Federal Contract Intelligence

Federal contract intelligence that queries 9 government data sources in parallel and produces a composite Bid Intelligence Score (0-100) — so you can decide whether to bid before spending a dollar on proposal development. Designed for government contractors, BD teams, and investment analysts who need a complete procurement picture fast.

This actor pulls live data from SAM.gov, USAspending, Grants.gov, the Federal Register, Congressional bill tracking, Senate lobbying disclosures, FEC campaign finance records, Congressional stock trades, and company deep research — all in a single run. Four specialized scoring models synthesize those 9 streams into clear, actionable grades: Contract Pipeline, Incumbent Advantage, Political Wind, and Spending Velocity.

What data can you extract?

Why use Federal Contract Intelligence?

Federal business development the manual way means checking SAM.gov, then USAspending, then separately pulling lobbying records, then reading through Federal Register notices, then trying to piece together whether the political environment supports your sector. That process takes an experienced BD analyst 2-3 days per target. And it still misses the signals embedded in Congressional stock trades or FEC finance data.

This actor automates the entire process. Enter a keyword, agency name, NAICS code, or contractor name — and within minutes you receive a fully structured intelligence report with a scored, graded recommendation.

• Scheduling — run weekly on active bid pursuits to catch new SAM.gov opportunities and Federal Register notices as they post
• API access — trigger from Python, JavaScript, or any HTTP client to integrate into your BD pipeline or CRM workflow
• Proxy rotation — scrape at scale without IP blocks using Apify's built-in proxy infrastructure
• Monitoring — get Slack or email alerts when runs fail or produce unexpected results
• Integrations — connect to Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, HubSpot, or webhooks to automate downstream actions

Features

• 9 parallel sub-actor calls — SAM.gov, USAspending, Grants.gov, Federal Register, Congressional bills, Senate lobbying, FEC campaign finance, Congressional stock trades, and company deep research all run simultaneously
• Composite Bid Intelligence Score (0-100) — weighted formula: Contract Pipeline 35%, Spending Velocity 25%, Political Wind 20%, Inverse Incumbent Advantage 20%
• Contract Pipeline Predictor (0-100) — scores active SAM.gov opportunities at 10/20/30-point tiers; Federal Register mentions at 5/12/20-point tiers; Congressional bills in committee, passed, or introduced; USAspending historical obligation totals thresholded at $100M and $1B
• Incumbent Advantage Score (0-100) — labeled FORTRESS INCUMBENT (70+), STRONG INCUMBENT (40-69), MODERATE INCUMBENT (15-39), or OPEN FIELD (0-14); inverted in composite so entrenched markets lower your opportunity score
• Political Wind Analysis (-100 to +100) — tracks passed vs. introduced bills, Congressional stock buy/sell ratios (bullish signal: 2:1 buy-to-sell threshold with 3+ trades), lobbying intensity, and FEC contribution activity; labeled STRONG TAILWIND through STRONG HEADWIND
• Agency Spending Velocity (0-100) — thresholds at $10M, $100M, and $1B in USAspending obligations; scans Federal Register for solicitation/RFP/appropriation keywords; identifies appropriation bills in Congress
• Graded recommendations — four grades with plain-English action guidance: PRIME OPPORTUNITY (75+), STRONG OPPORTUNITY (55-74), MODERATE OPPORTUNITY (35-54), WEAK OPPORTUNITY (0-34)
• Top contractors by award volume — builds ranked list from USAspending records, sorted by total obligation amount, top 15 returned
• Top agencies by obligation — ranked list of awarding agencies by total spend, top 10 returned
• Set-aside detection — captures small business, 8(a), HUBZone, SDVOSB, and WOSB set-aside designations from SAM.gov
• Agency and NAICS filtering — narrow SAM.gov and USAspending results to a specific agency or industry classification code
• Graceful degradation — any sub-actor that fails or times out returns an empty array; the report still completes with the remaining sources

Use cases for federal contract intelligence

Government contractor bid/no-bid decisions

BD managers and capture managers at defense and civilian contractors need to decide quickly whether to invest in a proposal. A full proposal effort for a major federal contract can cost $50,000-$500,000 in internal labor. This actor delivers a scored, evidence-backed recommendation in minutes — surfacing whether the pipeline is active, how entrenched the incumbent is, and whether the political environment favors the sector.

