Search public tenders
search_tendersRead-only
Use this to find public sector contracts to bid for in the UK, Canada, the United States, Germany, France and the rest of the EU: open tenders, frameworks and upcoming notices from any public buyer. Searches the user's own countries unless they name one; get_coverage lists every source and when it was last read. Answers give the total; pass nextCursor back as cursor for more. Not for past winners (use search_contract_awards) or jobs. Example: {"query":"school cleaning","region":"North West","closing_within_days":30}
Input Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| sort | No | "best", the default: best fit first for a user with a saved company profile, otherwise the closest match; "closing": soonest deadline first; "newest": latest published first; "value": highest value first. | |
| buyer | No | Only tenders from a buyer whose name holds these words, e.g. "Leeds City Council" or "NHS Lothian". | |
| codes | No | Only tenders with one of these classification codes, or a code under one: CPV in the UK and EU, e.g. "90910000" for cleaning or "909" for all cleaning and sanitation; NAICS or PSC on SAM.gov; UNSPSC or GSIN on CanadaBuys. | |
| limit | No | How many to show, up to 50. Defaults to 8. | |
| query | No | What the buyer is buying, in the user's words, e.g. "grounds maintenance", "cyber security consultancy", "school catering". Tenders with the words come first, then any close in meaning that share none of them, marked match "meaning". Leave it out to list every tender the other filters allow. | |
| stage | No | "open" for tenders taking bids now, "upcoming" for pipeline and preliminary market engagement notices about future tenders. | |
| cursor | No | The nextCursor from an earlier answer, with the same search, for its next page. | |
| detail | No | "short" for just each result's IDs, title, buyer, value, dates and link, e.g. to go through many pages; "full", the default, for everything. | |
| region | No | Where the work or delivery happens: a UK nation or English region, e.g. "North West" for Manchester or Liverpool; a Canadian province or territory, e.g. "Ontario" for Toronto; a US state, e.g. "Virginia"; a German Land by its German name, e.g. "Bayern" for Munich; a French region, e.g. "Île-de-France" for Paris; or another EU member state, e.g. "Poland". Omit for nationwide contracts or when the user names no place. | |
| country | No | The country to look in, when the user names one, e.g. "Canada", "UK" or "Spain" (an EU member state searches the rest of the EU there). Omit to use the user's own countries (the UK when they aren't signed in). Tenda covers the UK, Canada, the United States, Germany, France and the rest of the EU. | |
| procedure | No | How the buyer is buying, e.g. "framework" for framework agreements, "dynamic_market" for dynamic markets suppliers can join at any time. | |
| buyer_type | No | Kind of public buyer, e.g. "local_authority" for councils, "nhs" for NHS trusts and ICBs, "education" for schools, academy trusts and universities. | |
| suitable_for | No | Only notices the buyer marked as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises or for voluntary, community and social enterprises. | |
| contract_type | No | What is being bought, e.g. "works" for construction and refurbishment. | |
| max_value_gbp | No | Highest estimated contract value in the country's own currency (pounds for the UK, Canadian dollars for Canada, US dollars for the US, euros for Germany, France and the rest of the EU), e.g. 100000 for "under £100k". | |
| min_value_gbp | No | Lowest estimated contract value in the country's own currency (pounds for the UK, Canadian dollars for Canada, US dollars for the US, euros for Germany, France and the rest of the EU), e.g. 50000 for "over £50k". | |
| published_since | No | Only tenders published on or after this date, e.g. "2026-10-01". | |
| closing_within_days | No | Only tenders closing within this many days, e.g. 30 for "this month". |
Output Schema
TableJSON Schema
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| asOf | No | Every source searched had read its notices at or after this time, in ISO 8601. | |
| note | No | ||
| total | Yes | How many tenders match in all, across every page. | |
| credit | No | ||
| results | Yes | ||
| summary | Yes | ||
| countries | No | ||
| nextCursor | No | Pass it back as cursor, with the same search, for the next page. Absent on the last page. | |
| interpretedAs | No |