Amazon Market Entry Analyzer — GO / CAUTION / AVOID#

One input (keyword/category). Full market viability assessment with sub-market discovery.

Files#

• Script: {skill_base_dir}/scripts/zoodata.py — run --help for params
• Reference: {skill_base_dir}/references/reference.md (field names & response structure)

Credential#

Required: ZOODATA_API_KEY. Get free key at zoodata.ai/api-keys

Capabilities & Data Flow#

• Network: only https://api.zoodata.ai (Bearer ZOODATA_API_KEY). Setting ZOODATA_BASE_URL to an untrusted host (anything other than api.zoodata.ai / *.zoodata.ai / localhost) makes the CLI refuse the request and withhold the key — the Bearer token is never sent to an untrusted host.
• Execution: bundled shared ZooData CLI {skill_base_dir}/scripts/zoodata.py (Python 3, stdlib-only). This skill allows market-entry, categories, market, products, competitors, product, analyze, price-band-overview, price-band-detail, brand-overview, brand-detail, history, check, plus the review fallback toolkit ( reviews-raw / review-tag-prompt / review-reduce-prompt / review-aggregate) — each only as explicitly routed below. The bundled manifest {skill_base_dir}/scripts/allowed-commands.json enforces this set: the CLI refuses out-of-scope subcommands with a structured COMMAND_NOT_ALLOWED error before any API request.
• Local files: a private temporary working dir (created with mktemp -d, removed when the fallback completes) during the review fallback; reads the optional credential store ~/.zoodata/config.json.
• Sent to the API: keywords, category paths, ASINs, marketplace/date and numeric filter values only. Never sent: budget, experience level, risk tolerance, or any other user-profile text — profile inputs map client-side to numeric filters.
• Credits: every API call consumes account credits. For broad or ambiguous requests, state the estimated credit cost and confirm with the user before running multi-call scans. The composite market-entry command executes ~17+ API calls (~15-25 credits) in ONE invocation and has NO skip/trim flags — under a credit cap, use the granular commands instead.

CLI Route Selection#

• Use market-entry for the full assessment.
• Use granular commands only when the workflow selected a granular route before the composite call, or when an explicit non-terminal fallback in this skill requires evidence not already returned.
• Map granular evidence requests only through this table:

API endpointCLI subcommandcategories``categories``markets/search``market``products/search``products``products/competitors``competitors``realtime/product``product``reviews/analysis``analyze``products/price-band-overview``price-band-overview``products/price-band-detail``price-band-detail``products/brand-overview``brand-overview``products/brand-detail``brand-detail``products/history``history

Use check only for credential diagnostics. Use reviews-raw, review-tag-prompt, review-reduce-prompt, and review-aggregate only for the documented review fallback.

Shared CLI Contract#

Before selecting or invoking the first command, read and apply the local references/cli-contract.md. Reapply it after every granular or composite result and before any fallback, additional call, state write, interpretation, or user-facing report. Use this skill's fallback logic only when the shared contract classifies the result as non-terminal.

Local Interface Failure Output#

For a terminal interface failure, respond in the user's language that the market-entry assessment could not be completed, followed by the succeeded and failed endpoint identifiers. Do not issue GO/CAUTION/AVOID, a viability score, risk-gate result, or entry strategy. Keep control tokens, parameters, and retry logs internal unless diagnostics are requested.

Input#

• Required: keyword or categoryPath

• Optional: marketplace (default US)

• Optional (seller-side — drives the Small-Seller Entry Risk Gates section below):

  • budget — first-6-month capital available (e.g. "$10K", "$50K", "$200K+")
  • risk_tolerance — low / medium / high
  • ip_concern — known compliance, patent, trademark, or restricted-category concerns; or "none"

If the user hasn't supplied these, ask once at the start of the workflow (a single batched question is fine). If the user declines or skips, omit the Risk Gates section from the final verdict and add a line under Data Provenance: "Risk Gates: skipped — seller-side inputs not provided." Do not guess thresholds — silent gate evaluation with invented inputs produces inconsistent verdicts across runs.

