Search Federal Grant Opportunities

Search_Federal_Grant_Opportunities is the GovTribe MCP search tool for pre-award federal grant opportunity records, including eligibility framing, submission deadlines, issuing agencies, funding programs, and attached government files.

When To Use

• Which federal grant opportunities are open now or due within a specific time window?

• Which opportunities match a mission topic, funding instrument, agency, or federal grant program?

• Which opportunities are Posted versus Forecasted?

• Which points of contact and government files are attached to matching opportunities?

• Which agencies or grant programs appear most often in a filtered grant-opportunity market slice?

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

• due_date_range: Set the from value to a future date if the user wants to see open items or those they can bid on. See Required Reading: Date_Filtering_Guide.

  • type: object

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

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

• posted_date: Filter by posted date. See Required Reading: Date_Filtering_Guide.

  • type: object

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

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

• federal_agency_ids: Filter by federal agencies. Use GovTribe IDs.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

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

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• federal_grant_program_ids: Filter by federal grant programs. Use GovTribe IDs.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

• federal_grant_program_ids_operator: Choose whether to include or exclude values for Federal Grant Program GovTribe IDs.

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• contact_ids: Filter by points of contact. Use GovTribe IDs.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

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

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• funding_activity_categories: Filter by funding activity category.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

  • options: Agriculture, Arts, Business and Commerce, Community Development, Consumer Protection, Disaster Prevention and Relief, Education, Employment, Labor and Training, Energy, Environment, Food and Nutrition, Health, Housing, Humanities, Income Security and Social Services, Information and Statistics, Law, Justice and Legal Services, Natural Resources, Other, Recovery Act, Regional Development, Science and Technology and other Research and Development, Transportation

• funding_activity_categories_operator: Choose whether to include or exclude values for Funding Activity Categories.

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• funding_instrument_types: Filter by funding instrument type.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

  • options: Cooperative Agreement, Grant, Other, Procurement Contract

• funding_instrument_types_operator: Choose whether to include or exclude values for Funding Instrument Types.

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• opportunity_types: Filter by opportunity type.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

  • options: Forecasted, Posted

• opportunity_types_operator: Choose whether to include or exclude values for Opportunity Types.

  • type: null|string

  • required: no

  • default: in

  • options: in, not_in

• similar_filter: Find similar to the provided govtribe_type + govtribe_id.

  • type: null|object

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

  • shape: { govtribe_type: string, govtribe_id: string }

• federal_grant_opportunity_ids: Include or exclude results by GovTribe IDs.

  • type: array<string>

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

• federal_grant_opportunity_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_federal_agencies_by_doc_count, top_points_of_contact_by_doc_count, top_federal_grant_programs_by_doc_count

• sort: Sort configuration.

  • type: object

  • required: no

  • default: n/a

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

  • options: key: dueDate, postedDate, _score; 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_ai_summary, govtribe_type, govtribe_url, solicitation_number, name, assistance_type, funding_instruments, applicant_types, funding_activity_categories, posted_date, due_date, description, updated_at, federal_agency, place_of_performance, government_files, federal_grant_programs, points_of_contact

Output Contract

• Top-level keys:

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

  • current_page, from, to, last_page, per_page: pagination metadata when rows are requested.

  • path: GovTribe search URL for this result set.

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

  • 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 flows.

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

• Row keys:

  • govtribe_id

  • govtribe_ai_summary

  • govtribe_type

  • govtribe_url

  • solicitation_number

  • name

  • assistance_type

  • funding_instruments

  • applicant_types

  • funding_activity_categories

  • posted_date

  • due_date

  • description

  • updated_at

  • federal_agency

  • place_of_performance

  • government_files

  • federal_grant_programs

  • points_of_contact

• Relationship retrieval map:

  • federal_agency

    • resource_type: federal_agency

    • tool: Search_Federal_Agencies

    • filter: federal_agency_ids

    • nested_keys: govtribe_id, govtribe_type, govtribe_url, name

  • federal_grant_programs

    • resource_type: federal_grant_program

    • tool: Search_Federal_Grant_Programs

    • filter: federal_grant_program_ids

    • nested_keys: govtribe_id, govtribe_type, govtribe_url, name

  • government_files

    • resource_type: government_file

    • tool: Search_Government_Files

    • filter: government_file_ids

    • nested_keys: govtribe_id, govtribe_type, govtribe_url, name

  • place_of_performance

    • resource_type: location

    • tool: n/a

    • filter: n/a

    • fallback: No direct Search_* tool returns this resource class; use parent dataset filters and parent IDs.

    • nested_keys: govtribe_id, govtribe_type, govtribe_url, name

  • points_of_contact

    • resource_type: contact

    • tool: Search_Contacts

    • filter: contact_ids

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

Usage Patterns

Pattern A: Open posted opportunities due in the next 30 days for a topic. Tool: Search_Federal_Grant_Opportunities

{
  "query": "community mental health",
  "search_mode": "semantic",
  "fields_to_return": [
    "govtribe_id"
  ],
  "due_date_range": {
    "from": "now/d",
    "to": "now+30d/d"
  },
  "opportunity_types": [
    "Posted"
  ],
  "sort": {
    "key": "dueDate",
    "direction": "asc"
  },
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}

Pattern B: Aggregation-only view of top agencies, contacts, and grant programs for current opportunities. Tool: Search_Federal_Grant_Opportunities

{
  "query": "",
  "search_mode": "keyword",
  "aggregations": [
    "top_federal_agencies_by_doc_count",
    "top_points_of_contact_by_doc_count"
  ],
  "due_date_range": {
    "from": "now-180d/d",
    "to": "now/d"
  },
  "sort": {
    "key": "_score",
    "direction": "desc"
  },
  "per_page": 0
}

Pattern C: Program-targeted opportunity retrieval after resolving program IDs. Tool: Search_Federal_Grant_Opportunities

{
  "query": "",
  "search_mode": "keyword",
  "fields_to_return": [
    "govtribe_id"
  ],
  "federal_grant_program_ids": [
    "<FEDERAL_GRANT_PROGRAM_ID>"
  ],
  "federal_grant_program_ids_operator": "in",
  "opportunity_types": [
    "Posted"
  ],
  "posted_date": {
    "from": "2025-01-01",
    "to": null
  },
  "sort": {
    "key": "postedDate",
    "direction": "desc"
  },
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 25
}

Pattern D: Forecasted opportunities for pipeline planning. Tool: Search_Federal_Grant_Opportunities

{
  "query": "water infrastructure resilience",
  "search_mode": "semantic",
  "fields_to_return": [
    "govtribe_id"
  ],
  "opportunity_types": [
    "Forecasted"
  ],
  "sort": {
    "key": "postedDate",
    "direction": "desc"
  },
  "page": 1,
  "per_page": 20
}