Getting started

Where do I find Maintenance Cru?
Go to Maintenance → Maintenance Cru in the left-hand menu. This is your inbox for every suggestion across all your work orders. Work through it the way you'd work through email.
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You'll also spot Cru in two other places: a small suggestion icon next to work orders in your work order list, and a suggestion banner at the top of a work order when you open it.

What is a Cru suggestion? Does it change my work orders automatically?
No. Maintenance Cru only makes suggestions. It never edits, sends, or changes anything on its own. Each suggestion waits for you to confirm, edit, or dismiss it. Cru works alongside your current process, not in place of it.

What does the progress bar on my work order list show?
The progress bar (Assignment → Approvals → Scheduling → Work → Billing) tracks activity on each work order, like conversations, vendor responses, and scheduling updates. It doesn't change the work order's status field.

What kinds of suggestions will I see?
Suggestions fall into four categories:

To triage faster, group your inbox by priority.

When will I start seeing suggestions?
Your inbox starts empty and fills up as new activity comes in, like new work orders, messages, and vendor responses. Cru doesn't go back through your history to create suggestions for past activity. Existing open work orders will start getting suggestions as soon as something new happens on them.

Will turning on Maintenance Cru change my workflows, filters, or API setup?
No. Maintenance Cru adds to what you already have without changing it. Your work order fields, filters, and API endpoints stay the same. Cru simply adds suggestions, indicator badges, and an inbox on top. If you use the API, you can access Cru data there along with your work order data.

Can I filter my inbox by team or portfolio?
Yes, if you've set up Rentvine Pods for those teams. You can then filter your inbox to show only the work orders that matter to you.

What is guidance?
Guidance is where you write your maintenance policy in plain language for Maintenance Cru to follow. Write it the way you'd train a new coordinator, like: "When a work order is scheduled, change the status to Scheduled." Cru checks your guidance on every work order before making a suggestion.

Where do I set up guidance?

Go to Settings → Maintenance → AI agents, enter your policy in the Agent guidance box, and save. Your guidance applies to every work order in your account.

How does Cru use my guidance?

In two ways:

What should I write?

Write one instruction per line, in the order you'd explain them to a person. The feature is currently experimental, so for now we’re asking users to stick closely to the example phrasings shown in the UI rather than writing fully open-ended guidance, since not every freeform pattern is supported yet. These four types of rules work best right now:

Does guidance override everything else?

No. Property and unit alerts come first. If an alert and your guidance conflict, Cru follows the alert. And as with every Cru suggestion, nothing is sent or changed until you accept it.

How much can I write?

Up to 3,000 characters. Shorter works better. A few specific rules are more reliable than long paragraphs.

Is it safe to experiment?

Yes. Since Cru only makes suggestions, a rule that doesn't work as expected just creates a suggestion you can dismiss. Nothing reaches a resident or vendor. Reword the rule and try again.

What can't guidance do yet?

Guidance can't change reminder timing, rank vendors by distance, or use SMS templates.

If a rule isn't working, let us know. Your feedback helps shape what we build next.

How does Cru decide which vendor to suggest?
Cru looks at three things: vendors you've assigned to that property before, similar work orders across your portfolio, and any maintenance notes or alerts you've saved, like "Always use this vendor for HVAC." If a note or alert says not to use a vendor at a property, Cru won't suggest them there.

Instead of a single pick, Cru shows a ranked list of top vendors, so you can easily go with your second or third choice.

Does Cru consider vendor location or let me set my own rankings?
Not yet. Right now, suggestions are based on assignment history and your notes. Cru doesn't use real-time location, custom ranking rules, or custom fields you've created, like a "preferred pool vendor" field. We're working on location awareness and more ways to customize.

How does Cru know a vendor and resident agreed on a time?
Cru reads chat and email conversations for scheduling details, like a vendor writing "I can be there Friday at 3." It then suggests updating the scheduled maintenance window to match. Nothing is finalized until you confirm it. If the time changes later, Cru will suggest an update.