API Pitfalls (CRITICAL)#

• Keyword search is broad → categoryPath is auto-resolved via categories endpoint, with fallback to top search result. If category_source is inferred_from_search, confirm with user

• Brand/price-band queries MUST include --category to avoid cross-category contamination

• Revenue = sampleAvgMonthlyRevenue (NEVER calculate avgPrice × totalSales — overestimates 30-70%)

• Sales = monthlySalesFloor (lower bound). Fallback: 300,000 / BSR^0.65, tag 🔍

• Use sampleOpportunityIndex, sampleTop10BrandSalesRate directly — never reinvent

• reviews/analysis needs 50+ reviews. Fallback chain when sample is insufficient:

  1. Lightweight: realtime/product ratingBreakdown — only star distribution, no themes

  2. Full 11-dim insights — bypass /reviews/analysis entirely: a. zoodata.py reviews-raw --asin X → fetch up to 100 raw reviews (10 credits, ~60s) b. For each review: render Map prompt via zoodata.py review-tag-prompt --review '<json>' and have your own LLM produce JSON tags (sentiment + 11 dimensions) c. Collect candidate phrases per dimension; for each dimension render Reduce prompt via zoodata.py review-reduce-prompt --label-type X --candidates '[...]' and have your LLM produce semantic clusters d. zoodata.py review-aggregate --reviews R --tagged T --clusters C → consumerInsights output compatible with /reviews/analysis

  3. Fallback caveats (apply to the 4-step chain above — lessons from end-to-end validation):

     • Working dir: WORK=$(mktemp -d) (private, 0700 — not a predictable path); remove it with rm -rf "$WORK" after review-aggregate succeeds or the fallback aborts
     • Step b CLI behavior: review-tag-prompt RENDERS the prompt only; YOUR LLM produces the JSON. Render once to learn the schema, then produce tags for all N reviews in one in-context pass (don't call the CLI N times).
     • Step c candidate extraction (Python one-liner): candidates = {d: sorted({el.strip().lower() for t in tagged for el in (t.get(d) or [])}) for d in DIMS}
     • Small-sample rule (reviewCount<50): demote single-mention items 📊→🔍; NEVER attach table-level or section-header 📊 when any row inside is 🔍; suppress "🔴 Critical" verdicts on count=1
     • Scope: fallback replaces ONLY the /reviews/analysis aggregation. This skill's primary workflow outputs (GO/CAUTION/AVOID verdict, market size, brand/price analysis) remain valid — do not re-run them.

• Aggregation endpoints without categoryPath produce severely distorted data

On Missing Key#

When ZOODATA_API_KEY is not set (verify via python {skill_base_dir}/scripts/zoodata.py check — exits 2 if no key in env or ~/.zoodata/config.json), stop before any evidence call. Tell the user that a ZooData API key is required, link to https://zoodata.ai/en/api-keys, and explain that the key may be set in the environment or local config. Do not substitute public knowledge or a "for reference only" analysis.

On 401 Invalid Key#

When _transport.status=401, stop further calls, tell the user that the configured key was rejected, direct them to https://zoodata.ai/en/api-keys, and do not fabricate missing data.

On 402 Credit Exhausted#

When _transport.status=402, stop further calls. Report where the workflow stopped, any compatible partial findings already gathered, and returned credit metadata when present; direct the user to https://zoodata.ai/en/pricing and do not fabricate missing data.

Unique Logic#

Sub-Market Discovery#

Run market --category "{path}" --topn 10 --page-size 20, paginate all pages. Score each sub-market (1-100):

DimensionWeightFieldGood→100Bad→0Demand25%sampleAvgMonthlySales≥1500<200Profit25%sampleAPlusRate≥0.35<0.15New Entrant20%sampleNewSkuRate≥0.20<0.05Brand Openness20%topBrandSalesRate≤0.50≥0.90 (inverted)Capacity10%totalSkuCount300-8000extreme

Fallback (grossMargin=0 for all): redistribute to Demand 30%, New Entrant 25%, Brand 25%, Capacity 20%.

