# BidNet Direct Government Bids Scraper (`muhammadafzal/bidnet-direct-government-bids-scraper`) Actor

Extract public BidNet Direct bid titles, notice IDs, states, publication and closing dates, public summaries, and source URLs for procurement research.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/muhammadafzal/bidnet-direct-government-bids-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Muhammad Afzal](https://apify.com/muhammadafzal) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $12.99 / 1,000 government bid records

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?

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

## BidNet Direct Government Bids Scraper

Extract structured public government bid listings from BidNet Direct for procurement research, opportunity monitoring, sales intelligence, and downstream AI workflows.

This Actor searches nationwide or state-level public solicitation pages, follows pagination, deduplicates notices, and can enrich each result from its public detail page. It does not log in, bypass registration, download restricted documents, or expose fields that BidNet marks as registered-members-only.

### What it extracts

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `noticeId` | Stable numeric BidNet Direct notice ID |
| `title` | Public bid or RFP title |
| `state` | Displayed US state or territory |
| `status` | `open` or `closed` search context |
| `publicationDate` / `publicationDateTime` | Normalized date and public exact timestamp when available |
| `closingDate` / `closingDateTime` | Normalized deadline and public exact timestamp when available |
| `timeRemaining` | BidNet's displayed time-to-close text |
| `summary` | Public AI overview or public page description when available |
| `issuingOrganization` | Public value, or `null` when registration-gated |
| `solicitationNumber` | Public value, or `null` when registration-gated |
| `detailAccess` | Whether inspected details were public or registration-required |
| `sourceUrl` | Public BidNet Direct solicitation URL |
| `sourcePageUrl` | Listing page that discovered the notice |
| `scrapedAt` | UTC extraction timestamp |

Use this Actor to monitor new opportunities, build a shortlist by keyword/state, feed public opportunity metadata into a CRM, or export deadlines to a procurement workflow. Do not use it to access registration-gated descriptions, buyer documents, addenda, contacts, or submission systems.

### Input

| Input | Default | Purpose |
|---|---:|---|
| `keywords` | empty | Search BidNet's public title/keyword field |
| `states` | nationwide | Create one public state search per value |
| `status` | `open` | Choose open or closed solicitations |
| `startUrls` | generated | Supply public BidNet listing/detail URLs directly |
| `maxResults` | `25` | Cap delivered and billable records, maximum 1,000 |
| `maxPages` | `5` | Bound listing pagination per search, maximum 40 |
| `enrichDetails` | `true` | Visit public detail pages for timestamps and summaries |
| `proxyConfiguration` | Apify Proxy | Keep the default stable route; set `useApifyProxy: false` only for a permitted direct route |

Example input:

```json
{
  "keywords": "road construction",
  "states": ["California", "Texas"],
  "status": "open",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "maxPages": 5,
  "enrichDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true }
}
```

Run through the API:

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/YOUR_USERNAME~bidnet-direct-government-bids-scraper/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keywords":"construction","states":["California"],"maxResults":10}'
```

For MCP or agent workflows, call the Actor with the same JSON input and read `results` from the Actor output schema. Use `OUTPUT` or `SUMMARY` to distinguish `DATA`, `PARTIAL`, `EMPTY`, and `BLOCKED` outcomes.

### Example output