This works best when conversations happen in Rentvine chat instead of over the phone.

When Cru drafts a reply, where does the information come from?
Cru uses what's already on the work order, including chat, email, and internal notes. For example, it might use an internal note about a spending limit to answer a vendor's question. You always review and approve the draft before it's sent.

Which channel does Cru use for reminders?
Cru uses whichever channel you've used most with that vendor or resident: chat, email, or text. You can't choose a different channel yet.

What happens if a resident submits the same request twice?
Cru suggests closing the newer work order and linking it to the original with a note. If the resident submitted the request, they'll see that it's been linked to the one already in progress.

What's a recalled work suggestion?
It's the opposite of a duplicate. If an issue comes back within about 90 days of a work order being closed, Cru suggests opening a new work order and linking it to the original, which stays closed. It also suggests assigning the same vendor, with a note asking them for a return visit.

What if a vendor declines the job or doesn't respond?
If a vendor declines, Cru suggests a different vendor instead of the one who said no. If a vendor doesn't respond for about 24 hours, Cru drafts a follow-up reminder you can send in one click.

Do vendors need a Rentvine account for Cru to work?
No. Vendors just need to be added to the work order. Cru works over email, even if they never log in to the vendor portal.
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What happens after the vendor completes the work?
Cru checks whether the work order requires a resolution photo and reminds the vendor if one is missing. Low-stakes jobs, like replacing a light bulb, are skipped. If no invoice arrives within about 48 hours of the work being marked complete, Cru follows up with the vendor.

What is a tenant-charge suggestion?
When a vendor’s notes indicate the tenant may have caused the issue, Cru flags it as a possible tenant charge for your review. Accept it to add it to the work order’s tenant charges list, or dismiss it to leave the work order unchanged.

Does Cru decide how much to charge the tenant?
No. Cru adds a line item with a note explaining why it was flagged but leaves the amount blank. You enter the amount when you convert the invoice to a bill.

Will Cru create or send a bill on its own?
No. Cru prepares the bill and prefills the details it can, but a team member always clicks Convert to Bill. Cru never issues payments, approvals, or payouts automatically.

What happens once every invoice on a work order is billed?
Cru may suggest moving the work order to your account’s Completed status. It never suggests Rejected or a custom closed status on its own.

We'd rather tell you what's still in progress than leave you searching for it. Here's what Maintenance Cru doesn't do yet:

Can Cru handle billing, estimates, or invoices?
Partly. Once a vendor finishes the work, Cru will nudge them for a missing resolution photo, remind them for an overdue invoice, and flag a suggested tenant charge when their notes point to tenant responsibility. You still review every suggestion and click Convert to Bill yourself — Cru doesn't send payments, approve anything, or pay vendors out automatically
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Will Cru catch an appointment scheduled by phone?
Not automatically. Cru only sees what happens in Rentvine, like chat, email, and notes. If a vendor and resident schedule by phone or text outside Rentvine, ask them to confirm the time in Rentvine chat so Cru can pick it up. A way to update the scheduled time yourself is coming soon.

Is there a dashboard or report for all my open suggestions?
Not yet. For now, the Maintenance Cru inbox is the best place to see everything. We're exploring a visual dashboard for a quick overview.

Does Maintenance Cru support internal maintenance?
Not yet. Cru is built for vendor work orders right now. We're exploring support for in-house maintenance teams in the future.

Is Maintenance Cru available on mobile?
Not yet. Cru is only in the web app for now. Mobile support is planned.

What should I do if a suggestion looks wrong?
Dismiss it. You always make the final call with Maintenance Cru, and dismissing a suggestion won't cause any problems. If you notice the same kind of wrong suggestion repeatedly, let us know. Your feedback helps us decide what to fix next.

To view the cost of Maintenance Cru you can click your name in the bottom left and then click "Subscriptions". This will allow you to view information about your trial and the pricing for Maintenance Cru.