Source-backed contractor research examples

Documentation index. Also available as Markdown.

Use these read-only workflows to find relevant work, investigate historical buying and decide what needs verification before a pursuit. The examples use illustrative filters. Replace them with your business criteria and use identifiers from the results you actually retrieve.

Start with connection setup. Tool availability depends on plan and approved scopes. The JSON blocks pair an actual tool name with its arguments; an MCP client passes the arguments to that tool. See the coverage catalogue for source boundaries and the tool reference for all inputs.

1. Find relevant work, then make a defensible shortlist

Available: Research and higher, with opportunity-read scope. The optional company-profile read also requires matches-read scope.

Situation: A recruitment-advertising contractor researches NAICS 541810. The code narrows a market; it does not prove that a particular notice fits the company's capabilities.

Find up to five federal opportunity candidates for NAICS 541810. Do not save
or create anything. For each, show the returned identifier, title, agency,
recorded deadline and official notice link where available. Say when a field
is missing. Do not call a notice eligible or current without checking its source.

{"tool":"search_opportunities","arguments":{"naics":"541810","limit":5,"page":1}}

Choose one returned record. Call get_opportunity with that record's notice_id or other returned identifier as its required identifier argument. Do not invent an ID or pass a title as though it were an identifier. An ambiguous identifier must be resolved, not silently guessed.

With approval to read the account profile, this can provide declared capabilities for comparison:

{"tool":"get_company_profile","arguments":{}}

Compare the description and official requirements, not just the NAICS label, with those declared capabilities. Inspect the official notice and amendments for deliverables, set-asides, certifications, location, deadlines and response instructions. A link is not proof that the assistant read the package.

Ask for a short decision record:

If attachments were not retrieved, say so. Do not infer compliance from the company profile or force a bid/no-bid score. This workflow creates no saved opportunity or pursuit.

2. Understand historical buying without inventing incumbency

Available: Research and higher, with contracts-read scope.

Review five stored awards in NAICS 541810. Show the award identifier,
recipient, agency, description, performance dates and each amount's field
name where returned. Separate historical observations from any inference.
Do not treat a past recipient as the current incumbent or an end date as a
confirmed upcoming solicitation. Do not extrapolate a market total from five rows.

{"tool":"search_contracts","arguments":{"naics":"541810","limit":5,"page":1}}

This tool has no agency-name argument. If you select an agency within these five returned rows, describe it as a sample selection, not a whole-database agency search. Use the returned pagination metadata before expanding the sample. There is no get_contract tool.

Use the award identifier, recipient and agency to verify relevant records on USAspending.gov or the official award notice. The response does not supply a standard official-source URL or retrieval timestamp. Do not manufacture either. created_at records local storage, not the award date.

Keep award_amount, current_value and potential_value separate. A ceiling is not spending, and a total award amount is not a comparable unit price. An award-to-opportunity relationship stays unresolved unless the source evidence establishes the match.

Useful outcome: A cited list of historical buyers and recipients to investigate, plus gaps to resolve. Not an unsupported current-incumbent claim, total market size or predicted recompete.

3. Source a DLA parts RFQ by supplier evidence

Available: Research and higher, with opportunity-read scope.

Find up to five stored DIBBS RFQs in FSC 5340 with historical awardees
classified as manufacturer or distributor/reseller. Explain the classification
basis and coverage. This does not mean the RFQs accept only those business
types. Do not infer authorization, stock, usable drawings or a current price.

{"tool":"search_dibbs","arguments":{"fsc":"5340","supplier_type":"manufacturer,distributor_reseller","supplier_basis":"historical_awardee","limit":5}}

Multiple supplier types are comma-separated. To investigate published approved-source classifications instead of historical awardees, use that distinct basis:

{"tool":"search_dibbs","arguments":{"fsc":"5340","supplier_type":"manufacturer,distributor_reseller","supplier_basis":"published_approved_source","limit":5}}

These searches may return different or empty results. The first describes recorded awardees; the second uses published approved-source evidence. Neither certifies the customer's eligibility. Removing a supplier filter can reveal unclassified candidates; unknown classifications remain unknown.

Choose a returned RFQ and call get_dibbs with its returned positive integer id. Inspect line items, requirements, source_evidence, freshness, award coverage and truncation flags. Use official package links to confirm quantities, units, delivery, inspection and quality requirements. Follow DLA supplier access guidance for technical-data access.

The connector search has no page, live-stock or lead-time input. Availability and lead time need a dated supplier offer, not an inference from an award. The web workspace can record private supplier offers and quote preparation separately; this read-only connector workflow neither creates an offer nor submits a quote.

Useful outcome: A source-linked RFQ to investigate, the supplier-classification evidence, any comparable line-level award evidence and an explicit list of missing sourcing requirements.

4. Investigate an early signal without promising an RFP

Available: Intel only, with pre-RFP-read scope. This differs from the web application's Early Signals access.

{"tool":"search_pre_rfp_signals","arguments":{"limit":5,"page":1}}

Ask the assistant to distinguish source statements from estimates, retain source_url and observation dates where returned, and explain why a signal might fit your declared capabilities. An estimated solicitation window is not a confirmed deadline. A signal score is not a win probability. There is no NAICS or agency input here, so do not present a filtered sample as a complete market search.

If the source is unavailable or does not establish a future procurement, keep that question unresolved. A useful next action is checking the agency's forecast, notice or published contact instructions, not automatically creating a pursuit.

Keep the research bounded and auditable

For any workflow, retain identifiers, actual source links, returned dates, the time of your own source check and unresolved questions. Do not relabel that check time as a government publication or ingestion timestamp. Use returned pagination where supported, respect rate limits and review allowances before expanding searches.

No example above writes data or contacts anyone. To save later, distinguish a research shortlist from a Pursuit Board record and confirm the exact change with the customer. Do not send an entire private company profile to another service merely to answer a public-record question.

Last reviewed: October 27, 2026.