AI Automation7 min read

How to Triage Tenders with Claude Code: Screen a Week's Bids Fast

A step-by-step recipe for screening a batch of tenders, deciding which to bid, and drafting the first proposal, with a person making every bid decision.

Haojun See

Founder & Director, On The Ground

Updated 4 November 2026

What tender triage is, and why it's the bottleneck

Tender triage is deciding, quickly and consistently, which open tenders are worth a bid. For a small firm it is usually the real bottleneck: reading a week's worth of tender packs properly takes days, so most firms either skim and miss good ones or bid on too few. This is the flagship recipe in Ground Control's Get Sales track. With it, we triaged and first-drafted 11 tenders in about half an hour. The recipe doesn't make the bid decision; it puts every tender into the same one-screen shape so a person can decide in minutes instead of days. If Claude Code is new to you, start with our terminal basics guide.

What you need before you start

Four ingredients, all of them your own files: • The tender documents. Download them yourself from GeBIZ or the tender board, one folder per tender. Claude Code works on the files in the folder; it doesn't log in to portals for you. • A one-page capability statement. What you do, for whom, with which credentials. This is what fit is judged against. • Past proposals. Two or three of your best, so drafts follow your structure and voice. • Your bid or no-bid rules. Written down: the sectors you serve, the minimum contract size worth your time, credentials you don't hold, and any buyer you won't bid for. Write the last two into a CLAUDE.md file at the top of the folder, so they apply to every tender without being repeated.

Step 1: Put every tender in its own folder

One folder per tender, named by its reference number. Inside, keep the documents exactly as issued: the specification, the instructions to tenderers, the evaluation criteria, the price schedule and any annex forms. Keeping them separate stops requirements from one tender leaking into the summary of another, and makes it obvious later which file a claim came from.

Step 2: Ask for a one-screen summary per tender

Ask Claude Code to read each folder and write one screen per tender, in the same order every time: • What the buyer wants, in two lines. • The closing date and any briefing or clarification deadline. • Budget signals: estimated value, the procurement type (quotation or tender), and any financial grade asked for. • The must-haves you don't meet, quoted from the document, with the page. • How it will be evaluated: the criteria and weightings, if stated. • A fit score against your capability statement and bid rules, with one line of reasoning. All the summaries go into one triage.md, sorted by fit. That file is what a person reads.

Step 3: A person picks the bids

Read `triage.md` and decide: bid, bid only if (a partner or a missing credential), or pass. This is a human decision every time. The summary saves the reading, not the judgement. Record the reason for every pass in one line. After a few weeks those reasons show you which tenders to stop downloading, and your bid rules get sharper.

Step 4: Requirements register, then a first draft

For each tender you will bid, ask for a requirements register before any drafting. It lists every "shall" and "must" in the documents, with the page, and a column for where your proposal answers it. Then ask for a first-draft proposal in the tender's own section order, written from your capability statement and past proposals only. Anything the files don't support is marked [TO CONFIRM], never filled in. The full build of this step, with skills and hooks, is in our 7-step tender bid workflow.

Step 5: Check before anything leaves

Run a final check against the register: is every requirement answered, and are the dates, names and prices right? Then a person reads the draft with three rules in mind: • Never claim a credential you don't hold. • Name the real contracting party for past work, not a friendlier-sounding one. • The person submitting owns every claim. Pricing, declarations and the submit button stay with people. What you get at the end: triage.md for the batch, and for each bid a requirements.md and a proposal draft ready for human editing.

When the best tenders need a partner

Triage often turns up tenders you could win only with someone else's expertise. Those become "bid only if" decisions. We send them to a partner who leads that field, with the tender and our first draft in one pack. Read what a partner's first-read pack contains and how to bid for Singapore tenders with partners, or see Ground Control if you'd like to bid with us.

Frequently asked questions

Can Claude Code decide which tenders to bid for?

It shouldn't. Claude Code can read every tender in a batch and summarise each one in the same format, with a fit score against your written bid rules. The decision to bid, pass or find a partner stays with a person, who also owns pricing, declarations and submission.

How long does tender triage take with Claude Code?

Once the folders and bid rules are set up, a batch takes minutes rather than days. We triaged and first-drafted 11 tenders in about half an hour with this method. Setting up your capability statement and bid rules the first time takes longer, and you still need time to read the summaries.

Does Claude Code download tenders from GeBIZ?

In this recipe, no. You download the tender documents yourself and put each tender in its own folder. Claude Code then works on those files. Keeping a person in charge of what goes into the folder also keeps confidential material under your control.

What is a requirements register in a tender bid?

A requirements register lists every mandatory requirement in the tender documents, each "shall" and "must", with the page it comes from and where your proposal answers it. It is the simplest way to make sure nothing is missed before submission.

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