GrantIQ MCP
A paid MCP server that gives AI agents instant, structured access to every open US federal grant and contract opportunity. Backed by Grants.gov + SAM.gov, with 24-hour SQLite caching, per-key daily limits, and a Stripe-friendly upgrade hook.
https://mcp.grantiq.us/mcp/
MCPize listing copy
Title: GrantIQ MCP — US Federal Grants & Contracts for AI Agents
Subtitle: Search, match, and monitor every open SAM.gov and Grants.gov opportunity from any LLM, in one tool call.
GrantIQ MCP turns the messy world of US government funding into a clean, agent-ready API. Eight typed tools cover everything from broad keyword search and NAICS-coded contract discovery to deadline radar and historical award lookups. Responses are normalized across both data sources, returned as plain JSON, and cached for 24 hours so repeat queries don't burn rate limit on the upstream agencies.
Built for procurement copilots, grant-finder agents, and B2G sales tools, GrantIQ MCP ships with a free tier (50 calls/day) that any developer can drop into Claude or Cursor in 15 seconds. Upgrade to Pro for $19/mo for unlimited calls, or pay $0.02 per call for bursty workloads — billing flips a key from free to pro via a single webhook, with no app rewrites required.
Pricing
| Tier | Price | Limit |
|---|
| Free | $0 | 50 calls / day / key |
| Pro | $19 / month | Unlimited |
| Pay-as-you-go | $0.02 / call | Unlimited |
Install
claude mcp add grantiq-mcp --url https://mcp.grantiq.us/mcp/
Then add the API key Claude should use:
claude mcp env grantiq-mcp X-API-Key=grantiq-dev-key-001
The dev key grantiq-dev-key-001 is seeded automatically and capped at 50 calls/day. Mint your own with the admin endpoint below.
| Tool | Args | Returns |
|---|
search_grants | keyword, agency, amount_min, amount_max, status, limit | List of matching grants |
get_grant_details | opportunity_id | Full grant object |
search_contracts | keyword, naics_code, agency, set_aside, limit | List of SAM contracts |
get_contract_details | notice_id | Full contract object |
match_opportunities | org_description, org_type, focus_areas | Top 10 matched opps (grants + contracts) |
get_agencies | type (grants / contracts / both) | Agencies with open opps, ranked by volume |
get_deadlines | days_ahead | Opportunities closing within N days |
search_awards | recipient_name, agency, year | Past SAM award history |
Every tool returns either:
{ "success": true, "cached": false, "data": { ... } }
or, on failure:
{ "success": false, "error": "..." }
When the daily limit is hit, the HTTP layer returns 429 with body:
{ "error": "Limit reached. Upgrade at mcpize.com/grantiq-mcp" }
curl examples
The MCP endpoint speaks the JSON-RPC streamable-HTTP protocol and is best used through an MCP client. For convenience, every tool also has a REST mirror at /tools/<tool>.
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/tools/search_grants \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-API-Key: grantiq-dev-key-001' \
-d '{"keyword":"renewable energy","limit":5}'
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/tools/get_grant_details \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-API-Key: grantiq-dev-key-001' \
-d '{"opportunity_id":"345678"}'
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/tools/search_contracts \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-API-Key: grantiq-dev-key-001' \
-d '{"keyword":"cybersecurity","set_aside":"SBA","limit":5}'
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/tools/get_contract_details \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-API-Key: grantiq-dev-key-001' \
-d '{"notice_id":"abc123"}'
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/tools/match_opportunities \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-API-Key: grantiq-dev-key-001' \
-d '{"org_description":"Battery storage R&D startup","org_type":"for-profit","focus_areas":["energy","battery","storage"]}'
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/tools/get_agencies \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-API-Key: grantiq-dev-key-001' \
-d '{"type":"both"}'
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/tools/get_deadlines \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-API-Key: grantiq-dev-key-001' \
-d '{"days_ahead":14}'
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/tools/search_awards \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H 'X-API-Key: grantiq-dev-key-001' \
-d '{"recipient_name":"Acme Corp","year":2025}'
Operator endpoints
Mint a fresh key (free or pro):
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/admin/keys \
-H 'X-Admin-Token: $GRANTIQ_ADMIN_TOKEN' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"tier":"free","daily_limit":50}'
Promote a free key to pro (called from the Stripe checkout success webhook):
curl -s https://mcp.grantiq.us/billing/upgrade \
-H 'X-Admin-Token: $GRANTIQ_ADMIN_TOKEN' \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{"key":"grantiq_xxxxx"}'
Local dev
python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
cp .env.example .env
python server.py
pytest -v
Deploy to Railway
The repo includes nixpacks.toml. After railway init, just railway up. The start command is python server.py (not uvicorn ...) because Railway exec's [start].cmd without a shell — server.py reads $PORT via os.getenv and starts uvicorn programmatically.
Set these on the Railway service:
SAM_API_KEY — your SAM.gov keyGRANTIQ_ADMIN_TOKEN — long random stringGRANTIQ_DB_PATH — /data/grantiq.db if you mount a Volume (recommended so cache + keys survive deploys)
A ready-to-run deploy.sh is in this directory.
Caveats
- SAM.gov award history is exposed via the opportunities API filtered to
ptype=a (Award Notice). For deeper award analytics (CFDA-level totals, recipient rollups), USAspending.gov is more appropriate and would be a v2 add.
- Cache TTL is global (24h). For deadline-sensitive flows the agent should pass distinct query args or call
/admin/keys to mint a key that bypasses cache (not yet exposed — see TODO).
- Match scoring is deterministic Jaccard over title + agency tokens. It's fast and free; an LLM rerank can be added behind the same interface.
- Stripe wiring is one-way (
/billing/upgrade). The MCP server doesn't host the checkout page itself — that lives on the marketing site.