# USAspending Federal Award Search Explorer (`koalastuff/usaspending-award-search`) Actor

Search official U.S. federal contract and grant awards with bounded filters, normalized recipients, amounts, agencies, periods, and source links.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/koalastuff/usaspending-award-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Timo Schmidt](https://apify.com/koalastuff) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 federal awards

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

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

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## USAspending Federal Award Search Explorer

[Open the USAspending Federal Award Search Explorer in the Apify Store](https://apify.com/koalastuff/usaspending-award-search)

### Try this first

Search recent official U.S. federal contract and grant awards with a bounded time window and export normalized recipients, amounts, agencies, periods, and descriptions.

```json
{"daysBack":365,"keywords":["cybersecurity"],"awardTypeCodes":["A","B","C","D"],"maxResults":25}
```

### Reliability and limits

- Official USAspending.gov award-search API only; no browser, proxy, login, or paid service.
- One bounded POST request per run, at most 100 rows, deterministic deduplication, conservative timeout, explicit User-Agent, and source URLs on every item.
- USAspending records can change as federal data is corrected. Verify important procurement facts against the official source and applicable award documents.

### Pricing

- Actor start: USD 0.00005
- Federal award: USD 0.001

### Source

USAspending API: <https://api.usaspending.gov/>. This independent product is not affiliated with the U.S. government and is not legal, procurement, or financial advice.

For recurring research, duplicate the ready-made Task and attach your own Apify Schedule. This portfolio does not create paid schedules automatically.

# Actor input Schema

## `daysBack` (type: `integer`):

Inclusive award period lookback in UTC days.

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

Optional award or recipient search terms.

## `awardTypeCodes` (type: `array`):

Optional USAspending award type codes such as A, B, C, or D.

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

Hard output and billing limit.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "daysBack": 365,
  "maxResults": 25
}
```

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("koalastuff/usaspending-award-search").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("koalastuff/usaspending-award-search").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 '{}' |
apify call koalastuff/usaspending-award-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,koalastuff/usaspending-award-search"
        }
    }
}

```

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/fJUv0qkPpz3yu4yHh/builds/FMMl03kRzzXyko3sZ/openapi.json