Connect SAM.gov to Copilot Studio
Query SAM.gov directly from Copilot Studio. Arlet links the two through one MCP connection and takes care of API keys.
This server connects your AI client to SAM.gov, the US government's official system for contract opportunities and entity registrations, operated by the GSA.
Key features:
- search_opportunities: find active and past contract notices - solicitations, pre-solicitations, combined synopses, sources-sought and award notices - filtered by title keyword, NAICS code, procurement type, agency, place-of-performance state and posted-date range. The posted range defaults to the last 90 days and is capped at one year by the upstream API; dates are accepted in ISO form and converted to SAM.gov's MM/dd/yyyy automatically.
- search_entities: look up companies and organizations registered to do business with the US government, by legal name, 12-character UEI or 5-character CAGE code. Returns registration status and expiration, address, and identifiers.
The UEI returned by search_entities is the same identifier USAspending uses for award recipients, so the two servers join cleanly: find a company here, then pull its award history there. Division of labor with USASpending: SAM.gov is where notices are published (before and at award); USAspending is where actual spending is recorded.
Using the API requires a personal API key generated from your SAM.gov account's Account Details page (a login is required; keys are tied to the account's roles). Set it as SAM_GOV_API_KEY in your Arlet environment variables. Note the upstream gateway answers invalid keys with an empty 404 response; this server converts that into an actionable error message.
How to connect SAM.gov to Copilot Studio
- 1
In the Arlet dashboard, open Data tools, find SAM.gov, set the API key issued by SAM.gov and switch it on.
- 2
Sign in to Copilot Studio with your work account, create a new agent (or open an existing one), and in the Build tab choose Tools → + → Add → Model Context Protocol (MCP) in the right panel.
- 3
In the Add MCP server form, enter "Arlet" as the Server name, https://mcp.arlet.dev/mcp/ as the Server URL, choose OAuth 2.0 for Authentication and "Dynamic (detected)" for Configuration type, then click Add. No Client ID / Secret is needed.
- 4
On the Select a connection screen, choose Create new connection → Create, then sign in with Google on the Arlet authorization screen and click Allow. Click Add to attach the tool to the agent, then Publish to use it from Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Requires a Microsoft work account and a Copilot Studio license (or trial). MCP is available only for agents using generative orchestration and not in Copilot Studio in Teams.