USAspending MCP

A free, key-less Model Context Protocol server for USAspending.gov — the U.S. government's official record of federal spending. Query contracts, grants, loans, recipients, agencies, and geographic breakdowns directly from the primary source. No API key, no account.

Built with FastMCP. Data covers FY2008-present.

Tools

Tool	What it does
usaspending_status	Check API reachability and list supported award categories.
list_agencies	List/search federal toptier agencies; resolve an agency name to its code.
search_awards	Search awards (contracts/grants/loans/...) by recipient, agency, keyword, date.
award_count	Count matching awards broken down by type (contracts, grants, loans, idvs, ...).
award_details	Full detail for one award (amounts, period of performance, recipient, agencies).
top_recipients	Top recipients by dollars for an agency + award category over a period.
spending_by_category	Aggregate spending by recipient, agency, NAICS, PSC, CFDA, geography, etc.
recipient_search	Find recipients by name; returns UEI / DUNS and a recipient id.
recipient_details	Profile for one recipient: parent entity, business types, location, totals.
spending_by_geography	Spending by state / county / district, by recipient location or place of performance.

Install

git clone https://github.com/jsconiers/usaspending-mcp.git
cd usaspending-mcp
python3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install -r requirements.txt
.venv/bin/python test_usaspending.py   # offline tests

Use with Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json (macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "usaspending": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/usaspending-mcp/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/usaspending-mcp/usaspending_mcp.py"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop, then ask things like "Who are the top DoD contractors this fiscal year?", "How much has Lockheed Martin been awarded?", or "Show federal contract spending by state."

Award categories

award_category accepts a friendly group that expands to USAspending award-type codes:

Category	Codes
contracts	A, B, C, D
idvs	IDV_A ... IDV_E
grants	02, 03, 04, 05
direct_payments	06, 10
loans	07, 08
other	09, 11, -1
all	union of the above

Pass award_type_codes explicitly to override.

Examples

list_agencies(search="defense")                  -> Department of Defense (code 097)
search_awards(recipient="Lockheed Martin")       -> largest contracts + award_internal_id
award_count(recipient="Lockheed Martin")         -> {contracts: 6501, grants: 21, idvs: 233, ...}
top_recipients(agency="Department of Defense")   -> Lockheed, Electric Boat, Raytheon, ...
spending_by_category(category="naics", agency="Department of Defense")
spending_by_geography(geo_layer="state", agency="Department of Defense")
recipient_search(name="Lockheed Martin")         -> UEI / DUNS + recipient_id

Typical flow: search_awards (or top_recipients) to find an award/recipient, then award_details / recipient_details for the full record.

Data source

All data comes from the public USAspending.gov REST API (https://api.usaspending.gov/). Please be considerate with request volume.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. Not affiliated with or endorsed by USAspending.gov or the U.S. government. For informational purposes only.