mcp-sam-gov
The mcp-sam-gov server provides 36 keyless tools for querying US federal contracting, spending, regulatory, and grant data.
SAM.gov Opportunities
Search active solicitations (~47K notices) by NAICS, state, set-aside type, or agency
Fetch full opportunity details: POCs, deadlines, attachments, and RFP/SOW body text
Resolve federal organization IDs to canonical agency names
USAspending Awards & Recipients
Retrieve line-item contract awards with recipient, dollar amount, sub-agency, and state
Analyze competitive landscape (who wins at a given agency × NAICS slice)
Pull all contracts won by a specific recipient; enumerate subcontracts/teaming relationships
Get full award detail including period of performance, set-aside type, and competition info
USAspending Aggregate Analysis
Spending trends by fiscal year, quarter, or month
Breakdowns by PSC, NAICS, state, CFDA, federal account, or sub-agency
Rank top buying agencies or recipients for a given NAICS/set-aside
Recompete Radar
Identify contracts expiring within N months by agency, NAICS, and value
Agency & Recipient Profiles
Agency mission, budget breakdowns, transaction counts, and congressional justification URLs
Recipient detail including DUNS, UEI, alternate names (M&A history), hierarchy, and business types
Federal Register & eCFR
Search proposed/final rules, notices, and presidential documents by query, agency, type, or date
Full-text search across all 50 CFR titles (e.g. Title 48 = FAR)
Grants.gov
Search federal grant opportunities by keyword, CFDA program, agency, or opportunity number
Get full grant detail: award ceiling/floor, eligible applicants, and funding instruments
Anti-Hallucination Reference Tools
Autocomplete/validate NAICS codes and canonical recipient legal names
Navigate the full NAICS hierarchy (2-digit → 6-digit)
Look up 151 federal spending glossary terms and list all toptier agencies with obligations
All core features work without an API key; a SAM.gov API key unlocks higher rate limits and historical data.
@cliwant/mcp-sam-gov
$4 trillion of public federal data, one npm install away.
The most comprehensive keyless-first MCP server for US federal contracting + spending + regulation + partner vetting. 134 tools across 44 federal data sources — keyless-first: only 4 sources (Census business-patterns, FRED, BEA, and DOL's data endpoint) need a free key; the other 40 sources need none. Works today, in any AI agent.
See it in action
👤 user Find active SAM.gov solicitations under NAICS 541512 closing this month
🤖 Claude → sam_search_opportunities { ncode: "541512", limit: 5 }
✓ 47,478 active opportunities indexed
• 5ef3db5d… VA Bulk Oxygen Tank Rental closes 2026-05-15 ($1.05M)
• a000339c… Articulating Boom Lifts closes 2026-05-30 ($310K)
• be9c24ef… CMOP Hazardous Waste Removal closes 2026-06-12 ($2.7M)
👤 user Pull the SOW + contracting officer for the first one
🤖 Claude → sam_get_opportunity { noticeId: "5ef3db5d…" }
✓ Department of Veterans Affairs · Combined Synopsis/Solicitation
POC: Rebecca Gobble <rebecca.gobble@va.gov> +1-410-642-2411
Set-aside: Total Small Business
Attachments: 1 ↓ 36C24526Q0460_1.docx (172 KB)
SOW preview: "RFQ# 36C24526Q0460 — Bulk Oxygen Tank Rental, Fill, Telemetry…" Zero API key. Zero registration. Zero signup. Just plug it in and ask.
Related MCP server: Open Primitive
Why this exists
Status quo | With this MCP |
GovWin: $30K-$100K/yr per seat | Free, MIT license |
API key registration → wait 24h → quota tier shopping |
|
5+ separate vendor APIs / scrapers | 1 unified surface, 134 tools across 44 sources |
LLMs hallucinate NAICS codes / agency names | Anti-hallucination autocomplete guards built-in |
Brittle scraping breaks weekly | Daily live smoke test (badge above) |
Procurement officer → IT ticket → 3-week wait | Claude Desktop double-click install |
The federal data this wraps is public domain. There is no good reason it should cost a five-figure subscription to query.
