openfec-mcp-server

Openfec Search Coordinated Expenditures

openfec_search_coordinated_expenditures

Read-onlyIdempotent

Search coordinated party expenditures (Schedule F) — spending a party committee makes on behalf of a candidate it supports, in coordination with that campaign. Distinct from independent expenditures (openfec_search_expenditures), which cannot be coordinated with the candidate, and from direct contributions: coordinated expenditures carry their own statutory limits and can run into tens of millions per party in a presidential cycle. Scope with a spending committee_id, a benefiting candidate_id, or a cycle; unscoped queries span all years.

Input Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`page`	No	Page number (1-indexed). Read pagination.pages in the response to see how many pages exist.
`sort`	No	Sort field. A "-" prefix sorts descending: use "-expenditure_amount" for the largest coordinated spending first, since the ascending form leads with the most negative rows (corrections and voided entries). OpenFEC sorts by "-expenditure_date" when omitted.
`cycle`	No	Two-year election cycle (e.g., 2024). Even years only. Omitting it searches every cycle on record.
`max_date`	No	Latest expenditure date (YYYY-MM-DD).
`min_date`	No	Earliest expenditure date (YYYY-MM-DD).
`per_page`	No	Results per page. At most 80 are requested upstream when scoped by committee_id and 25 otherwise, keeping the response under a 100,000-byte budget. A page bounded below your request reports truncated and cap, and pagination.per_page echoes the size applied — page numbers count at that size, so continue with the next page number.
`max_amount`	No	Maximum expenditure amount in dollars.
`min_amount`	No	Minimum expenditure amount in dollars.
`payee_name`	No	Full-text payee name search (the vendor the party paid).
`candidate_id`	No	Benefiting candidate ID (e.g., P00003392). Get IDs from openfec_search_candidates results.
`committee_id`	No	Spending party committee ID (e.g., C00003418). Get IDs from openfec_search_committees results — party committees carry committee_type X or Y.

Output Schema

TableJSON Schema

Name	Required	Description
`cap`	No	The per_page this call applied in place of the one requested — the page-size ceiling for this tool and scope. Present only when truncated is true.
`error`	No	Present when the call failed. Absent on success.
`shown`	No	Rows in this page. Present only when truncated is true.
`notice`	No	Guidance when the response needs context: how to broaden a search that matched nothing, which requested position ran out when expenditures did match, or that the page was bounded below the per_page requested and how to continue.
`results`	No	Coordinated expenditure result set; one record per itemized transaction.
`committee`	No	The committee every row in this response belongs to, carried once instead of repeated in each row. Present only when the query was scoped to a single committee_id; otherwise each row keeps its own committee object.
`truncated`	No	True when this page holds fewer rows than the per_page requested because a full page would exceed the 100,000-byte response budget, and more rows remain. Absent on a complete page, including a naturally short last page.
`pagination`	No	Page-based pagination metadata.
`totalCount`	No	Total matching coordinated expenditures before pagination.
`search_criteria`	No	Echo of the search filters this call applied, as the server parsed them, minus paging arguments. Always present — compare it against what you sent to confirm every filter was honoured.

Schema Changelog

Changes observed during successful MCP inspections.

Changed5 schema fields changedSep 24, 2026

changedInput schema / properties / per_page / description

Previous value: -"Results per page."New value: +"Results per page. At most 80 are requested upstream when scoped by committee_id and 25 otherwise, keeping the response under a 100,000-byte budget. A page bounded below your request reports truncated and cap, and pagination.per_page echoes the size applied — page numbers count at that size, so continue with the next page number."

addedOutput schema / properties / cap

Added value: +{
+  "description": "The per_page this call applied in place of the one requested — the page-size ceiling for this tool and scope. Present only when truncated is true.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

changedOutput schema / properties / notice / description

Previous value: -"Guidance when the response carries no coordinated expenditures: how to broaden a search that matched nothing, or which requested position ran out when expenditures did match."New value: +"Guidance when the response needs context: how to broaden a search that matched nothing, which requested position ran out when expenditures did match, or that the page was bounded below the per_page requested and how to continue."

