# Grants.gov Funding Opportunity Alerts (`accountable_eel/grants-gov-alerts`) Actor

Get new US federal grant and funding opportunities from Grants.gov by keyword, agency, eligibility or status, with a true monitoring mode that only returns and bills for opportunities new since your last run. Alerts to Slack, Discord or Telegram. Export federal grants to Google Sheets or n8n.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/accountable_eel/grants-gov-alerts.md
- **Developed by:** [Adriana Voss](https://apify.com/accountable_eel) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.50 / 1,000 funding opportunity returneds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Grants.gov Funding Opportunity Alerts

**Get new US federal grant and funding opportunities from Grants.gov by keyword, agency,
eligibility, or status, as soon as they're posted.** Search Grants.gov — the US government's own
funding opportunity system — by one or more keywords (full-text, matched against the opportunity
title and description), agency code, eligibility category, or opportunity status. Turn on
monitoring mode and run it on a schedule to get only the opportunities that are new since your last
run, charged per opportunity and free on a quiet day.

Works **without any key or account** — this is a fully public, keyless JSON API (no challenge
page, no rate limit observed on this build's probes). This actor covers **US federal grants and
funding opportunities only**, via Grants.gov; it pairs with `sam-gov-opportunity-alerts` (US federal
*procurement* contracts, a separate system) as the two halves of the US federal funding/contracting
radar. It does not cover EU tenders (see `eu-tender-alerts`) or UK tenders.

**Known limitation.** A re-published or amended Grants.gov notice keeps its original numeric `id`,
so monitoring mode will **not** alert again on a revision to a notice you've already seen — only a
genuinely new opportunity id triggers a new alert. Also, when you give more than one `agencies` or
`eligibilities` code, only the **first** is sent to Grants.gov's server-side filter (its multi-value
syntax for those two fields is unverified) — run one search per code for a true OR across several
agencies or eligibility categories.

### How to use

1. **In the Apify Console.** Open the actor page and click **Start** — the `keywords` field is already pre-filled with a working example. Results land in the run's dataset as soon as each item is found.
2. **Via the API.** Call it directly with a POST request — no Console needed once you have an API token:
   ```bash
   curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~grants-gov-alerts/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
     -X POST \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d '{"keywords":["climate"]}'
   ```
3. **On a schedule.** Save this actor as an Apify **Task** with the input you want, then add a **Schedule** (hourly, daily, weekly) so it runs on its own — no server of your own required.

