# Grants.gov Scraper & Monitor (US Federal Grant Opportunities) (`kestreldata/grants-gov-opportunities-monitor`) Actor

Scrape and monitor US federal grant opportunities from the official Grants.gov API: posted and forecasted grants with award ceiling/floor, total funding, eligibility, ALN/CFDA, deadlines. Keyword, agency and category filters; only new or updated grants each run. No API key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/kestreldata/grants-gov-opportunities-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Kestrel Data](https://apify.com/kestreldata) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 75.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

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

## 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 Scraper & Monitor: US Federal Grant Opportunities

Find and track **US federal grant opportunities** from the official **Grants.gov API**. That covers every posted and forecasted grant, cooperative agreement and funding opportunity from NSF, NIH/HHS, DOE, USDA, DOD, DOJ, EPA and 20+ other agencies. Filter by keyword, agency, category, eligible applicant type (small businesses, nonprofits, universities, tribes, states), Assistance Listing (ALN/CFDA), deadline and minimum award size.

Schedule it and each run returns **only new or updated opportunities**: newly posted grants, forecasts that went live, and changed deadlines. It's built for grant writers, research offices, nonprofits, consultants and GovTech sales teams.

You don't need an API key or a login, and it doesn't use a browser.

### What you get

| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| `title`, `opportunityNumber`, `opportunityId`, `url` | "NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Human Trafficking", O-NIJ-2026-172799 |
| `agencyName`, `topAgencyName`, `agencyCode` | National Institute of Justice, Department of Justice |
| `status`, `docType` | posted / forecasted, synopsis / forecast |
| `openDate`, `closeDate`, `responseDate`, `archiveDate` | 2026-10-09, 2026-11-16 |
| `awardCeiling`, `awardFloor`, `estimatedTotalFunding`, `expectedNumberOfAwards` | 2,500,000 / null / 2,500,000 / 5 |
| `eligibleApplicants`, `applicantEligibilityDesc` | Small businesses, Nonprofits 501(c)(3), ... |
| `fundingInstruments`, `fundingCategories`, `category` | Grant; Science and Technology; Discretionary |
| `alnNumbers`, `programTitles` | 16.560, "National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation..." |
| Forecast fields: `fiscalYear`, `estimatedPostDate`, `estimatedApplicationDueDate`, `estimatedAwardDate` | |
| `fundingDescUrl`, `description` (optional, plain text) | link to the full announcement |
| `changeType`, `isFirstRun`, `scrapedAt` | new / updated |

The **Opportunities** table view shows the key columns. A run summary is saved to the `OUTPUT` record.

### Example inputs

AI and machine-learning grants open to small businesses:

```json
{ "keyword": "artificial intelligence", "eligibilities": ["23"], "statuses": ["posted", "forecasted"] }
```

Health grants over $1M closing in the next 45 days:

```json
{ "fundingCategories": ["HL"], "minAwardCeiling": 1000000, "closingWithinDays": 45 }
```

Everything NSF posted in the last 7 days, with synopsis text:

```json
{ "agencies": ["NSF"], "postedWithinDays": 7, "includeDescription": true }
```

### Monitoring

Create an Apify **Schedule**, for example daily, with *Output mode* set to "Only new or updated". The Actor keeps a fingerprint of each opportunity (status, close date, title) in the named key-value store `grants-gov-monitor-<stateName>`. It emits an opportunity when it is new or when that fingerprint changes, for example when a forecast becomes posted or a deadline is extended. Use different state names for independent searches. Changing the filters starts a fresh state. Send results to Slack, email, Google Sheets, a webhook, Zapier or Make with Apify integrations.

### Data source, terms and privacy

- Uses only the Grants.gov **search2** and **fetchOpportunity** REST endpoints. The [Grants.gov API Guide](https://www.grants.gov/api/api-guide) states that "authentication and authorization are not required" for them. Requests are rate-limited politely (about 3 per second) with retries.
- Grants.gov content is US federal government information. Source: Grants.gov. This Actor is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Grants.gov or any agency.
- **No personal data:** the agency contact names, emails and phone numbers that appear in some announcements are deliberately dropped. Use the `url` / `fundingDescUrl` links to reach the official contact.

### Cost

It runs lightweight HTTP only, at 256 MB. One search request returns up to 1,000 opportunities. Each new or updated opportunity costs one detail request when *Include details* is on. Set *Max detail requests* to bound a run.

### FAQ

**What is ALN/CFDA?** The Assistance Listing Number of the federal program, for example 93.866 for aging research.
**Why do some grants have no award ceiling?** Agencies don't always publish one. Grants.gov shows "none", which the Actor returns as null.
**Do you cover SAM.gov contracts?** Yes, in our separate [SAM.gov Contract Opportunities](https://apify.com/kestreldata/sam-gov-contract-opportunities) Actor.

# Actor input Schema

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

Full-text search, as on Grants.gov (e.g. artificial intelligence, broadband, wildfire). Leave empty for all.

## `statuses` (type: `array`):

Opportunity statuses to include.

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

Grants.gov agency codes, e.g. NSF, HHS, HHS-NIH11, DOE, USDA, DOD. Empty = all agencies.

## `fundingCategories` (type: `array`):

Funding activity categories.

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

Only opportunities open to these applicant types (e.g. Small businesses, Nonprofits).

## `fundingInstruments` (type: `array`):

Grant, cooperative agreement, etc.

## `aln` (type: `string`):

Assistance Listing Number, e.g. 93.866 or 47.070.

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

Only opportunities posted in the last N days (0 = any).

## `closingWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

Only opportunities whose close date is in the next N days (0 = any).

## `minAwardCeiling` (type: `integer`):

Only opportunities whose award ceiling is at least this amount (requires details).

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

Drop opportunities whose title contains any of these words.

## `includeDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch each new/updated opportunity's detail: award ceiling/floor, total funding, number of awards, eligibility, categories, program title (1 request each).

## `includeDescription` (type: `boolean`):

Add the synopsis text (plain text, up to 5,000 characters).

## `maxDetails` (type: `integer`):

Safety cap on detail requests per run (0 = no cap). Remaining items are returned without details.

## `emitMode` (type: `string`):

Monitor mode returns only opportunities that are new or whose status/close date/title changed since the last run.

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

Cap on dataset items per run (0 = no cap).

## `stateName` (type: `string`):

Use different names for independent monitors (key-value store grants-gov-monitor-<name>).

## `resetState` (type: `boolean`):

Forget previously seen opportunities.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keyword": "artificial intelligence",
  "statuses": [
    "posted",
    "forecasted"
  ],
  "postedWithinDays": 0,
  "closingWithinDays": 0,
  "includeDetails": true,
  "includeDescription": false,
  "maxDetails": 300,
  "emitMode": "changes",
  "maxResults": 0,
  "stateName": "default",
  "resetState": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Opportunities (new/updated in monitor mode).

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Counts, detail requests, state store.

# 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 = {
    "keyword": "artificial intelligence"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("kestreldata/grants-gov-opportunities-monitor").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 = { "keyword": "artificial intelligence" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("kestreldata/grants-gov-opportunities-monitor").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 '{
  "keyword": "artificial intelligence"
}' |
apify call kestreldata/grants-gov-opportunities-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/C4gZ3xSbDR8hdbU2t/builds/O5IF40PgWO3nRHsxD/openapi.json