USAspending.gov MCP Server

USAspending.gov MCP Server

Ten USAspending.gov search tools, zero manual browsing: USAspending.gov MCP Server turns the Agency Profile, Advanced Search, Keyword Search, Federal Account, State Profile, and Recipient Profile pages into MCP tools any AI agent can call directly. Ask for "who won federal contracts for ambulance services in Texas in 2023" or "how much did the Department of Defense obligate this fiscal year" in plain language and get back real, structured results — not a screen-scrape of a form you have to fill in yourself.

Each tool wraps the real JSON API behind the page (api.usaspending.gov), which is public and requires no authentication — so lookups are fast, cheap, and always current with the live federal spending data.

Because it runs on Apify in Standby mode, it behaves like a normal always-on HTTP MCP endpoint — no cold start per query — plus you get Apify's monitoring, scheduling, and proxy infrastructure for free if you need it.

Why use USAspending.gov MCP Server?

• One connection, six USAspending.gov search surfaces. Skip six different forms and URL query formats — point an agent at a single MCP endpoint instead.
• Government contracting and grants research. Find who's winning awards from a given agency, in a given state, or matching a keyword, without leaving your agent workflow.
• Due diligence and vendor research. Pull a recipient's full award history and business-type profile before doing business with them.
• Budget and policy analysis. Pull agency-level or federal-account-level budget authority, outlays, and obligations for a fiscal year.

How to use USAspending.gov MCP Server

1. Add it to your MCP client as an HTTP/Streamable-HTTP server:

   claude mcp add --transport http usaspending \
     https://rl1987--usaspending-mcp.apify.actor/mcp \
     --header "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN"
   

   The token is your own Apify API token (Console → Settings → Integrations), not the Actor owner's — export it as $APIFY_TOKEN in your shell, or substitute your own.

2. Verify the connection and tool count:

   claude mcp list
   # or, inside a Claude Code session:
   /mcp
   

3. Ask your agent to search, e.g. "Use usaspending to find contract awards to Raytheon in 2023" or "Look up California's total federal spending via get_state_spending."

A team can commit a .mcp.json with just the URL (no token) to a shared repo; each teammate runs claude mcp add --scope local once with their own token.

Tools

Tool	Source page	Covers
search_agencies	/agency	agency name/abbreviation search across all top-tier federal agencies
get_agency_overview	/agency	budget authority, outlays, obligations, mission for one agency by fiscal year
search_awards	/search	full advanced award search — keywords, award type, date range, agency, recipient
keyword_search	/keyword_search	simple single-keyword contract award search
list_federal_accounts	/federal_account	federal account search by keyword/agency identifier
get_federal_account	/federal_account	one federal account's budgetary resources, outlays, obligations, child TAS accounts
list_state_spending	/state	spending totals for every U.S. state/territory
get_state_spending	/state	one state's population, income, and federal award totals
search_recipients	/recipient	recipient name/UEI/DUNS search
get_recipient	/recipient	one recipient's full profile — alternate names, business types, location, parent org

Every tool returns JSON straight from api.usaspending.gov — no PDFs or bulk archives are pre-downloaded on your behalf.

Example output (keyword_search, abbreviated)

{
  "results": [
    {
      "Award ID": "W56HZV23C0024",
      "Recipient Name": "BAE SYSTEMS LAND & ARMAMENTS L.P.",
      "Award Amount": 2479580090.0,
      "Awarding Agency": "Department of Defense",
      "Description": "EARLY ORDER MATERIAL IN SUPPORT OF THE FUTURE..."
    }
  ],
  "page_metadata": { "page": 1, "hasNext": true }
}

Pricing / cost

This Actor uses Apify's Pay Per Event model — see .actor/pay_per_event.json for the configured tool-call price. You're charged once per completed tool call, not per underlying HTTP request the tool makes internally, and never for a failed call.

Tips

• search_awards and keyword_search require award_type_codes from a single group only (e.g. all contract codes, or all grant codes) — mixing contracts and grants in one call errors. keyword_search defaults to contract codes.
• search_awards's earliest supported start_date is 2007-10-01; USAspending's Custom Award Download covers further back but isn't exposed here.
• get_state_spending and get_federal_account take the code/number shown in list_state_spending/list_federal_accounts results — look those up first if you don't already have it.

FAQ, disclaimers, and support

All data comes directly from the public, unauthenticated api.usaspending.gov API — the same backend that powers usaspending.gov itself. That API is undocumented in places and can change without notice; if a tool starts failing, please open an issue. This is an unofficial, independently built integration and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Treasury or USAspending.gov.

Documentation reference

• Apify SDK for Python documentation
• Apify Platform documentation
• FastMCP documentation
• Apify MCP server documentation