Call contract search directly from a script or server instead of through the web app. Requires a Pro subscription.

Beta

The response shape may change without notice — there is no versioning promise yet. Tell us what you’re building at hi@contractradar.io; that decides whether this becomes a stable API.

Getting a token

Go to your profile → API Access.
Click Generate token.
Copy it — it’s shown once and can’t be retrieved again.

The token reads search as you. Treat it like a password: keep it on a server or in a secrets store, never in a browser or a public repo. If one was ever sent over plain http://, regenerate it.

Making a request

Send the token as a bearer token against GET /api/v1/posts:

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer crk_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX" \
  "https://contractradar.io/api/v1/posts?q=electrical+wiring&state=TX&pageSize=10"

Query parameters

All optional.

Parameter	Type	Notes
`q`	string	Keyword, matched semantically. Truncated to 200 characters; `400` above 2000.
`state`	string, repeatable	Two-letter code, e.g. `state=TX&state=NM`.
`page`	integer	Default 1. Clamped to a minimum of 1.
`pageSize`	integer	Default 20. Clamped to 1–100.
`postType`	string	`Contract` or `Subcontract`.
`coverageType`	string, repeatable	`Federal`, `State`, `City`, `County`, or `Regional`.
`sort`	string	`relevance`, `posted_desc`, `posted_asc`, `deadline_asc`, `deadline_desc`, `name_asc`, or `name_desc`. `relevance` needs `q`.
`postedAfter` / `postedBefore` / `deadlineAfter` / `deadlineBefore`	date	`yyyy-MM-dd`, or the literal `today`. Nothing else.
`tag`	string, repeatable	A `Key:Value` pair, e.g. `tag=Set-Aside:8A`. Repeat it to filter on several values.

Only sort and the date parameters reject a bad value with a 400. An unrecognised postType, coverageType, state or tag is silently ignored — the filter just doesn’t apply, so a typo looks like too many results rather than an error.

Response shape

{
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "8f14e45f-ceea-467e-bd3e-8f1f4c0e1234",
      "externalId": "SAM-2026-00123",
      "title": "Electrical wiring upgrade — Building 4",
      "agency": "General Services Administration",
      "placeOfPerformanceState": "TX",
      "postedDate": "2026-09-10T00:00:00Z",
      "responseDeadline": "2026-10-01T00:00:00Z",
      "postType": "Contract",
      "contractSource": "SamGov",
      "contractSourceShortLabel": "Fed",
      "contractSourceFullLabel": "Federal Contract",
      "contractSourceAbbreviation": "FED",
      "contractSourcePortalName": "SAM.gov",
      "description": "Upgrade of electrical distribution systems...",
      "link": "https://sam.gov/opp/abc123/view",
      "linksToListingPageOnly": false,
      "tags": [{ "key": "Set-Aside", "value": "WOSB" }]
    }
  ],
  "totalCount": 42,
  "totalPages": 3,
  "page": 1,
  "pageSize": 20,
  "totalIsCapped": false
}

tags is always an array, never null. postType and contractSource serialize as strings, not integers.

Field	Notes
`id`	The ContractRadar post ID.
`externalId`	The source portal’s own solicitation ID.
`title`	Contract title.
`agency`	Posting agency, or `null`.
`placeOfPerformanceState`	Two-letter state code, or `null`.
`postedDate`	ISO 8601 UTC.
`responseDeadline`	ISO 8601 UTC, or `null` when the source gives none.
`postType`	`Contract` or `Subcontract`.
`contractSource`	The source pipeline, e.g. `SamGov`.
`contractSourceShortLabel` / `contractSourceFullLabel` / `contractSourceAbbreviation`	Display forms of `contractSource` — short label, longer display label, and a ≤3-char badge code.
`contractSourcePortalName`	The portal’s brand name, e.g. `SAM.gov`.
`description`	Free text, or `null`.
`link`	The original posting, or a portal listing page — see `linksToListingPageOnly`.
`linksToListingPageOnly`	True when the portal has no per-solicitation deep link, so `link` points at a search page.
`tags`	Pipeline-specific `{ key, value }` pairs — set-asides, commodity codes, and similar.
`totalCount`	Total matching results, or the cap when `totalIsCapped` is true.
`totalPages`	Total pages at the requested `pageSize`.
`page` / `pageSize`	The resolved (clamped) values used for this response.
`totalIsCapped`	True when a keyword search hit the candidate cap, so `totalCount` is that cap.

Errors

Status	Meaning
`400`	A parameter failed validation — a bad date, an unrecognised `sort`, or `q` over 2000 characters.
`401`	The token is missing, malformed, or revoked.
`429`	Rate limited. Honour the `Retry-After` header (seconds).

If your subscription lapses the token keeps working, falling back to the free daily search quota. Generate, regenerate, or revoke it from your profile.

How to use the ContractRadar API

Getting a token

Making a request

Query parameters

Response shape

Errors