Business development pipeline management

BD teams tracking dozens of active opportunities at once need a systematic way to prioritize. Run this actor weekly on your tracked keywords and agencies. Agencies moving from SLOW BURN to RAPID EXECUTION spending velocity signal that new RFPs are imminent. An Incumbent Advantage score dropping from FORTRESS to STRONG INCUMBENT signals competitive opening.

Investment analysis of defense and government IT stocks

Analysts covering government contractor stocks need to understand revenue visibility. Use this actor to quantify how much of a contractor's pipeline is at risk from political headwinds, how strong their incumbent position is, and whether Congressional lawmakers are buying or selling their shares — a documented leading indicator of legislative action.

Small business and set-aside opportunity discovery

Small businesses, 8(a) firms, HUBZone companies, SDVOSBs, and WOSBs need to find set-aside contracts before they close. Query your NAICS code plus relevant agency to surface active SAM.gov opportunities with set-aside designations, alongside a Pipeline score that tells you if the market is hot or cold.

Policy research and procurement trend analysis

Policy analysts and think tanks tracking federal spending priorities can use Political Wind scores and Congressional bill data to document how legislative momentum translates into procurement activity. Compare Political Wind scores across sectors over time to quantify how administration priorities shift spending.

Competitive intelligence on federal market incumbents

Understand who dominates a federal market sector before entering it. Query a competitor's name to see their contract history depth, incumbent advantage rating, lobbying intensity, and FEC political contributions — the full picture of how embedded they are.

How to run a federal contract intelligence analysis

1. Enter your query — Type an agency name, keyword, NAICS sector, or contractor name in the Query field. Examples: "cybersecurity", "Lockheed Martin", "541512", "Department of Veterans Affairs".
2. Apply optional filters — If you want results for a specific agency, type it in Agency Filter (e.g., "NASA"). To narrow SAM.gov results to your exact industry, add a NAICS code (e.g., "541330" for Engineering Services).
3. Run the actor — Click Start. The actor calls all 9 data sources simultaneously. A typical run completes in 2-5 minutes.
4. Download your report — Open the Dataset tab and export as JSON, CSV, or Excel. Your Bid Intelligence Score, grade, recommendation, and all sub-scores are in the first record.

Input parameters

Input examples

Sector analysis — most common use case:

{
  "query": "artificial intelligence",
  "agency": "Department of Defense"
}

NAICS-filtered opportunity search:

{
  "query": "cloud computing",
  "agency": "Department of Homeland Security",
  "naicsCode": "541519"
}

Competitor incumbent analysis:

{
  "query": "Booz Allen Hamilton"
}

Input tips

• Start with a keyword, not a contractor name — broad queries like "cybersecurity" or "logistics" return richer pipeline and spending data than narrow company names, which are better for competitive analysis.
• Use agency filter for targeted BD — adding an agency like "Department of Veterans Affairs" eliminates noise from unrelated agencies and sharpens all four scoring models.
• NAICS codes narrow SAM.gov results — if your sector has a precise code, add it. Find your code at census.gov/naics. Example: "336411" for Aircraft Manufacturing.
• Run competitor queries separately — to evaluate multiple incumbents, run one query per competitor name rather than combining them; each run produces its own scored report.
• Combine with scheduling — set up a weekly schedule on your active bid keywords to catch new SAM.gov postings and Federal Register solicitation notices as they appear.