What this gives Claude (and other AI agents)
Domain | What you can ask | Sources |
🔍 Opportunities & solicitations | "Find SAM.gov solicitations under NAICS 541512 closing this month" — read the SOW, POCs, attachments | SAM.gov, Grants.gov |
💰 Spending, awards & competition | "Show me Booz Allen wins at VA last fiscal year; top 10 PSC categories at DoD" | USAspending, FPDS, GAO |
🕵️ Entity & partner vetting | "Screen this firm: OFAC sanctions, SAM exclusions, single-audit findings, bank health, EPA compliance + toxics-release" | OFAC, SAM, FAC, FDIC, EPA ECHO, EPA Envirofacts |
🛒 Product safety & recalls | "Any FDA/NHTSA/CPSC recalls or enforcement against this supplier's products?" | openFDA, NHTSA, CPSC |
⚖️ Litigation & courts | "Any Court of Federal Claims bid protests or Federal Circuit opinions involving this contractor?" | CourtListener (Free Law Project) |
🏢 Nonprofit vendors | "Pull this nonprofit's IRS-990 financials before we subcontract to it" | IRS 990 (via ProPublica) |
🏥 Healthcare providers & facilities | "Medicare utilization & payments for this provider; hospital quality ratings; is this provider on the revocation list?" | CMS (data.cms.gov) |
📈 Financial disclosure (SEC) | "Pull this public company's revenue trend and latest 10-K filings" | SEC EDGAR |
⚖️ Regulatory & legislative | "What VA cybersecurity rules were published this quarter? Any open Regulations.gov dockets?" | Federal Register, Regulations.gov, eCFR, FAR/DFARS, Congress.gov, GovInfo |
💲 Pricing, labor & fiscal | "GSA CALC labor-rate band for a systems analyst; SCA wage determination for this county; CPI escalation; per-diem cap for a trip; regional GDP by industry; DOL wage-hour enforcement history" | GSA CALC, SAM WDs, BLS, US Census CBP, FRED, BEA, US Treasury, GSA per-diem, US DOL |
🏛 Lobbying & influence | "Who lobbies the VA on cybersecurity, and how much do they spend?" | US Senate LDA |
🏥 Health & research funding | "NIH/NSF grants on this topic; recruiting clinical trials; industry payments to this physician" | NIH RePORTER, NSF, ClinicalTrials.gov, CMS Open Payments, NPPES |
🛡 Cyber compliance | "Is this CVE on the CISA KEV must-patch list?" | NVD, CISA KEV |
🌐 Trade, geo & disaster | "HTS tariff for this product; Census tract for this address; FEMA declarations in this state" | USITC HTS, US Census, FEMA, Socrata, CKAN |
🎓 Grants & datasets | "Cybersecurity grants posted in the last 30 days; discover federal open datasets" | Grants.gov, data.gov |
134 tools across 44 federal data sources — keyless-first: only 4 sources (Census business-patterns, FRED, BEA, and DOL's data endpoint) need a free key; the other 40 sources need none. (An earlier 52-tool build measured roughly p50 ~0.25s / p95 ~0.8s against production federal APIs; latency varies by source and upstream load — treat it as fast, not a benchmarked guarantee.)
How do I install it? Pick the path that matches you.
🟢 Path 1 — Claude Desktop, one-click (no terminal needed)
Best for non-developers. Just download a file and double-click.
Download
mcp-sam-gov.mcpbfrom the latest release.Double-click the file. Claude Desktop opens with an "Install Extension" dialog.
Click Install.
Done. Start a new conversation and ask "Find active SAM.gov opportunities under NAICS 541512".
That's it. No PowerShell, no npm, nothing.
Requires Claude Desktop ≥ 1.0 (which ships its own Node.js runtime).
🟡 Path 2 — Claude Code, one command
If you already use Claude Code (the CLI):
/plugin install cliwant/mcp-sam-govThis installs the MCP server plus a SKILL.md workflow guide that teaches Claude when + how to use each of the 134 tools.
🔵 Path 3 — Manual install for any MCP host (Codex, Cursor, Continue, Gemini)
For Codex CLI / Cursor / Continue / Gemini CLI / anything that speaks MCP:
gh repo clone cliwant/mcp-sam-gov
cd mcp-sam-gov
npm install --omit=dev
npm install -g .After install, the binary mcp-sam-gov is on your PATH. Add this to your host config:
{
"mcpServers": {
"sam-gov": {
"command": "mcp-sam-gov"
}
}
}Specific config locations per host: see Host configurations below.
