Government Contracts API

Retrieve federal government contract awards from USAspending.gov mapped to stock tickers. Track contract values, awarding agencies, industry classifications, and contract periods.

Endpoint

GET /v2/government-contracts/{symbol}

Authentication

The API supports multiple authentication methods:

Method	Example
Bearer token (recommended)	Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
X-API-Key header	X-API-Key: YOUR_API_KEY
Query parameter	?apiKey=YOUR_API_KEY
Legacy query parameter	?token=YOUR_API_KEY

Parameters

Path Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
symbol	string	Yes	Stock ticker symbol (e.g., LMT, RTX)

Query Parameters

Parameter	Type	Required	Description
startDate	string	No	Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)
endDate	string	No	End date (YYYY-MM-DD)
limit	integer	No	Maximum number of results to return (1-500)

Request

Python SDK

from finbrain import FinBrainClient

fb = FinBrainClient(api_key="YOUR_API_KEY")

df = fb.government_contracts.ticker("LMT",
                                     date_from="2025-01-01",
                                     date_to="2025-12-31",
                                     as_dataframe=True)
print(df)

cURL

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.finbrain.tech/v2/government-contracts/LMT"

Python (requests)

import requests

headers = {"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"}

response = requests.get(
    "https://api.finbrain.tech/v2/government-contracts/LMT",
    headers=headers,
    params={"limit": 10}
)
data = response.json()

for c in data["data"]["contracts"]:
    print(f"{c['startDate']}: ${c['awardAmount']:,.0f} "
          f"from {c['awardingAgency']} — {c['description']}")

C++

#include <iostream>
#include <string>
#include <curl/curl.h>
#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>

using json = nlohmann::json;

size_t WriteCallback(void* contents, size_t size, size_t nmemb, std::string* userp) {
    userp->append((char*)contents, size * nmemb);
    return size * nmemb;
}

json get_government_contracts(const std::string& symbol, const std::string& api_key) {
    CURL* curl = curl_easy_init();
    std::string response;

    if (curl) {
        std::string url = "https://api.finbrain.tech/v2/government-contracts/" + symbol;

        struct curl_slist* headers = nullptr;
        std::string auth_header = "Authorization: Bearer " + api_key;
        headers = curl_slist_append(headers, auth_header.c_str());

        curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, url.c_str());
        curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, headers);
        curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEFUNCTION, WriteCallback);
        curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_WRITEDATA, &response);
        curl_easy_perform(curl);
        curl_slist_free_all(headers);
        curl_easy_cleanup(curl);
    }

    return json::parse(response);
}

int main() {
    auto result = get_government_contracts("LMT", "YOUR_API_KEY");

    for (auto& c : result["data"]["contracts"]) {
        std::cout << c["startDate"].get<std::string>() << ": $"
                  << c["awardAmount"].get<double>()
                  << " from " << c["awardingAgency"].get<std::string>()
                  << " — " << c["description"].get<std::string>()
                  << std::endl;
    }

    return 0;
}

Rust

use reqwest::blocking::Client;
use serde::Deserialize;
use std::error::Error;

#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
struct Contract {
    #[serde(rename = "awardId")]
    award_id: String,
    #[serde(rename = "awardAmount")]
    award_amount: f64,
    #[serde(rename = "awardType")]
    award_type: String,
    #[serde(rename = "awardingAgency")]
    awarding_agency: String,
    #[serde(rename = "awardingSubAgency")]
    awarding_sub_agency: String,
    #[serde(rename = "recipientName")]
    recipient_name: String,
    #[serde(rename = "startDate")]
    start_date: String,
    #[serde(rename = "endDate")]
    end_date: String,
    description: String,
    #[serde(rename = "naicsCode")]
    naics_code: String,
    #[serde(rename = "naicsDescription")]
    naics_description: String,
    #[serde(rename = "contractAwardType")]
    contract_award_type: String,
}

#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
struct ContractData {
    symbol: String,
    name: String,
    contracts: Vec<Contract>,
}

#[derive(Debug, Deserialize)]
struct ContractResponse {
    success: bool,
    data: ContractData,
}

fn get_government_contracts(symbol: &str, api_key: &str)
    -> Result<ContractResponse, Box<dyn Error>> {
    let url = format!(
        "https://api.finbrain.tech/v2/government-contracts/{}",
        symbol
    );

    let client = Client::new();
    let response: ContractResponse = client
        .get(&url)
        .bearer_auth(api_key)
        .send()?
        .json()?;

    Ok(response)
}

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn Error>> {
    let result = get_government_contracts("LMT", "YOUR_API_KEY")?;

    for c in &result.data.contracts {
        println!("{}: ${} from {} — {}",
            c.start_date, c.award_amount, c.awarding_agency, c.description);
    }

    Ok(())
}

JavaScript

const response = await fetch(
  "https://api.finbrain.tech/v2/government-contracts/LMT",
  { headers: { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" } }
);
const result = await response.json();

for (const c of result.data.contracts) {
  console.log(`${c.startDate}: $${c.awardAmount.toLocaleString()} from ${c.awardingAgency} — ${c.description}`);
}

Response

Success Response (200 OK)

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "symbol": "LMT",
    "name": "Lockheed Martin Corporation",
    "contracts": [
      {
        "awardId": "CONT_AWD_0001",
        "awardAmount": 50000000,
        "awardType": "Contract",
        "awardingAgency": "Department of Defense",
        "awardingSubAgency": "Department of the Army",
        "recipientName": "Lockheed Martin Corporation",
        "startDate": "2025-06-01",
        "endDate": "2026-06-01",
        "description": "Aircraft maintenance services",
        "naicsCode": "336411",
        "naicsDescription": "Aircraft Manufacturing",
        "contractAwardType": "Definitive Contract"
      }
    ]
  },
  "meta": {
    "timestamp": "2026-03-12T12:00:00.000Z"
  }
}

Response Fields

Field	Type	Description
success	boolean	Whether the request was successful
data.symbol	string	Stock ticker symbol
data.name	string	Company name
data.contracts	array	Array of contract award objects
meta.timestamp	string	Response timestamp (ISO 8601)

Contract Object Fields

Field	Type	Description
awardId	string	Unique contract award identifier
awardAmount	number	Total award value in USD
awardType	string	Type of award (e.g., Contract)
awardingAgency	string	Federal agency issuing the contract
awardingSubAgency	string	Sub-agency within the awarding agency
recipientName	string	Company receiving the contract
startDate	string	Contract start date (YYYY-MM-DD)
endDate	string	Contract end date (YYYY-MM-DD)
description	string	Plain-text description of the contract scope
naicsCode	string	NAICS industry classification code
naicsDescription	string	Human-readable NAICS description
contractAwardType	string	Specific contract award mechanism

Errors

Code	Error	Description
400	Bad Request	Invalid symbol or parameters
401	Unauthorized	Invalid or missing API key
403	Forbidden	Authenticated, but not authorized to access this resource
404	Not Found	Ticker not found
429	Too Many Requests	Rate limit exceeded — wait and retry
500	Internal Server Error	Server-side error

Related

• Government Contracts Dataset - Use cases and analysis examples
• Stock Screener API - Screen government contracts across tickers
• Corporate Lobbying API - Corporate lobbying data
• Insider Transactions API - Insider trading data