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Search DoD Other Transaction Authority awards

search_ota_awards

Read-onlyIdempotent

Not affiliated with the U.S. government, GSA, or SAM.gov. Not a U.S. government service. Department of Defense Other Transaction Authority (OTA) awards, prototype, research, and production agreements that bypass the FAR and never appear in USAspending, sourced from FPDS. Filter by keyword, agency, vendor, or agreement type (research, prototype, production). CRITICAL: FPDS typically names the consortium MANAGEMENT organization as awardee, not the actual performing company. GAO has confirmed DoD cannot identify the real performers from this data. Treat a named vendor as likely the consortium manager - actual performer unknown. Obligated dollars are the action delta, not the ceiling value. DoD reporting lags about 90 days. Present as information only; verify every fact against the official FPDS record before acting. Follow-ups within 30 minutes after a search ride free (up to 30 per search); otherwise one accepted call counts as one use, regardless of how many records are returned. Every record carries a direct source link (or source name and record ID) so you can verify and cite the underlying record.

Input Schema

Name	Required	Description
`limit`	No
`query`	No	Keyword filter over description, PIID, and vendor
`agency`	No	Awarding agency substring filter
`vendor`	No	Awardee name substring filter
`agreement_type`	No	Agreement type: research, prototype, or production

Output Schema

Name	Required	Description	Default
`count`	Yes
`quota`	Yes
`awards`	Yes
`coverage`	Yes
`data_caveat`	No	Data quality caveat	DoD Other Transaction Authority awards as reported to FPDS. OTAs are not contracts and do not appear in USAspending. FPDS typically names the consortium manager as awardee, not the performing members. DoD reporting lags ~90 days. Verify against the official FPDS record before acting.
`analytical_disclaimer`	Yes

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed33 schema fields changedOct 24, 2026

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / as_of / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  {
+    "type": "null"
+  }
+]

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / as_of / default
```
Added value: +null
```

changedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / as_of / description

Previous value: -"UTC ISO 8601"New value: +"Known source observation time; null when not recorded. Not the query time."

removedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / as_of / type
```
Removed value: -"string"
```

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / cache_timestamp_basis

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Cache Timestamp Basis"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / cache_timestamp_field

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Cache Timestamp Field"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / exclusions

Added value: +{
+  "items": {
+    "type": "string"
+  },
+  "title": "Exclusions",
+  "type": "array"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / last_attempt_at

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Last Attempt At"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / last_attempt_scope

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "additionalProperties": true,
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Last Attempt Scope"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / last_success_record_count

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Last Success Record Count"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / last_success_scope

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "additionalProperties": true,
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Last Success Scope"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / last_successful_ingest_at

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Last Successful Ingest At"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / last_successful_refresh_at

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Last Successful Refresh At"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / latest_cached_at

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Latest Cached At"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / latest_stored_fetched_at

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Latest Stored Fetched At"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / latest_stored_ingested_at

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Latest Stored Ingested At"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / oldest_cached_at

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Oldest Cached At"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / oldest_ingested_at

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Oldest Ingested At"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / pagination_note

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Pagination Note"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / population

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Population"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / population_complete

Added value: +{
+  "default": false,
+  "title": "Population Complete",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / population_status

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Population Status"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / query_time

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "description": "When this stored-data query was calculated; not proof of source refresh",
+  "title": "Query Time"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / record_type

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Record Type"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / refresh_error_code

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Refresh Error Code"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / refresh_status

Added value: +{
+  "default": "unknown",
+  "title": "Refresh Status",
+  "type": "string"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / scope_note

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Scope Note"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / source

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Source"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / source_as_of

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Source As Of"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / source_state

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "enum": [
+        "matched",
+        "no_match",
+        "not_loaded",
+        "unsupported",
+        "failed_refresh",
+        "unknown"
+      ],
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Source State"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / source_url

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "string"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Source Url"
+}

addedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / properties / stored_rows

Added value: +{
+  "anyOf": [
+    {
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    {
+      "type": "null"
+    }
+  ],
+  "default": null,
+  "title": "Stored Rows"
+}

removedOutput schema / $defs / Coverage / required
```
Removed value: -[
-  "as_of"
-]
```

Changed1 schema field changedOct 18, 2026

addedOutput schema / $defs / QuotaBlock / properties / mode

Added value: +{
+  "default": "ordinary",
+  "enum": [
+    "ordinary",
+    "testing",
+    "review",
+    "beta"
+  ],
+  "title": "Mode",
+  "type": "string"
+}

First observedOct 14, 2026

TDQS

A4.3/5.0

Behavior5/5

Does the description disclose side effects, auth requirements, rate limits, or destructive behavior?

Annotations only declare read-only/idempotent/open-world, and the description adds substantial operational context on top: FPDS as source, ~90-day reporting lag, obligated dollars being action deltas rather than ceiling values, the consortium-manager attribution caveat, a verification-link guarantee, and an explicit quota model (30-minute follow-up window, one accepted call = one use). This is exactly the behavior an agent needs before deciding to spend a call.

Agents need to know what a tool does to the world before calling it. Descriptions should go beyond structured annotations to explain consequences.

Conciseness3/5

Is the description appropriately sized, front-loaded, and free of redundancy?

The content density is high and nearly every sentence carries information, but the purpose statement is buried behind two legal-disclaimer sentences and the remainder runs as one dense block mixing provenance, caveats, quota rules, and verification guidance. Restructuring so the verb+resource leads and the disclaimers/quota move to the end would improve scannability without losing content.

Shorter descriptions cost fewer tokens and are easier for agents to parse. Every sentence should earn its place.

Completeness5/5

Given the tool's complexity, does the description cover enough for an agent to succeed on first attempt?

For a read-only, open-world search with an output schema already covering return shape, this description supplies everything else an agent needs: source, known data-quality traps, temporal lag, dollar semantics, citation path, and cost model. Nothing material is missing.

Complex tools with many parameters or behaviors need more documentation. Simple tools need less. This dimension scales expectations accordingly.

Parameters4/5

Does the description clarify parameter syntax, constraints, interactions, or defaults beyond what the schema provides?

Schema coverage is 80% so the baseline is 3; the description adds real meaning by restating the filter dimensions and, more importantly, by warning that the vendor parameter matches the consortium management organization rather than the performer. That reframes what a match on `vendor` actually means, which the schema does not convey. The `limit` cap of 50 and the nullability defaults remain undocumented in prose.

Input schemas describe structure but not intent. Descriptions should explain non-obvious parameter relationships and valid value ranges.

Purpose5/5

Does the description clearly state what the tool does and how it differs from similar tools?

Names a specific verb+resource (search DoD Other Transaction Authority awards) and enumerates the agreement families covered (research, prototype, production). It also draws a hard boundary against adjacent datasets by stating these agreements bypass the FAR and never appear in USAspending, which tells an agent it cannot get this from the standard award tools.

Agents choose between tools based on descriptions. A clear purpose with a specific verb and resource helps agents select the right tool.

Usage Guidelines3/5

Does the description explain when to use this tool, when not to, or what alternatives exist?

It states what you can filter on and gives a strong interpretation rule for the vendor field, but it never names a sibling tool or a when-not-to-use condition (e.g., use search_award_history or search_sole_source for FAR-based awards, get_notice_record for opportunities). Usage is implied by the data-domain description rather than routed explicitly.

Agents often have multiple tools that could apply. Explicit usage guidance like "use X instead of Y when Z" prevents misuse.

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