⚪ Path 4 — Direct path (zero install, just point at the file)
Skip installation entirely:
gh repo clone cliwant/mcp-sam-gov
cd mcp-sam-gov
npm install --omit=dev # only runtime deps; dist/ is pre-builtThen point your host config at the absolute path:
{
"mcpServers": {
"sam-gov": {
"command": "node",
"args": ["C:\\Users\\you\\mcp-sam-gov\\dist\\server.js"]
}
}
}Host configurations
Claude Desktop
%APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows) or ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS):
{
"mcpServers": {
"sam-gov": { "command": "mcp-sam-gov" }
}
}(Or skip this entirely — use Path 1's .mcpb and it auto-configures.)
Restart Claude Desktop fully (system tray quit on Windows / Quit menu on macOS), then look for the 🔨 icon. You should see "sam-gov (134 tools)".
Claude Code
Per-project .mcp.json:
{ "mcpServers": { "sam-gov": { "command": "mcp-sam-gov" } } }Or globally:
claude mcp add sam-gov mcp-sam-govCodex CLI
~/.codex/config.toml:
[mcp_servers.sam-gov]
command = "mcp-sam-gov"
args = []Cursor
Settings → MCP → Add new MCP server:
{ "mcpServers": { "sam-gov": { "command": "mcp-sam-gov" } } }Continue
~/.continue/config.json:
{
"experimental": {
"modelContextProtocolServer": {
"transport": { "type": "stdio", "command": "mcp-sam-gov" }
}
}
}Gemini CLI
~/.gemini/settings.json:
{ "mcpServers": { "sam-gov": { "command": "mcp-sam-gov" } } }Anything else
If your host speaks MCP over stdio, point it at mcp-sam-gov. No host-specific code.
What questions can I ask?
Once installed, you can ask in natural language. The agent picks the right tool sequence automatically.
Discovery
"NAICS 541512 의 메릴랜드 입찰 중 30일 안에 마감되는 것 찾아줘"
"Find active SAM.gov solicitations under NAICS 541512, MD only, closing in 30 days"
"What's the canonical NAICS code for 'computer systems design'?"
RFP analysis
"Pull noticeId 5ef3db5daeb54099a96d487783a38bd0 — give me the SOW, contracting officer, and attachments"
"Show me the full RFP body for that notice"
Competitive landscape
"Top 5 recipients of VA contracts in NAICS 541519 last fiscal year"
"Show me Booz Allen's individual awards at DISA"
"Who are the sub-contractors on Leidos' VA contracts?"
"What's CMS in USAspending? (resolve the abbreviation)"
Trends & aggregation
"How has VA 541512 spending trended over the last 5 fiscal years?"
"Top 10 states by federal contracting spend in 541512"
"Top PSC categories at DoD by spending"
"Federal grant programs in cybersecurity by total $"
Agency intelligence (capture brief)
"Give me a capture brief on VA: mission, FY26 budget breakdown, top sub-agencies"
"What's VA's transaction volume for FY25?"
Recompete radar
"VA 541512 contracts expiring in next 12 months over $1M"
"Pull period of performance for award CONT_AWD_..."
Regulatory & legislative
"Find FAR sections about SDVOSB set-aside requirements"
"Turn this RFP's cited FAR/DFARS clause list into a Section L/M compliance matrix"
"What new VA cybersecurity rules were published this quarter?"
"Any Federal Register documents on the public-inspection desk from DoD today?"
"Search Regulations.gov dockets on 'contractor cybersecurity' and pull the public comments"
"Discover federal open datasets about 'wildfire' on data.gov"
"Is there a Federal Register doc number 2026-08333? Pull the citation."
Partner & entity vetting
"Screen 'Acme Defense LLC' against the OFAC sanctions list and SAM exclusions"
"Look up NPI 1234567890 in NPPES — is this provider active?"
"Does this subcontractor have adverse Single Audit findings in the Federal Audit Clearinghouse?"
"How healthy is the bank on cert #3510 — risk ratios and quarterly financials?"