```json
{
  "noticeId": "444143781049",
  "title": "2026 Street Maintenance - Phase 4",
  "state": "Kansas",
  "status": "open",
  "publicationDate": "2026-08-27",
  "publicationDateTime": "08/27/2026 03:33 PM EDT",
  "closingDate": "2026-09-22",
  "closingDateTime": "09/22/2026 04:30 PM EDT",
  "timeRemaining": "26 day(s) left",
  "summary": "This contract involves pavement maintenance and related work.",
  "issuingOrganization": null,
  "solicitationNumber": null,
  "detailAccess": "registration_required",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.bidnetdirect.com/kansas/solicitations/open-bids/statewide/example/444143781049",
  "sourcePageUrl": "https://www.bidnetdirect.com/public/solicitations/open",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-08-28T12:00:00.000Z"
}
```

### Pay per event pricing

| Event | Price |
|---|---:|
| Actor start | $0.005 per run |
| Government bid record | $0.01699 per delivered record |

A 25-record run costs approximately **$0.4247** in event charges. A 100-record run costs approximately **$1.699**. The Actor validates and writes each unique record before charging its custom result event, stops delivering when the event-charge limit is reached, and does not charge result events for empty or blocked outcomes.

### Reliability and limits

BidNet Direct currently serves public solicitation listings as static HTML, so this Actor uses a low-memory HTTP crawler with coherent cookies, bounded concurrency, retries, and pagination. Apify Proxy is the default route to reduce shared-egress rate limiting; users may explicitly select a permitted direct route. If the target returns a challenge or denies the permitted public route, the Actor reports `BLOCKED` in `OUTPUT` and does not fabricate bid rows. Partial valid results are preserved when later requests fail.

Keyword and location behavior belongs to BidNet Direct and may change. `maxResults` is global across all supplied searches; `maxPages` applies per listing chain. Detail enrichment adds one request per bid. Public summaries are not guaranteed on every detail page. Fields marked "Registered members only" remain `null`.

### Legal and responsible use

Scrape only information you are permitted to access and follow BidNet Direct's terms, robots directives, applicable procurement rules, privacy law, and rate limits. This Actor accesses public pages only. It does not defeat CAPTCHAs or authentication, use user accounts, access paywalled material, or download restricted bid documents. You are responsible for how exported data is stored and used.

For support, include the Apify run ID, sanitized input, and the affected public URL. Never include passwords, cookies, or API tokens in a support request.

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `string`):

Use this to search public bid titles and keywords, for example `construction`. Leave empty to return the newest bids. Maximum 200 characters; this is not a document-content search.

## `states` (type: `array`):

Use this to create one state-level BidNet search per entry, for example `California` or `New York`. Leave empty for the nationwide public search; territories and custom BidNet location slugs are also accepted.

## `status` (type: `string`):

Use `open` for active opportunities or `closed` for historical listings. Defaults to open and does not override a status already encoded in a start URL.

## `startUrls` (type: `array`):

Use this instead of generated searches for public BidNet listing or solicitation-detail URLs, for example `https://www.bidnetdirect.com/public/solicitations/open`. Other domains, login pages, and attachment URLs are rejected.

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

Use this to cap delivered and billable bid records across all searches. Defaults to 25; accepted range is 1–1,000. This is not a page limit.

## `maxPages` (type: `integer`):

Use this to bound pagination for each listing search. Defaults to 5; accepted range is 1–40. Detail-page requests do not count toward this value.

## `enrichDetails` (type: `boolean`):

Use this to visit each public detail page for exact timestamps and an available public AI overview. Defaults to true; it never logs in or extracts registration-gated fields or documents.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Use this to control the network route. Apify Proxy is enabled by default for a stable session identity; set `useApifyProxy` to false only when your own direct route is permitted.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": "construction",
  "states": [
    "California"
  ],
  "status": "open",
  "maxResults": 25,
  "maxPages": 5,
  "enrichDetails": true,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

Public BidNet Direct bid records in the default dataset.

## `resultsCsv` (type: `string`):

The same records exported as CSV.

## `output` (type: `string`):

Outcome, counts, billing expectation, and warnings.

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

Alias of the terminal run diagnostics for integrations.

## `consoleRun` (type: `string`):

Run logs, status, and storage previews in Apify Console.

# 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": "construction",
    "states": [
        "California"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("muhammadafzal/bidnet-direct-government-bids-scraper").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": "construction",
    "states": ["California"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("muhammadafzal/bidnet-direct-government-bids-scraper").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": "construction",
  "states": [
    "California"
  ]
}' |
apify call muhammadafzal/bidnet-direct-government-bids-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,muhammadafzal/bidnet-direct-government-bids-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

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/xHZjd5sYz3N91nXgG/builds/DD0ZEGQrpy7BpfXsI/openapi.json