### Input

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "climate"
  ]
}
```

Optional. One keyword per line — matched against the opportunity title and description (Grants.gov's own full-text search, OR-ish: several keywords widen the match, not narrow it). Leave empty to search by agency, eligibility or status alone. Accepted formats: climate, cybersecurity.

One combined search runs per call: `keywords` are OR-ish (Grants.gov's own full-text search — more
keywords widen the match, they don't narrow it), optionally narrowed by `oppStatuses` (default
`posted|forecasted`), `agencies`, `eligibilities`, and `postedWithinDays`. None of the fields are
required — leaving `keywords` empty searches by status/agency/eligibility alone (e.g. "every newly
posted grant from NSF"). `oppStatuses`, `agencies` (first code only) and `eligibilities` (first code
only) are applied **server-side**, confirmed live this build (see "Current status" below); the date
window is applied client-side. The search run itself is free; you're billed per opportunity actually
returned.

### Current status (as probed/built 2026-10-03/04)

- **sortBy=openDate|desc**: server-side, confirmed (results come back genuinely newest-first).
- **agencies**: server-side, confirmed with one code (`NSF`: hitCount 44 → 2, both rows agency
  `NSF`). Multi-code syntax unverified — only the first code in your list is sent.
- **eligibilities**: server-side, confirmed with one code (`12`: hitCount 44 → 7). Same multi-code
  caveat as agencies.
- **oppStatuses**: server-side, confirmed by arithmetic (hitCount 44 for "climate" with no other
  filter equals the posted(36)+forecasted(8) facet counts for that keyword).
- **postedWithinDays**: client-side (no documented server-side date-range filter on this route).
- robots.txt (`www.grants.gov/robots.txt`): `Allow: /` for all user agents — nothing disallowed.

### Output

One row per item, for example:

| query | found | status | searchSummary | opportunityCount | opportunities | id | opportunityNumber | title | agencyCode | agency | openDate | closeDate | oppStatus | docType | cfda | url | matchedKeyword | isNew | firstSeenAt | scrapedAt |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| climate | true | OK | <search run> | <opportunities returned> | \<all opportunities (full list)> | <opportunity id> | <opportunity number> | <title> | <agency code> | <agency> | <posted on> | <closes on> | <status> | <document type> | <cfda number> | \<grants.gov notice page> | \<matched keyword (best effort)> | \<is this opportunity new?> | <first seen on a run> | 1970-01-01T00:00:00.000Z |

A miss comes back as a row with `"found": false` and is never charged.

### Pricing

- **Funding opportunity returned**: $5 per 1,000 opportunitys

Plus a $0.0015 start fee per run. Each event above is billed independently, only when it actually returns data — misses (`found:false`) are never charged.

### Example runs

Paste any of these into the Input tab and press Start. All three return rows with no key, no token
needed beyond your own Apify API token — Grants.gov's search is fully keyless:

1. `{"keywords":["climate"],"oppStatuses":"posted|forecasted","postedWithinDays":30,"maxResults":10}`
   — climate funding, posted or forecasted, last 30 days. Live-verified this build (see "Live call"
   below).
2. `{"keywords":["research"],"onlyNewSinceLastRun":true,"deltaName":"research-grants"}` — a funding
   alert: only opportunities new since the last run, named so a schedule can be told apart from
   another search.
3. `{"agencies":["NSF"],"eligibilities":["12"],"postedWithinDays":14}` — National Science Foundation
   opportunities open to 501(c)(3) nonprofits, last 2 weeks. Both filters confirmed server-side this
   build (see "Current status" above).

### Use it from Clay, n8n, Make, or an AI agent

This actor runs synchronously over plain HTTP — call it directly from a script, a workflow tool, or an AI agent, no Apify Console needed once you have an API token.