"Pull this public company's revenue trend and latest 10-K from SEC EDGAR"
"Any EPA compliance/enforcement flags for this facility?"
Compliance & eligibility
"What's the SBA small-business size standard for NAICS 541512?"
"Search the eCFR for the exact text of a rule"
"What's the US import duty rate (HTS) for lithium-ion batteries?"
Pricing, labor & fiscal
"GSA CALC ceiling-rate band for a senior systems analyst"
"Find the SCA wage determination for Baltimore County, MD and give me the fringe rates"
"How much has CPI-U risen over the last 3 years for an escalation clause?"
"What's the current total US public debt (Debt to the Penny)?"
Cyber
"Is CVE-2021-44228 (Log4Shell) on the CISA KEV must-patch list, and what's the due date?"
Health & research funding
"NIH RePORTER projects on mRNA vaccines funded last year"
"Recruiting clinical trials for diabetes sponsored by industry"
"Industry payments to physicians in CA from the CMS Open Payments Research dataset"
Grants
"Cybersecurity grants posted in the last 30 days"
"Pull grant id 361238"
Optional — higher rate limits + archives
The MCP server runs keyless by default. For higher SAM.gov rate limits + the full archive (notices older than ~12 months), set SAM_GOV_API_KEY in your host's env block:
{
"mcpServers": {
"sam-gov": {
"command": "mcp-sam-gov",
"env": { "SAM_GOV_API_KEY": "your-key-here" }
}
}
}Get a free key at sam.gov/SAM/pages/public/searchKeyData.jsf. The agent doesn't need to know — the key path is transparent.
DATA_GOV_API_KEY — the api.data.gov / api.gsa.gov family
A handful of sources ride the shared api.data.gov gateway — Congress.gov, GovInfo, Regulations.gov, FAC, NPPES, and the data.gov v4 dataset catalog. They work keyless out of the box via the public DEMO_KEY (a low shared hourly quota). Set DATA_GOV_API_KEY to raise those limits substantially:
{
"mcpServers": {
"sam-gov": {
"command": "mcp-sam-gov",
"env": { "DATA_GOV_API_KEY": "your-key-here" }
}
}
}Get one free (instant, no wait) at api.data.gov/signup. The same key is accepted across all api.data.gov / api.gsa.gov sources. Like the SAM key, it is sent only on the wire (never logged); unset simply means DEMO_KEY. BLS sources similarly accept an optional free BLS_API_KEY to lift their daily quota.
Keys & higher limits — the full inventory
Most tools are keyless. Four sources require a free key — Census (census_business_patterns), FRED (fred_search_series, fred_series_observations), BEA (bea_regional_data), and DOL's data endpoint (dol_get_dataset) — those sources have no keyless tier, so the tool throws without one. (DOL's catalog dol_list_datasets is keyless.) The other keys are optional: they only raise a rate limit or unlock a single filter. Every key below is free.
Env var | Required? | What it unlocks | Free signup |
| Required |
| |
| Required | the 2 FRED tools (no keyless tier — throw without it) | |
| Required |
| |
| Required for data |
| |
| Optional | higher limits on all api.data.gov sources (Regulations.gov, FAC, NPPES, CMS, data.gov catalog, GSA per-diem) — lifts the shared | |
| Optional | authenticated SAM.gov v2 search + the organization-name filter | |
| Optional | higher rate limit on | |
| Optional | the BLS v2 tier (~500 queries/day vs keyless ~25/day) | |
| Optional | a higher NVD rate limit ( | |
| Optional | higher openFDA rate limit ( | |
| Optional | higher CourtListener rate limit ( | |
| Optional | higher Socrata throttling limits |
Two ways to set any key — pick one:
Host env block — the
"env": { … }object shown in the examples above.A
.envfile in the server's working directory — configure your keys once:CENSUS_API_KEY=your-key-here FRED_API_KEY=your-key-here # optional — raise limits / unlock filters SAM_GOV_API_KEY=your-key-hereThe server auto-loads
.envat startup. A real environment variable always wins over.env(standard precedence), and.envis git-ignored so your keys never get committed.
