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Federal procurement data, through MCP

GovCon API's MCP server puts federal procurement data inside Claude, on the web and in its apps with nothing to install, and inside Claude Code, Cursor and other MCP clients that run a local server. Your assistant gets tools that reach every dataset in the API, and picks and chains them to answer the question you asked.

REST API or MCP?

Both reach the same API. What changes is who does the wiring.

With REST, your code calls each endpoint and carries identifiers from one response into the next request. With MCP, the operations are declared to your AI client as tools, so the model picks what a question needs and chains the calls while you talk to it.

Use the REST API when

  • you are building an application, a data pipeline or an internal tool
  • your code must decide exactly which endpoint runs
  • the same input must produce the same calls every time

Use MCP when

  • you want to ask federal procurement questions from the AI client you already use
  • a question needs several lookups and you want the client to chain them
  • you are exploring the data before deciding what to build

The two work together: explore a question over MCP, then write the calls that answer it against the REST API, using the API guide.

Tools that chain on the identifiers federal records share

Each call is one operation with structured inputs and a JSON response. Results carry the identifiers federal records already use, so the output of one call is the input of the next.

  • A UEI from a company or entity search goes into Company Profile, Vendor Risk, an exclusions check, contract search and the subawards the firm paid or received.
  • A PIID from a contract or recompete search goes into the contract record, its modifications, the vehicle it was ordered against and the recompete detail.
  • A NAICS code carries across market research, Contracting Offices, Procurement Forecasts, opportunity search, Teaming Partner Finder and Contract Price Benchmarks.
  • A solicitation number from an opportunity or protest search returns every GAO protest filed on that solicitation.

The tool descriptions name the field to carry and where it goes next, so your client does not have to guess. A few records stand on their own: wage determinations are found by number, occupation and location, and contracting office and federal organization results carry no UEI or PIID to pass on.

What the tools cover

What the tools reach, grouped by the job in front of you rather than by our API routes.

  • Market research: how a NAICS market spends and competes, the Contracting Offices that buy it, the Federal Hierarchy and Procurement Forecasts.
  • Opportunity discovery: search Contract Opportunities, read one notice in full, pull what changed since your last sync, and resolve an agency name to the form the filters expect.
  • Capture and teaming: Company Profile and award history, SAM registrations and Renewal Radar, Teaming Partner Finder, Contracting Officer Contacts and company contacts, and the Recompete Watchlist.
  • Bid and pricing: Contract Price Benchmarks, GSA Schedule Labor Rates, Wage Determinations, Vendor Risk and Exclusions.
  • Award and compliance: Federal Contracts and their modifications, Contract Vehicles and who holds them, Subawards, Bid Protests, SAM.gov award notices and DUNS to UEI resolution.

The tools, what each reaches and the plan each capability needs are in the MCP tool reference, and the coverage and freshness of the data behind them are on Data.

Why not build your own MCP server?

You can: every source is public, and the case for using GovCon API instead of each source is under Why GovCon API. For an assistant, the difference is where the joins happen. A server over one source leaves the model to relate its records to another source's, call by call. Here the records come back from one API already keyed on the identifiers they share, and answers that need several sources come back from one tool: a company profile, a recompete with its incumbent's signals, a vendor risk report. What each of those computes is on Workflows.

Same key, same plan rules

MCP is a way into GovCon API, not a separate product or subscription. There is no MCP plan to buy: any GovCon API key works, including a free trial key.

Each tool call is an API request made with your key, so the API's rules apply unchanged. Anything that needs Pro or a paid plan over REST needs the same plan over MCP, and your plan's request limits apply the same way. Which plan includes each capability, with prices, limits and the free trial, is on Pricing. What each capability is, and the endpoints behind the tools, are on Capabilities.

Start with a real question

Connect Claude and ask a federal contracts question; the tool reference has the steps to connect Claude. For Claude Code, Cursor and other local clients, get a free key and follow the install steps for each client.