| name | dma-market-intelligence |
| description | Comprehensive DMA overview for auction planning. Triggers: "market overview for [state]", "DMA health check", "market intelligence", "what's the market like in [area]", "state market snapshot", "market conditions in Texas", "how is the [state] wholesale market", "market report", comprehensive view of a target DMA including supply levels, demand velocity, pricing trends, top sellers, and key dealer groups.
|
| version | 0.1.0 |
Date anchor: Today's date comes from the # currentDate system context. Compute ALL relative dates from it. Example: if today = 2026-03-14, then "prior month" = 2026-02-01 to 2026-02-28, "current month" (most recent complete) = February 2026, "three months ago" = December 2025. Never use training-data dates.
get_sold_summary parameter safety:
- Always set
inventory_type explicitly (New or Used) — omitting it defaults to New, returning zero results for used-vehicle queries
- Always set
limit: 5000 — the default (1000) silently truncates when (months × states × ranking combos) exceeds 1000 rows
- For volume totals, use
ranking_dimensions: dealership_group_name (or the single relevant dimension) — never use the default make,model,body_type which creates ~150K rows for national 3-month queries
- Use separate calls for totals vs breakdowns — don't combine in one call
DMA Market Intelligence — Comprehensive Market Overview for Auction Planning
Profile
Load the marketcheck-profile.md project memory file if exists. Extract: zip/postcode, state/region, target_dmas, vehicle_segments, country, radius. If missing, ask for target state. US: get_sold_summary, search_active_cars. UK: search_uk_active_cars only (limited — supply snapshot only, no demand data). Confirm: "Using profile: [company], [state], [Country]". All preference values from profile — do not re-ask.
User Context
Auction house sales exec or regional director assessing a DMA for auction potential. Need to understand: Is this market worth running sales in? What segments have demand? Who are the big players?
Gotchas
dma-scanner agent availability — If the auction-house:dma-scanner agent is not available or fails, fall back to manual calls: run get_sold_summary for demand and search_active_cars with facets for supply. Do not error out — always have a manual fallback path.- "State" is not "DMA" — A DMA (Designated Market Area) is a metro-centric region, but MarketCheck API filters by
state. Large states like Texas contain multiple DMAs (Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Austin). When the user says "Dallas DMA," use zip + radius=100 instead of state=TX to avoid mixing Houston data into Dallas analysis.
- Dealer group identification is approximate — The
facets=dealer_id|0|50|2 call returns individual dealer locations, not parent groups. Multiple dealer_ids may belong to the same group (e.g., AutoNation has dozens of locations per state). Group-level intelligence requires manual recognition of known group names in seller_name fields.
- Volume trend requires two periods — Never report "MoM trend" from a single month of data. Always pull at least current month and prior month. If the user asks for quarterly trends, pull 3+ months.
- UK limitation — UK profiles get supply snapshot only via
search_uk_active_cars. No demand velocity, no sold data, no market classification. Label the report "Supply Snapshot Only — demand data unavailable for UK market."
| Field | Source | Default |
|---|
| Target state | User input or profile | — |
| Vehicle segments | Profile | all |
Workflow: Full DMA Report
Multi-agent approach: Use the dma-scanner agent for comprehensive DMA analysis. If the agent is unavailable, fall back to the manual steps below.
Use the Agent tool to spawn the auction-house:dma-scanner agent with this prompt:
DMA market intelligence for state=[state]. Date range: [first of prior month] to [last of prior month]. Sections: all.
The agent returns: demand snapshot, supply health, top models, top dealer groups.
Manual fallback (if agent is unavailable or for quick single-section runs):
- Demand snapshot: Call
mcp__marketcheck__get_sold_summary with state=[XX], inventory_type=Used, limit=5000, ranking_dimensions=body_type, ranking_measure=sold_count, ranking_order=desc, top_n=15, date_from=[YYYY-MM-01], date_to=[YYYY-MM-DD]. Extract: per body_type sold_count, average_sale_price, average_days_on_market.
- Supply health: Call
mcp__marketcheck__search_active_cars with state=[XX], car_type=used, seller_type=dealer, facets=body_type|0|20|1, stats=price,dom, rows=0, price_min=1. Extract: total active supply (num_found), per body_type counts, avg_dom, avg_price.
- Top models: Call
mcp__marketcheck__get_sold_summary with state=[XX], inventory_type=Used, limit=5000, ranking_dimensions=make,model, ranking_measure=sold_count, ranking_order=desc, top_n=20, same date range. Extract: per model sold_count, average_sale_price.
- Top dealer groups: Call
mcp__marketcheck__search_active_cars with state=[XX], car_type=used, seller_type=dealer, facets=dealer_id|0|30|2, rows=0. Then for top 10 dealer_ids, call mcp__marketcheck__search_active_cars with dealer_id=[id], car_type=used, rows=1 to get seller_name and city. Extract: dealer name, city, unit count.