Ask the server which keys it needs. The keyless api_key_status tool lists every key, whether it's required or optional, the free signup URL + what it unlocks, and whether each is currently configured (a boolean — the key value is never shown). Creating the account at the signup URL is your one manual step; the server automates discovery (api_key_status) and configuration (.env). To confirm a key actually works, call that source's own tool.
Tool catalog (134 tools)
Grouped by workflow. Keyless-first — most tools need no key; Census business-patterns, FRED, BEA, and DOL's data endpoint require a free key, and a handful of others gain higher limits from an optional free key (noted above). Descriptions are condensed — each tool's own inputSchema carries the full contract and honesty caveats.
sam_search_opportunities— keyless HAL search of active SAM.gov contracting opportunitiessam_search_shaping— pre-solicitation radar (Sources Sought / Presol / Special Notices before the RFP exists)sam_get_opportunity— full detail by 32-char hex noticeId (POCs + attachments + body)sam_fetch_description— full RFP body as plain textsam_fetch_attachment_text— extract attachment text (RFP / SOW / Q&A / wage tables) from PDF + DOCX + text/HTMLsam_attachment_url— build the public download URL for an attachment resourceIdsam_lookup_organization— federal-organization id → canonical fullParentPathNamesam_lookup_notice_fields— batch-fill nulled naics/set-aside/PoP/deadline for 1–100 noticeIds from the opt-in GSA daily CSVgrants_search— Grants.gov federal grant opportunities (financial assistance, distinct from SAM contracts)grants_get_opportunity— full detail for a single grant opportunity by id
usas_search_awards— aggregate share-of-wallet at agency × NAICSusas_search_individual_awards— line-item federal contracts (returns generatedInternalId)usas_get_award_detail— full award detail: period of performance, options, set-aside, competitionusas_search_awards_by_recipient— every contract a recipient won in an agency × NAICS sliceusas_search_subawards— enumerate subcontracts on prime awards (supply chain / teaming)usas_search_recompetes— recompete radar (PoP ending in a window, soonest-first, no silent drops)usas_search_expiring_contracts— deprecated alias ofusas_search_recompetes(legacy shape)usas_analyze_incumbent— per-award incumbent + public recompete-pressure hints (labels, not a score)usas_search_teaming_partners— small-business teaming discovery by cert × NAICS × agency, exclusion-screenedusas_spending_over_time— contract-spending time series (fiscal_year / quarter / month)usas_search_agency_spending— spending broken down by awarding agencyusas_search_subagency_spending— break a parent agency down by sub-agency / officeusas_search_psc_spending— spending by Product Service Code (PSC)usas_search_cfda_spending— spending by CFDA grant-program codeusas_search_state_spending— spending by state / territoryusas_search_federal_account_spending— spending by federal account / Treasury Account Symbol (TAS)usas_search_recipients— recipient list with parent/child hierarchyusas_get_recipient_profile— full recipient detail (UEI, alternate names, totals)usas_get_agency_profile— agency profile by toptier code (mission, abbreviation, website)usas_get_agency_awards_summary— award activity for a fiscal year (transaction count + obligations)usas_get_agency_budget_function— budget-function breakdown for an agency × fiscal yearusas_list_toptier_agencies— all toptier agencies + current-FY obligationsusas_lookup_agency— resolve 'VA' / 'DHS' → canonical toptier name + 4-digit codeusas_autocomplete_naics— anti-hallucination NAICS guardusas_autocomplete_recipient— anti-hallucination recipient guardusas_naics_hierarchy— navigate the NAICS tree (2→4→6) + active-contract count per codeusas_glossary— 151 federal-spending termsfpds_search_awards— FPDS-NG federal contract award actions (the authoritative award-action feed)gao_protest_lookup— recent GAO bid-protest decisions from the public Legal-Products RSS feed (recent window only)
