# UK Find a Tender (`publicrecords/uk-find-a-tender-scraper`) Actor

UK Find a Tender — UK above-threshold notices via the official OCDS 1.1 API. Keyword + CPV filters → flat JSON for GovCon BD.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/publicrecords/uk-find-a-tender-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Marc M](https://apify.com/publicrecords) (community)
- **Categories:** Lead generation, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 results

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/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

## UK Find a Tender Scraper

### What does UK Find a Tender Scraper do?

**UK Find a Tender Scraper** downloads **above-threshold UK public procurement notices** from the official [Find a Tender Service](https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk) **OCDS 1.1 API** and flattens each release into one dataset row.

Ideal for **UK GovCon business development**, bid shops, market intel, and journalists who need structured tender/award/planning notices without scraping HTML.

> Not affiliated with Cabinet Office, CCS, or Find a Tender. Data is Crown public-sector information under the **Open Government Licence v3.0**.

#### Why this Actor?

- 🇬🇧 **Official OCDS API** — `GET …/api/1.0/ocdsReleasePackages` (no key)
- 🔎 **Keyword + CPV filters** — client-side on title/description/buyer + CPV prefixes
- 📦 **Flat notice rows** — buyer, value, CPV, tender period, source URL
- ⏱ **Apify platform** — schedules, webhooks, API, integrations
- 💵 **$0.003 per successful notice** (+ tiny Actor-start). **Error rows are not charged.**

#### What data can you extract?

| Field | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| `ocid` / `noticeId` / `releaseId` | OCDS identifiers |
| `title`, `description`, `status`, `stage`, `tag` | Notice content |
| `buyerName`, `buyerId` | Contracting authority |
| `cpv`, `valueAmount`, `valueCurrency` | Classification & value |
| `tenderPeriodEnd`, `procurementMethod` | Tender timing / method |
| `sourceUrl`, `packageUri` | Links back to FTS |

***

### How to scrape Find a Tender notices

1. Open **UK Find a Tender Scraper** on Apify.
2. Optionally set **Keywords** (e.g. `cloud`) and/or **CPV codes** (e.g. `72000000`).
3. Set **Notice stages** → `tender`, `planning`, and/or `award` (maps to API `stages`).
4. Adjust **Updated from / to** (ISO datetimes) or keep defaults (last 7 days → now).
5. Set **Max items** and run.
6. Export JSON/CSV or pull via Apify API.

***

### Input

| Field | Required | Default | Description |
|-------|----------|---------|-------------|
| `keywords` | no | `[]` | Client-side match on title, description, buyer |
| `cpv` | no | `[]` | Client-side starts-with on classification IDs |
| `noticeType` | no | `[]` (prefill `tender`) | → API `stages`: planning | tender | award |
| `updatedFrom` | no | 7 days ago | ISO datetime |
| `updatedTo` | no | now | ISO datetime |
| `maxItems` | no | `50` | Cap (1–5000) |

#### Example input

```json
{
  "keywords": ["cyber security"],
  "cpv": ["72000000"],
  "noticeType": ["tender"],
  "updatedFrom": "2026-09-01T00:00:00",
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

#### Canary-style input (high recall)

```json
{
  "noticeType": ["tender"],
  "updatedFrom": "2026-09-09T00:00:00",
  "maxItems": 5
}
```

***

### Billing note

Only default-dataset **success** notices are charged. **Error rows are not charged** (named `errors` dataset / logs).

### Sample output

From last-known-good canary:

```json
{
  "recordType": "notice",
  "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-0773a1",
  "releaseId": "087858-2026",
  "noticeId": "087858-2026",
  "date": "2026-09-16T15:07:06+01:00",
  "tag": "tender",
  "stage": "tender",
  "title": "Perinatal Mental Health Community Peer Support service",
  "description": "The London Borough of Camden is seeking to appoint…",
  "status": "active",
  "buyerName": "London Borough of Camden",
  "buyerId": "GB-FTS-33168",
  "cpv": "85100000",
  "valueAmount": 440000,
  "valueCurrency": "GBP",
  "tenderPeriodEnd": "2026-10-23T12:00:00+01:00",
  "procurementMethod": "open",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/087858-2026",
  "packageUri": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/api/1.0/ocdsReleasePackages?…"
}
```

***

### How much does it cost?

| Event | Price |
|-------|-------|
| Actor start | ~$0.00005 |
| Dataset item (**successful** notice only) | **$0.003** |
| Error / diagnostic rows | **Not charged** |

| Run | Approx. cost |
|-----|----------------|
| 1 start + 100 notices | ≈ **$0.30** |
| 1 start + 1,000 notices | ≈ **$3.00** |

Mark-approved FREE list from `PPE_PRICING.md`. Bronze/Silver/Gold tiers proportional when publishing. **Error rows are not charged.**

***

### Use cases

- 🏢 **UK GovCon BD** — daily tender watch by keyword/CPV
- 📊 **Market intel** — buyer + value + stage feeds
- 📰 **Journalism** — structured above-threshold notices
- 🤖 **Agents / pipelines** — schedule + webhook into CRM

***

### Limitations

- **Above-threshold FTS only** — not Contracts Finder (below-threshold)
- Keywords/CPV are **client-side** after OCDS flatten (API has no native keyword/CPV params)
- Description truncated to ≤2k chars
- Respect fair use; Actor identifies via User-Agent and backs off on 429

***

### Legal & attribution

Contains public sector information licensed under the [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/).

- Source: Find a Tender / Cabinet Office OCDS API
- Docs: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Developer/Documentation
- Do **not** imply CCS / Cabinet Office endorsement
- No login; avoid harvesting personal contact emails at scale

***

### FAQ

#### Is this TED (EU)?

No — this is **UK Find a Tender** only.

#### Why CPV filter?

The public OCDS list endpoint does not filter by CPV; we match classifications after flatten so you can target e.g. IT (`72000000`).

#### Can I get awards and planning too?

Yes — set `noticeType` to `award` and/or `planning`.

***

### SEO keywords

uk find a tender scraper, find a tender api, uk procurement notices, ocds scraper, uk tenders api, cpv tender search, cabinet office find a tender, govcon uk tenders, above threshold notices

# Actor input Schema

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

Case-insensitive match on tender title, description, or buyer name (client-side).

## `cpv` (type: `array`):

Match when tender.items\[].classification.id starts with any code (client-side).

## `noticeType` (type: `array`):

Mapped to API stages: planning | tender | award. Omit for all.

## `updatedFrom` (type: `string`):

ISO datetime. Default: 7 days ago.

## `updatedTo` (type: `string`):

ISO datetime. Default: now.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Cap on notice rows.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [],
  "cpv": [],
  "noticeType": [
    "tender"
  ],
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

# 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 = {
    "noticeType": [
        "tender"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("publicrecords/uk-find-a-tender-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 = { "noticeType": ["tender"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("publicrecords/uk-find-a-tender-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 '{
  "noticeType": [
    "tender"
  ]
}' |
apify call publicrecords/uk-find-a-tender-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,publicrecords/uk-find-a-tender-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/kpeiZ2NgS9nQIV4Kg/builds/nUIuxNNm51xa1eeBR/openapi.json