Previous value: -"Two-year election cycle (e.g., 2024). Even years only. Itemized mode defaults to the current cycle when omitted — Schedule E spans all history and an unscoped scan times out upstream. Pass an explicit cycle to search an earlier period."New value: +"Two-year election cycle (e.g., 2024). Even years only. Itemized mode defaults to the current cycle when omitted — Schedule E spans all history and an unscoped scan times out upstream. Pass an explicit cycle to search an earlier period. In by_candidate mode the cycle names the election, and election_full decides whether the totals cover the full election period ending in it (4yr president, 6yr senate, 2yr house) or only this two-year cycle."

Added value: +{
+  "description": "by_candidate only: expand cycle to the full election period (4yr president, 6yr senate, 2yr house) instead of the two-year cycle alone. Defaults to true when omitted; itemized mode rejects it, since that endpoint has no such parameter. Carries no schema default, so an explicit value is distinguishable from an omission.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

Previous value: -"Results per page."New value: +"Results per page. Itemized mode sends at most 60 upstream when scoped by committee_id and 30 otherwise, keeping the response under a 100,000-byte budget; a page bounded below your request reports truncated and cap, and next_cursor continues it."

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"
+}

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `by_candidate_requires_scope`: by_candidate mode invoked without a candidate_id and without a full race scope. `itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_mode`: An itemized-only filter (payee_name, candidate_party, a date or amount bound, is_notice, most_recent, sort, cursor) was supplied alongside mode by_candidate, which cannot apply it. `inputs_not_applicable_to_mode`: Itemized mode receives an explicit page number that its keyset endpoint cannot apply. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `by_candidate_requires_scope`: by_candidate mode invoked without a candidate_id and without a full race scope. `itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_mode`: An itemized-only filter (payee_name, candidate_party, a date or amount bound, is_notice, most_recent, sort, cursor) was supplied alongside mode by_candidate, which cannot apply it. `inputs_not_applicable_to_mode`: Itemized mode receives an explicit page number or election_full, neither of which its keyset endpoint can apply. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

Previous 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 total is an estimate."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, that the total is an estimate, or that the page was bounded below the per_page requested and how to continue."

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

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"
+}

Previous value: -"Total result count (may be approximate for itemized)."New value: +"Total matching independent expenditures (itemized mode). Check count_is_approximate before quoting it as a figure."

Added value: +{
+  "description": "True when OpenFEC reports count as an estimate rather than a tally, which it does on its highest-volume queries. Absent means the count is a tally.",
+  "type": "boolean"
+}

Previous value: -"Guidance when no expenditures matched — echoes filters and suggests how to broaden."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 total is an estimate."

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"
+}

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `by_candidate_requires_scope`: by_candidate mode invoked without a candidate_id and without a full race scope `itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_mode`: An itemized-only filter (payee_name, candidate_party, a date or amount bound, is_notice, most_recent, sort, cursor) was supplied alongside mode by_candidate, which cannot apply it `inputs_not_applicable_to_mode`: Itemized mode receives an explicit page number that its keyset endpoint cannot apply Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `by_candidate_requires_scope`: by_candidate mode invoked without a candidate_id and without a full race scope. `itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_mode`: An itemized-only filter (payee_name, candidate_party, a date or amount bound, is_notice, most_recent, sort, cursor) was supplied alongside mode by_candidate, which cannot apply it. `inputs_not_applicable_to_mode`: Itemized mode receives an explicit page number that its keyset endpoint cannot apply. Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

Removed value: -[
-  {
-    "type": "string"
-  },
-  {
-    "type": "null"
-  }
-]

Added value: +[
+  "string",
+  "null"
+]

Removed value: -1

Previous value: -"Page number (1-indexed) for by_candidate mode. Ignored in itemized mode, which paginates with cursor. Read pagination.pages in the response to see how many pages exist."New value: +"Page number (1-indexed) for by_candidate mode. Explicit page is rejected in itemized mode, which paginates with cursor. Defaults to 1 for by_candidate."

Previous value: -"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `by_candidate_requires_scope`: by_candidate mode invoked without a candidate_id and without a full race scope `itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_mode`: An itemized-only filter (payee_name, candidate_party, a date or amount bound, is_notice, most_recent, sort, cursor) was supplied alongside mode by_candidate, which cannot apply it Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."New value: +"Machine-readable failure mode. Declared by this tool: `by_candidate_requires_scope`: by_candidate mode invoked without a candidate_id and without a full race scope `itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_mode`: An itemized-only filter (payee_name, candidate_party, a date or amount bound, is_notice, most_recent, sort, cursor) was supplied alongside mode by_candidate, which cannot apply it `inputs_not_applicable_to_mode`: Itemized mode receives an explicit page number that its keyset endpoint cannot apply Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler."

Previous value: -[
-  "by_candidate_requires_scope",
-  "itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_mode"
-]New value: +[
+  "by_candidate_requires_scope",
+  "itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_mode",
+  "inputs_not_applicable_to_mode"
+]

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

Added value: +false

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

Added value: +[
+  {
+    "not": {
+      "required": [
+        "error"
+      ]
+    },
+    "required": [
+      "results",
+      "mode",
+      "search_criteria",
+      "totalCount"
+    ]
+  },
+  {
+    "required": [
+      "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. Declared by this tool: `by_candidate_requires_scope`: by_candidate mode invoked without a candidate_id and without a full race scope `itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_mode`: An itemized-only filter (payee_name, candidate_party, a date or amount bound, is_notice, most_recent, sort, cursor) was supplied alongside mode by_candidate, which cannot apply it Other values are possible when a failure originates below the handler.",
+          "examples": [
+            "by_candidate_requires_scope",
+            "itemized_only_filters_in_aggregate_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"
+}

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

Removed value: -true

Previous value: -"Only the most recent version of amended filings. Itemized only."New value: +"Only the most recent version of amended filings. Itemized only — by_candidate rejects it. Defaults to true in itemized mode when omitted; pass false to see superseded versions of amended filings."