ofac_screen_entity— keyless OFAC denied-party / sanctions screeningsam_check_exclusions— keyless SAM debarment/exclusion screening by name and/or UEI/CAGEsam_integrity_lookup— one-call integrity screen (exclusion verdict + honest FAPIIS pointer)fac_search_audits— Single Audit summaries from the Federal Audit Clearinghousefac_get_findings— drill into the audit-RISK findings for an entityfdic_search_institutions— search the FDIC-insured-institution directoryfdic_institution_financials— quarterly financial time-series for one institution (by cert #)fdic_risk_ratios— counterparty risk ratios for one institutionfdic_institution_history— structural-change event log (mergers, charter changes)fdic_branch_deposits— branch-deposit footprintfdic_bank_failures— historical bank failures & assistance transactionsfdic_industry_summary— industry & state banking-sector annual aggregatesecho_search_facilities— search EPA-regulated facilities by state with compliance/enforcement screeningecho_facility_report— EPA ECHO Detailed Facility Report for one facility (by FRS RegistryID)epa_tri_facilities— EPA Envirofacts TRI (Toxics Release Inventory) facilities by state/industry (environmental / ESG vetting)
openfda_enforcement— FDA drug / device / food recalls & enforcement actions (product-safety supplier vetting)openfda_device_clearances— FDA 510(k) medical-device clearances (device-maker capability check)nhtsa_recalls— NHTSA vehicle recalls by make / model / yearnhtsa_complaints— NHTSA vehicle safety complaints by make / model / yearcpsc_recalls— CPSC consumer-product recalls (product supplier vetting)
courtlistener_search_opinions— US federal court opinions (COFC contract claims / bid protests, Federal Circuit) — data via CourtListener / Free Law Project (disclosed)
nonprofit_search— IRS-990 nonprofit search by name / state / NTEE — via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (disclosed)nonprofit_financials— IRS-990 nonprofit financials by EIN — via ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer (disclosed)
edgar_lookup_cik— resolve a company ticker or name to its 10-digit SEC CIKedgar_company_filings— a company's SEC filingsedgar_company_facts— curated XBRL financial facts for a fileredgar_company_concept— one filer × one XBRL concept × the complete reported time-seriesedgar_xbrl_frames— cross-filer XBRL cross-section (one concept across all filers for a period)edgar_full_text_search— full-text search across EDGAR filings, 2001–presentedgar_filing_index— bulk cross-filer filing index for a quarteredgar_daily_filing_index— per-day cross-filer filing index
fed_register_search_documents— search Federal Register documents by query / agency / type / datefed_register_get_document— full detail for a document by number (citation, body URL, CFR refs)fed_register_public_inspection— the Federal Register public-inspection desk (pre-publication)fed_register_list_agencies— Federal Register agency slugs referenceregulations_search_dockets— search Regulations.gov rulemaking docketsregulations_search_documents— search Regulations.gov rulemaking documents (rules, proposed rules, notices)regulations_search_comments— search public comments on rulemakingsregulations_get_docket— fetch one Regulations.gov docket by idecfr_search— full-text search across the entire CFR (titleNumber=48 for FAR)ecfr_list_titles— all 50 CFR titles + last-amended datesfar_clause_lookup— authoritative FAR/DFARS clause text + its prescription (exact clause number)far_search— FAR/DFARS-scoped search (excludes GSAM, collapses to current in-force version)far_compliance_matrix— cited-clause list → proposal-ready Section L/M compliance matrix (eligibility gates flagged)congress_search_bills— search Congress.gov bills / legislationcongress_get_bill— one bill by congress / type / numbergovinfo_search_packages— search GovInfo (GPO-authoritative) packages in a collectiongovinfo_get_package— one GovInfo package summary + download links (txt/xml/pdf/mods)govinfo_list_collections— the GovInfo collection catalog
gsa_benchmark_labor_rates— GSA CALC awarded ceiling-rate market band for a labor category (a distribution, not one price)sam_search_wage_determinations— find SCA / Davis-Bacon wage determinations for a localitysam_get_wage_rates— prevailing-wage + fringe / H&W rate table parsed from a WD, plus the EO minimum-wage floorbls_timeseries— BLS time series (CPI-U / ECI escalation, PPI, employment) — the pricing/escalation layerbls_oews_wages— benchmark occupational wages & employment (BLS OEWS) by area × occupationbls_qcew— county × NAICS market size / wages / location quotient (competition density)treasury_debt_to_penny— daily total US public debt outstanding (Treasury Fiscal Data)treasury_avg_interest_rates— average interest rate the Treasury pays by security typetreasury_monthly_statement— Monthly Treasury Statement: receipts, outlays, deficit/surplus by monthtreasury_query_dataset— escape-hatch query over 5 confirmed Treasury Fiscal Data datasetsbea_regional_data— GDP / personal income by industry × geography (BEA Regional; requires free BEA_API_KEY)census_business_patterns— establishments / employment / annual payroll by NAICS × geography (Census CBP; requires free CENSUS_API_KEY)fred_search_series— search the FRED macroeconomic series catalog (GDP/CPI/rates/unemployment; requires free FRED_API_KEY)fred_series_observations— time-series observations for a FRED series (missing values → null; requires free FRED_API_KEY)gsa_perdiem_rates— federal travel per-diem: monthly lodging + M&IE meals caps by city+state or zip (keyless via DEMO_KEY)