addedOutput schema / properties / shown

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Rows in this page. Present only when truncated is true.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

addedOutput schema / properties / truncated

Added value: +{
+  "description": "True when this page holds fewer rows than the per_page requested because a full page would exceed the 100,000-byte response budget, and more rows remain. Absent on a complete page, including a naturally short last page.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

Changed2 schema fields changedSep 22, 2026

changedOutput schema / properties / notice / description

Previous value: -"Guidance when no coordinated expenditures matched — echoes filters and suggests how to broaden."New value: +"Guidance when the response carries no coordinated expenditures: how to broaden a search that matched nothing, or which requested position ran out when expenditures did match."

addedOutput schema / properties / pagination / properties / count_is_approximate

Added value: +{
+  "description": "True when OpenFEC reports this count as an estimate rather than a tally, which it does on its highest-volume datasets. Absent means the count is a tally. An estimated count — and the pages derived from it — can be off by a wide margin; treat it as an order of magnitude, not a figure to quote.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

Changed6 schema fields changedAug 25, 2026

changedInput schema / $schema

Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"

addedInput schema / additionalProperties
```
Added value: +false
```

changedOutput schema / $schema

Previous value: -"http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#"New value: +"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema"

addedOutput schema / anyOf

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "not": {
+      "required": [
+        "error"
+      ]
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "results",
+      "pagination",
+      "search_criteria",
+      "totalCount"
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "required": [
+      "error"
+    ]
+  }
+]

addedOutput schema / properties / error

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": {},
+  "description": "Present when the call failed. Absent on success.",
+  "properties": {
+    "code": {
+      "description": "JSON-RPC error code for this failure.",
+      "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+      "minimum": -9007199254740991,
+      "type": "integer"
+    },
+    "data": {
+      "additionalProperties": {},
+      "properties": {
+        "reason": {
+          "description": "Machine-readable failure mode.",
+          "type": "string"
+        },
+        "recovery": {
+          "additionalProperties": {},
+          "description": "Actionable next step for the caller.",
+          "properties": {
+            "hint": {
+              "type": "string"
+            }
+          },
+          "required": [
+            "hint"
+          ],
+          "type": "object"
+        },
+        "retryable": {
+          "description": "Whether retrying may succeed.",
+          "type": "boolean"
+        }
+      },
+      "type": "object"
+    },
+    "message": {
+      "description": "Human-readable description of what went wrong.",
+      "type": "string"
+    }
+  },
+  "required": [
+    "code",
+    "message"
+  ],
+  "type": "object"
+}

removedOutput schema / required

Removed value: -[
-  "results",
-  "pagination",
-  "search_criteria",
-  "totalCount"
-]

AddedJul 26, 2026

TDQS

A4.7/5.0

Behavior4/5

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

Annotations already indicate readOnly and idempotent, so the safety profile is covered. The description adds meaningful behavioral context beyond annotations: statutory limits, scale of spending, Schedule F classification, and the distinction from independent expenditures and contributions. This enriches the agent's understanding of what the results represent.

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

Conciseness5/5

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

The description is dense but well-organized: definition first, differentiation second, scoping guidance last. Every sentence carries useful information, and no space is wasted repeating schema 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?

Given the rich input schema, output schema, and annotations, the description covers what this tool returns conceptually, how to scope it, how it differs from alternatives, and why the data matters. Nothing critical is missing for correct selection and invocation.

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 100%, so the baseline is 3. The description adds extra meaning by labeling committee_id as the 'spending party committee' and candidate_id as the 'benefiting candidate,' and it points to sibling tools for obtaining valid IDs plus committee_type X/Y guidance. This goes beyond the schema's own field descriptions.

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?

Description states a specific verb (Search) and resource (coordinated party expenditures, Schedule F) and defines what that means. It actively distinguishes itself from independent expenditures and direct contributions, making it clear what this tool is and is not.

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

Usage Guidelines5/5

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

Explicitly names the sibling tool openfec_search_expenditures and explains the key distinction: coordinated vs. independent expenditures. It also gives concrete scoping strategies (committee_id, candidate_id, cycle) and notes the default unscoped behavior across all years.

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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