Output example

{
  "query": "cybersecurity",
  "agency": "Department of Defense",
  "naicsCode": null,
  "generatedAt": "2026-03-20T09:15:00.000Z",
  "bidIntelligenceScore": 71,
  "grade": "STRONG OPPORTUNITY",
  "recommendation": "Moderate opportunity. Some procurement activity detected. Conduct targeted BD before bidding.",
  "models": {
    "contractPipeline": {
      "score": 78,
      "label": "ACTIVE PIPELINE",
      "findings": [
        "14 active SAM.gov opportunities — hot market",
        "15 Federal Register entries — significant regulatory activity",
        "8 Grants.gov opportunities — strong funding pipeline",
        "4 relevant bills in Congress",
        "42 USAspending records — proven federal spending area",
        "$1.4B in historical obligations — massive market"
      ]
    },
    "incumbentAdvantage": {
      "score": 48,
      "label": "STRONG INCUMBENT",
      "findings": [
        "28 contract records — established incumbent presence",
        "11 lobbying records — established political relationships",
        "18 FEC contribution records — deep political giving",
        "42 USAspending awards — proven delivery track record",
        "Company research data confirms market presence"
      ]
    },
    "politicalWind": {
      "score": 42,
      "direction": "STRONG TAILWIND",
      "findings": [
        "4 passed bills — some legislative support",
        "9 introduced bills — high legislative interest",
        "15 Federal Register entries — active regulatory attention",
        "Congressional stock signal BULLISH: 7 buys vs 2 sells — lawmakers betting on growth",
        "11 lobbying filings — industry actively shaping policy",
        "18 FEC contributions — political finance activity"
      ]
    },
    "spendingVelocity": {
      "score": 65,
      "label": "STEADY SPENDING",
      "findings": [
        "28 SAM.gov records — moderate procurement activity",
        "$1.4B obligated — massive spending velocity",
        "8 grant opportunities",
        "3 spending-related notice(s) in Federal Register",
        "2 appropriation/authorization bill(s) — budget pipeline active"
      ]
    }
  },
  "opportunities": {
    "samGov": {
      "total": 28,
      "active": 14,
      "topOpportunities": [
        {
          "title": "Cybersecurity Operations Support Services",
          "agency": "Defense Information Systems Agency",
          "status": "active",
          "postedDate": "2026-03-12",
          "responseDeadline": "2026-04-15",
          "naicsCode": "541512",
          "setAside": "Total Small Business"
        },
        {
          "title": "Zero Trust Architecture Implementation",
          "agency": "Department of the Army",
          "status": "active",
          "postedDate": "2026-03-08",
          "responseDeadline": "2026-04-02",
          "naicsCode": "541519",
          "setAside": null
        }
      ]
    },
    "grantsGov": {
      "total": 8,
      "topOpportunities": [
        {
          "title": "Cybersecurity Research and Development Program",
          "agency": "Department of Homeland Security",
          "fundingAmount": 2500000,
          "closeDate": "2026-05-01"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "spending": {
    "totalRecords": 42,
    "totalObligated": 1400000000,
    "topAgencies": [
      { "agency": "Department of Defense", "totalObligated": 890000000 },
      { "agency": "Department of Homeland Security", "totalObligated": 310000000 },
      { "agency": "Department of Justice", "totalObligated": 120000000 }
    ],
    "topContractors": [
      { "contractor": "Leidos Holdings Inc.", "awards": 12, "totalAmount": 340000000 },
      { "contractor": "Booz Allen Hamilton", "awards": 9, "totalAmount": 215000000 },
      { "contractor": "SAIC", "awards": 7, "totalAmount": 180000000 }
    ],
    "recentAwards": [
      {
        "recipient": "Peraton Inc.",
        "amount": "45000000",
        "agency": "Defense Information Systems Agency",
        "description": "Cyber Operations and Monitoring Support",
        "date": "2026-02-28"
      }
    ]
  },
  "regulatory": {
    "federalRegister": {
      "total": 15,
      "entries": [
        {
          "title": "Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Final Rule",
          "type": "Rule",
          "agency": "Department of Defense",
          "publishDate": "2026-01-15",
          "effectiveDate": "2026-03-01"
        }
      ]
    },
    "congressionalBills": {
      "total": 13,
      "bills": [
        {
          "title": "National Cybersecurity Preparedness Act",
          "number": "S.1842",
          "status": "Passed Senate",
          "sponsor": "Sen. Mark Warner",
          "introduced": "2026-01-22"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "political": {
    "lobbying": {
      "total": 11,
      "records": [
        {
          "registrant": "Capitol Strategies Group",
          "client": "Palo Alto Networks",
          "amount": "120000"
        }
      ]
    },
    "fecContributions": {
      "total": 18,
      "records": [
        {
          "contributor": "Lockheed Martin PAC",
          "amount": "10000",
          "recipient": "Armed Services Committee PAC",
          "date": "2026-02-14"
        }
      ]
    },
    "congressStockTrades": {
      "total": 9,
      "trades": [
        {
          "member": "Rep. Michael McCaul",
          "ticker": "LDOS",
          "type": "Purchase",
          "amount": "$50,001 - $100,000",
          "date": "2026-02-20"
        }
      ]
    }
  },
  "dataSources": {
    "samContracts": 28,
    "usaSpending": 42,
    "grants": 8,
    "federalRegister": 15,
    "congressBills": 13,
    "lobbying": 11,
    "fecContributions": 18,
    "congressStockTrades": 9,
    "companyResearch": 3
  }
}

Output fields

How much does it cost to run a federal contract intelligence analysis?