nih_reporter_search_projects— awarded NIH RePORTER research-grant projectsnsf_search_awards— awarded NSF research-grant awardsnsf_get_award— one NSF award by its numeric award idclinicaltrials_search_studies— federally-registered clinical studies with sponsor/funder enrichmentclinicaltrials_get_study— one clinical study by NCT id (incl. brief summary)clinicaltrials_facet_counts— exact per-value study-count distribution over the whole registrycms_search_datasets— discover CMS Open Payments (Sunshine Act) datasetscms_query_dataset— query a CMS Open Payments datastore distribution (industry→physician payments)nppes_lookup_provider— CMS/HHS NPPES NPI Registry provider lookup
cms_medicare_provider_services— Medicare provider utilization & payments (healthcare market sizing)cms_hospital_compare— CMS Hospital Compare quality ratingscms_facility_directory— CMS nursing-home / home-health / hospice / dialysis facility directoriescms_dmepos_suppliers— CMS DMEPOS (durable medical equipment) supplier directory + Medicare spendcms_revoked_providers— CMS Medicare revocation / exclusion list (provider compliance vetting)
cve_lookup— look up NIST NVD CVE recordscisa_kev_lookup— filter the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (binding BOD 22-01 remediation due-dates)
hts_lookup— US import-tariff classification + duty rates from the USITC Harmonized Tariff Schedule
census_geocode_address— resolve a one-line US address → matched address + Census geographies (tract, CD, place)census_geographies_by_coordinates— resolve a longitude/latitude point → Census geographiesfema_disaster_declarations— FEMA disaster / emergency declarations by state, type, incident, yearfema_search_public_assistance— FEMA Public Assistance funded projectssocrata_discover_datasets— find Socrata dataset 4x4 ids by keywordsocrata_query— query rows from an allowlisted Socrata/SODA open-data portalckan_discover_datasets— find CKAN datastore resource ids by keywordckan_query— query rows from an allowlisted CKAN datastore resource (state/city spend/checkbook)
datagov_search_datasets— search the data.gov v4 catalog for federal open datasets across all publishing agencies
sba_size_standard— SBA small-business size standard for a 6-digit NAICS (set-aside eligibility gate)
dol_list_datasets— browse DOL enforcement/compliance datasets (WHD, OFCCP, …) — keyless catalogdol_get_dataset— fetch DOL enforcement records (WHD wage-hour / OFCCP; requires free DOL_API_KEY)
lda_search_filings— Senate lobbying filings: who lobbies which agency, on what issue, for how much (keyless)
api_key_status— list which API keys the server can use, required vs optional, signup URLs, and whether each is currently set (value never shown)
Reliability & offline snapshots
This server is built around one rule: honest failure over confident fabrication. Everything below is about availability of public data — none of it bypasses access controls.
Keyless-first, and a down source throws. Every source works with no API key. When a source is rate-limited, blocked, or down, the tool returns a typed error (rate_limited / upstream_unavailable / schema_drift / …) — it never invents rows and never reports a DOWN service as "0 results" or "not found". A genuine empty result and an outage are always distinguishable.
Offline snapshots (on by default). Some reference data changes slowly — the toptier-agency list, the top-level NAICS tree, the USAspending glossary, SBA size standards, the latest Treasury "Debt to the Penny." By default, when a live federal source is briefly unreachable from your egress, the server falls back to a public, weekly-refreshed snapshot of that slow-changing reference data, hosted at raw.githubusercontent.com/cliwant/mcp-sam-gov/snapshots. It only fetches on a live hard-failure (an outage / IP-reputation block), never during normal operation — public data, no telemetry. A served snapshot is never presented as live — the response carries _meta.dataPath: "snapshot" plus an asOf timestamp, and complete is forced off, so an AI agent (and you) always see the staleness. A rate limit (429) is always honored, never routed around onto the mirror.
