BidNet Direct Government Bids Scraper

BidNet Direct Government Bids Scraper

Scrape government bids and RFPs from BidNet Direct with keyword, location, agency type, and date filters. Each row returns the solicitation title, URL, status, publication and closing dates, and optional detail fields. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Low minimum charge: $0.005 to start a run, then you only pay for the results you get.

BidNet Direct lists thousands of open and closed government solicitations across US states, counties, and federal agencies, but manually checking the portal for new opportunities eats hours. This Actor reads the public listing pages directly, applies your filters as it goes, and returns every matching bid in one flat row. Use it to monitor new RFPs, build a bid pipeline, or feed your own database.

Who uses it	What they scrape BidNet Direct for
Government contractors	Find open bids in their industry and location before the deadline
Bid consultants	Monitor new RFPs for multiple clients across different agencies
Market researchers	Analyze public procurement trends by category, agency, or region
Sales teams	Build a list of government buyers actively soliciting services
Procurement analysts	Track closed bids to study award patterns and competitor activity

What it does

This Actor collects government bid solicitations from BidNet Direct by direct URL or search filters, and returns each one as a flat row with title, URL, status, dates, and optional detail fields.

• 🔎 Search filters: keywords (a comma list matches any of them), bid status, category, state, publication date, agency type, and sort order.
• 🔗 Direct URLs: paste any BidNet Direct listing page URL and collect from it.
• 📋 Detail fields: optionally open each bid page to add AI overview and detail timestamps.
• 📊 Flat output: every bid is one row, ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML export.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with BidNet Direct data

📬 Monitor new RFPs daily.

A government contractor sets the keyword to their service, bidStatus to open, and publishDate to Last 24 Hours, then schedules the Actor to run every morning and exports new bids to a spreadsheet.

📍 Find local opportunities.

A small business owner enters their state and a category to see only open bids in their region, sorted by closing date.

📊 Analyze closed bid history.

A market researcher collects closed bids for a category over the past year to study which agencies buy the most and what they pay.

🏛️ Track federal vs. state spending.

A procurement analyst runs the Actor with agencyType set to Federal Bids and then State & Local Bids to compare solicitation volume and deadlines.

🔗 Scrape a specific listing page.

A consultant pastes the URL of a BidNet Direct search result page into startUrl to collect exactly the bids they already see in the browser.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No login or API key	Reads the public listing pages directly, so you can start scraping in minutes.
Filter before you download	Keyword, status, category, location, date, and agency type filters reduce noise.
Open and closed bids	Collect current opportunities or historical awards for analysis.
Optional detail fields	Enable includeDetails to get AI overview and detail timestamps from each bid page.
Flexible input	Use a direct URL or let the Actor build the search URL from your filters.

How it compares

This Actor offers the same core BidNet Direct scraping as the competitors below, with additional filters for agency type, category codes, and sort options, plus optional detail fields.

Feature	ParseForge	BidNet Direct Government Bids Scraper	BidNet Direct [Closed 🔴] Bid Opportunities Scraper	BidNet Direct [Open ✅] Bid Opportunities Scraper
Keyword search filter	Yes	Yes	Not listed	Not listed
Location filter	Yes	Yes	Not listed	Not listed
Category code filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Agency type filter	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Sort options	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Optional detail fields (AI overview, timestamps)	Yes	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed
Open and closed bids in one actor	Yes	Yes	Closed only	Open only

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from direct BidNet Direct URLs or search filters, and filters run as each listing is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "startUrl": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.bidnetdirect.com/public/solicitations/open"
    }
  ],
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "startUrl": [
    {
      "url": "https://www.bidnetdirect.com/public/solicitations/open"
    }
  ],
  "maxItems": 200
}

With search filters instead of a URL. Commas between keywords mean "any of these", and states can be names, two-letter codes or BidNet location IDs:

{
  "keywords": "sidewalk, trip hazard, concrete, ADA",
  "locations": "ohio, california, TX",
  "categories": "construction",
  "bidStatus": "open",
  "publishDate": "WEEK_1",
  "sortOption": "publicationDateDesc",
  "maxItems": 100
}

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the BidNet Direct Government Bids Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to BidNet Direct through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/governmentbids-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your filters are not too restrictive. Try removing categories or locations, or set publishDate to All. Keywords written with spaces and no commas must all appear in the bid, so road sidewalk repair is narrower than road, sidewalk, repair. If a run with 0 results says no bids match, the search itself returned nothing; if the site could not be reached, the run ends as Failed with the reason.

Why did the run stop at 10 items?

Free Apify accounts are limited to 10 items per run as a preview. Upgrade to a paid plan to increase maxItems up to 1,000,000.

Why are some fields empty in the output?

Some fields, like AI overview or detail timestamps, are only populated when includeDetails is enabled. Enable that option and rerun.

Why is the Actor slow when includeDetails is on?

Opening each bid detail page takes extra time. If you do not need the detail fields, disable includeDetails for faster runs.

Can I use both startUrl and search filters?

You can leave both filled in, but only one is used: when any search filter (keywords, categories, locations, publishDate or agencyType) is set, the Actor runs the search and ignores startUrl, and the log says so. To collect a startUrl, clear the search filters. bidStatus and sortOption never override a startUrl.

Why did I get an error saying BidNet Direct does not recognize a location or category?

The Actor checks every location and category before searching, because BidNet Direct answers an unknown value with an error page. The message lists the values it could not match. Locations take US state and territory names (ohio, new york), two-letter codes (OH, NY) or BidNet location IDs (229). Categories take the category name (construction) or its BidNet code (320204).

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a BidNet Direct account or API key?	No. The Actor reads the public listing pages on BidNet Direct, so no login or API key is required.
Can I scrape both open and closed bids?	Yes. Set bidStatus to Open Bids or Closed Bids, or run the Actor twice with different settings.
How do I filter by location?	Use the locations field with comma-separated US states or territories, written as names (florida, texas), two-letter codes (FL, TX) or BidNet location IDs (73, 277).
How do I filter by category?	Enter one or more of BidNet Direct's categories, comma-separated, by name (construction, utilities) or by code (320204, 320179).
How do several keywords combine?	Separate keywords with commas to get bids that match any of them, for example sidewalk, trip hazard, concrete. Words inside one keyword, like trip hazard, must all appear.
Can I sort the results?	Yes. Use sortOption to order by publication date, closing date, solicitation title, or location, in ascending or descending order.
What does includeDetails do?	When enabled, the Actor opens each bid detail page and adds public fields such as AI overview and detail timestamps to the output.
How many bids can I scrape?	Free Apify users are limited to 10 bids per run. Paid users can set maxItems up to 1,000,000.
Can I use a direct URL instead of search filters?	Yes. Paste any BidNet Direct listing page URL into startUrl and leave the search filters empty. If a search filter is set, the filters are used instead.
What export formats are supported?	You can export the results to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset.
Does this Actor handle pagination?	Yes, it follows pagination on the listing pages until it reaches maxItems or no more results.
Can I schedule this Actor to run automatically?	Yes, you can schedule it in Apify to run daily, hourly, or on a custom cron schedule.
Is this Actor affiliated with BidNet Direct?	No, this is an independent scraper built by ParseForge. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by BidNet Direct.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by BidNet Direct. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.