```bash
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~grants-gov-alerts/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>" \
  -X POST \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keywords":["climate"]}'
```

**n8n.** Add an HTTP Request node: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~grants-gov-alerts/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body Content Type `JSON`, JSON Body `{"keywords":["climate"]}` (swap in an expression from an earlier node for a real value).

**Clay.** Add an "HTTP API" column: Method `POST`, URL `https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/accountable_eel~grants-gov-alerts/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_TOKEN>`, Body `{"keywords":["{{search}}"]}`, mapping the row's search into the `keywords` array.

**MCP.** In Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client with the Apify MCP server, ask for "Grants.gov funding opportunity alerts by keyword" — the agent will find and run this actor.

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. One keyword per line — matched against the opportunity title and description (Grants.gov's own full-text search, OR-ish: several keywords widen the match, not narrow it). Leave empty to search by agency, eligibility or status alone. Accepted formats: climate, cybersecurity. You're only charged for the ones we actually find — a miss costs nothing.

## `oppStatuses` (type: `string`):

Pipe-joined (Grants.gov's own convention). One or more of: posted, forecasted, closed, archived. Verified server-side this build. Default posted|forecasted (new/upcoming opportunities, not history).

## `testRun` (type: `boolean`):

Turn this on to test your input on a small sample before running the full list. Turn it off to process everything.

## `onlyFound` (type: `boolean`):

Only keep rows where something was actually found. Misses are always free, whether or not you show them here.

## `includeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Only keep results that mention at least one of these words (e.g. a job title, a city, a product name). Leave empty to keep everything.

## `excludeKeywords` (type: `array`):

Optional. Drop any result that mentions one of these words. Leave empty to skip nothing.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Up to 1,000. Caps how many opportunities you get (and pay for) in one run.

## `agencies` (type: `array`):

Optional. Grants.gov agency codes (e.g. NSF, DOE, USDA-AMS). Verified server-side with ONE code this build; with more than one, only the first is sent to Grants.gov (unverified multi-value syntax) — run one search per agency for a true OR across several. Leave empty for all agencies.

## `eligibilities` (type: `array`):

Optional. Grants.gov eligibility codes (e.g. 12 = nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status, 25 = others). Verified server-side with ONE code this build; with more than one, only the first is sent to Grants.gov. See grants.gov's own Eligibility Category list for codes. Leave empty for all eligibility types.

## `postedWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

How far back to search by posted date. 0 = no date filter.

## `onlyNewSinceLastRun` (type: `boolean`):

On: only new opportunity IDs since your last run are returned and charged for — run this on a schedule as a funding alert. Off: every matching opportunity is returned every time. A revised/amended notice keeps its Grants.gov ID, so it will NOT alert again.

## `deltaName` (type: `string`):

Optional. Name this search's monitoring memory so you can tell two schedules of this actor apart, or keep one memory across an input change. Leave empty to auto-derive one from your filters.

## `quietRunOutput` (type: `string`):

A quiet run is a search with no new opportunities. 'Nothing' writes zero items, so an integration never has to skip rows.

## `notifyUrl` (type: `string`):

Optional, needs monitoring on. After the opportunities are billed, each new one is posted here as one message: title, agency, open/close dates and a link. Discord or Slack: paste the channel's webhook URL. Telegram: https://api.telegram.org/bot<token>/sendMessage?chat_id=<chat id>. Any other URL receives JSON. Messages are free, and a message that fails never fails the run (the row's notifyErrors says why). Stored encrypted, never logged or written to the results.

## `notifyFormat` (type: `string`):

Leave on "Detect from the link": discord.com links get Discord messages, hooks.slack.com Slack, api.telegram.org Telegram, anything else JSON.

## `maxNotificationsPerRun` (type: `integer`):

Up to 100. Above this, one "+N more" message says how many more opportunities are in the run's dataset.

## `columns` (type: `array`):

Choose which pieces of information to include in each result row. All are included by default.

## `expandRows` (type: `boolean`):

When on, each opportunity found gets its own row instead of being grouped under its search. You're still only charged once per search, no matter how many rows it produces.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Parallel requests. Keep conservative — this target has no browser fallback, so getting blocked costs more than slow-and-steady.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "climate"
  ],
  "oppStatuses": "posted|forecasted",
  "testRun": false,
  "onlyFound": false,
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": [],
  "maxResults": 50,
  "agencies": [],
  "eligibilities": [],
  "postedWithinDays": 30,
  "onlyNewSinceLastRun": false,
  "deltaName": "",
  "quietRunOutput": "summary",
  "notifyFormat": "auto",
  "maxNotificationsPerRun": 20,
  "columns": [
    "searchSummary",
    "opportunityCount",
    "opportunities",
    "id",
    "opportunityNumber",
    "title",
    "agencyCode",
    "agency",
    "openDate",
    "closeDate",
    "oppStatus",
    "docType",
    "cfda",
    "url",
    "matchedKeyword",
    "isNew",
    "firstSeenAt"
  ],
  "expandRows": true,
  "maxConcurrency": 1
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "keywords": [
        "climate"
    ],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": [],
    "agencies": [],
    "eligibilities": []
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("accountable_eel/grants-gov-alerts").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "keywords": ["climate"],
    "includeKeywords": [],
    "excludeKeywords": [],
    "agencies": [],
    "eligibilities": [],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("accountable_eel/grants-gov-alerts").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "keywords": [
    "climate"
  ],
  "includeKeywords": [],
  "excludeKeywords": [],
  "agencies": [],
  "eligibilities": []
}' |
apify call accountable_eel/grants-gov-alerts --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,accountable_eel/grants-gov-alerts"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/95xbkzcJKzKZZIRpZ/builds/hNhfLFmUdiXUgXD4m/openapi.json