Federal Contract Intelligence uses pay-per-run pricing on Apify's platform compute. Each run calls 9 sub-actors in parallel. Typical compute cost is $0.30-$0.80 per run depending on result volume and query breadth. All platform compute costs are included.

You can set a maximum spending limit per run to control costs. The actor stops when your budget is reached.

Compare this to dedicated GovWin IQ or Deltek subscriptions at $300-$1,500/month — most BD teams using this actor spend $8-$50/month with no subscription commitment and no per-seat pricing.

Federal contract intelligence using the API

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_API_TOKEN")

run = client.actor("ryanclinton/federal-contract-intelligence").call(run_input={
    "query": "cybersecurity",
    "agency": "Department of Defense"
})

for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(f"Bid Intelligence Score: {item['bidIntelligenceScore']}/100 — {item['grade']}")
    print(f"Recommendation: {item['recommendation']}")
    print(f"Contract Pipeline: {item['models']['contractPipeline']['label']} ({item['models']['contractPipeline']['score']})")
    print(f"Incumbent Advantage: {item['models']['incumbentAdvantage']['label']} ({item['models']['incumbentAdvantage']['score']})")
    print(f"Political Wind: {item['models']['politicalWind']['direction']} ({item['models']['politicalWind']['score']})")
    print(f"Spending Velocity: {item['models']['spendingVelocity']['label']} ({item['models']['spendingVelocity']['score']})")
    print(f"Active SAM.gov opportunities: {item['opportunities']['samGov']['active']}")
    print(f"Total obligated: ${item['spending']['totalObligated']:,.0f}")

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from "apify-client";

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: "YOUR_API_TOKEN" });

const run = await client.actor("ryanclinton/federal-contract-intelligence").call({
    query: "cybersecurity",
    agency: "Department of Defense"
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
for (const item of items) {
    console.log(`Score: ${item.bidIntelligenceScore}/100 — ${item.grade}`);
    console.log(`Pipeline: ${item.models.contractPipeline.label}`);
    console.log(`Incumbent: ${item.models.incumbentAdvantage.label}`);
    console.log(`Political wind: ${item.models.politicalWind.direction}`);
    console.log(`Active opportunities: ${item.opportunities.samGov.active}`);
    console.log(`Total obligated: $${(item.spending.totalObligated / 1e6).toFixed(0)}M`);
}

cURL

# Start the actor run
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/ryanclinton~federal-contract-intelligence/runs?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query": "cybersecurity", "agency": "Department of Defense"}'

# Fetch results (replace DATASET_ID from the run response)
curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/datasets/DATASET_ID/items?token=YOUR_API_TOKEN&format=json"

How Federal Contract Intelligence works

Phase 1: Parallel data collection from 9 federal sources

The actor fires all 9 sub-actor calls simultaneously using Promise.all(), each with a 120-second timeout and 256MB memory allocation. The 9 sources are: ryanclinton/sam-gov-contract-monitor (up to 50 results, with optional NAICS and agency filters), ryanclinton/usaspending-search (up to 50 results, with optional agency filter), ryanclinton/grants-gov-search (up to 30 results), ryanclinton/federal-register-search (up to 30 results), ryanclinton/congress-bill-search (up to 20 results), ryanclinton/senate-lobbying-search (up to 30 results), ryanclinton/fec-campaign-finance (up to 30 results), ryanclinton/congress-stock-tracker (up to 50 results), and ryanclinton/company-deep-research. Any sub-actor that fails or exceeds its timeout returns an empty array and the report continues without it.