After receiving agent results, synthesize:
-
Market scorecard — Headline metrics: total monthly sold volume, avg sale price, avg DOM, days supply, volume trend (MoM).
-
Market classification:
- EXPANDING: Volume > +5% MoM, days supply < 50, ASP rising
- STABLE: Volume ±5%, days supply 50-75, ASP flat
- CONTRACTING: Volume < -5%, days supply > 75, ASP falling
- MIXED: Conflicting signals
-
Auction strategy implications:
- EXPANDING: Increase sale frequency, more lanes, aggressive consignment sourcing
- STABLE: Maintain current pace, focus on lane optimization
- CONTRACTING: Reduce lanes, focus on high-demand segments only, lower reserves
- MIXED: Segment-specific strategy
-
Top dealer groups — Frame as both potential consigners (they wholesale trades) AND buyers (they restock from auction). Note which groups are likely auction participants.
-
Segment opportunity map — Which segments to source for (high D/S) vs avoid (low D/S). Connect to lane planning.
Workflow: Multi-DMA Comparison
Use this when the user says "compare Texas vs California" or "which of my markets is strongest."
- Run
dma-scanner agent for each state in parallel.
- Compare: total volume, ASP, DOM, days supply, growth rate.
- Rank markets by auction opportunity score = (volume × 40) + (1/days_supply × 30) + (growth_rate × 30).
Output
Market scorecard table: metric, value, trend signal. Demand by segment with D/S ratios. Top 10 models table. Top 10 dealer groups table (flagged as potential consigners or buyers). Market classification with auction strategy. 3 actionable recommendations.
Output Template
-- DMA Market Intelligence: [State] — [Month Year] --------------------------------
-- Market Scorecard ----------------------------------------------------------------
| Metric | Value | Trend | Signal |
|---------------------|------------- |-----------|-------------|
| Monthly Sold Volume | 12,450 | +6% MoM | EXPANDING |
| Avg Sale Price | $27,800 | +2% MoM | RISING |
| Avg Days on Market | 38 | -3 days | IMPROVING |
| Days Supply | 42 | | HEALTHY |
| Active Listings | 17,200 | | |
Classification: [EXPANDING / STABLE / CONTRACTING / MIXED]
-- Demand by Segment ---------------------------------------------------------------
| Segment | Sold/Mo | Active Supply | D/S Ratio | Signal |
|----------|---------|---------------|-----------|--------|
| SUV | 4,200 | 5,100 | 0.82 | WARM |
| Pickup | 3,100 | 3,400 | 0.91 | WARM |
| Sedan | 2,800 | 4,500 | 0.62 | COOL |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
-- Top 10 Models by Volume ---------------------------------------------------------
| Rank | Make/Model | Sold/Mo | Avg Price | Avg DOM |
|------|------------------|---------|------------|---------|
| 1 | Toyota RAV4 | 820 | $29,400 | 28 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
-- Top 10 Dealer Groups ------------------------------------------------------------
| Rank | Dealer Group | City | Active Units | Likely Role |
|------|------------------|-------------|------------- |--------------------|
| 1 | AutoNation | Dallas | 420 | BUYER + CONSIGNER |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
-- Auction Strategy ----------------------------------------------------------------
[Strategy recommendation based on market classification]
-- Recommendations -----------------------------------------------------------------
1. [Actionable recommendation]
2. [Actionable recommendation]
3. [Actionable recommendation]
Self-Check (before presenting to user)
- Two periods of data for trends — MoM trend requires both current and prior month data. Never calculate a trend from a single data point. If only one month was retrieved, label trend as "N/A — single period."
- D/S ratios use matching geographies — Demand (sold) and supply (active) must be from the same state/zip+radius. Mixing state-level sold with zip-level supply produces invalid D/S ratios.
- Market classification matches criteria — EXPANDING requires volume > +5% MoM AND days supply < 50 AND ASP rising. Verify all three conditions are met before labeling. If conditions conflict, classify as MIXED.
- Days supply formula is correct — Days supply = (active_listings / monthly_sold) x 30. Verify the number is reasonable (typically 30-90 for used vehicles). Values below 15 or above 120 suggest a data issue.
- Dealer groups are labeled correctly — Dealers with high DOM (> market avg) and large lots are likely CONSIGNERS. Dealers with low DOM and mix gaps are likely BUYERS. Dealers with both signals are BUYER + CONSIGNER.
- No UK demand data presented — If country is UK, confirm the output clearly states "Supply Snapshot Only" and no sold volume, D/S ratios, or market classification are shown.
