Use cases

Open your second location by describing the first, with ChatGPT or Claude

Mays TeamOctober 16, 2026
Mays cover card: Open your second location by describing the first, with ChatGPT or Claude — Location two, set up from how location one already runs

The second location is where systems get tested. Everything you set up for the first one, positions, the weekly shape, the opening and closing checklists, now has to exist twice, and the new store is the one that needs it most because nobody there knows the routine yet.

With Mays connected to ChatGPT or Claude, you can set up the second location from the first: the AI reads how Midtown runs in Mays, and you tell it what's different.

This post is part of our series Run your restaurant with your AI. For a first location from scratch, see set up a new café from one message.

The situation

Harbor Lane Café's Midtown location has run on Mays for a year. Riverside opens in three weeks. Same menu, slightly shorter hours, two Midtown baristas moving over, six new hires.

Before: open Midtown's setup in one tab and the new location in another, and copy it across by hand: each position, each checklist item, the shape of the week, retyped.

Now:

We're opening Riverside at 22 River Street, Eastern time. Set it up like Midtown: same positions, same weekly shape but we open at 7 instead of 6:30, and the same opening and closing checklists. Maya and Ana are moving there from Midtown. Here are the six new hires with their phone numbers [pasted list]. Show me the plan first.

Step 1: the AI reads how Midtown runs

Before it plans anything, the AI looks at what's already in Mays:

  • The week: Midtown's schedule for a recent week (get_schedule), which shows the real shape of the week: who opens, how many on the line, the weekend.
  • The checklists: Midtown's recurring checklists and their items (list_checklist_templates).
  • The people: Maya L. and Ana A., to confirm who's moving (find_team_member).

That's the "describe the first" part. You don't have to remember Midtown's week; Mays already knows it, and the AI reads it back to you with the 7am change applied.

Step 2: one plan, checked first

The AI puts the new store into one plan and asks Mays to check it (plan_store_setup). Nothing changes yet. The preview shows, section by section:

  • The location: Riverside, its address and its time zone. Mays never guesses a time zone; the AI asks if it isn't clear.
  • Positions: positions Midtown uses at every location are already in Mays and kept as they are; positions that belong only to Midtown are created again at Riverside.
  • People: the six new hires, each with how they'll be invited.
  • The weekly pattern: Riverside's repeating week, with the later opening.
  • Every problem to fix before anything can be applied.

Your yes runs the setup (apply_store_setup) under one confirmation. If anything fails, fix it and ask again: what exists is kept, so only the missing pieces are added and nobody is invited twice.

Step 3: the pieces that are changes, not new things

Two parts of this are changes to things that already exist, so they're separate requests, each with its own preview:

  • The checklists. A checklist with the same name is already in Mays, so the setup keeps it as it is rather than making a copy. To run Midtown's opening and closing checklists at Riverside too, the AI adds Riverside to those checklists (update_checklist_template). One checklist, two locations.
  • The people moving over. Maya and Ana are already on the team. The AI adds Riverside to their locations (update_team_member). Only admins can move people between locations, the same as in the Mays app.

Step 4: the first week

Put Riverside's pattern on its opening week, publish it, and send the new team their welcome.

The pattern goes on as drafts (apply_weekly_pattern), then the week is published (publish_schedule_week), then everyone invited who hasn't signed in yet gets the Mays welcome text or email (send_team_welcome), each after a preview. "Is Riverside ready?" gives you a checklist of what's left (get_onboarding_progress).

What Mays doesn't do here

  • It doesn't clone a location in one click. The AI reads Midtown and builds Riverside from that, piece by piece, and you see every piece in the preview.
  • It doesn't copy people's hours or history. Moving someone adds a location; their timecards stay where they were worked.
  • It doesn't change Midtown. Adding Riverside to a checklist doesn't change its items at Midtown. If you want Riverside's opening to differ, ask for a separate checklist with its own name.

Before you start

  • Connect as an admin. Adding a location and moving people between locations are admin tasks in Mays. mays.app/ai has the setup for ChatGPT and Claude; Connecting Mays to your AI app has the details.
  • Allow changes. Allow AI apps to take actions must be on under Settings → Connected AI apps → Organization, and you tick make changes when you connect. Every change shows a preview and waits for your yes.
  • Mays is priced per location. See pricing for what a second location adds.

Try Mays free for 30 days, with no credit card, and connect it to the AI you already use.