Present TOP 10 sub-markets. Ask user which to deep-dive (default: top 3). If ≤3 sub-markets, deep-dive all.

Market Viability Score (1-100)#

DimensionWeightGoodMediumWarningMarket Size15%>$10M/mo$5-10M<$5MMarket Trend10%RisingStableDecliningCompetition25%CR10<40%40-60%>60%Price Opportunity15%oppIndex>1.00.5-1.0<0.5New Entrant Space10%>15%5-15%<5%Consumer Pain Points15%Clear gapsSomeNoneProfit Potential10%>30%15-30%<15%

Go/No-Go Decision#

ScoreSignalAction70-100✅ GOProceed with product development40-69⚠️ CAUTIONPossible but needs differentiation0-39🔴 AVOIDToo competitive or too small

CR10 dual-level check: Category CR10 PASS + sub-market CR10 FAIL → ⚠️ CAUTION. Both FAIL → AVOID. User criteria override: If user sets thresholds, ANY fail → CAUTION/AVOID. Never override.

Small-Seller Entry Risk Gates#

Before upgrading a market to GO, run these gates against the user's budget, operating constraints, and risk tolerance:

GatePass SignalHard-Block SignalCapital fitFirst order, launch PPC, storage, and cash cycle fit available runwayMOQ, inventory, or ad spend requires more cash than the seller can safely holdReview barrierTop competitors' review counts, ratings, and review velocity are reachable with a realistic launch planConversion depends on matching an entrenched review moatCompliance/IP riskCertifications, restricted claims, safety rules, and trademark/design risks are known and manageableUnresolved compliance, patent, trademark, or restricted-product exposureDifferentiation evidenceClear pain point, feature, bundle, content, or price-band wedgeOnly commodity resale, copycat design, or no defendable reason to buyValidation speedDemand and positioning can be tested in 7-30 days with samples or lightweight listingsProof requires tooling, a full PO, or a large irreversible launch

Decision adjustment (precedence is pinned — apply in order):

1. Final verdict formula: final = MIN(score_tier, lowest_gate_tier) where the tier ordering is GO > CAUTION > AVOID. A score-90 GO with one gate at AVOID → final AVOID; a score-90 GO with one gate at CAUTION → final CAUTION.
2. GO requires BOTH a passing viability score AND every gate in PASS (or with a documented mitigation plan in the same workflow turn).
3. CAUTION fits markets with 1–2 uncertain gates that can plausibly be validated inside the Validation Speed window (7–30 days, sampled or lightweight listing).
4. AVOID is mandatory when any of {Compliance/IP, Capital fit, Review barrier} is a hard-block — regardless of viability score. These three categories are non-negotiable for small sellers.
5. Relationship to "User criteria override" above: that rule remains authoritative — if the user sets explicit thresholds (e.g. "min monthly sales 500", "max CR10 50%"), those override even gates. The Gates fire as the default backstop when no user-set thresholds cover the same dimension.
6. Tag each gate conclusion with the required confidence label ( 📊, 🔍, or 💡) — never treat the gate table itself as data-backed.

Composite Command#

bash

python3 {skill_base_dir}/scripts/zoodata.py market-entry --keyword "{kw}" --category "{path}"

Runs all 11 endpoints (~20 calls). Apply references/cli-contract.md to its invocation and returned composite bundle.

Output#

Respond in user's language.

Sections: Sub-Market Landscape → Executive Summary → Market Overview → Trend → Brand Landscape → Price Structure → Top 5 Competitors → Consumer Insights → Scoring Breakdown (with "Basis" column) → Entry Strategy → Data Provenance → API Usage → Cross-Market Comparison

If user provides COGS, calculate break-even and profit. If not, prompt for it.