Phase 2: Four specialized scoring models

Each scoring model applies threshold-based rules to the raw data arrays. The Contract Pipeline Predictor awards up to 30 points for active SAM.gov opportunities (tiered at 3+, 10+), up to 20 for Federal Register volume, up to 15 for Grants.gov density, up to 15 for Congressional bill activity, and up to 20 for USAspending historical obligation thresholds ($100M and $1B). The Incumbent Advantage Score adds points for deep SAM.gov contract history, lobbying record volume (tiered at 5+ and 20+), FEC contribution density (tiered at 10+), and USAspending award count. The Political Wind Analysis scores passed bills (+15/+30), introduced bills (+8/+15), Federal Register regulatory activity, Congressional stock buy/sell ratios (requires 2:1 ratio and 3+ trades to trigger the ±20 signal), and lobbying/FEC intensity. The Agency Spending Velocity model thresholds USAspending obligation totals at $10M, $100M, and $1B; scans Federal Register titles for keywords: "solicitation", "rfp", "rfi", "funding", "appropriation", "award"; and detects appropriation/authorization bills in the Congressional bill stream.

Phase 3: Composite score assembly

The four model scores are combined with explicit weights: Contract Pipeline (35%) + Spending Velocity (25%) + Political Wind normalized to 0-100 (20%) + Inverted Incumbent Advantage (20%). The Political Wind score is normalized from its -100 to +100 scale to 0-100 before weighting. The Incumbent Advantage score is inverted — a score of 80 becomes 20 — so that entrenched markets reduce the composite opportunity score rather than inflate it. The final composite is capped at 0-100 and mapped to one of four grades with a plain-English recommendation string.

Phase 4: Report assembly and output

Alongside the scored models, the actor builds a contractor ranking from USAspending records (grouping by recipient name, summing obligations, returning top 15), an agency obligation ranking (top 10), a set of up to 20 SAM.gov opportunity summaries with set-aside detection, and structured political signals (lobbying, FEC, Congressional stock trades). The full report is pushed as a single record to the Apify dataset.

Tips for best results

1. Use specific agency names for cleaner signals. A query of "cybersecurity" without an agency filter returns records from all federal agencies. Adding "agency": "Department of Defense" concentrates all four scoring models on DoD-specific procurement activity, giving you more actionable scores.

2. Interpret Incumbent Advantage directionally, not as a blocker. An OPEN FIELD score (0-14) means you have a genuine competitive shot. A FORTRESS INCUMBENT score (70+) means you should evaluate teaming with the incumbent or targeting a sub-contract before bidding prime.

3. Congressional stock trades are a leading indicator. When 5+ members are buying in a sector while fewer are selling, the Political Wind score captures this as a bullish signal. Lawmakers with access to non-public appropriations information have historically traded ahead of budget announcements.

4. Run keyword queries before contractor queries. Start with the sector keyword (e.g., "zero trust") to understand market size and pipeline activity. Then query the top contractors identified in the output to understand their incumbent positions.

5. A high Spending Velocity score with a low Pipeline score signals budget but no active solicitations yet. This is an ideal time to engage contracting officers, request market survey participation, and position for the coming RFP — not to write a proposal.

6. Combine with B2B Lead Qualifier to enrich the top contractors list. The spending data surfaces company names; B2B Lead Qualifier can then score those companies as potential teaming partners or acquisition targets.

7. Set a weekly schedule, not a one-time run. Federal procurement moves on fiscal year rhythms. New SAM.gov opportunities post daily. A weekly scheduled run on your active keywords will catch opportunities before competitors and track Political Wind shifts as legislation progresses.

8. Use the NAICS code filter when you know your sector precisely. Adding "naicsCode": "541512" (Computer Systems Design) to a "cybersecurity" query narrows SAM.gov results to your exact procurement category, improving Pipeline score accuracy.

