govcontractscout-mcp

GovContractScout MCP Server

Model Context Protocol (MCP) server exposing the GovContractScout US state & local government contracts API to AI agents. Search live contracts, pull details, look up NAICS codes, list states, and score contract fit — without raw HTTP.

AI agent (Claude, Cursor, etc.)  ⇄  MCP  ⇄  GovContractScout /v1 API  ⇄  50-state procurement data

Tools

Tool	Description
search_contracts	Search active government contracts by state, NAICS, keyword (returns title, agency, due date, match signals)
get_contract	Fetch one contract's full record by ID
search_naics	Look up NAICS codes by keyword
get_states	List the states we index + live contract counts
score_contract	Score a contract's fit for a business profile (uses /v1/match)

All tools hit the same /v1 API as the public REST endpoint — same data, same auth, same rate limits. Live data from state procurement portals, updated daily.

Requirements

• Node.js 18+
• A GovContractScout API key (gcs_live_...) — free tier works (100 calls/month); paid tiers for production. Get one at scout.govbidportals.com/api-keys — instant, no card.

Quickstart

Claude Code

claude mcp add govcontractscout \
  --env GCS_API_KEY=gcs_live_YOUR_KEY \
  -- npx -y govcontractscout-mcp

Any MCP client (mcp.json / mcp.settings)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "govcontractscout": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "govcontractscout-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "GCS_API_KEY": "gcs_live_YOUR_KEY"
      }
    }
  }
}

Manual (from source)

npm install && npm run build
GCS_API_KEY=gcs_live_YOUR_KEY node dist/index.js

Configuration

Variable	Required	Default	Description
GCS_API_KEY	✅	—	Your API key from the dashboard
GOVCONTRACTSCOUT_API_BASE	❌	https://scout.govbidportals.com	API base URL override (self-hosting)

Example

Ask your agent:

"Find open IT services contracts in California due this month, then score the top one for a 10-person consulting firm with T&M experience."

The agent calls search_contracts (state=CA, naics=IT services), then score_contract — no HTTP knowledge required from the agent.

Design notes

• Idempotent scoring — score_contract sends a deterministic Idempotency-Key, so retries never double-burn quota.
• Same moat as the API — source URLs and raw source_portal fields are deliberately excluded; the data is our aggregation, and the MCP exposes exactly what the API exposes.
• Honest coverage — contracts carry a data_quality field (level + which fields are populated). Some states have richer data than others; the API tells you exactly what you're getting.

API / pricing

• Free: 100 calls/month, no card
• Starter $99/mo · Growth $199/mo · annual = 17% off
• Full API docs: scout.govbidportals.com/docs/api

Development

npm run dev    # tsx watch
npm run build  # tsc -> dist/
npm start      # run built server

The server is a thin wrapper over the public REST API (/v1/contracts, /v1/contracts/:id, /v1/naics, /v1/states, /v1/match) — see the API docs for schemas.

License

MIT