Disable it (pure live-only): set
SAMGOV_SNAPSHOT_BASE_URL=off. Then no snapshot path is ever added and behavior is byte-for-byte identical to a live-only client.Point at your own mirror: set
SAMGOV_SNAPSHOT_BASE_URLto your base URL to host the snapshots yourself instead of using the public default.{ "mcpServers": { "sam-gov": { "command": "mcp-sam-gov", "env": { "SAMGOV_SNAPSHOT_BASE_URL": "off" } } } }Build the snapshots: run
node scripts/build-snapshots.mjsfrom any clean, non-blocked egress (a laptop / home / clean CI runner). It self-diagnoses per-source reachability, prints a reachability table, and writes amanifest.json. On partial coverage it refreshes only the sources it can reach and leaves the last-good file in place for the rest (stale-but-honest, never blanked). It exits non-zero only when zero sources were reachable (a fully blocked egress — the signal to re-run from a cleaner one).The honest boundary. This covers public-data availability only. The snapshot builder ingests only public, redistributable (public-domain / CC0) data, and the reader refuses to serve any envelope not marked
accessLevel: "public". It honors rate limits (a 429 is never routed around), uses no proxies, no IP rotation, no auth/paywall/CAPTCHA bypass, and refuses off-host redirects. If a source is blocked, the honest remedy is to build from a cleaner egress — not to evade the block.
Troubleshooting
Symptom | Fix |
Claude Desktop 🔨 menu doesn't show | Fully quit Claude Desktop (system tray on Windows / Quit menu on macOS) and reopen. Check |
| Confirm |
| npm bug with git-dep symlinks on Windows. Use the clone + |
| Previous failed install left dangling files. Run |
| The repo is now public — should not happen. If it does, try |
Tools return empty results | SAM.gov rate-limits aggressive callers. Wait 1 minute. Or set |
"Tool error: USAspending POST returned 400" | Usually means a field has a wrong type (e.g. fiscal year as string). Check the tool input schema in your host's tool browser. |
Use as a TypeScript / JavaScript library (no MCP)
Beyond the MCP server, this package also exports the underlying federal-data clients as importable modules. Useful if you're building your own SaaS, AI agent, or CLI and want programmatic access without spawning an MCP server.
npm install @cliwant/mcp-sam-gov// SAM.gov client
import { SamGovClient } from "@cliwant/mcp-sam-gov/sam-gov";
const sam = new SamGovClient(); // keyless
const result = await sam.searchOpportunities({ ncode: "541512", limit: 5 });
const opp = await sam.getOpportunity("5ef3db5daeb54099a96d487783a38bd0");// USAspending wrappers
import * as usas from "@cliwant/mcp-sam-gov/usaspending";
const recompete = await usas.searchExpiringContracts({
agency: "Department of Veterans Affairs",
naics: "541512",
monthsUntilExpiry: 12,
});
const recipient = await usas.getRecipientProfile("ed02855e-60d7-2540-...-P");// Federal Register / eCFR / Grants.gov
import * as fedreg from "@cliwant/mcp-sam-gov/federal-register";
import * as ecfr from "@cliwant/mcp-sam-gov/ecfr";
import * as grants from "@cliwant/mcp-sam-gov/grants";
const farResults = await ecfr.search({ query: "SDVOSB", titleNumber: 48 });This is the canonical home for the Cliwant federal-data libraries — there
is no separate library package. Two earlier repos (govicon-sam-gov and
govicon-mcp-sam-gov) have been archived and consolidated here. All
client code lives in src/sam-gov/, src/usaspending.ts,
src/federal-register.ts, src/ecfr.ts, src/grants.ts.
License
MIT — see LICENSE.
Disclaimer
This server uses publicly available federal API endpoints. It is not affiliated with the General Services Administration, SAM.gov, USAspending.gov, the Office of the Federal Register, the National Archives, Grants.gov, or any federal agency. Federal procurement, spending, and regulation data is in the public domain.
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