SAM.gov Contract Opportunities: Federal Bids & Awards

At a glance (for AI agents and developers)

• What it does: Returns U.S. federal contract opportunities (RFPs, solicitations, combined synopsis/solicitations, presolicitations, sources sought, special notices and award notices) as structured JSON, one row per opportunity. Data comes from SAM.gov's official nightly public extract, not from scraping the website.
• When to use it: Finding federal contracts to bid on, monitoring new SAM.gov notices on a schedule, filtering by NAICS/PSC code, set-aside (small business, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB), agency or state, or pulling award notices (who won what, for how much).
• When not to use it: State and local (SLED) bids, non-U.S. tenders, archived/inactive notices, attachment downloads, or historical spending data (use USAspending.gov for that).
• Cost: pay-per-event. $0.002 per run (at the default 1 GB memory) + $0.002 per opportunity returned. 100 results is about $0.20; 500 results is about $1.00. Apify platform usage is included. Cap spend with maxResults (default 500) or a maximum cost per run.
• Speed: a typical run finishes in 20 to 60 seconds. Data refreshes nightly (about 03:30 UTC).
• Auth: no SAM.gov account or API key. AI agents can also run it without an Apify account through Apify's agentic payments (x402 or Skyfire).
• No input is required. Every filter is optional and filters combine with AND. An empty input returns the 500 most recently posted or updated active notices.
• Keyword search is relevance-ranked and ignores boilerplate. Keywords match the title, the official NAICS/PSC code descriptions, and the notice summary, not the FAR/DFARS clause text that every defense notice repeats. A search for cybersecurity won't return valve and circuit-card notices that only cite the CMMC clause. Each result says why it matched (matchedIn, matchedKeywords, relevanceScore), and results come back most relevant first by default.

Example input (open cybersecurity small-business set-asides, soonest deadline first):

{
  "keywords": ["cybersecurity", "zero trust"],
  "naicsCodes": ["5415"],
  "setAsides": ["SBA", "SDVOSBC"],
  "onlyOpenForResponses": true,
  "sortBy": "deadlineAsc",
  "maxResults": 25
}

Example output row (shortened; full example below):

{
  "title": "AN/BYG-1 Applications Re-Architecture",
  "solicitationNumber": "N0002426R6222",
  "noticeType": "Solicitation",
  "postedDate": "2026-10-07T21:48:11.000Z",
  "responseDeadline": "2026-11-05T21:00:00.000Z",
  "daysUntilDeadline": 28,
  "isOpenForResponses": true,
  "department": "DEPT OF DEFENSE",
  "subTier": "DEPT OF THE NAVY",
  "naicsCode": "334511",
  "naicsDescription": "Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing",
  "pscCode": "1260",
  "pscDescription": "FIRE CONTROL DESIGNATING AND INDICATING EQUIPMENT",
  "setAsideCode": "NONE",
  "award": null,
  "url": "https://sam.gov/opp/93fe497877d84b6eb061765bdb448793/view",
  "versionCount": 6,
  "relevanceScore": 2,
  "matchedIn": ["summary"],
  "matchedKeywords": ["software"]
}

Overview

Find and monitor U.S. federal contract opportunities, including solicitations, sources sought, presolicitations, special notices, and award notices. Every run reads the official SAM.gov Contract Opportunities public data extract, so you don't need a SAM.gov account, an API key, or a scraper that breaks whenever the website changes.

Filter by keyword, NAICS, PSC, set-aside, agency, place of performance, posted date, and response deadline. Turn on monitoring mode to get only new or updated notices on a schedule. Export to JSON, CSV, Excel, or Google Sheets, or connect it to Slack, email, Zapier, Make, or your CRM.

Why use this Actor?