Language (required)#

Output language MUST match the user's input language. If the user asks in Chinese, the entire report is in Chinese. If in English, output in English. Exception: API field names (e.g. monthlySalesFloor, categoryPath), endpoint names, technical terms (e.g. ASIN, BSR, CR10, FBA, credits) remain in English.

Disclaimer (required, at the top of every report)#

Data is based on ZooData API sampling as of [date]. Monthly sales ( monthlySalesFloor) are lower-bound estimates. This analysis is for reference only and should not be the sole basis for business decisions. Validate with additional sources before acting.

Confidence Labels (required, tag EVERY conclusion)#

• 📊 Data-backed — direct API data (e.g. "CR10 = 54.8% 📊")
• 🔍 Inferred — logical reasoning from data (e.g. "brand concentration is moderate 🔍")
• 💡 Directional — suggestions, predictions, strategy (e.g. "consider entering $10-15 band 💡")

Rules: Strategy recommendations are NEVER 📊. Anomalies (>200% growth) are always 💡. User criteria override AI judgment.

Aggregate-label rule (applies to ALL report output, not just fallback): NEVER attach 📊 to ANY element that aggregates or groups underlying content when ANY piece of that content is 🔍 or 💡. "Aggregate/grouping elements" include:

• Section headers at EVERY level ( #, ##, ###, ####) — including top-level summary sections like "Overall Score", "Verdict", "Executive Summary"
• Summary/score lines anywhere in the report (e.g. ## Overall Score — 27/100 · Grade F 📊 is WRONG if any Basis row inside is 🔍)
• Table column headers in comparison tables (e.g. **Target ASIN** 📊 as a column label is WRONG if any cell in that column contains 🔍)
• Table row headers or row-aggregation labels (when the row aggregates multiple cells of mixed confidence)
• Any other visual grouping label — bullet-list group titles, callout box titles, etc.

A group-level 📊 implies the whole block/column/row is data-backed, which smuggles inferred/directional content into the 📊 tier via visual grouping. Either (a) omit the group-level label entirely (preferred when content mixes tiers), or (b) use the LOWEST confidence present inside (🔍 if any underlying content is 🔍; 💡 if any is 💡). This is a universal output-quality rule — it applies regardless of which fallback path (if any) was triggered.

Emoji reservation rule (closely related): The three confidence symbols 📊 🔍 💡 are RESERVED for confidence labeling. NEVER use them as decorative prefixes on section headers, table headers, or any aggregate element — even when you also include a correct confidence suffix on the same line. Example:

• ❌ WRONG: ## 📊 Overall Score — 27/100 · Grade F 🔍 (the leading 📊 reads as a data-backed claim even though the trailing 🔍 is correct)
• ✅ RIGHT: ## Overall Score — 27/100 · Grade F 🔍 (no decorative emoji, just the proper confidence suffix)
• ✅ RIGHT: ## 🎯 Overall Score — 27/100 · Grade F 🔍 (use non-reserved decorative icons like 🎯 🧭 📋 📝 📂 🏁 🚨 🏆 🔔 when a visual prefix is desired)

Decorative emoji ≠ confidence label — but from a reader's perspective, a leading 📊/🔍/💡 is indistinguishable from a confidence claim. Reserve these three symbols EXCLUSIVELY for confidence annotation to avoid ambiguity.

Data Provenance (required)#

Include a table at the end of every report:

DataEndpointKey ParamsNotes(e.g. Market Overview)markets/searchcategoryPath, topN=10📊 Top N sampling, sales are lower-bound............

Extract endpoint and params from _query in JSON output. Add notes: sampling method, T+1 delay, realtime vs DB, minimum review threshold, etc.

API Usage (required)#

EndpointCallsCredits(each endpoint used)NNTotalNN

Extract from meta.creditsConsumed per response. End with Credits remaining: N.

API Budget: ~20 calls#