Search Federal Contract Sub Awards

Search_Federal_Contract_Sub_Awards returns federal subcontract records from GovTribe, including sub-contractor, prime-contractor, and agency context.

When To Use

Typical questions this tool answers well:

• Which subcontract records match a topic, vendor, agency, or timeframe?

• Which sub-awardees appear most often in a filtered subcontract population?

• Which funding or contracting agencies show the most subcontract record volume?

• What subcontract history exists for a known vendor across recent fiscal years?

• Which specific sub-award record IDs are present and how are they linked to prime contractors?

• When you need rollups only (per_page: 0) versus rollups plus example rows (per_page > 0).

Required Reading

1. Search_Query_Guide: Required before setting free-text query strings when search_mode is used.

2. Search_Mode_Guide: Required before choosing keyword vs semantic retrieval.

3. Date_Filtering_Guide: Required before setting date window filters.

Input Contract

• query: Free-text query string. See Required Reading: Search_Query_Guide.

  • type: string

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

• page: 1-based page index.

  • type: null|number

  • required: no

  • default: 1

• per_page: Rows per page.

  • type: null|number

  • required: no

  • default: 10

• search_mode: Query interpretation mode. See Required Reading: Search_Mode_Guide.

  • type: string

  • required: no

  • default: keyword

  • options: keyword, semantic

• award_date_range: Filter by the date the award was issued. See Required Reading: Date_Filtering_Guide.

  • type: object

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

  • shape: { from?: null|string, to?: null|string }

• contracting_federal_agency_ids: Filter by contracting federal agencies (who signed the contract). Use GovTribe IDs.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

• contracting_federal_agency_ids_operator: Choose whether to include or exclude values for Contracting Federal Agency GovTribe IDs.

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• funding_federal_agency_ids: Filter by funding federal agencies (who own the money). Use GovTribe IDs.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

• funding_federal_agency_ids_operator: Choose whether to include or exclude values for Funding Federal Agency GovTribe IDs.

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• vendor_ids: Filter by vendors. Use GovTribe IDs or vendor UEIs.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

• vendor_ids_operator: Choose whether to include or exclude values for Vendor IDs (GovTribe or UEI).

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• federal_contract_sub_award_ids: Include or exclude results by GovTribe IDs.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

• federal_contract_sub_award_ids_operator: Choose whether to include or exclude values for GovTribe IDs.

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• aggregations: Aggregation keys to compute.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

  • options: top_awardees_by_doc_count, top_funding_federal_agencies_by_doc_count, top_contracting_federal_agencies_by_doc_count

• sort: Sort configuration.

  • type: object

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

  • shape: { key?: null|string, direction?: null|string }

  • options: key: timestamp, financialStats.dollarsObligated; direction: asc, desc

• fields_to_return: Optional field list for row payloads. If omitted and per_page > 0, rows default to govtribe_id. For per_page: 0 aggregation/meta calls, this field may be omitted. Specify fields_to_return whenever the user asks for fields beyond govtribe_id, and prefer omitting it in pure aggregation workflows.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

  • options: govtribe_id, govtribe_type, name, award_date, description, updated_at, sub_contractor, prime_contractor, contracting_federal_agency, funding_federal_agency

Output Contract

• Top-level keys:

  • data: Array of result rows when per_page > 0.

  • current_page, from, to, last_page, per_page: pagination fields when row paging is active.

  • total: Total matched row count for current query filters.

  • path: GovTribe search URL for this result set.

  • contains: Dataset label for the returned result set.

  • search_results_id, search_results_id_can_generate_saved_search, view_search_results_url: search-session metadata for saved-search and UI reuse flows.

  • aggregations: Aggregation payload keyed by requested aggregation names when requested.

• Row keys:

  • govtribe_id

  • govtribe_type

  • name

  • award_date

  • description

  • updated_at

  • sub_contractor

  • prime_contractor

  • contracting_federal_agency

  • funding_federal_agency

• Relationship retrieval map:

  • contracting_federal_agency

    • resource_type: federal_agency

    • tool: Search_Federal_Agencies

    • filter: federal_agency_ids

    • nested_keys: govtribe_id, govtribe_type, govtribe_url, name

  • funding_federal_agency

    • resource_type: federal_agency

    • tool: Search_Federal_Agencies

    • filter: federal_agency_ids

    • nested_keys: govtribe_id, govtribe_type, govtribe_url, name

  • prime_contractor

    • resource_type: vendor

    • tool: Search_Vendors

    • filter: vendor_ids

    • nested_keys: govtribe_id, govtribe_type, name, uei, govtribe_url

  • sub_contractor

    • resource_type: vendor

    • tool: Search_Vendors

    • filter: vendor_ids

    • nested_keys: govtribe_id, govtribe_type, name, uei, govtribe_url

Usage Patterns

Pattern A: Semantic discovery of subcontract records for a topic with example rows. Tool: Search_Federal_Contract_Sub_Awards

{
  "query": "cloud migration support subcontracting",
  "search_mode": "semantic",
  "fields_to_return": [
    "govtribe_id"
  ],
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 5
}

Pattern B: Aggregations-only subcontract concentration by awardee and agency. Tool: Search_Federal_Contract_Sub_Awards

{
  "query": "",
  "search_mode": "keyword",
  "aggregations": [
    "top_awardees_by_doc_count",
    "top_funding_federal_agencies_by_doc_count",
    "top_contracting_federal_agencies_by_doc_count"
  ],
  "award_date_range": {
    "from": "2023-10-01",
    "to": "2025-09-30"
  },
  "sort": {
    "key": "timestamp",
    "direction": "desc"
  },
  "per_page": 0
}

Pattern C: Vendor-specific subcontract history over a defined period. Tool: Search_Federal_Contract_Sub_Awards

{
  "query": "",
  "search_mode": "keyword",
  "fields_to_return": [
    "govtribe_id"
  ],
  "award_date_range": {
    "from": "2024-01-01",
    "to": "2025-12-31"
  },
  "vendor_ids": [
    "PNELLLMA7881"
  ],
  "sort": {
    "key": "timestamp",
    "direction": "desc"
  },
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 25
}