Combine with other Apify actors

Limitations

• Federal contracts only. This actor covers SAM.gov, USAspending, and federal regulatory sources. State, local, and international government procurement requires different data sources.
• No real-time SAM.gov monitoring. The actor queries SAM.gov at run time; it does not watch for new postings between runs. Use Apify's scheduling feature for continuous monitoring.
• Political Wind signals lag by days to weeks. Congressional bill status, FEC records, and lobbying disclosures are updated on different cycles. The FEC reporting period can lag up to 90 days behind actual contributions.
• Congressional stock trades require minimum volume. The bullish/bearish signal requires 3+ trades and a 2:1 buy-to-sell ratio. Small or obscure sectors may not generate enough trade volume to produce a directional signal.
• Scoring models are signal-based, not predictive. The Bid Intelligence Score synthesizes public data signals. It does not have access to agency internal budget plans, undisclosed procurement intentions, or classified programs.
• Sub-actor timeouts at 120 seconds. If a federal data source is slow to respond, that sub-actor returns an empty array. The report completes with whatever sources succeeded; check dataSources counts to see which sources returned data.
• Company deep research is single-record output. The company research sub-actor returns a research report, not a list of records. It contributes to the Incumbent Advantage score but adds limited granularity.
• No document-level analysis. Federal Register entries and Congressional bills are returned as metadata (title, date, agency, status) — not full-text. Deep reading of individual documents requires following the source links.

Integrations

• Zapier — trigger a federal contract intelligence run when a new CRM opportunity is created; push the Bid Intelligence Score back to the opportunity record automatically
• Make — build a weekly BD briefing workflow: run the actor on 10 keywords, aggregate the scores, and email a ranked summary to your BD team
• Google Sheets — export run results to a shared BD tracking spreadsheet for team review and bid/no-bid gate meetings
• Apify API — integrate into your internal BD platform or government contracting CRM to enrich opportunity records on demand
• Webhooks — trigger a Slack notification or CRM update when a run produces a PRIME OPPORTUNITY grade
• LangChain / LlamaIndex — feed structured Federal Register entries, Congressional bills, and lobbying records into an LLM pipeline for automated procurement memo generation

Troubleshooting

• Low data source counts in dataSources — If several sub-actors return 0 records, they likely timed out or the query returned no matches on that specific source. Try a broader query term, or check that your agency name is spelled exactly as it appears on the respective federal database (e.g., "Department of Homeland Security" not "Homeland Security").

• Bid Intelligence Score seems low for a clearly active market — The composite weighs Contract Pipeline (35%) heavily. If SAM.gov returns few active opportunities for your query, the score will be lower even if USAspending spending totals are high. Try removing the NAICS filter to broaden the SAM.gov query, or use the keyword that appears in SAM.gov opportunity titles rather than your company's internal classification.

• Political Wind score stuck at NEUTRAL — This model requires a minimum of 3 Congressional stock trades with a 2:1 directional ratio to generate a bullish or bearish signal. Many niche sectors will not have enough legislative trading activity. The Neutral label is accurate — it means the data is insufficient, not that the political environment is benign.

• Run taking longer than 5 minutes — The actor waits up to 120 seconds per sub-actor, all running in parallel. The slowest sub-actor determines total run time. Occasionally USAspending or federal data sources experience slower-than-normal API response times. If the run exceeds 8 minutes consistently, contact support via the Issues tab.

• spending.totalObligated appears very small — Some USAspending records return obligation amounts as strings without dollar signs; the actor parses these with parseFloat(). If the source field is a formatted string like "$1,200,000", parsing will fail. Check individual award records in spending.recentAwards to see the raw amount values.

Responsible use

• This actor accesses only publicly available federal government data from open APIs and public disclosure databases.
• SAM.gov, USAspending, Federal Register, Congress.gov, and FEC data are produced by the US federal government and are in the public domain.
• Senate lobbying disclosure records are public filings required by the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
• Congressional stock trade disclosures are public records required by the STOCK Act.
• Do not use FEC contribution data or Congressional stock trade data to construct targeted political profiles of individuals for purposes outside legitimate research and business intelligence.
• For guidance on web scraping legality, see Apify's guide.

FAQ

How does the federal contract intelligence Bid Intelligence Score work? The score is a weighted composite of four models: Contract Pipeline Predictor (35%), Agency Spending Velocity (25%), Political Wind Analysis (20%), and the inverse of the Incumbent Advantage Score (20%). A high Incumbent Advantage score reduces the composite, because entrenched incumbents make winning harder. Grades run from PRIME OPPORTUNITY (75+) down to WEAK OPPORTUNITY (0-34).

