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Finding Federal Contracts with AI: SAM.gov, USAspending, and SBIR Data

Give your AI access to federal contract opportunities, spending data, and SBIR awards through Pipeworx GovCon Radar — procurement intelligence from 5 data sources.

Federal procurement is a $700+ billion market, and all of the data is public. Contract opportunities are posted on SAM.gov. Spending is tracked on USAspending.gov. SBIR/STTR awards are published by every participating agency. But navigating these systems to find actionable intelligence is time-consuming — different interfaces, different search syntaxes, no easy way to cross-reference.

Pipeworx GovCon Radar wraps 5 federal procurement data sources into a single MCP connection. Your AI agent can find contracts, analyze spending patterns, research competitors, and track legislation — all through one URL.

What’s inside GovCon Radar

SAM.gov (System for Award Management)

The official source for federal contract opportunities. Every solicitation, pre-solicitation, and award is posted here.

  • sam_search_opportunities — search active contract opportunities by keyword, NAICS code, agency, or set-aside type
  • sam_get_opportunity — full details of a specific opportunity including requirements and deadlines
  • sam_entity_search — look up registered contractors/vendors
  • sam_set_aside_opportunities — find contracts with small business, 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB, or SDVOSB set-asides

USAspending

The most comprehensive federal spending database — $7+ trillion in awards tracked by agency, program, recipient, NAICS code, and geography.

  • usaspending_spending_by_agency — how much each agency spends and on what
  • usaspending_award_search — search individual contract and grant awards
  • usaspending_spending_by_category — spending breakdowns by NAICS, PSC, or recipient type
  • usaspending_recipient_profile — how much a specific company has received in federal awards
  • usaspending_spending_trends — year-over-year spending trends

SBIR/STTR

Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer awards — the primary federal funding mechanism for small tech companies.

  • sbir_search_awards — search SBIR/STTR awards by keyword, agency, or topic
  • sbir_get_award — detailed award information
  • sbir_search_solicitations — open SBIR/STTR solicitations
  • sbir_company_awards — all SBIR/STTR awards for a specific company
  • sbir_agency_stats — SBIR spending by agency

SEC EDGAR and Congress

Public contractor financials from SEC filings, and legislative tracking for procurement-related bills.

Example: Finding contract opportunities

Ask your AI: “Find open cybersecurity contracts over $1M with small business set-asides.”

GovCon Radar returns:

  1. sam_search_opportunities — active opportunities matching cybersecurity + small business set-aside + $1M threshold
  2. sam_get_opportunity — full details including requirements, evaluation criteria, and deadlines

Example: Competitive intelligence

Ask: “Who are the top contractors for the Department of Defense in AI and machine learning?”

GovCon Radar chains:

  1. usaspending_spending_by_category — top DoD contractors in AI-related NAICS codes
  2. usaspending_recipient_profile — detailed award history for top companies
  3. edgar_company_filings — public contractors’ financial filings showing government revenue

Example: SBIR research

Ask: “What SBIR awards have been given for quantum computing research?”

GovCon Radar returns:

  1. sbir_search_awards — quantum computing SBIR awards with amounts, agencies, and abstracts
  2. sbir_company_awards — cross-reference to see which companies are winning repeatedly
  3. sbir_agency_stats — which agencies are funding quantum research

Who uses this

  • Small businesses looking for contract opportunities matched to their capabilities
  • Government contractors tracking spending trends and competitive landscape
  • SBIR applicants identifying relevant solicitations and understanding award patterns
  • Business development teams researching agencies, programs, and incumbent contractors
  • Procurement analysts monitoring federal spending and market opportunities

Connect

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pipeworx-govcon": {
      "url": "https://gateway.pipeworx.io/mcp?vertical=govcon"
    }
  }
}

Or call ask_pipeworx with any government contracting question.

All data comes from SAM.gov, USAspending.gov, SBIR.gov, the SEC, and Congress.gov — official federal sources. When your AI finds a contract opportunity, it’s pulling directly from the same system that contracting officers post to.