• Reliable by design. It reads the daily file SAM.gov publishes for data sharing (SAM.gov Data Services). There are no browsers, cookies, or CAPTCHAs, and no undocumented endpoints that can change without notice.
• No API key or rate limits. A free personal SAM.gov API key allows only about 10 requests a day. This Actor scans every active notice in each run, about 76,000 notice versions or 50,000 unique opportunities.
• No duplicate amendments. SAM.gov lists every amendment as a separate notice, so roughly 40% of the raw file is older versions. You get one row per opportunity, the latest version, with a versionCount.
• Fast and cheap. A filtered search usually finishes in under 30 seconds.
• Built for bid and no-bid decisions. Every result includes days until the deadline, a plain-language set-aside, NAICS and PSC codes with their official descriptions, place of performance, award amount and awardee, and a direct SAM.gov link.
• Keyword results you can trust. Boilerplate clause text is stripped before matching, and results are ranked by where the keyword appears (title first, then code descriptions, then summary).
• Monitoring mode. Schedule it daily and get only what's new or amended since the last run, so you only pay for new results.

Who is it for?

• Government contractors and BD teams building a pipeline
• Proposal writers and capture managers watching specific agencies or NAICS codes
• Small businesses looking for SBA, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, or WOSB set-asides
• Market researchers and competitive intelligence analysts tracking awards and awardees
• GovCon newsletters, alert services, and AI agents that need clean federal opportunity data

What data do you get?

Field	Example
title, solicitationNumber, noticeType	"Excitation System Replacement, Beaver Dam", "W9127S27RA014", "Presolicitation"
postedDate, responseDeadline, daysUntilDeadline, isOpenForResponses	2026-10-07T18:50:14.000Z, 2026-10-21T18:00:00.000Z, 13, true
department, subTier, office	DEPT OF DEFENSE / DEPT OF THE ARMY / W076 ENDIST LITTLE ROCK
naicsCode, pscCode	335312, Z2MD
naicsDescription, pscDescription	"Motor and Generator Manufacturing", "REPAIR OR ALTERATION OF EPG FACILITIES - HYDRO"
setAsideCode, setAside	SBA, "Small Business Set Aside - Total"
placeOfPerformance	street, city, state, zip, country
award	award number, date, amount (USD), awardee (award notices)
url, additionalInfoLink	Direct link to the notice on SAM.gov
description	Plain-text notice description (optional, length configurable)
contractingContacts	Government point of contact (optional, off by default)
versionCount	How many versions (original + amendments) SAM.gov has published
changeType	new or updated (monitoring mode only)
relevanceScore, matchedIn, matchedKeywords	10, ["title"], ["cybersecurity"] (keyword searches only)

How to use it

1. Click Try for free.
2. Enter keywords (for example cybersecurity, janitorial, "cloud migration") and/or pick NAICS codes, set-asides, and notice types.
3. Optional: limit to notices open for responses, due within N days, or posted in the last N days.
4. Click Start. Results appear in the Output tab within seconds. Use the Overview or Awards view, or export the data.
5. To get alerts, turn on Only new since last run, give the monitor a name, and add a Schedule (daily is ideal, since SAM.gov refreshes the file every night). Connect a Slack, email, or webhook integration to receive new notices automatically.

Input example

{
  "keywords": ["cybersecurity", "zero trust"],
  "naicsCodes": ["5415"],
  "setAsides": ["SBA", "SDVOSBC"],
  "onlyOpenForResponses": true,
  "postedWithinDays": 14,
  "sortBy": "deadlineAsc",
  "maxResults": 200
}

Tips:

• NAICS and PSC filters accept prefixes. 5415 covers every computer systems design code, and Z2 covers all building repair and alteration codes.
• Keywords match whole words and phrases, so AI won't match "maintain".
• By default keywords are matched in the title, NAICS/PSC code descriptions and summary (the description with FAR/DFARS clauses and standard compliance text removed). Use Title only for the tightest results, or Everything ("searchIn": "fullText") to also search the raw clause text.
• Results are sorted most relevant first by default: a keyword in the title scores 10, in a NAICS/PSC description 5, in the summary 2. Set sortBy to postedDateDesc or deadlineAsc to change the order.
• Agencies matches any part of the department, sub-tier, or office name, for example VETERANS AFFAIRS, NAVFAC, or GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION.
• For award intelligence, set Notice types to Award Notice and use Minimum award amount. Multiple-award contracts keep one row per awardee.
• Filters are checked against the latest version of each notice. To get every version as its own row, turn off Only the latest version of each notice.