How many data sources does the federal contract intelligence actor query? It queries 9 sources in parallel: SAM.gov, USAspending, Grants.gov, the Federal Register, Congressional bill tracking, Senate lobbying disclosures, FEC campaign finance records, Congressional stock trades, and company deep research. All run simultaneously; a single report takes 2-5 minutes.

What is the Incumbent Advantage score and how should I use it? It measures how entrenched current contractors are in the sector you queried. OPEN FIELD (0-14) means genuine competitive openings exist. FORTRESS INCUMBENT (70+) means the market is dominated by established players with deep political connections and contract history. In those cases, consider teaming arrangements or sub-contracting opportunities rather than a prime bid.

How does the Political Wind analysis detect Congressional stock trading signals? The actor pulls Congressional stock trade disclosures via ryanclinton/congress-stock-tracker and counts purchase vs. sale transactions for the queried sector. A BULLISH signal requires at least 3 buy transactions and a buy-to-sell ratio of 2:1 or greater. A BEARISH signal requires at least 3 sell transactions and a sell-to-buy ratio of 2:1 or greater. Mixed or low-volume trading returns a neutral finding.

How is this different from GovWin IQ or Deltek? GovWin and Deltek are subscription platforms starting at $300-$1,500/month with per-seat pricing. Federal Contract Intelligence runs on demand for approximately $0.40 per query with no subscription. It also adds political signal layers — Congressional stock trades, FEC contributions, lobbying activity — that traditional GovWin pipelines do not include. The trade-off: GovWin provides curated analyst commentary; this actor provides raw data signals with algorithmic scoring.

Can I run federal contract intelligence analysis on a specific contractor? Yes. Enter the contractor's name as the query (e.g., "Leidos" or "Booz Allen Hamilton"). The report will show their SAM.gov contract history depth, their Incumbent Advantage score, lobbying and FEC records associated with their name, and their position in the spending data. This is useful for competitive intelligence before entering a market they dominate.

How accurate is the Spending Velocity score? The score reflects procurement activity signals from public data — SAM.gov volume, USAspending obligation totals, grant density, and Federal Register solicitation notices. It cannot access agency internal budget forecasts or undisclosed procurement plans. Treat it as a directional signal, not a precise forecast. RAPID EXECUTION means the data indicates fast budget execution; it does not guarantee a specific number of upcoming RFPs.

Does federal contract intelligence cover grants as well as contracts? Yes. Grants.gov opportunities are included in the Contract Pipeline Predictor and Spending Velocity models, and up to 20 grant opportunities with funding amounts and deadlines appear in opportunities.grantsGov. Both contracts (SAM.gov, USAspending) and grants (Grants.gov) are treated as procurement pipeline signals.

Can I schedule this actor to run automatically? Yes. From your Apify account, open this actor and click Schedule. Set a daily or weekly cadence on your active bid keywords. Each run produces a fresh scored report. You can use webhooks to push PRIME OPPORTUNITY alerts to Slack or your CRM when a run matches your threshold.

Is it legal to use federal government data this way? Yes. All data sources used by this actor are official US government databases that publish their data publicly: SAM.gov, USAspending, Federal Register, Congress.gov, FEC.gov, and Senate lobbying disclosure databases. This data is in the public domain. Congressional stock trade disclosures are required by the STOCK Act and are explicitly published for public review. For further legal context see Apify's web scraping legality guide.

What happens if one of the 9 sub-actors fails or times out? Each sub-actor call is wrapped in a try/catch with a 120-second timeout. A failed sub-actor returns an empty array and logs a warning. The report completes with the remaining data sources. Check the dataSources object in your output to see how many records each source returned — zeros indicate that source did not respond in time for that run.

How long does a typical federal contract intelligence run take? Most runs complete in 2-5 minutes. All 9 sub-actors run in parallel, so total run time is determined by the slowest responding source, not the sum of all sources. Queries returning large result sets from USAspending may take slightly longer to process.

Help us improve

If you encounter issues, you can help us debug faster by enabling run sharing in your Apify account:

1. Go to Account Settings > Privacy
2. Enable Share runs with public Actor creators

This lets us see your run details when something goes wrong, so we can fix issues faster. Your data is only visible to the actor developer, not publicly.

Support

Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue in the Issues tab on this actor's page. For custom solutions or enterprise integrations, reach out through the Apify platform.