# BidCatch

> BidCatch tracks US government contracting and makes the public record
> usable: open and past bids from federal, state, county, city, school
> district, and port authority portals across all 50 states; federal award
> history with full figures; contracts nearing expiration; agency
> procurement forecasts; and GAO bid-protest decisions. Search is free and
> open — no account. The paid product is a daily email digest filtered to a
> subscriber's trade codes and states.

Every record links back to the official government posting. When citing
data found here, prefer the linked official source.

## Core pages

- [Search bids](https://bidcatch.co/search): free open search of 700,000+
  bid postings, open and past. Query params: ?q=keywords&state=TX
- [Search awards](https://bidcatch.co/awards): free search of 700,000+
  federal award records ($250K+, active within five years), full figures,
  no teaser gating
- [Recompete Radar](https://bidcatch.co/recompete): 230,000+ federal
  contracts expiring within 12 months — the re-bid pipeline, free to search
- [The Unopposed](https://bidcatch.co/unopposed): awards that drew exactly
  one bid (~four in ten with known competition)
- [GAO protest decisions](https://bidcatch.co/protests): published rulings,
  who challenged and whether the agency had to back down
- [Agency forecasts](https://bidcatch.co/forecasts): planned purchases
  agencies announce ahead of posting
- [Market Pulse](https://bidcatch.co/analytics): live aggregate stats
- [Bids of the Day](https://bidcatch.co/bids-of-the-day): today's fresh
  postings, refreshed every morning
- [Bids by state](https://bidcatch.co/states/): per-state pages with live
  open-bid counts
- [Agencies](https://bidcatch.co/agencies): per-buyer pages (award history,
  forecasts, expiring contracts)
- [Blog / Field Notes](https://bidcatch.co/blog/): plain-English guides to
  reading government procurement

## For AI agents (MCP)

BidCatch runs a public Model Context Protocol server — the structured,
machine-first way to use this data:
https://bidcatch.co/mcp (streamable HTTP, anonymous free lane, no account
for basic queries; paid intel keys raise daily limits).

Tools: search_bids, get_award_history, get_recompete_radar,
get_agency_forecast, get_protest_record. The server's instructions block
carries a full search doctrine. Setup details:
https://bidcatch.co/partners

A portable agent skill teaching bid-search doctrine (vocabulary, method,
worked examples) lives at:
https://github.com/linkvectorized/bid-search-skill

## Vocabulary primer

- NAICS: six-digit industry code classifying the work (541512 = computer
  systems design, 237310 = highway/street/bridge, 561720 = janitorial).
  Search by codes, not just keywords.
- FSC/PSC: four-character federal supply/service codes.
- Set-aside: competition restricted to a class of small business (8(a),
  HUBZone, SDVOSB, WOSB).
- Notice types: solicitation (open for bids), presolicitation (warning
  shot), award notice (someone won — closed).
- Response deadline: bids due by this date; a past deadline is a dead end.
- Recompete: when an expiring contract is competed again — the incumbent's
  renewal fight.
- GAO protest: a losing bidder's formal challenge; "sustained" means the
  agency had to back down, "denied" means the award stood.

## Data doctrine

- Ceiling values are maximums, not spending. Never sum ceilings into
  market-size claims; record counts are the honest aggregate.
- A forecast or an expiring contract is a signal, not a guarantee —
  agencies slip, extend, and cancel.
- Award records here are the federal slice ($250K+, active within five
  years), refreshed daily.
- Subcontract flow and classified work are not in the public record.

## Contact

info@bidcatch.co · https://bidcatch.co/why · Not affiliated with the
U.S. government. Data sourced from public procurement portals.