# 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\_Mode\_And\_Query\_Guide](/user-guide/mcp/guides/search_mode_and_query_guide.md): Required before setting free-text query strings and choosing keyword vs semantic retrieval.
2. [Date\_Filtering\_Guide](/user-guide/mcp/guides/date_filtering_guide.md): Required before setting date window filters.

## 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`

```json
{
  "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`

```json
{
  "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`

```json
{
  "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
}
```


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```
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