025
I ran the rules over my own record
141engagements
15booked jobs (13 after we closed on the house)
5went wrong
All 5 would have hit at least one check.
3 of the 5 would have had every problem caught.
Up to $1,219 I had already paid on them would have waited for proof.
The 13 jobs I booked after we closed on our first house in July 2026
- Marked done before the work was finished
- Marked done before the work was finished
- Crew damaged the dryer duct
- Missed the agreed arrival window
- Missed the agreed arrival window
- Marked done before the work was finished2
- Crew damaged the dryer duct1
- Missed the agreed arrival window2
In two of those jobs I had already paid before I could check the work.
On my history the visit check would have flagged 4 of the 5 bad jobs, payment only after proof 3, and the license check 1.
What is built, and what isn’t
Built and tested
- Server with 8 tools and six screen cards
- Florida license lookup, live for one demo number
- Invoice check with fixed rules
- Sandbox marketplace and checkout, no real money moves
- Classic Alexa skill on the same server, run in the Alexa Developer Console simulator
- 75 automated checks pass on a fresh copy of the code
- Public code under the MIT license
Not built yet
- Real camera events (simulated today)
- Real payments
- Use by other families
- Alexa+ opens add-on tools only to select partners, so the Alexa+ side runs in a simulator I built
What I need next
Partners
more than one state’s license registry and a home services marketplace
A pilot with real families
through housing counselors and nonprofits
Legal advice
holding part of a payment, door camera records, contractor licensing. In Florida: the construction lien law (Chapter 713) and the rules on contractor deposits (s. 489.126)
Measurement
what changes in a family’s finances
Many families don’t own an Echo Show. The checks don’t depend on Alexa: they run on an ordinary server, and the demo already runs in a web browser. So a pilot would start with a phone web page or text messages, and Alexa+ would be one way in, not the only one.
Who is building it
Mikhail Oskola
Founder, RetailBox Automation, Inc. · Orlando, Florida
I am the user this was built for. We bought our first house in Orlando in July 2026.
470+ jobs on Upwork · 100% Job Success · Top Rated Plus · 480+ clients
Winner, AWS Agents for Humans Hackathon (Everyday Agents track), project StepSpotter