Added value: +{
+  "additionalProperties": {},
+  "description": "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.",
+  "properties": {},
+  "type": "object"
+}

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Query mode as the server resolved it. Row shapes differ by mode — itemized rows are individual expenditures, by_candidate rows are per-candidate totals — so read this rather than inferring the shape from the fields present.",
+  "enum": [
+    "itemized",
+    "by_candidate"
+  ],
+  "type": "string"
+}

Previous value: -"Echo of the search filters that produced this result set. Populated when results are empty to help diagnose why nothing matched."New value: +"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."

Previous value: -[
-  "results",
-  "totalCount"
-]New value: +[
+  "results",
+  "mode",
+  "search_criteria",
+  "totalCount"
+]

Previous value: -"Office of the targeted candidate: H=House, S=Senate, P=President."New value: +"Office of the targeted candidate: H=House, S=Senate, P=President. In by_candidate mode this scopes a whole race: P stands alone, S also needs candidate_office_state, H also needs candidate_office_state and candidate_office_district."

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Two-digit House district of the targeted race (e.g., \"09\"). Required alongside candidate_office=H and candidate_office_state in by_candidate mode; Senate and presidential rows carry no district and match nothing when one is supplied.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

Previous value: -"Two-letter state code of the targeted race."New value: +"Two-letter state code of the targeted race. Required alongside candidate_office=H or candidate_office=S in by_candidate mode; leave it off for candidate_office=P, whose aggregate rows carry no state and match nothing when one is supplied."

Previous value: -"Three-letter party code of the targeted candidate (e.g., DEM, REP)."New value: +"Three-letter party code of the targeted candidate (e.g., DEM, REP). Itemized only — by_candidate rejects it, since the aggregate endpoint has no party filter."

Previous value: -"Two-year election cycle (e.g., 2024). Even years only."New value: +"Two-year election cycle (e.g., 2024). Even years only. Itemized mode defaults to the current cycle when omitted — Schedule E spans all history and an unscoped scan times out upstream. Pass an explicit cycle to search an earlier period."

Added value: +{
+  "default": 1,
+  "description": "Page number (1-indexed) for by_candidate mode. Ignored in itemized mode, which paginates with cursor. Read pagination.pages in the response to see how many pages exist.",
+  "maximum": 9007199254740991,
+  "minimum": 1,
+  "type": "integer"
+}

Previous value: -"Opaque pagination cursor from a previous response. Itemized mode only (keyset pagination)."New value: +"Opaque pagination cursor from a previous response of this tool. Itemized mode only (keyset pagination). Valid only for an otherwise-identical call — changing any other argument, including sort, rejects the cursor; omit it to start over."

Previous value: -"Sort field. Itemized only."New value: +"Sort field. A \"-\" prefix sorts descending: use \"-expenditure_amount\" for the largest outside spending first, since the ascending form leads with the most negative rows (corrections and voided entries). Itemized only; OpenFEC sorts by \"-expenditure_date\" when omitted."

Previous value: -[
-  "expenditure_date",
-  "expenditure_amount",
-  "office_total_ytd"
-]New value: +[
+  "expenditure_date",
+  "-expenditure_date",
+  "expenditure_amount",
+  "-expenditure_amount",
+  "office_total_ytd",
+  "-office_total_ytd"
+]

Removed value: -"^[HSP][0-9A-Z]+$"

Removed value: -"^C\\d+$"

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Guidance when no expenditures matched — echoes filters and suggests how to broaden.",
+  "type": "string"
+}

Added value: +{
+  "description": "Total matching expenditures or per-candidate aggregates.",
+  "type": "number"
+}

Previous value: -[
-  "results"
-]New value: +[
+  "results",
+  "totalCount"
+]

Previous value: -"Targeted candidate ID (e.g., P00003392)."New value: +"Targeted candidate ID (e.g., P00003392). Get IDs from openfec_search_candidates results."

Added value: +"^[HSP][0-9A-Z]+$"

Previous value: -"Spending committee ID (e.g., C00703975)."New value: +"Spending committee ID (e.g., C00703975). Get IDs from openfec_search_committees results."

Added value: +"^C\\d+$"

Previous value: -"Results per page (max 100)."New value: +"Results per page."

Added value: +100

Added value: +1

Previous value: -"number"New value: +"integer"

Previous value: -"Total results."New value: +"Total result count."

Previous value: -"Current page number."New value: +"Current page number (1-indexed)."

Previous value: -"Total pages."New value: +"Total number of pages."

Previous value: -"Expenditure records (itemized) or per-candidate aggregate rows."New value: +"Expenditure result set; itemized records or per-candidate aggregates depending on mode."

Previous value: -"An expenditure record (itemized entry) or a per-candidate aggregate row."New value: +"Itemized independent expenditure record (mode=itemized) or per-candidate aggregate row (mode=by_candidate)."

Added value: +"An expenditure record (itemized entry) or a per-candidate aggregate row."

Added value: +{}

Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}

Added value: +{}

Removed value: -{
-  "type": "string"
-}