ParseForge Scrapers

BidNet Direct Government Bids Scraper

parseforge/governmentbids-scraper

AutomationDeveloper toolsOther

Scrapes government bid solicitations from BidNet Direct. Returns bid title, URL, status, publication date, closing date, and optional detail fields. Filter by keyword, location, category, agency type, and date.

Run this scraper See the API call
Total users
69
Monthly active
10
Total runs
5K
Bookmarked
0
Rating
Not rated yet
Last modified
12 days ago

Overview

ParseForge

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.

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.

  • ๐Ÿ”Ž Search filters: keyword, bid status, category codes, location IDs, publication date, agency type, and sort order.
  • ๐Ÿ”— Direct URLs: paste any BidNet Direct listing page URL and collect from it, alone or with filters.
  • ๐Ÿ“‹ Detail fields: optionally open each bid page to add AI overview and detail timestamps.
  • ๐Ÿ“Š 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

๐Ÿ“ฌ 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.

๐Ÿ“ Find local opportunities.

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

๐Ÿ“Š 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.

๐Ÿ›๏ธ 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.

๐Ÿ”— 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 ๐Ÿ”ด] Bid Opportunities Scraper BidNet Direct [Open โœ…] 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
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.01734 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected Approximate cost
100 results $1.73
1,000 results $17.34
10,000 results $173.40

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

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 category codes or location IDs, or set publishDate to All. Also ensure you are not using both startUrl and search filters at the same time.

Why did the run stop at 100 items?

Free Apify accounts are limited to 100 items per run. 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?

No, use one or the other. If you provide startUrl, the search filters are ignored.

Why did I get an error about invalid location ID?

Location IDs must be numeric and comma-separated. Check the BidNet Direct search UI for the correct IDs for your target locations.

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 location IDs, for example 73 for Florida or 277 for Texas. You can find IDs in the BidNet Direct search UI.
What are category codes? Category codes are numeric identifiers used by BidNet Direct to classify solicitations, such as 320204 for a specific commodity or service. Enter them comma-separated in the categories field.
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 100 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. Use either startUrl or the search filters, not both.
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.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

๐Ÿ†˜ Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

โš ๏ธ 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.

Input

FieldTypeWhat it doesDefault
startUrl array Direct BidNetDirect listing URLs to collect from. Use this OR the search filters below, not both. [{"url":"https://www.bidnetdirect.com/pu
maxItems integer Free users: Limited to 100. Paid users: Optional, max 1,000,000. 10
keywords string Search by keyword or bid title. Use this OR Start URL above, not both. not set
bidStatus string (2 options) Choose whether to collect open bids or closed bids. not set
categories string Optional comma-separated category codes, for example 320204,321609. not set
locations string Optional comma-separated location IDs, for example 73 for Florida or 277 for Texas. not set
publishDate string (3 options) Limit results by recent publication date. not set
agencyType string (4 options) Filter by the BidNetDirect agency group shown in the listing search UI. not set
sortOption string (8 options) Choose the same ordering options available in the BidNetDirect listing page. not set
includeDetails boolean When enabled, the actor opens each bid detail page and adds public detail fields such as AI overview and detail timestamps. not set

Pricing

from $12.99 per 1,000 results

Charged forWhat it isPrice each
Actor Start Charged once when the run starts. $0.005
Result Item Charged once per result collected. $0.01299 to $0.01734

Tiered: the lower figure is the price on a higher Apify plan. Billing and the free credit live on Apify.

API

One POST returns the dataset directly. Same shape for every scraper in the library, so swapping the slug is the only change.

POST ยท run and get results
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parseforge~governmentbids-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "helloWorld": 123
  }'

Examples

Input that runs as-is.

input.json
{
  "helloWorld": 123
}

Reviews

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Issues

We build and maintain this scraper, so a problem with it comes to us. Report it on the Apify listing and the thread stays attached to the scraper where the next person can find it: open an issue.

Broken and urgent, or you would rather not post in public? Write to parseforge@protonmail.com and it reaches the people who wrote it.

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