This is the primary workhorse for finding awards. Returns matching awards
with standard fields (Award ID, Recipient, Description, Amount, Agencies,
NAICS, PSC, dates). Use get_award_detail() with the generated_internal_id
from results to get full award details.

Important rules:
- award_type groups cannot be mixed; pick one category per call
- time_period_start/end use YYYY-MM-DD format
- award_amount_min/max are in USD
- place_of_performance_state is a 2-letter USPS code (e.g. 'MD', 'VA')
- For loans, use award_type='loans' and sort='Loan Value'
- def_codes filters to Disaster Emergency Fund codes (COVID-19, IIJA,
  IRA supplementals); see get_def_codes_reference() for the list

Filtering to specific contracting commands (NAVSEA, AFRL, etc.):
USASpending's subtier level is at the service branch (Department of the
Navy, Army, Air Force), not the contracting command. To filter to a
specific command, use keywords with the PIID office prefix instead:
- NAVSEA contracts:  keywords=['N00024']
- Army Contracting:  keywords=['W91CRB']
- AFRL:              keywords=['FA8650']
- NAVAIR:            keywords=['N00019']
This performs a substring match on the PIID field and is more reliable
than the award_ids filter for partial matches.

Common filter value references:
- set_aside_type_codes: SBA, SBP, 8A, 8AN, HZC, HZS, SDVOSBS, SDVOSBC,
  WOSB, WOSBSS, EDWOSB, EDWOSBSS, VSA
- extent_competed_type_codes: A (Full & Open), B, C, D, E, F, G, CDO, NDO
- contract_pricing_type_codes: J (FFP), Y (T&M), Z (LH), U (CPFF),
  V (CPIF), R (CPAF), L (FP Incentive), M (FP Award Fee)

IMPORTANT: awarding_agency/funding_agency must be the FULL TOPTIER NAME,
not a slug. Use 'Department of Defense', NOT 'department-of-defense'.
Slugs silently return zero results, and so does any name that is not a
toptier agency: the military departments are SUBTIERS, so pass
awarding_agency='Department of Defense' with
awarding_subagency='Department of the Navy' (never 'Department of the
Navy' as awarding_agency). A mismatched pair (a subagency that does not
belong to the given toptier) also silently returns zero results. Use
list_toptier_agencies() and get_agency_sub_agencies() for exact names.

Result caveats: recipient_name matches corporate affiliations, so a
parent-company search can return joint ventures whose display names
share no text with the query (a Hanford JV surfaces under 'Leidos');
verify names before presenting a definitive list. Large pulls can
exceed MCP client payload budgets (limit=100 has measured ~90K
characters); page in batches of 25-30 for big result sets.

"Award Amount" is the award's lifetime obligation, not the amount in
the time window. There is no period-of-performance end-date filter, so
expiring-contract (recompete) questions can't be filtered here: sorting
by 'End Date' over an action-date window returns long-ended awards that
had a closeout mod; filter the End Date column yourself.

date_type controls the award date window. Omitted (the default),
the latest action must be on/after the window start and the first signing
on/before its end. This interval overlap does NOT prove an action occurred
inside the window. For actual dated actions use spending_by_transaction,
read every page, and deduplicate award identifiers for distinct awards;
get_transactions provides a discovered award's complete action history.
'action_date' bounds the latest action, not any action; 'date_signed'
bounds first signing; 'last_modified_date' bounds the latest update.
'new_awards_only' keeps awards first signed in the window.
date_type needs time_period_start and/or time_period_end.

program_numbers filters assistance awards by assistance listing (CFDA)
number, e.g. ['93.778'] for Medicaid; use it with award_type='grants',
'loans', 'direct_payments', or 'other'. autocomplete_cfda() finds numbers
by program name.