Output example

This is a real result from a platform test run on Oct 7, 2026, with the description shortened:

{
  "noticeId": "93fe497877d84b6eb061765bdb448793",
  "title": "AN/BYG-1 Applications Re-Architecture",
  "solicitationNumber": "N0002426R6222",
  "noticeType": "Solicitation",
  "baseNoticeType": "Solicitation",
  "postedDate": "2026-10-07T21:48:11.000Z",
  "responseDeadline": "2026-11-05T21:00:00.000Z",
  "responseDeadlineOriginal": "2026-11-05T16:00:00-05:00",
  "daysUntilDeadline": 28,
  "isOpenForResponses": true,
  "archiveDate": "2027-02-01",
  "department": "DEPT OF DEFENSE",
  "subTier": "DEPT OF THE NAVY",
  "office": "NAVSEA HQ",
  "officeCity": "WASHINGTON NAVY YARD",
  "officeState": "DC",
  "naicsCode": "334511",
  "pscCode": "1260",
  "setAsideCode": "NONE",
  "setAside": "No Set aside used",
  "placeOfPerformance": {
    "streetAddress": "Team Submarine 1333 Isaac Hull Avenue SEWashington Navy Yard, DC  20376",
    "city": null,
    "state": null,
    "zip": "20376",
    "country": "USA"
  },
  "award": null,
  "url": "https://sam.gov/opp/93fe497877d84b6eb061765bdb448793/view",
  "additionalInfoLink": null,
  "description": "NOTE: On 7 October 2026,Solicitation Amendment 003 was published in the E-TIC portal, including a revised solicitation and a revised Section L. NOTE: On 22 September 2026,Solicitation Amendment 002 wa…",
  "versionCount": 6
}

Each run also saves a SUMMARY record in the run's key-value store. It records when SAM.gov published the file, how many notices were scanned, matched, and delivered, and how many were new or updated in monitoring mode.

Pricing

This Actor uses pay-per-event pricing, and Apify platform usage is included:

• $0.002 per run, which covers downloading and scanning the full SAM.gov file
• $2.00 per 1,000 opportunities delivered ($0.002 per result)

Some examples:

• A daily monitor that returns 20 new notices costs about $0.04 per day, or roughly $1.30 a month.
• A 500-result search costs about $1.00.
• A monitoring run that finds nothing new costs $0.002.

Set Max results or a maximum cost per run to stay on budget. The Actor stops cleanly when your budget is reached.

FAQ

How fresh is the data? SAM.gov regenerates the public extract every night, at about 03:30 UTC. Results reflect the latest file, so notices posted today appear in tomorrow morning's run. The SUMMARY record shows the exact publish time.

Why are there fewer results than on the SAM.gov website? SAM.gov's own search shows every amendment as a separate notice. This Actor merges them and returns the latest version, unless you turn that off.

Does it include inactive or archived notices? No. The extract covers notices that are currently active on SAM.gov, including award notices that haven't been archived yet.

Does it download attachments? No. Each result links to the notice on SAM.gov, where attachments and amendments are listed.

Why don't some notices match my state filter? Many notices don't list a place of performance. Those are excluded when you filter by state. Try agency or keyword filters instead.

Is this legal? Does it scrape SAM.gov? It doesn't scrape SAM.gov. It downloads the public Contract Opportunities extract that SAM.gov publishes on its Data Services page "to promote data sharing". The data is public U.S. government information. You're still responsible for using it in line with SAM.gov's terms and applicable law. Contracting-officer contact details are off by default. If you turn them on, use them only to respond to the opportunity, not for unrelated marketing.

Can I use it from my own code or an AI agent? Yes. Call it through the Apify API, the JavaScript or Python client, or Apify's MCP server, and read the results from the run's dataset. In an MCP client (Claude, Cursor, VS Code and others), connect https://mcp.apify.com/?actors=plainfold/sam-gov-contract-opportunities and the Actor appears as the tool plainfold--sam-gov-contract-opportunities. Agents without an Apify account can pay per run with x402 (USDC on Base) or Skyfire. For a synchronous call that returns the rows directly, use POST https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/plainfold~sam-gov-contract-opportunities/run-sync-get-dataset-items.

Support

Found a bug or want a feature, like more fields, attachments, or other procurement portals? Open an issue on the Actor's Issues tab and we'll respond quickly.